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With that said, travel arrangements to Kodiak Island from KCI with American Airlines, both going and coming, personally offered the worst travel experience suffered in more than forty years of pleasure and business travel.
Some of it was unavoidable. Weather usually plays a part in flight delays - and for good reasons. Such delays are focused on saving lives. Yet, airlines are also in the business of moving people and helping them meet agendas that passengers paid the airlines handsomely to deliver. The airlines have more responsibility to their customers other than just showing up at the gate to greet paying fares with a smile and an “I’m sorry, we can’t accommodate our obligations to you today because … .” when bumps in the road appear. They don’t refund the price of the tickets if the customer doesn’t show. With that said, the dog had better hunt both ways.
Our travel arrangements included flying from K.C.I. in Kansas City to catch a direct American flight from D.F.W. in Dallas to Anchorage – the latter approximately a six and one half hour flight. We had two hours after scheduled arrival in Anchorage to make our connection with Era Airlines, a subsidiary of Alaskan Airlines, which was scheduled to take us on the final leg to Kodiak City that same evening. While that should have been more than ample, it didn’t happen.
D.F.W. has a history of strange and unpredictable wind shears, even during blue-sky weather painted with unlimited visibility, if certain barometric conditions pose strong winds in that area. At least one plane was lost on landing several years ago with great loss of life. Since that tragic event, current security measures often stack traffic in the skies above the airport that are trying to land and, of course, the same delay goes for those trying to take off.
Those conditions apparently existed prior to our departure for Anchorage. After finally taking off, the captain announced we were an hour and a half late on our schedule. We had a heavy two days planned touring Kodiak City’s unique historical sites, port and incomparable Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository on arrival. The schedule was to prepare us for what we were to see and experience in remote isolated areas scattered down coast lines of North West Kodiak’s archipelago. I immediately tripped the light to talk to a steward. Our trip’s investment had just been put at a significant risk.
At this point, there is no blame from us with American. They were doing their job as well as they could. But, it quickly went downhill from this point on.
I tried to ask the steward (male) for help regarding our connection in Anchorage. In years past, such situations enlisted support from the flight crew, such as radioing ahead and establishing communications with their passengers’ airline connections to attempt as smooth a transition as the delay might allow. The steward cut me off in mid-sentence and, with a glare, informed me I would have to, “… straighten it out on arrival in Anchorage.” It wasn’t, “… their fault and there isn’t anything we can do to help you.” And he curtly ended the conversation and avoided my look the rest of the lengthy flight.
In all the travel years previous to this flight, I never missed a flight in such a situation – until this one. As it turned out, we missed the Era flight by 20-minutes according to Era’s employees when we charged breathlessly up to their gate.
To add insult to injury, the same steward that handled us so curtly on departure smiled “sweetly” as we hurried off the plane to try and salvage our connection, stating, “I hope you enjoy your stay on Kodiak Island.” You had to be there. But right then I fully understood stories previously aired in the media about “belligerent” passengers getting arrested for decking members of flight crews.
After realizing we had missed our Kodiak connection, we were informed the next flight was not until 7:00 am the next morning.
Stranded. No bags. We’re in our 60s and 70s. There wasn’t any way I was going to let Bev spend the night in a chair in the airport. We back-tracked to American’s ticket counter.
After explaining our predicament and asking for vouchers for meals and lodging, I ran into resistance. It, “… wasn’t their fault” “… we can’t issue the vouchers without administration’s approval …” “… administration personnel are preoccupied with …”
I finally quit asking and demanded to see the head of American Airline’s Anchorage personnel. Forty five minutes later, or longer, the same agent brought us vouchers for lodging at Anchorage’s Puffin Inn and for meals as long as they didn’t exceed $10.00 each. Anybody with travel experience in Alaska knows what a joke the meal vouchers were.
My requests for toiletries went unheeded. With no baggage, we had no way to shave, brush teeth, comb hair or any of the other necessities Bev subjects herself to before facing the public. American Airline not only did not assume any responsibility for the connection problems incurred at the moment of departure on a 6 ½ hour flight, they didn’t show the slightest courtesy for our welfare after we determined we were stranded on arrival in Kodiak. What we got out of them, we fought for because I knew it was their responsibility to provide it. Every delaying tactic they could employ was used to try and avoid what they finally did grudgingly provide.
While riding the shuttle to the Puffin Inn much later, I was laying back licking my wounds while Bev related our experience to an Alaskan Airline stewardess named Collette. Collette was laying over at the Puffin Inn as well.
After hearing Bev out, Collette quietly informed she had just resigned her stewardess job with American Airline and transferred to Seattle, Washington to sign on with Alaskan Airlines. She stated, “I had no idea how bad American’s service was until I went to work for Alaskan.”
