Alaska Airlines Club 49: (Deals & Baggage Fee Benefits) [2023]

Some airlines like to provide special perks to residents who reside within their home states and countries in order to make life traveling a little easier and less costly. Alaska Airlines is one of these generous airlines and they have something called the Alaska Airlines Club 49.

The Alaska Airlines Club 49 can help certain residents save money and capture savings with different discounts on things like baggage fees and even shipping.

In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know about the Alaska Airlines Club 49 deals and benefits and other things like eligibility and how to sign-up.

What is the Alaska Airlines Club 49?

The Alaska Airlines Club 49 is a special program that offers special discounts and deals to Alaskan residents who are also Alaska Mileage Plan members. Due to the geography of Alaska, there are unique travel needs for its residents and this program works to address those needs in practical ways.

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What are the Alaska Airlines Club benefits?

By joining Club 49, you will be able to receive the following benefits:

Two free checked bags on select routes
Travel discounts
Shipping discounts

Unfortunately, you do not get Alaska Lounge access or put in a priority boarding group but these three benefits can still be valuable. I will talk about each of these benefits in more detail below.

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Two free checked bags

Club 49 members and passengers on the same reservation can check two bags for free when traveling to or from Alaska on Alaska Airlines. With Alaska Airlines, your first checked bag will cost $30 and your second checked bag will cost $40, so this could save you lots of cash over time (read more about the baggage fees here).

There are a few things to note about this perk.

Applies to your entire itinerary

This will apply to all passengers on the same itinerary (up to seven passengers). However, the benefit does not extend to all travelers in a group reservation. Only Club 49 members receive the free-checked-baggage benefit on group reservations.

Eligible airlines

This benefit can also be used on other airlines including: Horizon Air, PenAir (between Anchorage and Dutch Harbor), and SkyWest Airlines (Flight Series 3440–3499).

Eligible flights

You just need to remember that the flights must be traveling to or from Alaska.

Also, the member’s Mileage Plan number must be on the reservation before bags are checked.

The free checked bags are not available when connecting to another carrier for international travel or checking in with a codeshare or airline partner. Alaska has a lot of great partners but unfortunately if you are flying with one of them you will not get this benefit if flying internationally. If flying domestically and connecting you will be able to get the discount.

Keep in mind that you can also get a free checked bag if you have the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card.

Travel Now discounts (30% off)

As a Club 49 member, you will receive two Travel Now discounts per year, good for 30% off one-way travel in a Refundable Coach (YAS) fare to, from or within Alaska on Alaska Airlines, booked within four days of departure.

These will be issued upon enrollment and then every following year when your membership is verified. Here are some key considerations:

Refundable Coach (YAS) fare

Refundable economy fares are going to be some of the most expensive fares. So even with the discount you still might be paying more than you normally would for an economy fare that cannot be cancelled. So be sure to compare prices before going for that discount.

Eligible airlines

You can use these discounts on flights operated by Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, PenAir (between Anchorage and Dutch Harbor), and SkyWest Airlines (Flight Series 3440–3499).

Eligible flights & four day limitation

In order to get this discount, travel must include one Alaskan city and take place within four days of ticket purchase. Being forced to use this discount for essentially last minute tickets makes it a little bit harder to take advantage of, so these discounts are not for everyone.

Unlike the free baggage benefit, only one discount may be used per reservation. If more than one Club 49 member is traveling, a separate reservation must be made for each discount used.

Travel Now discounts are displayed in the discount code section of the member’s My account profile.

Weekly deals

You can also view the Deals page to see some good deals.

Each Tuesday they update the page with deals only available to Club 49 members. If you don’t want to miss out on these deals you can sign up for emails to get notified about them.

Head to your My account profile and sign in, then navigate to the My info and subscriptions tab and check the “Insider newsletter” box to subscribe.

There is also a Facebook group that you can check out.

Freight for Less

The Freight for Less discount will allow you to ship up to 100 lbs within the state of Alaska for $49* (plus tax) using cargo shipping. You’ll be able to use up to two 35-gallon totes or sturdy shipping containers that do not exceed 20”x30”x15” each.

This benefit can be very valuable to those who live in certain remote areas in Alaska where air shipping is needed/required.

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Club 49 Eligibility

If you want to join Club 49, and you will need to meet the following eligibility requirements.

First, you must be a resident of Alaska or military personnel permanently stationed in Alaska.

Residency is validated at alaskaair.com at the time of registration using Alaska state public records and requires customer’s consent for validation. (P.O. box numbers are acceptable.)

You must also have an active Mileage Plan account and My account profile.

Eligibility will be revalidated annually on the anniversary date of original enrollment. If Alaska Airlines is able to revalidate eligibility automatically, members will automatically be reenrolled for the following year. If Alaska Airlines is unable to revalidate residency automatically, members are required to reenroll.

If you would like to join Club 49 you can click here.

Note: Children under age of 13 cannot be enrolled online, but you can call 1-800-252-7522 (TTY: Dial 711 for relay services) between 5 a.m. and midnight (PT), seven days a week.

