No VIP checked baggage handling on Alaska
 

Anyone else thing it's a little lame Alaska doesn't have VIP baggage handling for gold/75k/ first class? United has the orange "VIP" flag they attach to the checked bag sticker/tag. I think in general this helps them prioritize getting those bags off first, although any experienced UAL traveler knows that's not always the case. Maybe Alaska thinks their 20 minute bag guarantee is sufficient across the board? Thoughts?

I thought about that but the only time I see value in the priority tags are for large planes on international flights. On Domestic Delta & United flights the majority of bags are tagged priority (probably because many of the people that get a free checked bag are elites) and thus there is no benefit. Since Alaska isn't flying wide-bodies I just don't see a benefit in the tag. The bags come out quickly enough as is.

I've collected 30k in BSGs to date (this calendar year), so I'm good without an orange tag.

AS is the best when it comes to bags, hands down.

just curious how often your bags get to the carousel within 20 minutes on a United flight? Even with the VIP tag. Maybe they do, I'm legit curious. My experience is that bags usually take a while on most other airlines.

I started flying UA in the 70s as a youngster, and in the last 45+ years, I think my bags may have arrived within 20 minutes four or five times. SFO is rather consistently 30-40 minutes w/UA.

With AS, it's either 17-18 minutes, or lately 24-28, which I don't mind either.

Sometimes bags are super quick; usually under 20 minutes (some outstations are consistently over 20 however).

I'll take the BSG ^

I've complained to Alaska before about lack of VIP bag treatment and it's exactly this. They will tell you that with the 20 minute bag guarantee everyone's bags come out fast so there's no need for VIP service.

Of course that means as an elite member you might still be standing around at the carousel at minute 20 as the last bag comes down the chute and it's yours.

I hate it too, but Alaska doesn't seem to understand that when you are a frequent traveler you want every minute you can back in your travels. VIP tags would help, even with the 20 minute guarantee.

Neil

My experience has been that by the time I get off the plane, stop in a rest room, and make my way to baggage claim my bag is either already there or will be within 5 minutes. Putting VIP tags on the bags will just slow everything down.

How about the minute it takes to ensure they are appropriately attached to the bags at baggage drop? How about the minute(s) to get them tagged with self-tags or automated kiosks? ;) The last time I was flying AA, the bags still took 38 minutes to arrive but at least my priority tagged bag came out in the first 25 or so.

24 claims for late luggage over a year is a free trip to Australia in J. :p

James

We were amazed how quickly the bags came off on our early morning ORD-SFO flight a few months ago. Granted the plane was not full and that we didn't stick around to see, but it looked like there were only 4 checked bags on the plane and they all came off as soon as we got to baggage claim.

Why would it slow things down? You make sure the VIP bags are loaded on the plane last. They get loaded off the plane first onto a baggage cart. Then unload that cart onto the carousel first. As long as you load them (as best you can) last, the time spent managing it is at loading time, not at offloading time.

It slows down to baggage drop process. Do you want to queue up to get your baggage tagged for priority? Seem counterproductive to add time to the check-in process to save a few minutes at pick-up.

James