Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - Is it the job of an AS agent @ check-in to know the general layout of a partner cabin

My parent's checked in yesterday at SEA for an AS flight to LAX connecting to an AF flight to CDG. a first/business award ticket...

When they checked in for both flights the agent in Seattle who issued the boarding passes saw their seat assignments 60A/B ( 380) and told them they were in coach for the international flight and could not visit the AF lounge in LAX.

Not knowing any better they took his word for it and when they finally reached me by phone to ask if they really were in coach they were sitting in the LAX Board room ( members) in the wrong terminal. When I asked what class their boarding passes read they said " J".

Shouldn't AS agents be briefed on cabin seating plans as well as know by now that a " J" class is business?

I also have a feeling that the agent thinking they were in coach did not mark their bags priority.... since the bags missed their connection in CDG to Prague and they arrived without luggage.

Shouldn't AS agents be briefed on cabin seating plans as well as know by now that a " J" class is business?


Cabin seating plans? No. Ticketed class? Si.

It is conceivable that an agent just saw "Row 60" and thought there is no way on this side of the ionosphere that Row 60 is in a premium cabin, without looking at the booking class (which would NOT be showing as J on the screen, but as whatever the partner award J cabin books into, such as U).

Cabin seating plans for the partners is just an unreasonable expectation and additional training expense that has no material benefit, as they are easily viewable online and AS agents generally can't even get you a seat on them (and may not be able to view them in many if not most instances). What class you are in on the partner is a different story.

My parent's checked in yesterday at SEA for an AS flight to LAX connecting to an AF flight to CDG. a first/business award ticket...

When they checked in for both flights the agent in Seattle who issued the boarding passes saw their seat assignments 60A/B ( 380) and told them they were in coach for the international flight and could not visit the AF lounge in LAX.

Not knowing any better they took his word for it and when they finally reached me by phone to ask if they really were in coach they were sitting in the LAX Board room ( members) in the wrong terminal. When I asked what class their boarding passes read they said " J".

Shouldn't AS agents be briefed on cabin seating plans as well as know by now that a " J" class is business?

I also have a feeling that the agent thinking they were in coach did not mark their bags priority.... since the bags missed their connection in CDG to Prague and they arrived without luggage.

AS doesn't do priority bag tags... and even if they did, I'm not sure that AF would recognize them.

I don't think AS airport agents can be expected to keep up with the letter codes for all of the partners' award bookings ... and I personally wouldn't expect row 60 to be a premium cabin. That being said, I don't really understand how an AS agent in Seattle would know enough about the AF lounge in LAX to be advising passengers about it.

The AF lounge is awful, or at least it was in March. I would stay in BR as long as possible. On BA, biz upper deck is the 60s. Disconcerting, to see it on BP but the seats are just fine.

I dont think its the job of agents to know partner plane layouts. Heck some of them probably dont even know the subtle differences in the different AS 737s. Only a select few nerds like us know or visit seat guru :D

They aren't trained on that and it's not included in any guide given to them, so no it wouldn't be their job to know. Those that do know, I give them a lot of credit. There are so many partners and cabins and codes I'm not sure how realistic it would be even with training.

Shouldn't AS agents be briefed on cabin seating plans as well as know by now that a " J" class is business?

Not really IMO. But they also shouldn't be giving out information if they aren't sure of it.

They aren't trained on that and it's not included in any guide given to them, so no it wouldn't be their job to know. Those that do know, I give them a lot of credit. There are so many partners and cabins and codes I'm not sure how realistic it would be even with training.

Airport agents used to handle a lot more ticketing functions, i.e., even partner awards. (Ah, paper tickets) I doubt this occurs very frequently anymore.

Airport agents used to handle a lot more ticketing functions, i.e., even partner awards. (Ah, paper tickets) I doubt this occurs very frequently anymore.

True, and I imagine the familiarity would also vary by station. Agents in FAI or DCA just won't focus on the partner flight info as much as in LAX or SEA where missed connections and rebookings would necessitate at least some hands-on work.

True, and I imagine the familiarity would also vary by station. Agents in FAI or DCA just won't focus on the partner flight info as much as in LAX or SEA where missed connections and rebookings would necessitate at least some hands-on work.

Which include the partner airline sending you back to the AS ticket counter to fix the reason why the partner airline can't check you in, doesn't have a ticket linked to your res, etc etc.