Constituent fares

The constituent fare offers Club 49 members affordable access to Alaska state legislators and government agencies during the annual legislative session. The constituent fare rates offer a 30% discount off the 7-day & 3-day advance purchase fares.

The discount codes are sent out via the Club 49 Insider email each year at the start of the legislative session (mid-January) to Club 49 members who live outside of the Juneau area.

Once you have received your codes, select the “Redeem” button in the email to automatically load the discount code in your My account profile.

Final word

Alaska Airlines Club 49 is a great way for Alaskan residents to save a little bit of money on flights to and from Alaska.

It also can be a great way to cut down on your expenses if you are needing to ship some freight.

Since it is so easy to sign up for I would recommend checking it out and considering signing up if you meet the eligibility requirements, since you never know when it could come in use.

Daniel Gillaspia

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.

Southwest Airlines Family Boarding Policy Explained [2023]

Traveling with a family can be stressful not to mention expensive.

Luckily, Southwest Airlines offers a number of special perks to families that can help them to both save money and time.

In this article, I will break down all of the benefits that you can expect to receive as a family traveling on Southwest.

I’ll cover things like family boarding age limits, child fares, and policies for infants. I’ll also talk about how to complete the all important age verifications and what to do if you’re flying while pregnant.

What is the Southwest family boarding policy?

When traveling as a family with kids aged six or under you can get special boarding privileges and you might be able to take advantage of the other perks like special savings depending on the ages of your kids. Keep reading below for more details!

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Southwest family boarding group

If you are traveling with a child six or under (younger than seven years old) you can choose to board with the family boarding group. This allows you to board the plane between Groups A and B.

If you are not familiar with the Southwest boarding policy this is how it works:

First, you will need to check in to your flight beginning at 24 hours prior to departure.

You can do this by going to the Southwest website or by using the Southwest app and just waiting for exactly 24 hours prior to take off.

Once you check in you will be issued a boarding position. This position will consist of a group number and a number within that group.

There are three different boarding groups with Southwest: Group A, Group B, and Group C. Within each group you will be assigned a number that will be between one and 60.

So if you have A50, you’ll line up when you see the “A” sign or monitor and then you’ll locate the section that might have something like “50 to 55” marked.

This means that if you are ever traveling with a child six or under and are assigned Group B or C, you should definitely consider taking advantage of family boarding so that you can board directly after Group A.

At the same time, if you have a Group A boarding pass then you don’t need to use family boarding.

Something interesting about Southwest is that they allow some people that would qualify for pre-boarding to board just before Family Boarding.

They state that if “a Customer with a disability simply needs a little extra time to board, we will permit the Customer to board before Family Boarding, between the “A” and “B” groups.”

So be sure to be aware of these passengers whenever you lined up for boarding.

Note: Sometimes family boarding may not be offered/available.

Also note: Military members (usually in uniform but not always) can board between Group A and Group B. If you’re not traveling in your uniform, consider showing your military ID to a gate agent and inquiring about priority boarding.

Can both parents board with family boarding?

The language that Southwest uses to describe their family boarding policy it’s a little bit tricky.

For example, it states the following:

An adult traveling with a child six years old or younger may board during Family Boarding, which occurs after the “A” group has boarded and before the “B” group begins boarding.

The reason that this language is tricky is that it specifies “an adult” and “a child” which are singular.

This almost seems to suggest that you can only board as a family with one adult per one child six years for younger.

However, in practice Southwest allows all kids to board with an adult.

If there are two adults, they will often get to board together with the kids too but sometimes there could be exceptions (such as when a lot of families are doing family boarding).

If you have any questions or concerns about this then I would suggest you talk to the agent at the gate to clarify if your entire family can board together.

Other family members such as grandparents can board with family boarding but they have to be the only adults. So for example you could not have both parents and a set of grandparents boarding in the family boarding group. Instead, Southwest would likely limit you to only two parents (along with the kids).

Southwest EarlyBird

If you’re traveling as a family you might be tempted to go for Southwest EarlyBird.

This will allow you to be checked in beginning 36 hours prior to departure for a fee of $15 to $25.

This means that you will usually get a good boarding position often in Group A but sometimes also in the B boarding group.

Since you can board after Group A with family boarding, then it is really not necessary for you to get EarlyBird. Thus, I would typically not to go for that if I was traveling as a family.

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Saving seats for families

There’s an ongoing debate on whether or not you should be able to save seats on Southwest.

Since there’s an open boarding policy, every seat is open to just about any passenger.

So when it comes to saving seats for the family, you’ll want to head towards the back of the plane to save your seat. People are usually much more open to saved seats in the rear of the cabin.

However, if you try to save seats for your family in the front of the plane or on the seats with extra legroom then the risk of confrontation goes up.

Southwest child fares

Accompanied children ages two through 11 may purchase the applicable Child Fare for the flight.

