Spending time with Great Grandma? Priceless...
Under the cut you will find the sad sad saga of how Alaska Airlines lost our luggage, cancelled our return tickets and basically did about everything short of tossing us off an airplane without parachutes.
This is actually my original complaint email to Alaska Airlines - I just can't bring myself to write anything new about it.
Original outbound itinerary (AS = Alaska Air/Horizon, CX = Cathay Pacific)
AS 2637 on 28 JUL, PDX to SFO departing 9:20 AM
CX 879 on 28 JUL, SFO to HGK departing 1:35 PM
CX 703 on 29 JUL, HGK to CMB (via BKK) - departing 8:05PM 29 JUL, arriving 12:40 AM
Actual outbound itinerary
AS 570 on 28 JUL, PDX to LAX departing 8:25 PM
CX 881 on 29 JUL, LAX to HGK departing 1:40 AM
CX 711 on 30 JUL, HGK to CMB (via SIN) departing 4:15 PM, arriving 10:40 PM
My two children and I are in Sri Lanka for a family celebration. We arrived at PDX (Portland) which is 2 hours from our home at 6:40 AM on Wed 28 JUL. We checked in 3 bags thru to CMB and were given baggage claim tags. Although we didn’t realize it at the time, the baggage tag tracing numbers had been cut off because of the way the tags were torn off the printer. This became a huge problem later on, when the bags could not be located upon arrival at CMB.
We boarded flight AS 2637 after a 1 hour delay but then were told to deplane because the flight was delayed again due to fog in SFO. Passengers were told that connections were being “worked on”.
Second call to board was approx 11 AM. We attempted to board but were told at the gate to step aside for rerouting since we would not make our connection in SFO. I asked about our bags and was told that the Alaska Airlines/Horizon lady at the desk (Kim?) would help us.
The lady at the desk (Kim?) was helping another couple - she was talking to someone on the phone, asking that the couple’s bags be taken off the flight since they were being rerouted. I asked if our bags could also be taken off and was told in a rude tone that she could not deal with that at the moment. Another Alaska Airlines/Horizon employee asked the lady about another family’s connections and was told in a rather loud rude tone that the family would have to call Korean Airlines themselves and handle their own rerouting since they had “a different kind of ticket.” I then asked if we would also need to handle our own rerouting and she indicated that yes, we would. I asked if she could provide us with the phone number for Cathay Pacific and was told I needed to wait.
Eventually another Alaska Airlines/Horizon employee said that he could help us. While he was trying to reroute us, we saw our original flight (AS 2637) take off. I asked again about our bags and the employee (who was very polite) said that they would get rerouted upon arrival in SFO.
We were rerouted thru LAX on an evening flight. As a result, we spent almost 14 hrs at PDX and arrived in CMB almost 24 hrs later than originally scheduled.
While still at PDX, I called Cathay Pacific via their 800 number. The Cathay Pacific employee was surprised to hear that our bags had been sent to SFO without us and that we had been rerouted to LAX. She said that she was unable to reroute us over the phone since that had to be done by Alaska Airlines but that we should have been sent to SFO and rerouted from there so we would not be separated from our bags.
I then asked 2 different Alaska Air employees about our situation and was given 2 different responses. One felt that the bags would be automatically rerouted. The other said we would have to file a claim at our final destination. When I explained that our final destination was halfway around the world and asked if we could attempt to track the bags now I was told that that would not be possible.
When we arrived at CMB, the bags were not here. We immediately filed a Property Irregularity Report (lost luggage claim) with Bandaranaike International Airport’s Baggage Services. At that time we were made aware of the missing baggage tag numbers from the Alaska Air baggage claim receipts.
About 2 hours after the plane arrived in CMB, I was able to contact Alaska Airlines. They did have the baggage tag numbers in their computer system - AS 46 1087, AS 46 1088 and AS 46 1089 - but they told me that they could not trace the bags. They were also unable to tell me whether my bags ever arrived in SFO, if they had been otherwise rerouted or if they had been handed over to Cathay Pacific. “The system doesn’t work that way,” I was told.
In the end we had to track down the bags on our own. After making numerous inquiries and international phone calls we finally reached a helpful Cathay Pacific Baggage Services employee in San Francisco (Jack) who recalled having seen the bags and was able to physically put them back into the system. Our bags were finally delivered on Wed Aug 4th - 5 days after our arrival.
We received an even greater shock on Monday Aug 2nd when we went to the Cathay Pacific Colombo office to request a clothing allowance for our misplaced bags. It was discovered that Alaska Airlines had failed to cancel our original itinerary through SFO, even as they rerouted us through LAX. As a result, Cathay Pacific declared all three tickets as "no shows" and CANCELLED all three return tickets. We had confirmed seats to return to the US on Aug 23rd. My husband, who will be arriving in Sri Lanka on Aug 9th, will be returning with us and has reservations on the same flights. We are now being told that all flights to the US are booked through the second week of September.
