My guess is that different people are doing and expecting different things within their experience. As in, there are people that book a ticket, check-in, go to the airport, maybe check a bag or two, fly out, then fly back and all goes reasonably well.

Then, someone else books a flight with some miles from Air Zambia on a credit voucher through a third-party reward, tries to redeem the remaining miles from their ex-wife's AA account while redeeming a companion pass, then expects to get one party in their group upgraded while sitting separately from the rest on the last flight out during a snowstorm.... and pisses and moans that they don't get their butt kissed and a chocolate bar on their seat.

Yes, AS has some IT annoyances but come on people..... keep your expectations realistic.

agree 1000% with the basic premise and the wrapup statement

the middle paragraph isn’t conceptually wrong, but it’s just sooooo hyperbolic

I generally find myself to be a very simple customer. I book one ways on AS metal on Alaska, I book awards on partners that are generally also relatively simple one ways. I rarely if ever change tickets after booking unless AS scheduled changes force me to. I never use upgrades.

And yet I constantly hit issues. My latest issues from the web/app bugs thread:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post37584456

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post37561385

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post37555659

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post37476511

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post37475047

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post37474683

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post37469460

These are the issues I documented just since December 2025, and I didn’t do anything fancy with Air Zambia tickets. Some are minor but plain annoying (bogus messages), others stop me from accomplishing what I want to do (no access to My Trips) and others are outright scary (the “blending” of two user sessions when AS seems to be confused who is logged in).

My expectation is that none of these things happen on a production site of a major US airline. Is that really unrealistic in 2026? I mean, I have only been using and creating websites/apps since 1996.

Some of the glitches I've reported relate to selecting medically necessary special assistance during a booking. It is the responsibility of every airline operating in the United States to follow the law, and those laws include making travel accessible to everyone. Not every non-standard action within Alaska's--or anyone's!--technology milieu is the result of factors within a given traveler's control.

I still choose Alaska proactively because I don't like monopolies or how they affect consumer choice; I'll pay extra to patronize a smaller or more local company.

I do think a user interface vital for receiving a paid-for service, in this day and age, should be rock solid. I'd prefer to need to call in for edge cases if necessary over having basic functionality fail in an app.

I believe it’s about reasonable expectations and much of what is happening is unreasonable
Both with IT,reservations,customer care etc

Many here enjoy flying Alaska and wish to support them however there will come a day sooner or later
when it will be game over.My good friend from IBM
had a flight booked with one of his associates.They booked on the same flights departing
from San Diego.They booked both tickets same itineraries at the same time
Yet Alaska canceled the flight on one ticket 🤷‍♂️ and rerouted through Seattle forcing him to leave a day early
after a lot of back and forth Alaska said take it or leave it.
My friend is steaming he was separated from his colleague and was offered 1000 ALASKA miles 🙄🤷‍♂️
That should pay for a hotel room and dinner.Though my friend is quite wealthy so he can easily afford it
Not everyone can!

Did you tell him to “not to sweat the small stuff”?

Question: I know airlines cancel or reschedule flights all the time. My app pretty much always tells me that changes were made to itinerary ABCDEF when I launch it, and then I can go figure out on my own (after jotting down one or more PNRs) what actually changed.

Can they legally move people from one flight to another when the flight is actually NOT canceled or changed in any way, as it seems to have happened to your friend? Imagine I book a $500 ticket on the first flight of the day; can the airline put me on the less popular and cheaper red eye just because and tell me to “take it or leave it”?

I wouldn’t be a jerk and ask that question as he was livid at me for even talking positively about Alaska years ago.Fire was coming out of his eyes

Its a great question but I assume far less folks want to be rerouted to transfer in Seattle when they originally book a non stop departure in the city they live in
Kind of stunned actually but who you going to call Ghost busters?
Alaska certainly isn’t listening or caring
I assume it’s not legal but they did offer a refund which likely gets them off the hook.
Flight not cancelled his colleague is still on the original non stop.

They booked far in advance and the rate has since skyrocketed .I would have exhausted all avenues and then some.
He doesn’t have the time to deal with the BS unfortunately
I offered to take up the good fight.
Adding insult to injury no agent could reschedule back to the original non stop
And simply no one followed up the call after escalating as originally promised. Do I mention hours on hold?
This is the state of Alaska Airlines in 2026 🤷‍♂️

They have some short haul flights that work for me which I still fly
but basically I’ve washed my hands of flying them and now stuck with
a million miles before the program imploded with massive mileage increases with select partners that mattered
I want to unload them and move on so I have slowly been just giving them away as gifts and others seem delighted to take them!
Perhaps they could still recover in the years ahead.They are a hot mess despite having nice team members.

