US CITIZEN and GUAM BORN AMERICAN WITH GUAM ID ASKED TO PROVIDE VISA/PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP/RESIDENCY FLYING DOMESTICALLY

Well, Alaska Airlines was always my favorite airline when flying domestically. Obviously, they don’t have flights to my home of Micronesia so I had to take United, but so far, they were perfect in every way.

Sad to say, I was very disappointed with Alaska this morning when I brought our island boy, Jon from Agat Guam to get him checked in for his flight to Honolulu.

This past Monday, I dropped everyone off at the airport, including Jon to catch their flight to Honolulu where they’ll be flying United to Guam, their final destination. When I got home, I was concerned upon checking with them and I was told my nephew and Jon were not with their group at their gate. Later, they told me my nephew made it there, but Jon had to go back to the check in counter to pick up his boarding pass. I was very concerned for Jon and when it hits 8 AM, he’s not yet with the group. I knew then he would not make it to their flight.

After dropping my second half to her workplace, I went straight for Interstate 5 where it can take me straight to the airport where I was going to look for Jon. I was feet away from the ramp when my wife called and said Jon was dropped off at her work. He remembered her and my sister’s workplace, but couldn’t find his way home via a taxi cab. Unfortunately, they were going to share my address with each other at the gate and Jon didn’t make it to the gate. He thought he would know the way to the house, so he took the taxicab, but couldn’t locate the house.

I went and picked him up and took him home. I called their employer’s travel agency and booked him on the flight for this morning. Yesterday, within the 24hr timeline for checking in, I tried to do that for Jon, but wasn’t able to. So, I called the travel agency again and the lady who helped us called Alaska Airlines to make sure we wouldn’t have any problem(s) this morning. She came back saying Alaska Airlines confirmed Jon was booked and ready to pick up his boarding pass via the check in desk or kiosk machines. I felt relieved for Jon thinking there wouldn’t be any problems.

Left the house early and went straight to the parking structure as I was already planning to go with Jon inside the terminal to make sure he made it onto his flight. We got out of my truck, took pictures of my parking spot, too old to memorize anything, you know. Headed to the elevator where it took us to the 4th floor and on to the escalator back up to the 5th floor and to the Alaska Airlines check in kiosks. Tried reservation number, no luck. Try last name, no luck. Try sticking the id into the card reader, no luck. We then went to a line to talk to a human being from Alaska Airlines. One saw us, asked us what we needed then redirected us to another very long line down past several shorter lines, to where it says ASSISTANT COUNTERS, or to that effect. Never paid attention to these counters in my traveling years, but now that I know Alaska has one, I was thinking they may have a lot of issues to have this whole section specifically for people that cannot print out their boarding passes. Why would you have one if you don’t need it, right?

As we lined up, another Customer Agent came asking if she could assist us. Explained Jon’s situation to her then she said, oh they need to confirm your identification. I gave her Jon’s Guam’s ID and she said they need his passport. I said, Jon’s a U.S citizen and presented her with a Guam ID. I was like the Guam ID is just like the Washington ID in that they are AMERICAN ids. I again reminded her that Jon is a U.S citizen and that he didn’t need a passport to travel domestically. I explained to her that traveling from Seattle, Washington to Honolulu, Hawaii and into Guam is a domestic flight. There’s no part of that flight that went into international destinations, period. She apologized and told us to continue up the line so the folks at the counter can help us get Jon’s boarding pass.

Again, we found ourselves redirected to another counter, this time to a counter meant for Microsoft and Amazon employees. It felt comforting to see that the employee looks like someone that would know a thing or two about Guam and its relationship with the U.S. I was wrong! But she tried to be helpful and in the end, she was successful, but somehow the system required her to ask for a VISA for Jon to fly into Guam. I even told her if she can use Jon’s Birth Certificate, but the system didn’t have an option for that.

I couldn’t believe that Alaska Airlines is trying to become the Homeland Security Office, specifically Citizenship and Immigration. They’re treating Jon like a non U.S citizen by requiring him to provide a VISA and documentation of residency. They even wanted Jon to provide them with a Washington State ID. I told Jon, if he won’t make it to the flight, I will talk to this company in booking him on United Airlines all the way to Guam. United is very familiar with Guam since they service the island.

I cannot believe that the FSM citizens have no issues whatsoever getting on Alaska Airlines, but Jon, a U.S citizen of Guam, was having all these issues.

It looked as if the girl went to her boss and they manually printed out poor Jon’s boarding pass so he could get on his flight. By the time he got his boarding pass, there was only 45 minutes or so left before boarding. And he has yet to go through the TSA line. I walked him there and the line was so long that it would take 45 or so minutes just to get through it. I had to play some island magic to be able to pull Jon out of that long line and put him through the PRECHECK line where he walked all the way up to the TSA counter and had no issue getting through. He texted me right away and said, he went through TSA without any problems at all.

Jon came to work in Tennessee a few years back and he had no issues like this. I cannot believe that he would go through all these hassles in my state of Washington and by the airline I am so loyal to. Alaska Airlines, I am a forgiver and I will give you a second chance to prove me wrong. I hope I will never see this situation happen ever again. Not to anyone. And not by any commercial airlines, let alone my favorite airlines, the Alaska Air.