Subject: Formal Complaint – Incompetent Service and Denied Boarding on Flight 1409 (CLSVJM – Dear Alaska Airlines Customer Relations, I am writing to file a formal complaint regarding my experience on Flight 1409 departing from Seattle on 6/13/26. As a physician and business owner who frequently coordinates group travel, this was one of the worst airline experiences I have encountered. Upon arrival, I was informed that my check-in boarding pass was not official, despite successfully obtaining it electronically through your website/app with no warnings or indications of issues. My electronic boarding pass was rejected, leading to cancellation/denial of boarding. The gate agent (an older woman) was unhelpful, claimed my name had been announced multiple times (which it had not—she did not even know my name correctly), and mistakenly boarded my traveling companion under my name. Additionally, an older blonde staff member nearly failed to return my passport, highlighting a clear lack of training on your check-in and boarding systems. This chaos forced me onto a later flight while my group waited in Canada, unable to check into our Airbnb or pick up rental cars (as I was the primary booker). The entire incident caused significant business disruption, stress, and additional expenses. I have flown Alaska Airlines previously but will not consider it again without resolution. I request: • Full reimbursement of any additional costs incurred. • Appropriate compensation (vouchers/miles) for the inconvenience and poor service. • Confirmation of corrective actions for Please respond within 7-10 business days. Sincerely, Dr. Chunwen Teng
On time, good seats, not overly full, up beast positive crew.
Airport security lines in Seattle were awful. The only staff that was pleasant and made the trip more enjoyable was the young woman at the gate in Seattle. She was so pleasant and helpful. Flight attendant on the plane seemed like she would rather be anywhere but on that plane.
Never had so many staff members be rude and disrespectful. I had a staff member sarcastically call me “girly” after making me wait 20 minutes to be seen by her. I was able to print my luggage tag and she told me I was too late to check luggage I said the system obviously disagrees. And you had me wait way too long while you asked every single passenger ahead of me about their Disney vacations. She wasted so much time to then say “girly your bag won’t make it on the plane” I’m not her girly I’m a full grown adult. She needs to learn a hell of a lot of respect
My flight was several times rescheduled and then finally canceled.
The agents were super helpful. I was traveling with my mother inlaw who needed whell chair assisstance. The help and accomodation from the checkin crew, to the boarding crew and inflight crew was excellent.
People were friendly. Flight was a little delayed. Maybe I missed the reason for it. Overall a nice experience.
Completely full flight. Boarding was smooth, but people didn’t listen about use of overhead bins which is typical. We pre-purchased a snack which was tasty. Drinks were good and plentiful. Flight left late because previous flight was delayed.
The flight itself was great. But we had to wait over an hour to deplane so I missed my train. Not the crews fault. They were wonderful!
Flying into PAE was so easy because it’s baggage claim is quick and accesible. I had a car rental and the counter is inside the baggage claim area, very convenient.
Flight was delayed over 3 hours. Planes were dirty. Staff indifferent. And they serve vegan pretzels as snacks.
It was great. The gate staff were very helpful in Portland when my son forgot his rolling bag and had to go back to get it just in time to make it on the plane. We really appreciate that. Great job!
Airline is not very senior friendly. Flights are late, forcing us to run to the connecting flight. Food is awful. Wish they would go back to pretzels and peanuts. During flight, pressurization isn’t quite right and all of our ears get plugged. Everything is nickel and dime, charging for boarding, seat selection and legroom. While a screen at the desk in the gate area says check your roll on bag now for free due to space limitation, the employee at the desk will not check the bag without a $100 fee. Insane.
Kayak could’ve posted the correct gate number. Almost missed my flight.
Slow boarding, limited food and drink portions. Bad delays and turbulence
there were two flight attendants that were up front...that were the best! They get KUDOs for making my trip only fantastic. Tell them Jeff said that!
OKay. I sat in the back of the plane and it was really loud between babies and little kids, and adults who.like to talk a lot and loudly most of the flight.
Flight coming out of Buffalo was delayed, so we had to be rescheduled on another flight from Baltimore to Phoenix which means we had a long layover and got home 3.5 hours late. Shuttle to parking stopped at 10pm, so we had to pay for an Uber to the parking lot and got charged an extra day of parking since it was after midnight. Not the best experience. Long day!
Was fine, delayed and feels like southwest is always late
I don't know why flying out of Sarasota requires two plane changes.
The entertainment they offer could use some games, and maybe they could add some cookies to the snack menu. And the automated messages are a bit repetitive. But it was comfortable temperature wise and the seats were comfortable. The crew is very polite and helpful
This planes staff was top tier. Everything went great and had a great flight home.
Destroyed my suitcase. Tired of talking about it. Cancelling my unite mileage plus account.
New plane was lovely. Crew customer service is always lax but expected. Kraft on time and arrived safely.
It was a short flight so I was expecting too much
Had a one hour delay due to mechanical issue. I didn’t think I’d be able to make my connecting flight, but they waited for me and greeted me when I arrived to help things run smooth.
O’hsre taxi and deboarding took 40 minutes. Needed 20 minutes extra time between connecting flights to avoid running through terminal.
