How I Saved $250 by Making Two Phone Calls to Change Alaska Air Reservation

Earlier this year, I used my tiny stash of Alaska miles to book a one-way MCO-PDX ticket for my sister-in-law. She used a voucher to book a return flight, and was all set to fly to Oregon in October of this year. Unfortunately, her plans have changed, and making the trip was no longer feasible. With a heavy heart, she decided to reschedule the flights for May of 2019.

Sadly, doing so would cost a $125 penalty per ticket, a total of $250. You may remember that Alaska used to allow to cancel tickets free of charge as long as travel date was 60 days away, though they eliminated this policy in May. Besides, at that point her flight to Oregon was less than 60 days away, and return leg was right at the deadline. But it didn’t matter because even though we booked the tickets in February, the website was still trying to assess a penalty.

My sister-in-law said she was just going to pay $250 and get it over with. She hates making phone calls and doesn’t like any sort of inconvenience when it comes to travel plans. I asked her to let me see if I can at least get one fee waived, which would save her $125. I figured it was worth a shot. She agreed.

The first thing I checked was whether there was a significant schedule change. Bingo! The flight I booked with miles was now set to leave 1.5 hours later than originally scheduled. Unfortunately, no such luck with return leg. I called Alaska Air and a friendly rep has picked up a phone after a short wait. I politely told her the reasons I should get a mileage  refund without penalty. I didn’t go into any details, and simply told her that due to schedule change as well as change of plans, this flight will no longer work for us.

She goes: “Oh, you are within 60-day window anyway! No problem.” Hmm, first of all, we were not within 60-day window. Second of all, that policy was eliminated in May. I didn’t tell her any of it, of course. I was just happy to get the miles back. I was able to find low-level availability for MCO-PDX flight (12,500 miles) in May, so went ahead and booked it.

One down, one to go. Since my sister-in-law reserved the return leg with cash+voucher, I asked her to come to my house in case they needed to verify her identity. To be honest, I didn’t have much hope for this flight and wasn’t sure if we could even use the original $125 voucher. But all I could do was try.

This time the rep wasn’t super friendly, and kept insisting that we have to pay a $125 penalty. I stayed calm and reminded him that we booked the flight in February, back when 60-day free cancellation policy was still in place. He finally put me on hold and told me he would see what he can do. I think he just wanted to get rid of me. It was late in the day, and probably the end of his shift.

At no point was I demanding or rude. I figured if he refused, I would simply call back and ask to speak to a supervisor. But there was no reason to hang up as long as there was a glimmer of hope. He came back and said he rebooked it without penalty, and even issued my sister-in-law a $3 refund. Nice! The whole thing probably took me about 25 minutes, well worth $250 in savings.

There is no magic

As it usually goes with these things, my in-laws started showering me with compliments saying that only I can pull something like this off. But in truth, there is nothing amazing about what happened. I simply did my homework, and looked for loopholes…err, workarounds that could get us a full refund without any lying involved. Even if I couldn’t find any, I would still call and ask for refund as a gesture of goodwill. More often than not, if you are nice, the rep will be nice right back. They are human beings, after all.

If you get someone who will not budge, simply call back and plead your case… again. I’ve never lied or told a fake sob story just to get a refund after cancellation deadline, but found most reps to be sympathetic.  Many have gone above and beyond to help me, for which I’m truly grateful.

It certainly helps to have a humble attitude, and show zero entitlement. Well, at least in cases where your truly don’t deserve a refund. If a rep is misinformed, that’s a different story. Know your rights, and don’t be afraid to remind companies of them.

I get that most people hate making phone calls (I know I do!), but saving $250 is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, considering how much my sister-in-law helps us with kids, it’s honestly the least I could do.

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