Child fares are discounted Anytime fares. Anytime fares offer you flexibility so that you can make cancellations and still get a refund.

This means that they probably won’t be as cheap as Wanna Get Away fares, which are the cheapest fares for Southwest that don’t offer as much flexibility.

Contact Southwest via phone at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) to confirm if a child fare is available for a specific flight. Note that proof of age will be required at the time of travel.

Checking in

If your child is traveling on an Infant or Child Fare and is age verified, you may request his/her boarding pass on Southwest.com.

If your child is traveling on an Infant or Child Fare and is not age verified, you must provide valid proof of age at the airport when exchanging the confirmation number for a boarding pass.

How to verify age

There are a couple of different ways that you can get your child’s age verified and I will discuss both of these below.

The first thing is that you need to do is to create a Rapid Rewards or Southwest account for your child. You can easily do this online and it will only take a couple of minutes.

After you create an account, you can go to different routes to verify the age.

The first thing you can do is to present a valid Government-issued I.D. providing age (child) or a birth certificate (infant) to the Customer Service Agent at the airport when you check in for your flight.

At that time, the date of birth listed in your child’s account will be updated to indicate that age has been verified.

You can also mail in copies of your documents.

You may mail a copy of the child’s valid Government-issued I.D. proving age (for children) or the birth certificate (infants) to:

Southwest Airlines Customer Relations
PO Box 36662
Dallas, TX 75235.

Be sure to include your child’s Rapid Rewards or Southwest account number with your request and submit it at least two weeks prior to your child’s flight.

The date of birth field in your child’s account will be updated to reflect that he/she is age-verified. Allow two weeks for processing. If you submit your request in writing, you will receive a confirmation letter in the mail once the date of birth has been verified.

Once the date of birth has been verified, you may check in online and request a boarding pass as long as your child’s account number is present in the reservation for which you are checking in.

Southwest Baggage fees

If you have a lot of different people in your tribe then traveling can get really expensive when it comes to baggage fees. You could easily spend a few hundred dollars with a family of five for a simple round-trip ticket.

Luckily, Southwest Airlines allows you to travel with two free checked bags. This is one of the more valuable perks of flying with Southwest and it’s great for families.

Tip: Get all the tips and pointers you need for your checked bags in our ultimate guide to checked luggage!

Traveling with infants

One child over 14 days and under two years of age, not occupying a seat, may be carried free of charge when traveling with an adult (12 years of age or older).

Although a boarding pass is not required for the infant, you will need a Boarding Verification Document.

A copy of the child’s birth certificate is required to validate the age of all infants under two.

If you don’t want to bring your infant on as a lap-child, affordable Infant fares are also available allowing a customer to reserve a seat for an infant and use his/her FAA-approved car seat/Child Restraint System.

Southwest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly recommend securing infants and small children in a CRS that is government approved for use onboard.

Here are some things to know about using CSRs on a plane:

Once onboard the aircraft, the CRS should be secured in a middle or window seat.
If placed in a middle seat, the CRS may not impede the exit path of a Passenger in the window seat.
CRSs may not be placed in an exit seat or in a row directly forward or aft of an exit row of seats.
The FAA prohibits the use of certain types of restraint devices, such as backless booster seats, safety belt extensions (commonly referred to as “belly belts”), and vests or harness devices that attach to an adult.

Online checkin is available if the infant is traveling on an Infant fare and is age verified.

To book Infant fares for international flights, contact Southwest to book via phone at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792). After booking, you can view or cancel existing international itineraries for any of these fare types online at Southwest.com.

A medical release for travel is required for any infant under 14 days old.

You can read more about traveling with an infant here.

Traveling while pregnant

Here’s what Southwest has to say about traveling while pregnant.

While air travel does not usually cause problems during pregnancy unless delivery is expected within 14 days or less, in some cases, traveling by air has been known to cause complications or premature labor. Female Customers at any stage of pregnancy should consult with their physicians prior to air travel. Southwest Airlines recommends against air travel beginning at the 38^th week of pregnancy. Depending on their physical condition, strength, and agility, pregnant women may, in some cases, be asked not to sit in the emergency exit row.

Southwest Group travel

If you are traveling as a family in a large group of 10 or more passengers, then you might consider utilizing the southwest Group travel policy.

This allows you the following benefits:

Flexible Payments: No upfront payment required to create a Group reservation.
No Extra Fees: No booking, ticketing, or change fees.
Unlimited Name Changes: Unlimited name changes up to 72 hours prior to departure.
Earn Roundtrip Tickets: Earn one roundtrip ticket to be used on your Group’s itinerary for every 30th passenger booked (taxes and fees will apply).

In some situations it might just be cheaper to book the fares individually but in other cases this can actually be a great way to go.

One of the biggest drawbacks is that it can take a long time to get through to customer service when dealing with the Southwest group travel so you want to keep that in mind. If you want to read more about how to travel as a group then you can click here.

TSA Pre-Check

If you are traveling as a family you might be able to take advantage of TSA Pre-Check. TSA Pre-Check is a program that provides you with access to an expedited security lane.