Was great in general, try to respect time and excuses when slight changes have been made, appreciated!
Really hard landing... as in slammed into the runway then hit the brakes really hard ...
Putting people that close to the bathroom, where you have to look into the bathroom as people are exiting and entering was not great and the smell was also not great. I know the airlines are desperate for more chairs, but that seat is a crime.
We sat on plane at gate delayed without communication as to why we were just sitting there
Agency very bad had to cancelled my booking too many changes in the flight changed my flight to 1 week
Trash. Sat on the runway for 40 mins…missed connecting flight because of it now I’m stuck. Thanks…a whole fkn lot.
The flight was delayed significantly and we sat on runway after landing for awhile. Best thing was the flight attendant, Jenny, in first class, who was very professional and attentive. She was excellent - the rest of the flight was not.
Crew were professional and kind. The flight was smooth. But... The internet, which we paid 35 dollars for, did not work for most of the flight. This made providing media for our child an uncomfortable hassle.
Overall fine. Seemed like one of the older model planes? Crew was mostly very kind, though some of the female attendants were a rather abrupt during the food service.
Awfully rude American worker at door when we started boarding flight. Then, walk into a blazing hot airplane with no air conditioning until twenty minutes into the flight. Free entertainment was non existent! My husband, along with the fellow passenger in our row, and I could not get entertainment to work, no WIFI! Really?? Been flying American a long time. Was very disappointed.
Flight was delayed by 6 hours... the level of incompetence was truly astounding. I won't be flying American Airlines again. I don't care if AA is direct and there is a layover with another airline, I'll take the layover.
Leave on time. We waited on the plane for hour hours and it was hot and smelly
Two hours delay, probably one hour because they didn’t bring catering and they had to bring water in board. There a change of aircraft. But delays galore at CLT so it must be a CLT and/or AA operation issue. The 1 hr additional delays because nobody could bring 2 packs of water sooner is probably the best example of this airline operates
There weren't enough employees at check in took awhile to get bags checked. There wasn't a wheel chair for me, I was sent to someone who turns out to work for a different airline, if My flight hadn't been delayed I probably would have missed my flight as it was, by the time I arrived at my gate, they started boarding in about 15 minutes. I don't know who took me to my gate, definitely was not the normal people who take passengers to the gate. I'm guessing she may have been in a management position. I wish I knew her name, she went beyond to help me. With that said everyone was kind, and were doing the best they could. So, I choose to say it was an Adventure, stressful start, but good. In the end went well. The situation was not only difficult for passengers but the employee's.
The staff at the check in counter was so rude. Made you feel Incompetent
Frontier scheduled a 40 minute connection in DEN. What they failed to mention was that they “close the doors” 20 mins prior to departure, which means you only have 20 mins. Not enough time. Possibly against DOT regulations. Filing complaint.
Flight was scheduled at 9:40pm. Got delayed to 10 am, the next day. crazy
The bag check, flight check-in, and onboard experience convinced my wife and me that we will actively go out of our way to avoid flying Frontier Airlines in the future. At bag check, we were informed that check-in could only be completed via the Frontier mobile app. Unfortunately, the app was extremely frustrating—sending us through repetitive, confusing loops that repeatedly forced us to decline add-on services with nearly every click. While most airline apps upsell, this one felt intentionally exhausting. As the process dragged on, we became genuinely concerned that my phone battery would die before check-in could be completed. We approached the bag check staff—who were standing together talking—and explained both our frustration and our predicament. They laughed. Later, my wife described the interaction as “gaslighting,” which felt accurate. We were then informed it would cost $25 per person simply to have our boarding passes printed. From that point forward, the tone of the experience was consistently hostile. The bag check employees were condescending and combative, behaving more like bullies than customer service staff. Unfortunately, that same attitude continued onboard. One flight attendant argued with me when I attempted to stow my backpack in the overhead bin. I explained that we had each paid $75 to check our bags specifically so we would not need to use carry-on space and could have adequate legroom. She demanded to see my ticket, pointed out that it said “no carry-on”—which I acknowledged—and I reiterated that this was precisely why we paid to check our bags. Her response was, “I don’t make the rules.” She then walked away, but not before asking if I “truly wanted to fly back to Chicago today?”—an unnecessary and unmistakable threat. It is also worth noting that despite booking our tickets together in the same transaction, we were not seated together. Upon our return to Chicago—where we could once again sit together—we compared onboard experiences. We both remarked on how unhappy the flight attendants appeared and how each of us was separately asked whether we would like to purchase a beverage. We declined. At no point was water mentioned as an option, leaving us with the clear impression that even water came at a cost—or that complimentary water, if available at all, was deliberately left unmentioned. Overall, the experience was shocking and deeply disappointing, but it was also a profound learning experience—one we will not forget and will not repeat. -Steve
Plane was hot and miserable and the crew was rude!
12 hour delay required getting on and off plane 3 times - would have at least liked to have been offered a snack or drink
They didn’t offer a water, even after I asked
They switched our terminal 3 times and we were delayed for four plus hours!!!
It was an early flight and most people napped/slept and the crew let us which was nice.
