Alaska Air-- On time?

[Radioguyaz]

I'm flying Alaska Air for the first time in May for our Alaskan cruise. What are your experiences with Alaskan Air? Have their connections always been on time?

[Ashland]

[B]I have flown them a few times and have never had a problem..but that's not to say it can't happen to any and all airlines....Also they are one of the few carrier's that you can ask about (at the check in counter for a sometimes small price depending on routing) an upgrade to first class on day of travel..It has been well worth it to us at times for longer flights and may be to you too. We'll probably be flying with them also for our May cruise...[/B]

[Radioguyaz]

Awesome info. Thank you.. the flight from Anchorage on the way home will be a long one.. I may ask for the upgrade then.. :)

[Keith1010]

I hope you are arriving for the cruise a day or more before the start of the cruise. It's always risky to fly in the day of the cruise as flight cancellations or delays could cause you to miss the ship.

Keith

[Fattony]

Paid upgrade can be requested 24 hours in advance, and the cost varies by mileage. [url]http://www.alaskaair.com/content/travel-info/first-class-upgrades.aspx?lid=nav:travelInfo-firstClassUpgrades#paid[/url] If you're in their mileage plan, there are provisons for a free upgrade.

[Globaliser]

[quote name='Radioguyaz']Have their connections always been on time?[/QUOTE]No, of course not.

No airline's connections have always been on time. Every airline suffers from delays and every airline's passengers suffer from misconnections. They're an inevitable part of travelling.

Asking a very limited selection of people for personal anecdotes is no substitute for making proper contingency plans for the very real possibility that it will all go wrong on the day that you're travelling - as it might do.

[scottbee]

[quote name='Radioguyaz']I'm flying Alaska Air for the first time in May for our Alaskan cruise. What are your experiences with Alaskan Air? Have their connections always been on time?[/quote]
[B][FONT=Arial][U]Highest On-Time Arrival Rates[/U][/FONT][/B]

1. Hawaiian Airlines – 94.7 percent
[B]2. Alaska Airlines – 91.5 percent[/B]
3. AirTran Airways – 88.0 percent
[url]http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2012/dot077_12/html/dot077_12.html[/url]

Does that help? Certainly better than the big three

[Radioguyaz]

Unfortunately I will be flying in on the day of the cruise. However I will be flying in nearly 7 hours before the cruise. Hopefully everything goes smooth. I am flying from Phoenix to Seattle to Vancouver.

[frugaltravel]

[quote name='Radioguyaz']Unfortunately I will be flying in on the day of the cruise. However I will be flying in nearly 7 hours before the cruise. Hopefully everything goes smooth. I am flying from Phoenix to Seattle to Vancouver.[/quote]

Extremely risky, but at least you have probably 3-4 hours to work with. It takes a while to get through immigration, luggage reclaim and customs, then to the ship. Plus, you need to be on the ship something like 90 minutes before departure.

So long as you are comfortable with a worst-case scenario of having to forfeit the cruise because you didn't make it to Vancouver in time (most cruise lines won't let you board in your first port stop on one-way cruises), then you have realistic expectations.

If you want to read about a nightmare of a trip with Alaska Air and canceled flights, you can read this thread:

[url]http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alaska-airlines-mileage-plan/1399287-flight-114-cancelled-disappointed.html[/url]

[kenish]

Since you're looking for personal anecdotes:

I fly Alaska a lot and connect through their SEA hub. I've misconnected a few times, and also been put on an earlier connecting flight to reduce my layover time. The important thing is AS staff very proactively handled the situation.

FYI, there are fairly frequent AS flights from SEA-YVR. They use 70-passenger Q400 aircraft and tend to run pretty full. As others mentioned you are cutting things very close if you misconnect. Assuming the next flight with seats is 2 hours later, add 1 hour to clear Immigration, 1 hour to the dock, and boarding 90 minutes in advance. That leaves you with 90 minutes wiggle room.