Curious what the routing was?

Crickets 🦗

Seems like these cheerleaders and banner wavers of AS can do no wrong have a different disposition/tolerance? Maybe they are not real people and just chat robots? AS employees trying to repaint the situations into pretty pictures? All of us that have been FT members for 20+ years seem to agree that there are crappy changes, lack of care, and gone is the expression “North of Expected”. I feel the call centers are on the verge of going to overseas staffing (like the major 4 others and like Hawaiian has been for awhile). That will be a sad day. They keep hiring half assed reps or ones that talk a good confidence game, but are full of “Atmos***” at least the in flight crew are mostly personable. Well, not the ones that seem to call the flight deck when there is slight turbulence and magically an announcement comes through that in flight service is suspended for the full flight. I’ve had thy happen 4 times in the last quarter.

I think there are a lot of people that have traveled enough to know that stuff happens, you roll with it, and realize that flying is a means to an end.

I think I’ve only got 15 years on FT. “North of Expected” was what, 20 years ago? Thing change. Move on.

If call center gripes and an occasional flight with no service (that you oddly assume is intentionally done to spite you personally) are your biggest complaints then Alaska is doing something right.

Yes, stuff happens. I've had "stuff" happen on many airlines over the years. I've also had "stuff' happen as a top tier on major airline where the agents were empowered to take care of their best on the spot, even to the point of overbooking or putting me on 2 or 3 different flights to make sure I'd get home eventually. I am recalling a trip home many years ago, CDG/SFO (35 hours total elapsed travel time) where due to IROPS, I wasn't getting anywhere on my original flight. I asked the agent to get me home in comfortable seats, however you need to do it. And she did it. None of this "next flight is two days later" crap when it isn't a weather, other natural disaster, or war situation. This is the type of empowerment I expect.

That is true, if the call center gripe is occasional, as well as the no service flight.

As to "move on," AS still presents itself as more than it is. Most of us here want a functional and pleasant AS experience and are realistic about the current way of the world.

I agree and disagree within reasonable expectations.Lets just hope it isn't their end or our end
Over the decades I have mellowed to what I will complain to a company or concern myself with.
My tolerance level has increased and now just more select to who I will give my business too.

Failures are a norm from hotels to airlines but at times it can falls into egregious territory and Alaska in my perception has already done so.
Especially as it has become business as usual with the issues that are of the most concern.
Typically that is a short time thing in my decades of observation.And thats forgiven and fair enough to move on.
We can look back @Southwest and Delta meltdowns with IT,United summer from hel# etc.It was typically a reasonably short period of disruption time.

Painting a broad stroke that fits all failures into one nutshell is harmful to Alaska as it is to their paying customers.We all deserve better and Alaska
could and should restore some semblance in CRM that they managed so well for so many years even taking to account nothing stays the same forever
and that if there is one given its change.

Could AS be better? Yes.

But, Alaska is never going to return to the Alaska of the past. It is a larger airline that has evolved with the industry.

Evolved? More like took some steroids for rapid but not healthy growth. I'm reminded of my dearly departed apricot tree, which one year, had so much fruit on one branch that it finally gave way, leaving a huge tear in the trunk, inviting illness to the tree, causing its ultimate demise.

Meanwhile, today I had a unicorn transaction. I wasn't quite sure the last dates of the SFO/BUR route. I checked for flights (after seeing the outrageous WN prices OAK/BUR if I wanted a chance of a decent seat and a boarding zone for a chance of my carry on bag) and voila, for a bit over $200, I get the joy of flying an OO plane one last time on the route. (The price was almost as outrageous as WN from OAK.) AS tried to sell me a $40 upgrade, but I declined. After ticketing, within a few minutes, I received a You've been upgraded to First Class email. I had no idea that my fare was in a seat bucket high enough for the possible instant upgrade, nor did I check for U space. After all my whining, I will get to fly SFO/BUR for "only" $243 and enjoy the opulent splendor of the AS/OO F experience on the route. My mouth is watering, dreaming of the cornucopia of delights that will be overflowing from the snack basket. May the FA remember a PDB and perhaps two beverage runs, for the comfortably numb I'd like to be when arriving.