RaginPlainsman

Since yesterday I've been trying to book a SEA-TPE outbound / HKG-SEA return itinerary, exclusively on KE in J using AS miles. I kept getting a -1990 error code after hitting Purchase, so I called in yesterday and the agent said that they'd been having systemic issues with partner awards in general. He tried and couldn't get it to go through, so he asked for my device type and browser version to send to IT and said to try back the next day (today.) He said the error he was getting was not the one that would usually come up if it was phantom availability, and said some sort of update had caused an issue with AS computers connecting with partners' systems. He wasn't specific as to which partners, but he made it sound like all of them.

I made another run at it online this morning, and after that didn't work (same -1990 error) waited a few hours and called in. The agent tried to make the booking and it also failed, so she took a screenshot because IT was asking them to collect examples. She was proactive in asking if I'd like to search on CX, which was appreciated, but there was only Y availability.

Has anyone else run into issues booking partner awards this weekend/recently? Or have ideas as to workarounds? Thanks in advance.

NoLaGent

Most definitely. AS IT is, not so shockingly, misbehaving. Again.

KnownasEric

One can only hope they actually test the fix before rolling it out...

CDKing

Oddly my JL flight that I need to cancel for Wednesday is giving message that its not eligible for online changes or cancel. No issue with my May Reservation though.

reverted

Been having trouble adding a leg onto my JL award. Was told that it was an IT issue with the two airline systems interfacing and to call back in 5 days.

CDKing

Mine must have been unrelated, agent did have an issue cancelling but put me on hold and was able to cancel.

RaginPlainsman

Tried again today. Same -1990 error, so called in. Agent checked and said it is a known issue that is still unresolved - pegged it on KE - and said if it wasn't bookable by me online it wouldn't be bookable by her on the phone. So I'll keep trying every few days...

ecdysiast

I'd been having this problem (-1990) for about a week trying to book QF. I must have tried over 100x on the website during that week, finally found a sympathetic agent on the phone who was able to manually sell the ticket after verifying the availability with the partner desk. Every other time I called they said just keep trying. Pretty frustrating...but hopefully you eventually get the right agent on the phone.

dsfunk

This is still an issue with KE. The agent last Friday told me it was an IT issue. The agent today said there was no availability. I had the agent try many dates and routes. I think she just didn't know how to interpret what she was seeing. I get the -1990 error online.

jsguyrus

So we have these partners that you can't book anything on? How is that supposed to work? AS can't just say it's an IT problem, take two aspirin and try again tomorrow..

CDKing

Its not he first time and won't be the last. This same thing happened with EK, which was fixed after a year i believe. JL Y+ was discontinued forever due to similar issues.

RetiredSFOATC

[Rant coming...]

I just don't get it. IME, Alaska is woefully inadequate when it comes to partner award inventory, especially in upper classes of service, which I think most of us would probably be searching for. I've been struggling to find AS partner awards (F or J) over the Atlantic. Pretty much zilch. After the AF and KL loss, virtually nothing was done to restore those, and now there is "booking failure" with FI. AA won't allot any J or F seats over the water, and BA charges hundreds in fees (and often won't put you up front even if you pay for it). DE has almost no available business seats that I can find, and when you do find one, they often make you fly some silly itinerary like SEA-GEG-PDX-FRA. EK is sometimes an option, but at high-dollar, high mileage, and very lengthy travel time (I love to fly, but don't want to spend 35 hours -each way- of my vacation just getting there...)

AS agents at the "Partner Desk" always say they can only see what we can see - so I'm not sure why they are even there. One nice lady I spoke to said she didn't know about the FI booking failure (I had to tell her), and that's been that way for a long time now. If this was a tech-related *revenue* issue, you can be sure that AS would have fixed it yesterday! The other line I hear when I do call is, "Well that's all the seats they allot us...". Hm. I think it's time that AS fixes this and starts doing business with partners who really are partners, provide some decent inventory, and get their computers to talk to each other.

And don't get me started on the "companion fare" thing....

Sorry for the tirade.

dsfunk

Twitter person said they are looking at it. Seems like the default answer.

jiburi

This issue is getting irritating. This IT issue is likely an AS issue and need to be escalated. AS needs to invest in more knowledgable IT resources ASAP.

Icelandair problem is now a month long problem. KE is the new entrant.

Jiburi

kileysmom

I know BA is making changes to its own awards chart which, I think, is also going to affect what AS MP folks have to "pay" in miles but there are maybe a very few if not NO BA 1st seats available from just about anywhere and none I can find from the West coast. Did manage to snag one from LHR to SEA in mid-October but that's all I've found. Is this an IT issue as well or is it just BA not releasing anything until they re-set the charts?