Alaska Airlines introduces a Flight Pass for California, Nevada & Arizona

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Well, this is new! Alaska Airlines has announced that it is introducing a subscription-based product designed to allow frequent flyers to save as they use the airline to fly within California, Nevada, and Arizona. ‘Flight Pass’ is already live with subscriptions starting from $49 per month.

Alaska Airlines Flight Pass program

The Flight Pass program offers two levels of subscription – Flight Pass and Flight Pass Pro – and allows members to fly up to 24 roundtrip flights a year on what the airline describes as “the most popular routes within California” as well as on Alaska’s nonstop service from California to Reno, Phoenix and Las Vegas, for a fixed monthly fee.

How it works

• Sign up at www.flightpass.alaskaair.com.
• Pick your preferred plan:
  • Flight Pass: Starts at $49 per month, requires booking at least 14 days before travel, and as early as 90 days in advance.
  • Flight Pass Pro: Starts at $199 per month, allows same-day booking up to two hours before departure, and as early as 90 days in advance.
• Choose the number of roundtrips you would like annually: 6, 12 or 24 roundtrip flights.
• Upon successful payment each month of the monthly membership fees, credits for roundtrip flights will be deposited into your Flight Pass account.
• Redeem your credits and book your trip on an eligible flight.
• Choose from 100 daily flights connecting 13 California airports to each other and to Reno, Phoenix, and Vegas
• Fly!

Flight Pass

Flight Pass is the entry-level subscription offering that starts at $49/month and for that, a member gets 1 roundtrip flight every 2 months that must be booked at least 14 days before departure and no more than 90 days before departure.

Flyers can customize this membership:

• For an extra $50/month ($99/month in total), members can take 1 roundtrip flight per month.
• For an extra $140/month ($189/month in total), members can take 2 roundtrip flights per month.

Taxes and fees come at an additional cost and are currently $14.61 per flight.

Flight Pass Pro

Flight Pass Pro is the flexible subscription offering that starts at $199/month and for that, a member gets 1 roundtrip flight every 2 months that can be booked at any time up to the day of departure.

Flyers can customize this membership:

• For an extra $200/month ($399/month in total), members can take 1 roundtrip flight per month.
• For an extra $550/month ($749/month in total), members can take 2 roundtrip flights per month.

Taxes and fees come at an additional cost and are currently $14.61 per flight.

The routes covered by Flight Pass

Alaska Airlines has provided a handy image showing the routes covered by its new Flight Pass program.

Key terms

• Subscriptions are for individuals only. Each individual must enroll separately; there are no group or family memberships.
• Only individuals age 18 and older may subscribe.
• Subscriptions cannot be transferred to another individual or third-party. The individual specified at sign-up is the only person authorized to use this membership.
• Individuals may subscribe to Flight Pass online at FlightPass.AlaskaAir.com.
• Upon sign-up, the individual must create a Flight Pass account by providing a valid email address and creating a password.
• The email entered upon sign-up is the user identification and cannot be changed after sign-up.
• Enrollment in the Alaska Airlines Flight Pass subscription requires each individual to provide his/her name, address, contact information, and birth date. This information must match exactly the government-issued identification the traveler will use during their travel. This information cannot be modified after sign-up.
• Flight Pass has a mandatory term of 12 months from activation, during which it cannot be cancelled and is non-refundable. Following the mandatory 12-month period the subscriber may choose to cancel his/her subscription. If cancelled, the subscription will end at the end of the 12-month period. If not
  cancelled, the subscription will automatically renew for another 12-month term at the terms communicated to the subscriber prior to renewal. It is the responsibility of the subscriber to cancel his/her subscription before the renewal date
• Upon successful payment each month of the monthly membership fees, credits for roundtrip flights will be deposited into the subscriber’s Flight Pass account. The number of such credits, and the frequency they are deposited into a user’s account, vary according to the options chosen by the subscriber during initial sign-up.
• During such time that successful payment cannot be made, credits will not be deposited into an account and redemption of credits for roundtrip tickets will not be available.
• Credits are valid up to the indicated expiration date assigned to each credit.
• The expiration date for each credit is the date by which that credit must be redeemed to book a future ticket on Alaska Airlines; the expiration date is not the date by which a ticket must be flown.
• If a credit is redeemed and a reservation created, and that reservation is cancelled prior to the credit’s expiration date, the credit is still valid and may be redeposited into the subscriber’s account. The subscriber must call Alaska Airlines to process the
  flight cancellation and request credit redeposit. The redeposit process may take up to 48 hours to complete.
• The expiration date of the original credit applies to a redeposited credit.
• If a credit is not redeemed prior to the expiration date that credit is forfeit. Credits cannot be rolled over to future periods.
• 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 forfeit and cannot be redeposited into the subscriber’s account.
• Only nonstop flights may be selected; no connections are permitted.
• Roundtrips must be between two airports; 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.

Link to full terms and conditions [.pdf]

Thoughts

As with most things in this world, Flight Pass will be a good thing for some flyers and mostly a waste of time for others – which category you fall into will depend on how often you plan to travel on the routes that Flight Pass covers and how much flexibility you need.

The fact that one-way and open-jaw bookings are not permitted by Flight Pass rules is a little disappointing and will be seen as a big negative by some road warriors who value maximum flexibility.

For travelers with a regular pattern of flying, however, I can see how Flight Pass may be attractive and how it could be a nice cost-saving mechanism.

To get the most out of the program, understanding the true cost of the service will be key and to that end, Alaska Airlines has produced a very useful chart:

As you can see, the headline subscription costs only tell part of the story so it will be important for anyone who’s interested in a Flight Pass subscription to check the value on offer very carefully.

If you’re already a frequent flyer on routes covered by Flight Pass you should already have a very good idea of how much you pay, on average, for each of your flight bookings, so checking that data against the costs illustrated above should give you a very good idea of how good of bad Flight Pass can be for you.

If you’re not a frequent flyer on the Flight Pass routes but plan to be, doing some research into the cost of flights on your chosen routes (not forgetting to factor in how far out you will be booking) will be key to ensuring that a Flight Pass subscription doesn’t turn into an expensive mistake.

Bottom line

Alaska Airlines has announced the introduction of its Flight Pass subscription product aimed at frequent flyers in California, Nevada, and Arizona. The cost of a subscription starts at just $49/month but with the option to customize your plan and a Flight Pass Pro option also available, costs can escalate quickly.

In the right hands, a Flight Pass subscription will probably be a useful cost saver, but it also has the possibility of turning into an expensive mistake for those who don’t do their research, so don’t rush to hand over your credit card details until you’ve considered your needs carefully.

Featured image courtesy of Alaska Airlines