mtofell

No changes by me. AS changed the time (hence the need to cancel) so maybe that's it. I guess I'll take the plunge and spend my afternoon on hold. The error message is just so strange - says to try again and call M-F 8AM-545PM if that doesn't work. So, I can't call today or Monday at 550PM?

imaflyertalkuserwow

Ignore that and call whenever. Customer care has limited hours, but reservations is open 24/7 and can cancel the ticket. If you call customer care, it should automatically forward you to reservations outside normal hours.

anteater

Try calling the Reservations line (MVP) which is open 24/7. That shouldn’t be too long of a wait.

Explore

I bought a domestic first class ticket on AS, which I understand allows access to Alaska Lounges. A few questions:

• Is access allowed anytime on the day of departure (vs. say just 3 hours ahead of the flight)?
• Is access allowed at the arrival airport?
• Does this include access to Admirals Clubs if not flying on AA?

Thanks!

mtofell

Called and got right through and it's taken care of... interesting talk with the CS agent and it makes sense. She said because I hadn't "accepted" the time change it triggers an error. Basically, the time I bought and the time of the flight don't mesh so the system can't process the cancellation. The flight isn't until Sep and she said they probably didn't even send out the notice of change yet (this is where I would accept the change). I believe I just got an alert in the app which doesn't give a chance to "accept." So, it almost sounds like changes by AS can trigger this but it's possible to get things back inline by accepting them. Not seeing the email is where it gets a bit fuzzy for me. Has anyone ever had to, "accept" changes?

Ford Fairlane

Yes, I've been asked to accept changes for many of the flights I've reserved over the past 14 months. You might have seen mention here of schedule changes being implemented periodically on Saturday nights or of "grooming" one's reservations. That's what it's all about for me: Seeing if schedule/equipment/route changes have happened, then either accepting the changes in the app or calling in if the changes don't work for me.

The types of changes I've been asked to accept have varied widely: Reroutes because of cancelled city pairs; changes to a different flight the same day because of the number of daily flights on a route being reduced; and departure time changing for a flight. I'm always amused by the ones that ask me to accept something like a departure change from 10:05 AM to 10:08 AM.

P.S. I've almost never received email notification of these changes. I just check all my future reservations at least once a week.

P.P.S. mtofell One last detail I forgot. I don't know how this works in the iPhone app and haven't tried it on the website, but opening the reservation in the app (Android) isn't enough. I have to open the seat map/click on my seat assignment before I get notice of a change.

sppunk

Never have had the opportunity to fly Alaska before, and would like to from IAD to LAX. I have a metric ton of Avios points - but can’t find any F award availability in November. Is that normal - ie will awards become available or has that ship sailed?

chrisl137

On the website and iPhone app the changes always show as the first thing after you click/tap on a reservation in the list. AFAICT you can’t do anything to the reservation online until you accept it.

I usually price out what I want it to be, and if the flights I want are cheaper I accept and change online. If they’re more expensive I don’t accept and call.

tornado163

I was coming here to ask if others were having problems with AS not sending out notifications about changes. I'm flying SEA-EWR round trip in August. A few weeks ago when I randomly popped on the app to check seats, I saw a notice there was a flight change - they made my outbound trip 2 hours later. Inconvenient for the family member picking me up, but they were okay with it. Then last week I went on the app and got another change notice - they cancelled my return flight and wanted to put me on a flight leaving 3 hours earlier which wouldn't work for me. The upshot was that I changed it to the original return time 1 day later and got a $40 credit. Still, frustrating that the AS isn't proactively contacting people about flight changes.

Bellerina

When I spoke to customer service last year about the lack of emails, they said they only send it a few/couple weeks before the actual flight. I think they do this because of your exact situation. Given all the travel adjustments that are constantly being made, sending an email for EACH change doesn’t always make sense. Instead they wait closer to the flight day and then by that point there won’t be more changes.

I wish they did send out emails more timely.

mildfrequence

I just had the same experience when I randomly discovered a change to an Oct itinerary by logging into the app that I had otherwise not been alerted to. The explanation above makes sense, but even if there are likely to be additional changes I'd prefer being in the loop as each one happens, with the opportunity to pursue my most desirable alternative options each step of the way.

mildfrequence

I can't believe I'm banging my head on the table over the mileage activity chart this late in the game but... (...but it's an infuriatingly inadequate tool!)
1. Does the "bonus" column reflect all bonuses for a given leg (cos, elite, promo)
2. Is "total" both EQM and RDM? I'd assume "not always" since during certain promos those values won't match, right?

If it's easier, just set me straight on how the $(@)! one interprets the table they present as "mileage activity" - thx so much

mtofell

"Mileage Activity" on the table is only RDM. EQM miles are basically a mystery and you have what they list. I went through the exact same thing (complete with banging my head on the table). Someone on here has posted a cool spreadsheet to track things. I usually just keep an eye on my miles (RDM & EQM) right after each flight lands. It's a nice distraction while people are dragging overhead bin bags, skateboards and tubas across my head.

physicsdude

If I select premium class seats on a fare that is economy, would that make the booking class into premium (i.e from G -> W/P/R upon purchasing premium class seats)? First time ever booking a flight with AS and I got a little confused by the premium class FAQ page.

RAD_PDX

Purchasing premium class seats will not change your ticketed fare class.