ab2013

They really should automate the process of handling late bag claims. I'm not sure why a customer has to go to Customer Service for a request like this in 2021, when a lot of things can be done online or on a mobile app. I think this is an area where Alaska can improve a bit more on - if they really care about the experience for the customer, they should make it easier for the customer to file a claim and receive compensation for it.

futuramadramallama

Amazing. I hope a BSG experience doesn't come to this, but if it ever does, I now know how to be politely(?) firm, yet efficient.

This is fascinating, actually, and it's probably true [that the last POC often seems less pleasant/helpful than first]. Is it because baggage staff are usually contract? Or because they have less (and a different type) of training? Is it something more inherent... for example, pre-flight the customer could still cancel, but post-flight, the customer has no leverage? Anyways.

More broadly, I hope carriers don't start fudging this [without proof]. It already seems like some carriers fudge the weather excuse for a delay/cancellation sometimes. (E.g. Carrier A says a subset of its flights can't depart due to weather, when all of a similar volume of Carrier B's and Carrier C's flights, from the same airport, are departing just fine.)

I think it's because they don't want to overly-incentivize claims. As such, there needs to be a little "friction" to the process. Passengers-in-the-know can make a claim at the baggage office within a limited time frame, but the implicit goal is such that not every passenger makes a claim. However, my guess is they didn't intend for individual employees (or entire stations) to be so disagreeable about processing them (that's a separate issue).

Perhaps it's not too unlike stores which offer price match guarantees: they're not incentivized to offer a mass price adjustment for all affected customers, but those who are willing to jump through a few hoops to match a price are allowed to do so.

So why even offer a BSG to begin with? Probably to instill confidence in their potential customers, where they had calculated the increase in ticket sales would outweigh the volume of BSG claims.

PDXpress

That's the right question: Why does the bag guarantee exist? Has anyone ever chosen Alaska over another airline because of the BSG? That's just way, way down my list. But Alaska must think it matters because they announce it on every flight, sometimes multiple times.

NoLaGent

I love the BSG. It gives me a fun game to play with my stopwatch when the bell dings.

Alas, I haven't been able to collect even once this year. My last bags at SFO came out at 9 minutes, which is kind of amazing, yet disappointing. ;-)

PDXPremier

Sounds like some agents think the BSG comes directly out of their own pockets...so weird.

ab2013

And when a customer who might not be aware of the exact terms and conditions (there's quite a long list - I was actually surprised the first time I read through it) and finds that their request gets denied when such a guarantee was advertised so well (I've heard FAs announce this guarantee multiple times in a flight as well), it inevitably results in frustration for the customer. Not only did the customer not get compensation - the customer also wasted precious time talking to customer service.

Erasmus

This is why agents are grumpy. 22:05? Really? Do you so not value your time (or the agent's) that it's worth schlepping over to the baggage office and talking to an agent for two minutes? FTers turning customer service gestures like this into a sport is why they disappear...

Erasmus

I've never claimed the BSG, but it is absolutely the case that AS bags arrive much quicker than other airlines IME, and I suspect it's because AS puts themselves on the line to do so. I almost never check bags, but am far more likely to do so on AS than any other airline domestically due to reasonable expectation of not having to wait forever to claim them. More checked bags likely leads to fewer cabin bags which leads to quicker boarding which leads to more on time flights which leads to...

twitch76

A couple of things:

1) I already told you that I wait a few beats after the “ding” to start my stopwatch, and that I don’t bother make the claim if it’s on the belt within 21:00.

2) I didn’t make the policy, Alaska did. If they wanted it to be 22:30 or 25:00, they could have made it that way. I’m already giving them an extra minute. How much should I give them? Why?

3) The bag claim office in SAN is on the way to oversized baggage, which is where my UNLOCKED pelican case comes out. SAN has always told me that my pelican case comes out on oversized because it’s locked… so I started leaving it unlocked… it still came out on the oversized belt.

4) My conversation with the baggage agent took 30-45 seconds, not two minutes. I didn’t even wait in line.

5) Since AS joined the OW alliance, my bags are supposed to receive priority handling. Had the SAN handlers been attentive to setting priority bags aside so they went on the belt first, they would have easily met the guarantee.

6) I’ll turn around on the sidewalk to pick up a dime… and if I’m not in a hurry, a nickel or even a penny. So yes… I guess the extra 30-45 seconds of my time IS worth $25 or 2,500 miles.

Alaska is certainly free to change or eliminate the policy. But unless they do, nobody should feel shame or guilt for working the policy at whatever level it’s worth to them. For me, I’ve decided that’s somewhere around the 21 minute mark.

Erasmus

Oh my. Had the baggage handers been attentive to separating the few special bags, they might have not had anyone's bags ready in 20 minutes. Anybody who thinks the priority tags (OW or otherwise) are worth anything domestically are just fooling themselves. I'll vote for everyone's bags in ~22 mins vs. priority bags in 18 and the remainder in 30--or far worse, which is often the case with other airlines at SAN.

twitch76

Sure. I don’t actually disagree with you. I didn’t ask for priority bag handling either. But again, I didn’t create the policy.

(And, so far, my priority tagged bags have come off first about 80% of the time. It certainly has been worth something in my experience.)

rjque

I'm not sure this really needs to be a vote on either. AS seems to think they can do them all, in the correct order, in less than 20 minutes. If they offer me something for failing to meet that goal, who am I to turn it down?

Tide_from_PAE

I've been told by the AS Facebook page and the baggage agents in LAS that the 20 minute guarantee only refers to the first bag coming off the carousel, even if my bag ends up coming out 20+ minutes after the start of the guarantee.

When the aircraft is coming from an airport other than the destination airport, the issue seems more like "schedule reliability" rather than weather or ATC at that other airport. DL used to keep spare DC-9s and MD-88s parked at ATL to minimize such delays; it would just tell passengers to go to a nearby gate or tow the spare aircraft from the hanger/remote parking.

It would be interesting to see the net cost of such vouchers in terms of how many are collected and redeemed. It might be cheaper to just give any passengers who ask for the voucher a voucher at the airport rather than have them call Customer Care and complain.

It's interesting to hear that DL's baggage claim guarantee is automated. It reminds me of the former DL policy that allowed free rebookings, occasionally automatic rebookings, whenever a flight landed more than 15 minutes earlier or later than its scheduled arrival time.

twitch76

You may have been told this... but until AS changes the language on their webpage, it is simply inaccurate. Those agents may be lying to you, unable to read simple English, or simply misinformed.

Here's the link: https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...nute-guarantee

Here's the relevant line: "If your bags are not at baggage claim within 20 minutes of your plane's arrival at the gate, we'll offer you a $25 discount code..." (emphasis mine)

Nowhere in the footnotes (where plenty of exceptions are given) does it clarify that they really only mean the first bag off the plane. If AS wanted to say "if bags from your flight are not at baggage claim..." they would do so. Given the number of footnotes, they could easily add a line that says "BSG applies only when the first bag from the flight is not available within 20 minutes."

I actually keep a screenshot of the policy on my phone in case I need to show it to a baggage agent.

futuramadramallama

Well I sure hope the ramp staff don't start expediting a single bag onto the belt, for each flight, just to ensure the BSG is not claimable for that flight.

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Has it ever come to the point of needing to show the baggage agent the policy?