Alaska Airlines review by Gregory

On two separate occasions, in the last six months my daughters were bumped from paid first class seats to the main cabin. In both cases we had purchased first class airfare well in advance of the flight date and, in both cases, upon the day of travel we were downgraded from first class to the main cabin. The first event occurred in November of 2017, while my daughter was traveling from SEA to IAD for her 30th birthday. I had purchased her first class airfare as a birthday gift and checked her in the day before to verify everything was ready upon her arrival at the airport. She had no luggage [to check] so she went directly to her gate and waited for boarding. Because she was expecting to receive the services of first class, she did not eat or drink before arriving at the airport. Unfortunately, as she was boarding the plane, she was informed of her downgrade and told she would need to contact customer service to receive a refund of the price difference. The explanation provided was mechanical issues that resulted in a new plane with fewer first class seats. After my daughter's departure, I contacted customer service and was provided with a refund of the difference between the main cabin and first class seats; I was also provided with a $150 voucher to use on a future flight. My daughter, on the other hand, received a free drink and had to pay for her own food. The second event occurred May 7th of this year. My wife, my youngest daughter and myself were traveling from SFO to SEA to visit one of our other daughters and our grandchild. We were also celebrating our daughter's 21st birthday so I purchased first class airfare for all three of us. The airfare was purchased two months in advance and, once again, I checked in the day prior to ensure everything was good. Unfortunately, on the way to the airport, my daughter's seat number disappeared from her electronic boarding pass. Upon arrival at the airport (2 hours prior to the boarding time) we were informed that my daughter had been bumped to standby and her seat and the one next to her were given to standby passengers for "security reasons". We were asked to speak to the representatives at the gate in order to attempt to get my daughter a seat on the plane. Once we arrived at the gate we spoke to the representatives (it took three people to figure out what was going on) and were able to get my daughter a seat in the main cabin but were told they could not provide her with a first class seat. When we asked why, we were told the decision came from higher up and the representatives could not provide us with a reason. As compensation, we were provided with food vouchers and $200 vouchers to use on future flights. We were also told we would receive a refund of the price difference between the main cabin and first class but we have not received a refund as of yet. On the plane, my daughter did receive free food and beverage service but we found out that her seat and the one next to her were bumped to the main cabin so Alaska Airlines could accommodate two MVP Gold 75K members eventhough there were multiple main-cabin seats available. I understand that situations arise and sometimes decisions need to be made that may not be in everyone's best interest but, in the case of our recent trip, Alaska Airlines made us feel like my daughter wasn't good enough to be in a first class seat, and that is beyond unacceptable. Not only did Alaska Airlines give her seat away but they gave it to someone they feel is more important than her. I emailed Alaska Airlines and their response was: "Unlike many other airlines, Alaska continues to offer our customers the option to request their desired seat assignments at no additional charge. Regrettably, our staff is occasionally faced with the unfortunate task of having to involuntarily change a ticketed customer's seat assignment, which can happen for a multitude of reasons including security reasons. However, I can assure you that such changes are not undertaken without due consideration and are only done when absolutely necessary for operational reasons." So apparently, the "due consideration" was those other people flew more often and spent more money so they deserved first-class whereas my 21 year old daughter didn't.