When you go through this lane you won’t be inconvenienced as much as the standard lane because you can keep your electronics and liquids in your bags, among other things.

If you are traveling with the children 12 and under those children do not need to have their own TSA Pre-Check Membership in order to accompany you through the line.

However if they are 13 years or older they will need to have their own TSA Pre-Check account. You can read more about TSA Pre-Check here.

Final word

Southwest has a number of benefits that they offer to those families traveling. These benefits can save you time and money so it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with all of the possible perks.

Cover photo by BriYYZ via Flickr.

Daniel Gillaspia

American Airlines Lost and Found Guide (What to Expect) [2023]

Losing an item when flying can be an incredibly stressful and frustrating experience. But there are many people who lose items on planes or in airports every day that get reunited with their valuables — even expensive items like laptops and tablets!

So if you recently lost an item on an American Airlines flight there is still hope for you. In this article, I will break down what to expect with the American Airlines lost and found process.

American Airlines Lost and Found

Items left on American Airlines aircraft are returned to their rightful owners all the time so if you have left something on the plane don’t lose hope and just follow these guidelines.

If you are exiting or have just exited the plane and realize you left an item on the plane you should contact the nearest gate agent immediately. However, if you have already left the airport then you will need to file a claim online.

NOTE: This is a different process than losing your luggage. If your luggage has been lost or it’s not showing up at the baggage claim there is a separate process for reclaiming your baggage.

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Still at the airport

If you are just exiting the plane or have already exited the plane and are still located in the airport then your best course of action is to contact an American Airlines agent.

I would advise you to head over to the gate that you arrived at and try to speak to an agent at the desk right there. Even better, if you can locate a crew member or even a pilot from your flight they might be willing and capable of going back on the plane and retrieving your item.

If they are searching for a small item such as a wedding ring and they cannot locate it American Airlines planes are deep cleaned every night. This means that the cleaning crew might be able to find it later so you still have hope but the process to recovering the item will be a little different (you’ll likely have to rely on the online process discussed below).

If you have already made your way through the airport and you were not able to make your way back to the gates without going through TSA airport security then you may want to contact an American Airlines agent at an information desk.

Provide them with all of your details like your flight number and a detailed description of the item and they might be able to take action right there on the spot. There are reports of people getting their items delivered to them while they are waiting at baggage claim services so there is a possibility you can get your item back before even leaving the airport.

If they can’t help you then be sure to get clarification on the next step. They may ask you to file a claim online yourself or they may be able to take some initiative for you. Either way, just make sure that you are very clear on what your next step is to retrieve your items before you leave the airport.

Boarding gate for American Airlines — Contact an agent at the gate as soon as possible to improve your odds of recovering your item.

Security

If you suspect that you may have lost your item at or near a TSA security checkpoint chances are that your item may have been placed in the TSA lost and found. TSA has its own lost and found department for different airports. You can find the contact information for the relevant airport you need here.

Around the airport

If you think that your item may just be sitting around the terminal somewhere then you likely want to contact the lost and found for the airport. Typically, an airport will have a phone number for its lost and found and a dedicated email address that you can get in touch with.

Below are some of the main airports that American Airlines serves. You should be able to find the contact information for the airport pretty easily.

If you think you may have left the item within a bar or restaurant at the airport then try to contact that individual business. Sometimes contacting a specific business within an airport can be difficult to do so one method is to contact a business nearby and ask one of their employees to walk over to the business you were trying to contact and inquire about your item.

I actually had to do this one time when I left my wallet in the rental car and the Avis rental car desk was not answering the phone. I got into contact with one of the neighboring rental car services and they walked over and got somebody at Avis on the phone for me.

As soon as you get in touch with someone your goal is to quickly get a point of contact via email. This will help you keep everything in writing and allow you to confirm details such as the location that the item should be delivered and how shipping will work out.

Try to insist on getting a (non-generic) email contact as soon as possible and don’t rely on someone to just “get back with you.”

If the entity locates your item they may choose to hand it over to the airport lost and found so that they do not have to deal with it but you can also work out a situation where they mail the item to you directly (that’s what I have done in the past).

The situation can sometimes take a long time to get worked out so my advice to you would be to be as patient as possible while these things are processed. Try to keep in touch on a weekly basis until you receive your item because if you do not hear anything there is a chance that your “claim” could be closed without you getting notified.

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If you’ve already left the airport

If you have already left the airport or you are not able to contact an agent while you are still there then you should file a claim online.

American Airlines uses a third-party service to process their lost and found claims. It is a different service used from other airlines like JetBlue but you will be going through the website: www.chargerback.com.

The online form will ask you to fill out the following information:

Category — you will need to choose the type of category your lost item belongs to. Once you select the item type such as an iPhone you will then need to input more description details (this is where you can enter your serial number)
Flight information — provide your airline and flight number
Date you lost the item
Airport that you lost item at
Unique description — if there is anything that makes your item stand out this is the place to and put those details
If you were item has a tracking device like an AirTag you can list that here
Contact information — input all of your basic contact information

Once you finish inputting all of your details you will be issued a tracker number. If your item is discovered then you should be hearing back from American Airlines via email. In the event they track down your item you can then arrange for your item to be shipped to you and you will have to cover the cost.

