Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  2 weekends ago, I was flying back home from Hawaii on Alaska Airlines.  Everything was going well until we got to Maui airport.  We were supposed to depart from Maui (OGG) at 4:15pm and land in Oakland (OAK) at 12:14am.  Unfortunately, our flight departed 5 hours later than planned.  Our inbound aircraft was coming from San Diego (SAN) and was supposed to depart San Diego at 7am.  But due to mechanical issues, that flight departed 10 hours later at 5pm (I feel bad for people on that flight who were stuck at the airport for 10+ hours).  The late inbound flight caused our flight to be delayed by 5 hours.  I was tracking both Alaska Airlines flights and here were the last flight emails I received for each flight.

In the middle of our flight from Maui to Oakland, I received this email from Alaska Airlines.  They apologized for the delayed flight and said we would receive a $150 discount code “in the next few days.”  I was pretty impressed that Alaska Airlines proactively offered a discount code for the delay, since most airlines require you to call in and complain and hope you get some type of compensation.  I shouldn’t be too surprised by Alaska Airlines’ customer service since they do offer the 20 minute baggage guarantee (where if your checked bags are not on the baggage carousel within 20 minutes of arrival at the gate, you can get a $25 Alaska Airlines travel voucher or 2,500 Alaska Airlines miles).

10 hours later, I received another email from Alaska Airlines with my $150 discount code.  This discount code has a 1 year expiration date and can only be used once, not like travel funds which can be applied to multiple flights.

I logged into my Alaska Airlines account and went to the Discount and Companion Fare Codes section.  There I saw my Bank of America Alaska Airlines Companion Fare codes and my new $150 discount code.

Even though having a 5 hour delay sucked, I appreciated Alaska Airlines’ customer service focus and will happily fly Alaska Airlines again in the future (I have to use up that $150 discount code sometime).  Don’t worry about us though, we didn’t spend 5+ hours in the Maui airport.  As soon as I first received an email about the delayed flight, I decided to get a rental car at Maui airport (Advantage Rental Car) and drive around the island for a few hours.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great weekend everyone!