jhurwitz

My data points from my past year of flying: I've had delayed bags and claimed the guarantee 5 times. 3 times were at SFO (all were the paper voucher) and 2 times were at SEA (both were via the iPad). In May 2022, it took 3 days from when I filled out the iPad form until I got my miles. In Jan 2023, it took 10 days. (I get an email from customer care once it's processed; it seems like they process them manually?)

Interesting note: the iPad-generated miles post to my account as "SERVICE COMPENSATION" rather than "BAG SERVICE GUARANTEE 2500 MILES".

My biggest gripe with the new iPad method isn't the delay for miles to post (I'm fine with that, as long as they post eventually), but rather the amount of time it adds at the airport before I can head out. With paper vouchers, there'd often be roaming agents who could hand you a voucher whenever the line for more serious issues (lost bags, damaged bags, etc) got long. I've never waited more than 1-2 minutes to claim a paper voucher. But at airports that use the iPad, there are no shortcuts and your only choice is to wait in line (and at SEA, the line is generally quite long). Both times I filled out the iPad, I had to spend an extra 10-20 minutes at the airport on top of the time I'd already spent waiting for my delayed bag. Of course, making the miles harder to claim might be intentional

Bellerina

The one and only time I got the baggage miles was at SEA in December 2022. When my bag was over time, I located a roaming agent. She had an iPhone/pad and was also helping to direct people to carousels. I waited about 30 seconds for her to finish up with someone looking for their carousel and then it took 1-2 minutes for her to confirm the baggage was late and confirm I wanted miles. I had an email confirming my miles with a few minutes and then I got my miles posted within a few days.

i hope all the roaming bag agents can help instead of waiting at the desk. The line was long, so I’d likely have just passed.

jhurwitz

That sounds great, and better than my experience in a couple ways. The iPad-equipped roaming agent I approached in SEA said he couldn't help me with the baggage service guarantee and directed me to stand in the main line, and also I got no email (or other) confirmation immediately. (Relatedly, a very small suggestion in case anyone from AS is reading this: the iPad pre-filled my Mileage Plan number based on my boarding pass, but I wish it had also pulled my email automatically from my profile instead of making me re-enter it on an awkward iPad keyboard.)

remyjette

Please... One of these days I'm going to be tired after a long day of travel and enter it wrong. They already know it, just use that one!

ijkh

Is the 20 minute guarantee valid in PVR/ Mexico? We waited in excess of 40 minutes for the first bag to arrive on AS1357 yesterday. All of us were standing around with no bags until at least 40 minutes. The laughable part is that there was no AS employee on hand anywhere in the baggage claim. SWA, UA AA were all present. No one from AS. So no way to claim compensation either. In other news... we got our bags, made it swiftly through customs and are enjoying the crashing of the waves at this moment. Ahhh Mexico.

remyjette

Nope

https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...nute-guarantee

doublemazaa

Last week I arrived in Seattle. We waited a while for the bags to come out, and then the carousel changed. The bags eventually came out and mine was missing. I fired up my airtag (godsend) and I saw it still was on the ramp. I asked at the service desk about how to get it and the agent told me to wait another 10 minutes.

I asked for the guarantee miles for the inconvenience and she agreed and had me type my email address into a form on her iPad, though she asked me not to submit it. I waited 10 minutes and gave up, but as I was gathering my companions to leave, I saw my bag moved again and found it next to the baggage service desk. It ended up being 75 minutes between touchdown and leaving the airport.

It's now three days later I still don't see the miles in my account. Should I have them by now if I'm getting them? How long does it take guarantee miles to post to your account?

Update, after a week the miles never posted, I contacted Alaska and they gave me 3,000 miles for the inconvenience.

The Ivory Actuary

Arrived in SEA from KOA on 31 March. Bags took 40min plus to arrive. I spoke with agent at baggage services, she scanned by boarding pass and entered my email into an iPad (I didn't get a chance to see or validate the email). No miles in my account yet and no email in my inbox. Is this a manual process and I should just be patient, or have I lost out on the guarantee?

BOB W

It can take up to 7 days for the miles to post. You can contact Customer Care by phone or chat with them online and they will get the miles (or $$$) deposited.

jhurwitz

Yes it's a manual process, and you won't receive any emails or any other indication it's being processed, until the miles post. The 7 day timeframe is a rough guideline; it's taken 10 days for me, and theoretically could take even longer.

BOB W

Not always true. I claimed the BSG at DEN on 4/4/2023. I got an email on 4/5 stating:

"Dear Bob W,

On behalf of our Denver Customer Service Representative, please accept my apology for your recent travel experience. We will deposit 2,500 bonus miles into Mileage Plan account XXXXXXXXX. Please allow 7-10 business days for processing.

As always, thank you for flying with us.

Sincerely,
Alaska Airlines Customer Care Team

Reference#:"

Note that it does not specifically call out the BSG, but that is the only thing it could be in my case.

justinbrett

I flew SEA-JNU yesterday and my bags (along with many others) were left in SEA due to holding fuel requirements.

Baggage desk said I’d get 2500 miles but I explained I’m a Qantas Frequent Flyer - she insisted they would credit to my Qantas account. Never heard of that and I’m highly sceptical, although it’s probably something they should be doing as part of oneworld. They have to credit miles for the flight itself anyway. Still I’m sure I’ll get an email giving me a flight credit instead.

As a OWE flying First I thought my bags would be the last to be taken off but obviously status was not part of the equation (and to be fair the line at the baggage service desk was huge).

futuramadramallama

I figured the iPad method was to track these things more closely. Having a random stack of paper codes is like having a stack of small value GCs lying around.

She asked you not to submit it? That's unusual?

Yeah they give you a choice of a flight voucher/credit or miles. The voucher must be for situations like these, amongst others.

beckoa

10.12.23 BSG collected in DEN. Took about 40 minutes. Glad I stopped at the DEN AC. New one might just open next week!

justinbrett

I was emailed a voucher for $75 which was a nice surprise.