CMK- the agent in Ketch misled you or had bad info, OR they knew #2 on the list and protected their "own" elites. I've been cleared many times on the final leg down to Seattle- but you mostly have to ask for it (as you did). They won't clear you on the intra-Ak segment (jnu/ktn) and put you back in steerage for ktn-sea.
*in fact my trip down here I was in steerage jnu/sit/ktn then upgraded out of Ketch.