American Airlines states that they will search for your item for up to 30 days.

The American Airlines lost and found form is simple to fill out.

Admirals Club

If you think that you left an item in the Admirals Club then once again my advice would be to first try to persuade an American Airlines agent to check the lounge for you. If you were not able to get someone to check the lounge for you then you likely will need to file the claim online as shown above.

When you are not sure

If you simply have no idea where your lost item might be then my advice would be to contact all of the departments above.

Third-party claim providers

If you are searching for solutions to your lost and found issues you may come across businesses that require you to pay to handle your lost and found claims. I would generally try to avoid these services.

Unless they have an amazing reputation for their services, there is not a need to pay someone to file a lost and found claim for you. Also, some of the lost and found providers for the airlines explicitly ban these type of services. So my advice would be to work directly with the airline, airport, or TSA to retrieve your item.

Final word

If you lose an item when flying American Airlines your first step is to check with agents at the airport to see if they can immediately retrieve your item. If that is not practical then you can file a claim online and American Airlines will search for your item for 30 days. In the event that they locate the item you can pay to have it shipped to you.

Daniel Gillaspia

Delta Airlines Lost & Found Guide [2023]

Losing an item on a plane or in an airport can be a nightmare. I know this from personal experience.

But thankfully, airlines and airports have pretty sophisticated lost and found services. Many people are reunited with the lost items every day so if you lost something when flying Delta Airlines, don’t lose hope.

Below, I’ll outline all of the steps you can take to recover something lost on Delta Airlines including how to timely file a claim and how to optimize your chances of getting your item recovered.

The immediate step: get to the Delta Airlines gate

If the de-planing has started and you realize that you have a lost item while you are still on a Delta Airlines plane, then just try to be calm and search around your seat while everyone exits.

Eventually, as the passengers exit, a flight attendant will probably approach you to see what’s going on and you can let them know that you have a lost item.

They might be able to help search for you right there but depending on the flight schedule, you might also be ushered out quickly.

If you have already entered the airport from your arrival, and you realize that you have a lost item then you should try to go directly to the Delta arrival gate.

If there is a line for the gate agent, feel free to jump (politely) to the front of the line and just let the agent know that you have something urgent.

Let them know about your lost item and where you were seated and they might be able to get some crew members to help.

If nobody is attending at the desk then you might be able to catch crew members entering the terminal from the jet bridge.

Unless they have somewhere to promptly be, you’ll be surprised how helpful crew members can be in these type of situations.

Past the sterile area

Every airport has a sterile area.

This is the part of the airport that is past security and it means that everyone wandering through those corridors has undergone some type of security screening.

Once you leave the sterile area, you cannot re-enter the sterile area unless you go back through security to make sure that you are in compliance with the TSA rules.

You should always see a sign marking the sterile area as you head towards the baggage claim section of the airport. (it might look like something from the image below.)

If you have already exited the sterile area then you’re not going to be able to get back to the gates unless somehow you were able to get through security which is unlikely as well.

Therefore, your best bet will be to locate a Delta Airlines help desk. Some airports, especially Delta hubs, may have a few Delta help desk’s located in different parts of the airport.

But most likely if you have already exited the sterile area, your best option will be to go to a Delta Airlines desk at baggage claim.

Typically these agents deal with lost luggage but on occasion they can also help you out for your personal lost items.

In one scenario, I recall a passenger even got an agent working the baggage claim desk to radio to agents sweeping the plane.

They were soon reunited with their lost item at baggage claim which is one reason why I always recommend for people to give this method a try.

Items left at the TSA Security Checkpoint

If you think that you may have left your items at the TSA security checkpoint then your priority should be to get in contact with the Lost and Found for TSA.

TSA has its own Lost and Found department at all US airports and you can find the contact details for the relevant one here.

This is a separate lost and found department that is distinct from Delta Airlines and from the airport.

If they don’t have any record of your item, then it’s possible that item could’ve been referred to the airport’s lost and found so don’t lose out all hope until you check with them.

For items lost in and around the airport facility

What about if you suspect that you left your item sitting around the airport terminal?

For example, maybe you were at ATL and you left your phone sitting on a bench somewhere in the airport? Or perhaps, you suspect that you may have left your last item in a bathroom at SLC or MSP.

If you think that you may have left your item somewhere in the airport then you want to check with the specific lost and found department at that airport.

Head to an information desk and ask them where the airport’s lost and found counter is and that will be the easiest way to find them.

Sometimes the lost and found works in partnership with the airport police so you might also find a desk where you’ll find the police.

Airports also will have a dedicated webpage for their lost and found.

