Everything you need to know about Alaska Airlines Flight Pass

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Alaska Airlines Flight Pass is a subscription based service offered by Alaska Airlines for flights covering select cities in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah (with a very heavy bias in favor of California).

The program has recently been updated, but for a flat monthly fee (+ taxes), a Flight Pass subscription still offers frequent flyers a set number of round trip flights per year between select destinations with no blackout dates.

Alaska Airlines Flight Pass subscriptions

The Flight Pass program offers two levels of subscription – Flight Pass and Flight Pass Plus – and allows members to fly up to 12 round trips a year for a fixed monthly fee (+ taxes) on any flight between 15 destinations across California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah with no blackout dates.

Subscriptions are for individuals only, come with a mandatory term of 12 months during which they cannot be cancelled, and are for individuals aged 18 or older.

Flight Pass

Flight Pass is the entry-level subscription offering that costs $69/month and which gives a subscriber 1 round trip flight every 2 months. Flights must be booked at least 14 days before departure and no more than 90 days before departure (the outbound leg of a round trip booking must begin within 90 days of booking).

Taxes and fees come at an additional cost and are currently $15.10 per flight.

Flight Pass Plus

Flight Pass Plus is the more premium subscription that costs $129/month and which gives a subscriber 1 round trip flight every month. Flights must be booked at least 14 days before departure and no more than 90 days before departure (the outbound leg of a round trip booking must begin within 90 days of booking).

Taxes and fees come at an additional cost and are currently $15.10 per flight.

The credits

As long as a member’s subscription is up to date, Alaska Airlines will deposit credits for round trip flights into a subscriber’s Flight Pass account on a monthly or bi-monthly basis depending on which Flight Pass subscription has been selected.

All credits come with an expiry date and this is the date by which that credit must be redeemed to book a future ticket on Alaska Airlines and is not the date by which a flight booked with the credit must be flown.

A credit will expire once the next of credit is deposited into a subscriber account so, for example, if you have a subscription which earns a credit every month, you will have a month in which to use each credit added to your account.

Failure to use/redeem a credit prior to its expiration date will result in the forfeiture of that credit as credits cannot be rolled over to future periods.

How to book using Flight Pass credits

A Flight Pass subscriber can redeem credits and create reservations through the same Alaska Airlines site through which cash fares and award bookings are made.

After logging into their account a subscriber should go to the ‘Discounts and Companion Fare‘ page to see the status of their Flight Pass credit and from there, they can search for the routes and travel dates they want, select the flights that work best for them, and pay any fares, taxes, or fees associated with those flights.

Key rules:

• Flights may be operated by Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, or SkyWest Airlines.
• All reservations must be round trip tickets
• One-way bookings are not permitted with Flight Pass.
• Flight Pass credits are only valid for travel on nonstop Alaska Airlines flights within California and between California and Nevada, Arizona or Utah. Connections are not permitted.
• Bookings must be between two airports only, so open jaw itineraries are not permitted.
• Flight Pass credits may not be redeemed for travel on other airlines, including partners, or on Alaska Airlines flights beyond the specified routes.

Alaska Airlines says that most flights on the eligible routes are included in a Flight Pass subscription at a fare of only $0.01, but a few (the busier/more popular flights) may require a higher ‘premium access‘ fare.

Upon successful payment a new booking is created which can be accessed/viewed in the same way as a regular booking.

A booking made with a Flight Pass credit will automatically be made in the name that the subscription is registered to, and name changes/transfers are not permitted.

Standby

Alaska Airlines says that standby is not allowed on most tickets but that some exceptions apply, so Flight Pass members should check the fare rules specific to their purchased ticket for more details.

Flight changes & cancellations

Changes to a reservation must be made at least 10 minutes prior to departure.

Changes to flights with the same routings and with the same classes of service are permitted as long as the associated Flight Pass credit is within its valid expiration date at the date of requested flight change. The new flights must be within 90 days of the original booking date/credit redemption date

If a credit is redeemed and a reservation created, and that reservation is then cancelled prior to the credit’s expiration date, the credit will be redeposited into the subscriber’s account as it remains valid until its original expiration date (i.e. the original expiration date is not extended).

If a credit is redeemed prior to expiration, but the reservation created by that credit is later cancelled after the credit’s expiration date, that credit is forfeited and will not be redeposited into the subscriber’s account.

Benefits that come with Flight Pass

• Free seat selection
• Ability to pay for premium upgrades
• Earn Mileage Plan Miles (1 mile for every mile flown with a minimum of 500 miles/flight).
• Earn miles towards Mileage Plan elite status.

Mileage Plan elite members can use all of their elite benefits on flights booked using Flight Pass credits, and holders of the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card will earn 3 miles/dollar on all Flight Pass-related purchases.

Reservations booked using Flight Pass will only earn miles and elite credits in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program, so flights booked using Flight Pass cannot be credited to any of Alaska Airlines’ partners (e.g. American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Executive Club, etc…)

The routes covered by Flight Pass

Alaska Airlines says that Flight Pass covers trips between 15 cities across 4 states, and while that’s true, the fact is that program is very heavily weighted in favor of California with 12 of the 15 cities covered located in the Golden State.

These are the current routes covered by an Alaska Airlines Flight Pass:

Burbank to:

• San Francisco
• Santa Rosa

Fresno to:

• San Diego

Las Vegas to:

• Los Angeles
• San Francisco

Los Angeles to:

• Las Vegas
• San Francisco
• San Jose
• Santa Rosa

Monterey to:

• San Diego

Orange County to:

• San Francisco
• Santa Rosa

Palm Springs to:

• San Francisco

Phoenix to:

• San Francisco

Sacramento to:

• San Diego

Salt Lake City to:

• San Diego
• San Francisco

San Diego to:

• Fresno
• Monterey
• Sacramento
• Salt Lake City
• San Francisco
• San Jose
• San Luis Obispo
• Santa Rosa

San Francisco to:

• Burbank
• Las Vegas
• Los Angeles
• Orange County
• Palm Springs
• Phoenix
• Salt Lake City
• San Diego

San Jose to:

• Los Angeles
• San Diego

San Luis Obispo to:

• San Diego

Santa Rosa to:

• Burbank,
• Los Angeles
• Orange County
• San Diego

This list is up to date at the time of publication, but you should always check the latest list of covered routes (here) before committing to a subscription.

Canceling a subscription

As mentioned earlier, Flight Pass subscriptions are non-refundable, so once you have subscribed, you’re committed to the 12 monthly payments you signed up to.

Cancellations at the end of each subscription term may be requested via the subscription portal or by calling Alaska Airlines and as these subscriptions will automatically roll over into a new 12-month contract, everyone choosing to subscribe should make a note of when the renewal date is to ensure that they don’t end up locked-in to a subscription that they no longer need.

Bottom line

Alaska Airlines introduced its Flight Pass subscription in February 2022, but it has recently refreshed the offering leaving us with the product you see above.

Flight Pass is mainly aimed at frequent flyers based in California, but it may be of use to select flyers in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona depending on their travel patterns.

Subscriptions cost $69/month or $129/month depending on how many annual round trip bookings are included, and while in right hands, a Flight Pass subscription may be a very useful cost saver, this isn’t a product for everyone, so make sure you read the terms and conditions carefully before committing to a 12-month subscription.

Featured image courtesy of Alaska Airlines