Need Advice on Alaska Airlines Ticket Price Drop

Brenda, some more information would be helpful? For instance:

Is your 2nd leg on a different airline? If so, A.A. states in their Terms and Conditions that the price guarantee doesn't apply. The same may apply for a 2nd leg with a codeshare partner ( but I'm a little foggy on that one).

Is that price difference for the exact date/flight #/time/cabin as the tickets you purchased? If not, the guarantee doesn't apply.

Were these tickets part of a vacation package?

I'm NO expert on air tickets but it sounds like some parts of the picture might be missing.

I have successfully used Alaska Airlines price drop guarantee several times and received prompt, cheerful credit. I can only guess that your particular request falls outside the terms and conditions of the program. If your entire ticket is on Alaska, and the price for the exact flights and class of service decreases, you are eligible for a refund. Does your situation match this?

That said, ask the customer service agent if there is some other form of compensation that could be given as a goodwill gesture from Alaska. Miles or free baggage check are two that come to mind.

Hi Carol and Kathy,

The tickets are both exactly the same dates, times, flight #'s and class - economy. They were not part of a vacation package of any kind, and I arranged for them myself through Alaska's website, not through an agent of any type.

I'll try calling again to see if I can get a different answer. The person I spoke to the first time had to go ask someone else for the answer, so maybe I got an inexperienced rep. She said the refund wouldn't apply because I had booked a round trip and we had flown one leg of the trip.

If all else fails, do you think it would be worthwhile to just cancel the two tickets and use the credits another time, since it's likely we will want to return? Of course that would assume that I find a different airline whose price would make it worthwhile.

You will usually end up paying more for a one way trip than what you have already paid for the same trip as part of a round trip. Alaska charges a $125 fee to change or cancel any part of a ticket so you would be out at least that much per person.

Here is what the Alaska Air web site says:
"You'll always find the lowest price for Alaska Airlines flights at alaskaair.com. If you find a lower price on another site within 24 hours, we'll make up the difference. If we lower our prices any time before your trip, you can claim the difference as credit for future travel.*"

So asking for a refund is why you were told no. You should try again and ask about the flight credit instead. But, since you state you have already flown half the round trip and if the price dropped AFTER you flew that part you may be unable to get the credit since it does say "before your trip".

Good luck.