Also be prepared to split up and take separate flights; that may be the only way everyone gets to YVR. Also check the status of your scheduled flights before you leave for the airport...the sooner you spot a problem the more options you have. Consider solutions like getting re-routed to LAX, SNA, LGB, SFO, SJC, or PDX on another carrier and then to YVR from there.

If the cruise is one-way to Anchorage you will not be allowed to catch up to the ship if the next port is Ketchikan or Sitka. The cruise line will violate PVSA if they boarded you in a US port.

[Radioguyaz]

This is our second cruise and we flew in on the day of as well. Until I found this board I didn't know people flew in earlier!

[Ashland]

[quote name='Radioguyaz']This is our second cruise and we flew in on the day of as well. Until I found this board I didn't know people flew in earlier![/quote]
[B]We fly in day of also...LAX-YVR or have at times had a quick connection through PDX usually arriving into Vancouver before noon...so far so good...Not everyone has the option of flying in a day or more pre-cruise..but hard to convey that fact to many on these boards.[/B]

[Zach1213]

[quote name='Ashland'][B]We fly in day of also...LAX-YVR or have at times had a quick connection through PDX usually arriving into Vancouver before noon...so far so good...Not everyone has the option of flying in a day or more pre-cruise..but hard to convey that fact to many on these boards.[/B][/QUOTE]

Many of us frequent travelers view arriving a day ahead as a necessary part of the trip because we have all been messed up by travel. Just this weekend I had a 6.5 hour delay on a nonstop flight with no weather issues. The inbound (OMA-DCA) was delayed by mechanical at 6:30am.

In my view, I wouldn't take a cruise unless I could come in the night before because I've experienced many times the issues. Too expensive? Than I need to save a bit more before I can take that vacation. Obligations the night before? Than I need to pick a different week for my vacation. Because I'm sure as heck not willing to take the chance of flying in the same day. Too many bad things can happen, as they have on my frequent business trips.

[Fattony]

[quote name='scottbee'][B][FONT=Arial][U]Highest On-Time Arrival Rates[/U][/FONT][/B]

1. Hawaiian Airlines – 94.7 percent
[B]2. Alaska Airlines – 91.5 percent[/B]
3. AirTran Airways – 88.0 percent
[URL]http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2012/dot077_12/html/dot077_12.html[/URL]

Does that help? Certainly better than the big three[/quote]

Wonder how much the distances and weather conditions of each airline's flights plays a role. Hawaiian has interantional routes, but maybe a high per centag eof flights are short inter-island hops? AS flies in Alaska in winter, besides to Hawaii, DCA, etc. We are currently scheduled to fly on Alaska from KOA-PDX in early February. Would fly Hawaiian, but Alaska's flight is refundable (first class).

[Ashland]

[quote name='Zach1213']Many of us frequent travelers view arriving a day ahead as a necessary part of the trip because we have all been messed up by travel. Just this weekend I had a 6.5 hour delay on a nonstop flight with no weather issues. The inbound (OMA-DCA) was delayed by mechanical at 6:30am.

In my view, I wouldn't take a cruise unless I could come in the night before because I've experienced many times the issues. Too expensive? Than I need to save a bit more before I can take that vacation. Obligations the night before? Than I need to pick a different week for my vacation. Because I'm sure as heck not willing to take the chance of flying in the same day. Too many bad things can happen, as they have on my frequent business trips.[/quote]
[B]Sorry you would choose to opt out..I'm not about to pass up a chance to cruise...Sometimes things in life are a gamble some are willing to take and some aren't...:)[/B]

[Zach1213]

[quote name='Ashland'][B]Sorry you would choose to opt out..I'm not about to pass up a chance to cruise...Sometimes things in life are a gamble some are willing to take and some aren't...:)[/B][/quote]

Hey, to each their own. I get one vacation a year if I am lucky (despite the fact that I am on planes every week), so I am not going to risk anything if it can be avoided. Just not willing to gamble on that, having seen the excessive delays that can come from it many, many times during my work trips.