But then you just have to look at this pic to realize it was all worth it.
This is actually my original complaint email to Alaska Airlines - I just can't bring myself to write anything new about it.
Original outbound itinerary (AS = Alaska Air/Horizon, CX = Cathay Pacific)
AS 2637 on 28 JUL, PDX to SFO departing 9:20 AM
CX 879 on 28 JUL, SFO to HGK departing 1:35 PM
CX 703 on 29 JUL, HGK to CMB (via BKK) - departing 8:05PM 29 JUL, arriving 12:40 AM
Actual outbound itinerary
AS 570 on 28 JUL, PDX to LAX departing 8:25 PM
CX 881 on 29 JUL, LAX to HGK departing 1:40 AM
CX 711 on 30 JUL, HGK to CMB (via SIN) departing 4:15 PM, arriving 10:40 PM
My two children and I are in Sri Lanka for a family celebration. We arrived at PDX (Portland) which is 2 hours from our home at 6:40 AM on Wed 28 JUL. We checked in 3 bags thru to CMB and were given baggage claim tags. Although we didn’t realize it at the time, the baggage tag tracing numbers had been cut off because of the way the tags were torn off the printer. This became a huge problem later on, when the bags could not be located upon arrival at CMB.
We boarded flight AS 2637 after a 1 hour delay but then were told to deplane because the flight was delayed again due to fog in SFO. Passengers were told that connections were being “worked on”.
Second call to board was approx 11 AM. We attempted to board but were told at the gate to step aside for rerouting since we would not make our connection in SFO. I asked about our bags and was told that the Alaska Airlines/Horizon lady at the desk (Kim?) would help us.
The lady at the desk (Kim?) was helping another couple - she was talking to someone on the phone, asking that the couple’s bags be taken off the flight since they were being rerouted. I asked if our bags could also be taken off and was told in a rude tone that she could not deal with that at the moment. Another Alaska Airlines/Horizon employee asked the lady about another family’s connections and was told in a rather loud rude tone that the family would have to call Korean Airlines themselves and handle their own rerouting since they had “a different kind of ticket.” I then asked if we would also need to handle our own rerouting and she indicated that yes, we would. I asked if she could provide us with the phone number for Cathay Pacific and was told I needed to wait.
Eventually another Alaska Airlines/Horizon employee said that he could help us. While he was trying to reroute us, we saw our original flight (AS 2637) take off. I asked again about our bags and the employee (who was very polite) said that they would get rerouted upon arrival in SFO.
We were rerouted thru LAX on an evening flight. As a result, we spent almost 14 hrs at PDX and arrived in CMB almost 24 hrs later than originally scheduled.
While still at PDX, I called Cathay Pacific via their 800 number. The Cathay Pacific employee was surprised to hear that our bags had been sent to SFO without us and that we had been rerouted to LAX. She said that she was unable to reroute us over the phone since that had to be done by Alaska Airlines but that we should have been sent to SFO and rerouted from there so we would not be separated from our bags.
I then asked 2 different Alaska Air employees about our situation and was given 2 different responses. One felt that the bags would be automatically rerouted. The other said we would have to file a claim at our final destination. When I explained that our final destination was halfway around the world and asked if we could attempt to track the bags now I was told that that would not be possible.
When we arrived at CMB, the bags were not here. We immediately filed a Property Irregularity Report (lost luggage claim) with Bandaranaike International Airport’s Baggage Services. At that time we were made aware of the missing baggage tag numbers from the Alaska Air baggage claim receipts.
About 2 hours after the plane arrived in CMB, I was able to contact Alaska Airlines. They did have the baggage tag numbers in their computer system - AS 46 1087, AS 46 1088 and AS 46 1089 - but they told me that they could not trace the bags. They were also unable to tell me whether my bags ever arrived in SFO, if they had been otherwise rerouted or if they had been handed over to Cathay Pacific. “The system doesn’t work that way,” I was told.
In the end we had to track down the bags on our own. After making numerous inquiries and international phone calls we finally reached a helpful Cathay Pacific Baggage Services employee in San Francisco (Jack) who recalled having seen the bags and was able to physically put them back into the system. Our bags were finally delivered on Wed Aug 4th - 5 days after our arrival.
We received an even greater shock on Monday Aug 2nd when we went to the Cathay Pacific Colombo office to request a clothing allowance for our misplaced bags. It was discovered that Alaska Airlines had failed to cancel our original itinerary through SFO, even as they rerouted us through LAX. As a result, Cathay Pacific declared all three tickets as "no shows" and CANCELLED all three return tickets. We had confirmed seats to return to the US on Aug 23rd. My husband, who will be arriving in Sri Lanka on Aug 9th, will be returning with us and has reservations on the same flights. We are now being told that all flights to the US are booked through the second week of September.
But then you just have to look at this pic to realize it was all worth it.