You might be able to submit a claim or simply find an email or phone number that could be helpful. I always prefer to handle these things via email so that you have a paper trail of what went on in your discussion.

If you left something in a Delta Sky Club airport lounge then try to contact Delta ASAP. You could also contact the airport and see if they can transfer you to the lounge.

See if they can get you in touch with someone at the lounge and give them all the details you can such as what time you were in the lounge and where you were seated.

What if you have left the airport?

Okay, now let’s say that you have already left the airport. Maybe you were taking an Uber back to your hotel or you are already back home when you realize that you have a lost item.

If this happens to you then you can immediately call the airport or Delta and see if anything can be done.

But there’s a good chance that you’re going to have to just file your claim online in order to proceed with recovering your lost item.

How to file a Delta lost and found claim online

Like other airlines such as JetBlue, Delta Airlines utilizes nettracer to process lost and found claims.

To file a lost and found claim for Delta Airlines click here.

Make sure that you select you are looking for an item that was NOT lost in your checked baggage to begin your claim.

Filing the claim is a very simple three step process but you don’t want to rush through the steps because detail is as important as ever when resolving these claims.

Also, keep in mind that you really want to file a report within seven days of your item being lost to increase your odds of it getting recovered.

The first section is going to ask you to describe your item. You’ll select an appropriate category and provide details like the item color, case color, brand, model, and item size.

If you have the serial number on hand or some other type of unique ID number you definitely want to input it here.

Finally, there will be a box you can fill in that asks you to describe what makes your item unique.

Once again, think of anything that you can that could possibly allow your lost item to stand out such as any scratches, stickers, screen cracks, etc.

The more detail that you supply, the more your claim will catch the eye of someone working on your file which will likely increase the odds of it being found.

After you input all of your item information, you then need to input some contact details and also details related to your itineraries.

After you file your claim, you should receive a confirmation email about your claim. If for some reason it does not appear then be sure to check your spam box.

If they find an item that matches the description of your lost item, you will receive an email notification or a phone call with further instructions on what to do.

For example, they may ask you further questions to confirm that you are the true owner of the lost item.

In some cases, they might ask you to call your phone which is why it’s recommended to leave your call service activated on your phone for at least one week after you file your claim. (You may want to deactivate any associated data plans.)

If you can verify ownership then they will arrange for shipping the item to you and you will be responsible for paying for the shipping costs which can be paid with a credit card.

The search efforts will take place for approximately 30 days after they receive your lost item report.

If no item is ever recovered that matches your description then you should receive an email stating that they were unsuccessful and that the search is over for your item.

Items that are never recovered may be destroyed, sold, or donated. However, certain items like military IDs or passports get sent to places like the US Department of State.

Final word

Delta Airlines relies on one of the same Lost and Found services that other major airlines rely on. It’s a service that has helped thousands of people find their lost items.

While those services are helpful you can increase your odds of recovering your item by timely filing your report and providing the highest level of detail possible.

In many cases, you might also have to rely on a little bit of luck but if you follow the steps above you should maximize your recovery odds with Delta Airlines.

Daniel Gillaspia

Alaska Airlines Boarding Groups Guide: Don’t Get Left Behind! [2023 Updates!]

In 2018, Alaska Airlines decided to change its boarding policy in favor of something more simplistic. The new policy changed the labels for boarding groups and made a few other tweaks. Then, in 2023 Alaska Airlines made more changes to the boarding policy allowing credit card holders to get priority boarding!

In this article, I will tell you everything that you need to know about Alaska Airlines boarding groups and exactly what to expect with the current boarding policy.

Full list of Alaska Airlines boarding groups

The Alaska Airlines boarding groups include:

Pre-boarding (Military, disabilities, unaccompanied minors, etc.)
Priority Boarding (First Class, MVP Gold 100K)
Group A (Million Milers, MVP Gold, and MVP Gold 75K)
Group B (MVP members and guests in Premium Class seats)
Group C (Alaska credit card holders)
Group D (Main cabin in the back)
Group E (Main cabin in the front)
Group F (Saver)

I will go into more detail about each of these groups below.

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How does Alaska Airlines boarding work?

The boarding process for Alaska Airlines is very similar to most other airlines, and I will break it all down below.

First, let’s start with choosing your seat.

After you input your personal details and making a booking, you should be prompted to select your seat. (In some cases the seat map may not be available.) The seat that you choose to select could end up affecting your boarding group and I will talk more about that below.

The next step is checking in at the airport.

Generally, for domestic flights, you want to arrive at least an hour before your flight’s boarding time if you’re not checking in bags and at least 90 minutes prior to your flight’s boarding time if you are checking bags (for inexperienced travelers, arriving two hours before departure is the standard).

If you are an experienced traveler or are familiar with the airport and wait times of course you can arrive even later than the recommended times especially if you have TSA Pre-Check and/or CLEAR.

Personally, I like to arrive at the airport extra early to give me the least stressful experiences as possible. It also makes it easier to enjoy airport lounges such as Alaska Lounges.

