Cheap flights from Omaha to Pullman (OMA - PUW)

We were rebooked from our original 7 am flight to a 9:25 am flight. We tried but could not get seat assignments upon online check-in. At the airport, the security officer almost did not let us through to the gate, since our boarding pass had no QR code and said "seat assignment at the gate." When we made it to the gate and asked for seat assignments, the gate agents kept telling us that they were not authorized to assign us seats and that we would be assigned seats 30 mins prior to departure. They referred us to the service center that would not help either. Since they also said that the flight was full, we were left in doubt if we were going to make it onto this flight. Finally, after everybody else's seats had been assigned, about 15 mins to departure they assigned us two separate seats. We could not sit together. Whoever designed seat assignment and boarding procedures at Alaska Airlines must have zero understanding of how to make such a process work smoothly and efficiently. We'll think twice before booking another flight with Alaska!