A network failure knocked out Alaska Airlines ticketing system for five hours today, causing long delays and canceled flights. But don't you worry all you passengers who waited for hours in line, only to discover your flight was canceled:

All passengers who had their travel disrupted were told they could rebook without a rescheduling fee.

Yippee!

Understand, if you miss your flight because of bad traffic, or say, a particularly long line at TSA, well fuck you and your "nonrefundable" ticket. But if you miss your flight (and possibly an important business meeting or family event or long scheduled vacation) because the airline fucked up, they'll graciously let you rebook without a fee. Assuming you can find a flight. No upgrades, no compensation, no cost for failing to provide the service you paid for.

It's the asymmetry of this relationship that really galls me to no end.