After you check in, you will have a paper boarding pass or you may have pulled up your boarding pass on the Alaska Airlines mobile app.

Personally, I like to have both a paper and a digital boarding pass. That way, if I lose the paper pass I have a digital copy of it and if my phone malfunctions or freezes up, I have a paper pass I can pull out.

If you have an issue with your boarding pass at the time of boarding, you will have to be pulled aside and you could lose your overhead storage bin space so it’s a good idea to have a back up plan.

Here’s what the boarding pass will look like compared to how the old boarding passes looked.

New Alaska boarding pass compared to old — Comparison of new boarding pass with old.

Alaska Airlines states that they want you to arrive at the gate 40 minutes prior to departure so that should be your goal at a minimum.

If you want to know your estimated boarding time, you should be able to find this on your boarding pass as shown above.

Just be aware that the departure time is subject to change, so make sure that you always verify the departure time with what is displayed on the flight monitors.

Boarding times may change depending on the route and aircraft and other factors at play but generally you can expect the boarding process to be announced around 30 to 40 minutes prior to departure.

This is not officially when boarding begins but this would be a good time to get ready to head over to the gate if you were not already there. As Alaska states, “This is your cue to gather your things and be ready, but you don’t need to move to line up.”

At about 30 minutes prior to departure, that’s when you can expect the pre-boarding to begin. And then, each group will be called up successively, possibly in five minute increments although it depends on how quickly or slowly passengers are processed.

Once you arrive at the gate and it is time for boarding, simply pay attention to the signs and they will guide you through the boarding process.

First, make sure that the sign contains your exact flight information such as your flight number and route.

Then just take a look at the left side of the screen. This will tell you the group that is now boarding. On the right side of that, you will see checkmarks for other groups that have boarded and that are currently boarding. If you belong to one of those groups that have already boarded, you should be allowed to board at that time.

Some signs may not show the now boarding group on the left and in those cases just look for the green checkmarks to see what groups are currently boarding or that have boarded.

Alaska airlines boarding screen — Alaska Airlines boarding sign.

Boarding groups explained

Alaska Airlines has a reputation for not strictly enforcing boarding groups. This has allowed people to board ahead of their designated boarding groups which sounds great except that it can lead to a disorderly process.

Therefore, I would advise our passengers to try to follow the published boarding group guidelines as much as you can simply to avoid confusion.

Pre-boarding

Unaccompanied minors

Unaccompanied minors are children who are 5 to12 years old and traveling without a parent, legal guardian or someone who is at least 18 years old. There are special rules regarding traveling as an unaccompanied minor and you can read more about those here.

Customers with disabilities

If you have a visible disability (such as being in a wheel chair, on crutches, etc.), you will be able to board without questions. However, if your disability is not readily apparent it may be a good idea to notify the gate agent that you want pre-boarding.

Remember, you are able to self-identify that you need preboarding.

Active members of the military

Alaska Airlines will allow active members of the military to board during pre-boarding.

On occasion priority boarding has also been offered to retired military members although that is a special scenario that may be tied to special occasions such as Veterans Day.

Related: Check out all of the benefits military members can take advantage of when flying.

Priority Boarding

If you are flying first class on Alaska Airlines then you can expect to be the first to board right after pre-boarding.

Don’t forget, first class passengers get other perks like free checked baggage.

Also, if you hold elite status as an MVP Gold 100K member you can board with Priority Boarding.

If an aircraft does not have a first class cabin then group boarding for those flights will just begin with Group A.

Group A (Million Milers, MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K, 100K)

Group A will consist of the two top levels of elite status which include Million Milers, MVP Gold 75K, and MVP Gold.

If you are wondering about the requirements for obtaining elite status with Alaska Airlines here are the requirements:

Elite Level	Miles Flown	Segments
Alaska MVP	20,000 miles	30
MVP Gold	40,000 miles	60
MVP Gold 75K	75,000 miles	90
MVP Gold 100K	100,000 miles	140

Alaska elite status level requirements.

If you are boarding with a partner or spouse who does not have elite status and therefore has a lower boarding group, many times they can board with you.

It’s not an official policy but there are many reports of elite members pulling their partners along to board with them even when their partners have a lower boarding group.

Just try to do this within reason.

If you have an entire group of people with you then you are much more likely to cause an issue. This is even true if everybody is on the same itinerary.

By the way if you’ve earned a lot of Alaska miles and need some ideas on how to best redeem them be sure to check out our best uses of Alaska Airline miles.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Group B (MVP members and guests in Premium Class seats)

If you are on the lowest level of elite status known as MVP, you will board with Group B.

Also, those individuals in Premium Class seats get to board with Group B.

Group C

Group C is where you will board if you hold an Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card (personal or business). Just remember, you need to use your Alaska credit card to purchase your ticket!

Group D (Main cabin in the back)

If you are flying economy and your seat is towards the back of the plane then you will board in Group D.

Where exactly the “cut off” is for seats in the back depends on the type of aircraft you are flying on since some aircraft will have many more rows of seats.

