Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - Horizon gate agents @ PDX not helpful w.r.t. Alaska

On a recent connection through PDX (SEA-PDX-SJC), when I got off my SEA-PDX Horizon-operated flight, I saw that my PDX-SJC flight was canceled. I asked a nearby gate agent (with a flight 45 minutes off, no line of people waiting, didn't look busy at all) if she might be able to tell me what alternatives there were. She replied that well, that was an Alaska flight, so no, she couldn't help me. That's fine on the face of it, but she didn't even offer to point me toward the nearest Alaska gate or service center (the outside ticket counter was closest, it turned out).

I would have expected even a code-share arrangement to result in agents trying to be more helpful than that, even if their computer wouldn't allow them to help me directly. A customer who overheard the conversation said that he wasn't surprised by that agent's lack of helpfulness, he often thought PDX Horizon personnel often did their best to pretend that they and Alaska had no relationship whatsoever. Any comments?

Well, I know that QX definately won't check you in for an AS flight anywhere. So, likewise, it doesn't surprise me that they won't find alternative flights. Essentially they are seperate entities owned by the same parent company.

The only gripe I have ever had with Horizon took place in PDX as well.

My wife and I had boarded a flight in PDX bound for SEA when the flight attendant asked for voluntary bumps to take a flight leaving 30 mins later. The reason given was the combination of our excessive take-off weight and weather conditions. When walking back in the terminal, I was told by a gate agent that no compensastion was to be offered because it was weather-related. Of course, that was not the answer I would accept. After a round of arguing because we volunteered to get off the flight and was told by the FA that compensation would be issued, she finally got her supervisor who agreed with me and issued me a systemwide QX voucher. It took her only 20 seconds to hear my story and resolve the problem. Sheesh, maybe you met up with the same "lady" as I did!

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Interestingly, I have had both my best and worst Horizon experiences at PDX, which I guess just goes to show that people are people.

After my worst experience the Public Relations Manager from Alaska Air called me during the course our conversation indicated that there was a higher incident of complaints from the PDX facility, which would indicate a training issue.

Essentially they are seperate entities owned by the same parent company.

I had a single ticket with both Alaska and Horizon flights. Even if it were merely a code share arrangement and not an even closer relationship (like being owned by the same company), e.g., if I had flown Alaska connecting to American, I would have expected the agent to be more helpful (e.g., "American gates are on concourse XYZ, or try their ticket counter for assistance") than the QX agent actually was.

I agree completely...the agent's behavior was unacceptable.

I haven't experienced any problems like that out of PDX. Although PDX terminals have been undergoing some changes, I still love the airport. It isn't as crowded as SEA, there are great shops to browse through, and there are fewer delays than in SEA. DOT data from recent months has shown about 90% of all AS flights arriving on-time in Portland, and departures are even more punctual.

I have not had any problems at PDX at all but last year I was flying BLI-SEA-IAH-BPT starting with QX connecting to CO. The agent in Bellingham booked me all the way through to Beaumont, TX. This was before the public annoucement regarding AS/CO was even mentioned. I have had nothing but great service with QX.

I went through PDX last weekend on business, and turned my trip into a mileage run to take advantage of the American/Alaska bonus miles. My return trip was PDX-SEA-PDX-SJC, the first two legs on Horizon and the last leg on Alaska. The gate agent was having difficulty getting the baggage tags to print up properly with that routing. I asked if I could simply Check my bags for the final PDX-SJC leg on Alaska. The gate agent said, "I should have thought of that!" and proceeded to do so. She did mentioned in passing that if she were to be a stickler about the rules that I would have to go to the Alaska gate, but that it really wasn't any problem for her to take my bag over to the Alaska baggage belt. Overall, she was very pleasant and helpful.

blackfur, I'm a little confused about your itinerary. Did you get somebody to add the PDX-SJC-PDX segments for free, since the net effect was simply PDX-SJC? Or did you pay a modest premium for the redundant routing? My reading is that your total itinerary was outbound SJC-PDX, return PDX-SEA-PDX-SJC. How did you do that?

(I have been successful in getting agents to let me replace SJC-SEA with SJC-PDX-SEA to get the extra segments, at no charge [MVP Gold]. If Alaska introduces a Platinum level, I don't want to be at 98 or 99 segments for the year and have the new level threshold be 100 segments....)