Regardless what you might think, that statement did not make my day get any better. We were still booked to get home with American. It has virtually always been my experience that in the cold hard world of reality, leopards don’t change their spots.
Part of our trip included fishing. When planning the trip, I wasn’t sure whether devoting time to fishing would be productive. How do you get them home on the airlines?
When I asked that question, I was assured that we were each allowed 50-pounds of frozen fish on the return home. The implication was the frozen fish were allowed for in airline baggage regs to accommodate tourism to the area.
That turned out to be only partially correct. My fault in this was the various airline regs were conflicting and I ASSUMED this statement resolved the confusion. Bad mistake. We were maxed out per American Airline’s checked baggage regs (two properly sized bags each at 50-pounds or less) when departing by American for Alaska.
Alaskan Airlines (Era’s parent) baggage regulations include one 50-pound box of frozen fish gratis per paying fare on return flights home (keyword here) WITHIN the state of Alaska or to any airport their flights terminate at. The latter could be Seattle for instance. I assume (careful with that word!) that would also include Alaskan’s new flights into Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.
Take the following as a disclaimer: All airline passengers should investigate baggage regs for themselves without taking mine or any other word on the subject, print them out and carry them in the same folder they carry their tickets in to avoid the problems we ran into.
When checking baggage at Kodiak’s airport for the return home, the agent took one look at all our luggage, including the boxes of fish, and then, slyly, offered us a concession. That should have been my tip-off trouble was brewing. Someone with an airline appeared to be actually trying to help us get somewhere.
He booked us on an earlier flight to Anchorage. We thought that would help preclude any chance of missing the American leg back to D.F.W. and help us avoid any chance of the same nightmare we experienced on our arrival, so we accepted the offer. While it did that, we ended up facing new challenges because of the changed flight.
Kodiak’s security immediately impounded all our luggage, boxes of fish and us for a complete search. When I asked why, they stated that one of the main ploys terrorists use to attack airlines is to divert to different flights other than those they were originally scheduled to fly.
Also, by booking a different flight, the Era agent stated we must reclaim our baggage at Anchorage, then get it to American check-in and rebook it there for the trip home. While I thought that strange at the time, I now strongly suspect the Era agent foresaw a coming problem and passed it on to American rather than face the issue in Kodiak.
When we claimed our baggage from Era in Anchorage and delivered it to American, the agent there demanded excess baggage fees for the frozen fish to the tune of $80.00 a box or $160.00 total excess baggage charges. It was pay or give them the fish.
Some alternatives to the excess baggage fees for frozen fish for passengers from the Midwest might be Southwest Airlines to Seattle with connections with Alaskan Airlines from there to Alaskan destinations. American Airlines baggage limits are a restrictive two checked bags of proper dimensions and 50-pounds or less to avoid excess charges. Southwest and other airlines permit more ample three-bag check-in limits per paying passenger. This would have avoided the excess fees American charged us to get the fish home. There was no baggage fee charged by Era to get us to Anchorage.
A recent flight to LAX in Los Angeles was scheduled round-trip with Southwest out of K.C.I. Bags were checked curbside both at K.C.I. and LAX by redcap service. Boarding passes were handed to us curbside also. There is no seat assignment with Southwest. Seating is by A,B,C divisions with first come, first served when getting on the plane. There is no first class. After departure, free care-packages are handed out with three bags of snacks in each box. Soft drinks are dispensed free – the entire can – not just a plastic tumbler full. Alcoholic beverages require payment.
Southwest’s curbside service was prompt, from curbside redcaps to on-board stews, with smiles, thankyou’s and handshakes all around. Obvious concerted efforts were made to get passengers onto the aircrafts with on-time departures. It renewed our faith in acceptable airline services designed for passenger comfort and, most importantly, a commitment to getting them there on the schedules Southwest committed to as to departures and arrivals.
Would I go to Alaska again? Absolutely!
But, if the only travel choice was American Airlines, I would strongly advise scheduling enough time to drive the Alaskan Highway to Anchorage. Otherwise I would book a comparable people-oriented airline, such as Alaskan Airline’s systems connected with, say, Southwest, without hesitation. Personally, American Airlines would not rate the slightest consideration.
A final word: It is astute to not take anyone’s word about creative baggage arrangements to Alaska without checking and printing out each airline’s baggage policies prior to scheduling a trip there. We discovered, quite crudely and expensively, virtually not one airline flying in and out of Alaska offers the same baggage allowance. When transferring between airlines, the importance of such planning surfaces when reviewing the example we experienced checking in with a different flight on Kodiak Island than one originally scheduled to start us on the final legs home.
Et Caveat Emptor! (Let the buyer beware!)