But if you are trying to get into Group D, I would recommend choosing a seat beyond the emergency exit rows, beginning around row 20. If you really want to be on the safe side, you could go even further with a seat around row 25.

Group E (Main cabin in the front)

If you are flying economy and your seat is towards the front of the plane then you will board in Group E.

Don’t despair if you find yourself in this group because you still have a chance to secure overhead storage bin space.

We recently had Group E boarding and were pretty worried about having space for our luggage but it turns out we were perfectly fine.

With that said, I would try to get ahead of the line because by the time they got to Group D, Groups E&F were practically merging together and boarding so it helps if you can try to get ahead of that.

Otherwise, you may get left behind!

Group F (Saver)

The final passengers to board the plane will always be those who have purchased saver fares. These are the cheapest type of tickets available on Alaska Airlines.

Keep in mind that if you purchase a saver fare, you may not be able to select your seat. So if you are flying with other individuals and you want to sit together, this is not a great ticket good.

When boarding groups don’t matter

Your Alaska Airlines boarding group may not matter at small airports which can be common in places like Southeast Alaska.

For example, we flew first class out of Gustavus airport which is a tiny little single building terminal.

They did not have the room for a traditional boarding process and so it was more of a first come, first serve boarding process. So don’t expect to take advantage of your boarding perks at smaller airports.

Alaska Airlines boarding groups FAQ

What is the order of boarding groups for Alaska Airlines?

Alaska Airlines will board in the following order:

Pre-boarding (Military, disabilities, unaccompanied minors, etc.)
Priority Boarding (First Class, MVP Gold 100K)
Group A (Million Milers, MVP Gold, and MVP Gold 75K)
Group B (MVP members and guests in Premium Class seats)
Group C (Alaska credit card holders)
Group D (Main cabin in the back)
Group E (Main cabin in the front)
Group F (Saver)

How many boarding groups are there?

There are a total of eight boarding groups if you include preboarding and priority boarding.

Where can I find my boarding group?

You can easily locate your boarding group on your boarding pass. See the image above for details.

Who qualifies for pre-boarding?

Different groups may qualify for pre-boarding including active military members, those with disabilities, and unaccompanied minors.

What if I don’t get the right boarding group?

There have been reports of apparent glitches in the boarding group issuance process. If you are given a boarding group that does not correspond to your elite level status simply call Alaska Airlines or meet with an agent at one of the counters to fix the issue.

What is the Alaska Airlines boarding music?

Alaska Airlines will play music during the boarding process but the tunes are always changing. You can find their latest playlists here.

Does the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card offer priority boarding?

Yes, the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card allows you to board with Group C if you use the card to pay for your flight.

Does Alaska board from both doors?

If you are flying on regional flights (such as with Horizon Air) then your flight may be boarded from doors located at the front and back of the plane. This typically will not be used for 737s.

Do Portland Timbers fans get priority boarding?

Portland Timbers fans can still get priority boarding but only at Portland International Airport (PDX) when wearing Timbers jerseys or gear. Some have even commented that a simple scarf can work. Read more here.

How does Alaska Airlines coronavirus boarding work?

Alaska Airlines states: “To better allow for personal distancing, boarding procedures have been updated so guests board by row numbers in smaller groups from the back to the front.”

Since Alaska already boarded from the back this is not a huge change but they will be segmenting groups into smaller groups now.

If you have priority boarding and would like to board first, speak with an agent about doing so since some agents may not call priority boarding first.

Final word

As you can tell, the boarding policy is very simple and straightforward for Alaska Airlines. It seems like Alaska is pretty lax when it comes to allowing others to board with you when you have a higher boarding pass so that is something to keep in mind. And while gate agents me be lax on the order of the boarding groups, it’s a good idea to follow the boarding procedures as closely as possible.

Daniel Gillaspia

Delta Air Lines Boarding Policy Guide: Another Switch to Group Ordering [2023]

Delta Air Lines has one of the more confusing boarding group orders since elite members are broken up more than others.

Still, it is relatively simple to follow given the different branded terms used to describe the boarding groups and the color schemes that go along with them.

What’s harder to keep up with are the different changes that they make like the one recently made to Diamond Medallion Members and First Class.

In this article, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the Delta Air Lines boarding groups and policies.

Full list of Delta Air Lines boarding groups

Preboarding
Delta One
Delta Premium Select or First Class
Diamond Medallion Members
Delta Comfort+
Sky Priority
Main cabin one
Main cabin two
Main cabin three
Basic Economy

If the Delta Air Lines boarding groups above do not look familiar to you it might be because Delta Air Lines used to have boarding groups one through six.

The first two boarding groups were for Premium and Sky Priority members while the remaining four groups were for boarding zones one through four.

But Delta Air Lines recently changed the boarding group classification to reflect the type of ticket fare purchased. As you can see in the chart below, there were eight different groups labeled according to fare.

But then in 2022 they did another reshuffling and added a specific boarding group for Diamond Medallion Members.

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