My wife was flying from Houston to Seattle on Alaska until her flight got cancelled while she was at the gate. The reason turned out to be that the crew needed rest. She was smart enough though to call the Alaska line to get rebooked on the first flight out the next morning. However, she was slow to get to the gate agent who was giving out hotel vouchers. There were about a dozen people in front of her, and after an hour, she called me back complaining that he line had barely moved. I told her to stick it out and wait to get the voucher and the letter of cancellation. Another 30 minute goes by and now she’s super frustrated.
Because we had used CNB to book the flight, I knew we had the flight cancellation perk. I told her, “Fine. Just go find you a nearby hotel and we’ll worry about everything later.” I found her a nearby Marriott that had rooms available. When she got there, she saw people using vouchers (presumably Alaska vouchers.) The room was about $130 all in or so.
I then asked Alaska what they could do as reimbursement since she didn’t get a gate voucher. They said they would reimburse up to $150 for the hotel. I then asked for a food allowance, and they said, “Well, that typically comes with the hotel voucher.” I guess for you to eat at the hotel. Anyway, I told my wife to just order whatever she wanted (since we’d be reimbursed by CNB.) My wife of course got room service and went a bit overboard. The final hotel bill was definitely over $150.
A few days later, I submitted the hotel bill for reimbursement to Alaska, expecting to only get $150 back. After a week or so, I got a check in the mail FOR THE FULL AMOUNT. I was pleasantly surprised. Not sure if all airlines do this or if it’s just Alaska being generous.
The moral here is if this happens to you on an Alaska flight, don’t waste your time waiting in line for a voucher – just book your own hotel and dinner and you may get reimbursed fully.