alaska

Tag Archives for alaska.

Another “No Notice” Frequent Flyer Program Change

by Gary Leff on June 25, 2005

Jun 25 2005

Effective yesterday, Alaska and KLM have discontinued their partnership. This was revealed on Flyertalk. I can’t find any mention of the change on the Alaska Air website, all references to the KLM partnership are just gone — down the memory hole — very Orwell-esque. Award tickets that have already been issued are valid for travel for one year from date of issue or June 6, 2006, whichever comes first. Not only was the change done without warning, but members haven’t been informed.

Amusingly Named Mileage Offer

by Gary Leff on March 27, 2005

Mar 27 2005

One of the more amusingly named mileage offers (via Free Frequent Flyer Miles) has to be The Danny Schurman Homeselling System:This written guarantee will give you the assurance that if your home doesn’t sell within 120 days, we will give you up to 2500 Airmiles. Gary Steiger says these are Alaska miles and wonders what the phrase up to is doing there. This may be of limited interest to those readers in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Alaska Airlines Transfer Bonus

by Gary Leff on March 2, 2005

Mar 02 2005

Points.com is offering double miles for any points exchange into Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan through March 31. Incidentally, the rumor is that Alaska will be introducing a new top tier to its elite level program. Details on Platinum status are sketchy at this point.

Some notes from recent travels

by Gary Leff on February 23, 2005

Feb 23 2005

I flew a couple transcon flights on Alaska Airlines. The first, a breakfast flight, was very disappointing. The first class flight attendant spent the majority of the flight in the galley reading. She had a sour demeanor, and made requests unpleasant. Breakfast was sparse. The return flight was a different story entirely, a much more pleasant crew and a filling lunch. Still, the pitch is tight on Alaska’s first class product and the seats are old and visibly worn. Security lines were long at both Reagan National and Seattle. Not surprising, it was a holiday weekend. The first class/elite lines in Seattle make a huge difference. It’s a shame that National doesn’t offer this (and neither, unfortunately, does Dulles). Seattle is the original home of shoe removal. It’s commonplace nowadays, but it seemed to start…

Pork for Alaska’s Airports

by Gary Leff on January 29, 2005

Jan 29 2005

John Stossel’s ABC News piece last night contained some interesting nuggets, including this about proposed changes to the Ketchikan International Airport in Alaska: Years ago Congress gave money to the little tourist town of Ketchikan, with only 14,000 residents, for an airport on a nearby island. Ketchikan International has six to eight flights a day, and people get there by taking a short ferry ride — which they love. The scenic ride takes 500 air travelers a day to or from the airport in just seven minutes Alaska resident Mike Sallee likes the ferry ride. He said, “I think our existing ferry system is just dandy and it doesn’t cost $200 million.” The $200 million refers to the fact that Young recently persuaded legislators that Ketchikan needs a bridge to the airport. And Young doesn’t…

Accounting and Frequent Flyer Programs

by Gary Leff on December 24, 2004

Dec 24 2004

Alaska Air made a $5.2 million accounting error in the third quarter related to its frequent flyer program. They sold a bunch of bonus miles to their partners and booked the revenue. That turns out to have been the problem — because their accounting practices require them to book revenue when the miles are redeemed rather than sold. That simple item may offer a window into the behavior of airlines offering award sales and alternative redemption options. In the case of award sales, customers are encouraged to book award flights they otherwise wouldn’t — allowing the airline to recognize revenue. In the case of alternative redemption options (such as magazines for miles or even points exchanges), the airline gets to book revenue even though it also has a cash cost. In this latter case the…

Alaska Airlines Board Room Discount

by Gary Leff on December 5, 2004

Dec 05 2004

Through December 31st, Alaska Airlines Board Room (lounge) membership is on sale and so are day passes. For annual membership, the $100 ‘initiation fee’ is waived. For day passes, the usual $25 price is reduced to two for $25 or one for $15. To take advantage of the offer, call Board Room Administration at 206-392-5496 and use promo code BRGIFT04. Lounge passes make great gifts for your Seattle-area friends and my understanding is that they come without an expiration date.

Free miles

by Gary Leff on July 4, 2002

Jul 04 2002

Since I have so many new visitors, I thought I’d take a moment to summarize some of the quick ways to click for miles that I’ve posted: 1000 Continental miles for completing a survey 2000 Hilton points for updating your profile Up to 2500 Delta miles for referring new Skymiles members 500 USAirways miles for signing up for their free golf newsletter 1000 United miles and 500 American miles Up to 300 American miles for taking a survey 1500 Alaska Air miles for email signup

Eat Food Get Miles

by Gary Leff on June 19, 2002

Jun 19 2002

A friend asked me today whether I knew about iDine. Of course, I know all about it — it’s great. Here’s how it works. It’s free. You sign up. You go to restaurants. You earn 10 miles for each dollar that you spend at restaurants that are on their list — including miles for tax and tip. You can choose to earn miles on Alaska, American, America West, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, or USAirways. The whole system is automatic. You register your credit card, and the points post automatically when you pay your bill with that card. The only limitation is that you are generally only able to earn miles at a particular restaurant once per month. However, there’s a way around this constraint… a glitch in their system. Just sign up different credit cards…