AS Schedule Changes (2022)
 

Our flights from HNL-SEA in April just got changed a bit. The routing is HNL-SAN/overnight/SAN-SEA, original departure was 3:20pm from HNL and now the flight has been retimed to 1:45pm.

We would prefer the later departure, for logistical reasons on departure date and I see HNL-PDX departing 3:55pm, connection to SEA the next morning.

Given the greater than 60 minute change in timing, will they move us to the HNL-PDX flight if we ask?

Yes, it's a 60+ minute change and PDX should be a permitted routing. May need to call in if the online system doesn't offer the PDX overnight automatically.

Does anyone know how far out we are with the actual schedule vs. future placeholders? I haven't been able to pin it down a specific date, but there are some noticeable schedule changes on multiple routes showing up somewhere between March 12th and March 19th so I'm thinking we might see a Saturday night schedule change soon.

There's numerous time changes on flights on March 17th (and also on March 1st), but AS has been making changes fairly close in so wouldn't really say March 1st - 16th is any safer than March 17th and beyond.

HNL-PDX was not offered as an alternative online so I got in the SMS queue while sitting in front of the fire with my son and after an hour I got an agent and she moved us all to HNL-PDX-SEA. Love the 3:55pm departure as we can still get some beach time before heading to the airport that day.

Not really a schedule change, but I noticed that AS806/AS829 between OGG and SAN becomes AS829 in both directions around Feb 17 or so. Seems a bit odd to me.

ETA: Looks like OGG-SAN switches back to using AS806 on March 17.

-David

I had schedule changes post yesterday for a trip in July. The agent was happy to route me via SFO instead of LAX but when it came to another segment she stated that the system wasn't offering the flight I wanted and there was nothing she could do. That meant a misconnect for a later flight. Only option was to cancel for a full refund, and then rebook the new desired itinerary online and pay the extra $70 per person.

Edit to add question: Was your misconnect on the later flight on the same reservation or a separate reservation? That obviously makes a difference for my original reply below. The rest here only makes sense if everything is on the same reservation.

I obviously don't have your specifics but that doesn't sound right, I'd try to give them another call.

Was the flight you wanted available for sale on the Alaska web site? I had a flight going to EWR during the recent bad weather that was cancelled and I had to call to rebook during the rebooking window. The flights I wanted were for sale on the Alaska site so I called. The agent said she couldn't see the flights to book for me in her system. I said something along the lines of "that's weird because I see those exact flights for sale on your web site". She asked me for all the times and flight numbers, put me on hold, then came back. She said she had to book the flights as individual segments in her system (but when booked the flights still showed up as one reservation number for me).

Short version. Find the flights you want, have all the detail, then politely ask why if they say no.

FlyerDigits everything was on the same reservation. I agree it didn't sound right - and I had all the flights detailed that I wanted to rebook on. I told the agent that, but she was adamant that she could only book the flights that the system offered. She said it was because I was booking into a different fare class which I wasn't - the original booking was all D class, as was the new one. Given that the pricing was only $75 more (and it was a very good deal for the number of BAEC Tier Points I'd get) I just asked for a refund and said I'd rebook. I spoke to AS again yesterday and they have said they will give me two flight credits each to the value of $75 - which implies they recognise they were at fault for not allowing me to rebook on Sunday.

I am glad I didn't wait to book as the fares are now $500 per person more expensive. The only thing I can think of that might have been an issue was that my original booking was priced as LAS - FAI and return, whereas the new routing prices as LAS - SFO, SFO - FAI and then FAI - LAS.

Still MANY time changes starting around March 17th which is now less than a month away without any significant Saturday night schedule changes so perhaps those new times are going to stick around for a change.

I am still holding my breath my flight out of Hawaii doesn't change again on the March 13. My later return flights in and out of the islands are still holding but I am not optimistic that they will not be subject to a change. I have already had multiple flights cancelled or times modified.

Honestly, I think we are past the worst of the last-minute schedule changes so I'm thinking all these new times/schedules that start in March are real since we're less than a month away from the busy Spring Break travel season.

The bulk of frequency changes were to Fall schedule this past weekend (Sep-Nov). There were a few routes that took cuts for May/June -- SFO-ORD/IAD and LAX-IAD.

Keeping my fingers crossed that you are correct as I have been jacked around quite a bit by AS over the several months.

The March 1st - 16th schedule period will already have commenced by next weekend, so it seems very unlikely there will be further changes to that.