Alaska Airlines Eliminating Many Customer-Friendly Policies

Many of the policies and features consumers loved about Alaska Airlines are becoming a thing of the past.

The airline, which has long been a customer favorite thanks to its generous change fee policy, as well as its willingness to give customers credit if the price of their flight drops after booking, is bringing its offerings more in line with competitors, reported The Points Guy.

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Back in April, as part of an earnings statement, Alaska Airlines revealed that it would launch its own version of the often unpopular Basic Economy, known as Saver Fares. The discount, no frills tickets are not changeable or cancellable and are not eligible for upgrades. Those who purchase the seats board last and are seated at the back of the plane. The addition of this offering is expected to bring in as much as $100 million in revenue in 2019 for the airline, according to Business Insider.

In addition, the airline said it would begin charging an extra fee to sit in exit-row seats. And if all of that wasn’t enough, only elite-status MVP Gold and 75k members would be allowed to skip a new change fee being imposed by the airline. As of June 5, changing your ticket at least 60 days prior to departure became subject to a $125 change fee. (Before the new policy took effect, it was free to make such changes.)

And still there was more. Alaska also announced back in April that it would begin adjusting its Premium Economy pricing in real time, to keep up with competitive market pricing.

These additional changes are expected to drive $20 million in revenue this year and another $50 million next year.

Now, the airline is preparing to eliminate its famed price guarantee.

For those not familiar, the price guarantee allowed for getting a credit if you purchased your ticket directly with the airline and then found a lower price on alaskaair.com prior to departure. However, this too is being phased out.

According to The Points Guy, tickets issued as of September 1 will no longer be eligible for Alaska’s guaranteed airfare credit.

The changes being made by Alaska mean that Southwest is the last US carrier still offerring price drop protection up until departure.