missydarlin

As is plastered all over alaskaair.com website, please don't call unless you have travel within the next few days that needs to be addressed.

We understand that some issues currently require call center assistance. I'm going to try and keep an accurate Wiki of current policy and suggested action and answer tactical questions the best I can.

I will not be speculating about policy or schedule changes, or handle anything specific to your reservation.

nomiiiii

While I appreciate this request in general, I have often been in situations where I have had the need to call for a future flight:

- I had a flight in end-April booked with Alaska miles. I needed to cancel that flight so that I can get the miles back, so I have enough miles to get a flight home in the next few days before a travel restriction kicked in.
- Emirates currently has hold time of over 24 hours (yes!), and it is very unreliable in their automated callback. I have been trying for the last 3-4 days to contact them to change a flight which happens in about 6 days now. I don't think I'll be able to get to talk to them unless I start trying already to contact them, since there is little to no chance of contacting them within the timeframe as things get worse.
- I don't have this issue but some people absolutely have financial constraints where they would only be able to buy a sooner flight if they can cancel a future flight and get a refund.

I'm obviously not going to call about some seat change or minor stuff, but there can definiitely be reasons where I need to call in advance.

I think one way Alaska can reduce call times is by making the March/April fee waivers part of their online change/cancellation process. Currently if you try to change or cancel a flight that should be under the waiver, you see the fees online, so have to call in.

missydarlin

I would consider that an immediate travel need.

williwaw

Thanks to everyone on the AS team - I can't even imagine what each day must bring. Thx missydarlin !

missydarlin

A good amount of stress-eating, for sure

michellt

We had a flight this week that was booked on a companion fare. As two golds if our plans change, we can usually just change the flights and "reuse" the companion fare. In this case the website threw up an error in changing the reservation, I have no idea why. I cancelled it and sent an email to Alaska (with the website error screenshot) and hope they will reissue the companion fare cert. This was the opposite of immediate travel need, and I trust Alaska to make this right later when I ultimately rebook the trip.

jrl767

I have a reservation for late next week that generates a “This reservation is not eligible for online changes or cancellation” popup, so I guess I’ll have to speak with an agent at some point prior to scheduled departure

missamo80

Handle it via SMS instead of phoning in. Send a text to 82008 with your confirmation code and what you need done. It may take them a few hours to get back to you, but you won't be waiting on hold and won't be tying up a phone agent.

ashill

Missydarlin, does texting save Alaska agents time? Obviously it’s a lot easier for us, but is it less time for the reservations agent handling the request? Talking is of course faster than typing sometimes, so I wonder which is faster on AS’s side.

Snowdevil

The handling time for calls and chat/texting can be around the same, although chat agents are usually handling 2 chats at a time, making them more efficient in many respects. Having said that, when the level of complexity increases and are no longer just quick answers to quick questions, the handling time for chat increases noticeably and can be even longer than a phone conversation would have been.

Between the two chat types - SMS or Web chats from alaskaair.com - the Web chats are quicker, as the guest is front-and-center on the site and can actually "see" when the agent is typing, whereas SMS/text chats take substantially longer, since guests are more likely to put down their phone during the interaction, occasionally prompting the agent to ask if they still require help.

jrl767

thx - found another with a GGU that I needed to make sure reissued properly; Maggie in BOI responded within ~10 min and got both transactions done in another ~10

tusphotog

Question for y'all out there. Family member was booked to fly early last week and made the cancellation before the updated refund policy went in to effect. I told them just to email customer care and ask for the ticket to be refunded fully as opposed to being issued as a my wallet credit. Any better way to do it? Certainly not a pressing need.

FWIW I've stuck with emailing customer care for reissuing GGUs. No rush on my part, since I'm not going anywhere for a month or more. Response time is in the normal ~five day time frame.

missydarlin

Snowdevil answered your actual question, but I'd like to chime in and say that the same request applies for SMS. There are a finite number of agents and they're still very, very busy. So if it can wait- please wait.

As Golds and 75K's you're going to jump to the front of the queue so it may not seem like the wait is a big deal, but for those in line behind you, who may have immediate needs, the wait just gets longer.

missydarlin

The blog says to contact reservations, but if they've emailed CC, it will be taken care of.

What do I do if I’ve already paid the change fee? If you were recently charged a fee for a change or cancellation made to a trip that now falls under one of our flexible travel policies, please contact Reservations. We’ll take care of the change fee to your original form of payment.

ffI

I have an EK trip on AS miles that I need to cancel The website says no change or cancel fees, then it asks me for 125$ at cancel screen!
Any ideas? Should I call ? Trip is only in April.