Alaska Airlines is praised for its customer-friendly policies and lack of nickel and diming. But that unique position continues to erode.
Starting on June 05, 2018, Alaska Airlines will make three major fee changes.
1. 24-hour free change/cancellation policy restricted
- The 24-hour free cancellation policy will now only apply to tickets booked for travel starting 24 hours or more from the time of purchase.
- If travel begins within 24 hours of buying your non-refundable ticket, standard change/cancellation fees will apply immediately.
For example, if you book 25 hours in advance, you still have 24 hours to cancel. If you book 23 hours in advance, you cannot cancel a non-refundable ticket.
This policy change is not unreasonable, but puts Alaska at a competitive disadvantage over Delta, Southwest, and United. Meanwhile, American and JetBlue already have stricter cancelation policies.
2. Change and cancellation fee raised
- If you change or cancel your ticket more than 60 days before departure, that change/cancellation will now be subject to a fee of $125.
Previously, Alaska had a very generous cancellation policy that allowed even restricted tickets to be refunded as long as travel was more than 60 days away. While the new fee of $125 is still lower than Alaska’s legacy competitors, Alaska has eliminated one of its most customer-friendly policies.
3. Same-day confirmed change fee raised
Same-day confirmed changes are doubling in price from $25 to $50. The change fee will now also apply to discounted first class tickets, where were previously exempted. There are a few exceptions:
- For travel entirely within the state of California, the same day confirmed change fee will remain $25.
- For travel on our shuttle flights between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Spokane and Seattle, or Portland and Seattle, the same day confirmed change fee will remain $25.
- Refundable purchased or award travel (booked in F, D, Y, or Z class of service) will have no same day confirmed change fee.
- MVP Gold and Gold 75K Mileage Plan members will continue to have their same day confirmed change fee waived.
One positive: changes will now be permitted for any flight on the same calendar day, rather than simply within a six-hour window fo the original departure.
CONCLUSION
Dare we predict the next frontier? Dollar-based earnings?
Here’s the earning chart now for Alaska flights. Let’s see how long this lasts…
| Cabin | Classes of service | Base mileage earned | Bonus Miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Class | F or P | 100% | 75% |
| Main (Economy) | Y or S | 100% | 50% |
| Main (Economy) | M or B | 100% | 25% |
| Main (Economy) | H, Q, L, V, K, G, T, or R | 100% | – |
Alaska Airlines has also announced Basic Economy is coming and now penalizes you for no-shows (your ticket becomes valueless).
On the one hand, I understand why Alaska determined it need not offer something its competition also did not. On the other hand, Alaska lacks many elements (such as lie-flat seating on transcontinental flights) that its competition offers. My warning to Alaska: be careful what you cut.
Can you not give them any ideas with the revenue based system …?
Though I bet it would be a giant shock to their business model. I’m going to be 75K for the second year in a row (organically), and though I love their customer service ! It is about their mileage program that keeps me so loyal. I don’t think AS could handle the shock of how many customers they would lose. I hate paying $19! (12.50 plus taxes fees) for the occasional domestic AA award ticket.. gotta be one of their biggest money makers…
I’m not sure I get the long-term strategy here, either. I’d love to give them more of a chance, but out of Dallas, they don’t operate much of a route network. If they’re going to adopt the same customer-unfriendly policies as American, why would I choose Alaska when AA can get me where I need to go on a better schedule? Or choose them over Southwest, who still has a better route network and doesn’t charge fees?
@ Matthew — Dollar-based earnings and/or status revenue requirements would mean the end of my relationship with Alaska. It is only a matter of time, but I’m guessing not before 2020.
I have been flying quite often with AS since I became a member. Now, I am not so sure if I can see the benefit of being a loyal customer. I fly to DC a few times a year and while UA has a basic economy, AS doesn’t….until now. Really, let’s face it. AS retained good customer base because of their friendly policies even though AS has definitely lack of routes and pricing. (For example, if I fly from Orange County to Seattle, Delta has a better pricing in most cases. With the changes of starting Basic economy and cancellation policy, etc…why does anyone want to fly with AS, then? Maybe I should keep my Delta miles…..and get rid of AS miles…!
AS runs a good airline, just wish they had a full route network throughout CONUS. They have too many holes to compete with the big 3. If they can improve the route network I’d consider flying with them but they just aren’t where I need them to be.
Doesn’t United not do the 24 hour fee free cancellation within 7 days of departure?
From https://www.united.com/web/en-us/content/reservations/refunds/24-hour-booking-policy.aspx (emphasis mine): “United’s 24-hour flexible booking policy allows the flexibility to make changes to select reservations within 24 hours of purchasing your ticket, without incurring change fees **if you made your purchase one week or more prior to the original scheduled departure flight.**”
United has added that language, but still allows cancellations even for same day bookings and has a different message (“You have 24 hours to cancel”) while booking every ticket.
Just found out I’d have to pay close to $400 just to get $125 back if I cancel a $245 ticket. #CrayAF, I’m never flying with AS again. Been a long time flyer with VA, but no more. I have two flights to NYC this fall, but I’m just going to let them go. Going back to JetBlue and book those flights.
Hope for a schedule change and then you might still be able to cancel for a full refund. As a last resort, monitor for a delay on the day of travel, another justification for a full refund.