Finkface

Strange one with AS yesterday. Mr. Fink and I flew last week on a B class fare. It was booked last January on the AS website and we were upgraded instantly as U was available. It was a decent price but nothing stellar, just a normal price for this route. We were using a companion cert and B was about $100 more than a GGU-eligible fare class so I obviously booked the B. There had been the usual 2-3 schedule changes since booking and the tickets were all reissued with no problems. I was the primary traveller.

Yesterday I noticed that I didn’t get the B EQM bonus so I called in, assuming one of the reissues changed the class - it has happened before but they can always see the original ticket. The CS rep told me it was booked in R class. I said it was B and I had screenshots or the original ticket from the day I booked (fortunately, I always do this). She said she would look into it and call me back. I asked her to make sure the return flights in Dec were also showing as B so I don’t have this problem again. She left a voicemail later saying:

“Hi Finkface, this is xxxxxxx in Alaska Airline customer care mileage plan Department. I just want to let you know that we will go ahead and we'll do a manual posting for your ticket, and the reason is because your flight was booked in error. They gave you the price of the lowest fare instead of what the fair price for B class would be. We do not credit error fares. But as a one time courtesy, we're just going to go ahead and book and manually post everything for you, including your return flight next month. So I'm just going to watch this flight for you for your return so we can change this one all in B class for both of you...”

This bugs me because this wasn’t an “error fare” and it makes it sound like they are doing me a huge favor giving me the B miles undeservedly. It also sounds like they think I screwed them over somehow. I don’t like that. This was a normal fare for a route I take often. Anyone ever heard of anything like this?

AKLifetimeFlyer

They know you are right, they are making you whole, but are carefully choosing their words so they are not on the "hook" in the future. That is my guess anyways. At least you got your miles!

rustykettel

Were you the primary or companion on the ticket?

Finkface

Primary. I put that in my OP. I am always the primary as Mr. Fink only ever makes MVP. But in her voicemail, she said she would credit the B bonus for both of us. I never asked for him, only for me.

Finkface

Yeah but it bothers me that they think I ‘put one over on them’. I don’t want to use up my goodwill favors for something I paid for. I knew I’d get the miles, I have screenshots. It was just the tone of the message that bothers me. And that she thinks I scammed them on an error fare.

NoLaGent

As mentioned, it's been corrected, but I totally agree with your feelings on the matter. If it were me, I'd write a concise note to MP explaining your point on the matter, with screenshots attached. In this case, it seems like the only thing that will make you feel better...

rustykettel

Apologies, I missed that when I reread it.

PV_Premier

If you see a current fare filed that is a B fare on the route and comparable in price to what you paid, just send them that and say "look, I am not screwing you over"

audio-nut

What’s the route and day that you booked?

Finkface

The outbound was YVR-SEA-HNL. I booked it on Jan 23.

Often1

I would not do anything. You still have a return in December and everytime someone "touches" a ticket, the odds of something going wrong increase immeasurably.

AS made a mistake, made you whole and it is over. AS is a corporation and it does not "think" anything of you. Regardless, if indeed it had charged too low a fare, it should still credit you.

Finkface

Agreed, and I have no intention of doing anything. I called because I assumed it was just a crediting mistake. I just wondered if anyone else had ever experienced this. Being retroactively told the amount they paid was too low for that fare class and it was an error fare so they wouldn’t receive credit for the class flown.

audio-nut

Was it the cheap fare with the FBC starting in R?

FQ23JAN19YVRHNL‡VN-AS‡BB«
YVR-HNL CXR-AS FRI 22NOV19 USD
AS YVRHNL 22NOV19
V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG
1 RH0OAVMN B X 276.00 T22FE -/‡ -/ - 86
2 BL0OZSMN B X 502.00 T06MY -/‡ -/ - 86
3 BH0OZSMN B X 525.00 T06MY -/‡ -/ - 86
4 BL0OWSMN B X 525.00 T06MY -/‡ -/ - 86
5 BH0OWSMN B X 543.00 T06MY -/‡ -/ - 86

Flying for Fun

OP used a companion certificate and GGUs so the fare class had to be K or higher for their application. OP also stated B fare was only $100 more ($50/pax equivalent with companion certificate) and chose B for the COS. What was the K fare for the same route and dates?

James

audio-nut

fq23jan19yvrhnl‡vn-as‡bk«
yvr-hnl cxr-as sat 23nov19 usd
as yvrhnl 23nov19
v fare basis bk fare travel-ticket ap minmax rtg
1 kl0ozsmn k x 232.00 t12fe -/‡ -/ - 86
2 kl0owsmn k x 254.00 t12fe -/‡ -/ - 86
3 kh0ozsmn k x 315.00 t06my -/‡ -/ - 86
4 kh0owsmn k x 333.00 t06my -/‡ -/ - 86