Alaska Air Launches $49-Per-Month Flight Subscription Program

Alaska Air Group on Wednesday (Feb. 16) rolled out Flight Pass, a new subscription service offering six, 12 or 24 round-trip flights for a fixed trip price, MarketWatch reported.

Subscriptions will start at $49 per month. Flight Pass Pro will offer more flexibility and will start at $199 per month, and travelers will be responsible for the additional taxes and fees.

Alaska Air is a West Coast-based airline and has over 100 flights a day from airports across California.

PYMNTS wrote that airlines have been analyzing traffic as travel picks back up from the pandemic, and data shows that people are more likely to travel this year after they’ve gotten the vaccine and more safety protocols are put in place.

See also: Travel Sector Eyes Expansion as New Brands, Services Take Flight

The report noted another factor that will be the $2.9 billion merger of Frontiers Airlines and low-cost competitor Spirit Airlines, creating an “ultra low fare” airline which could be operating by the second half of the year.

The combined airline said it plans to expand flight schedules and focus on more underserved cities and regions. Additionally, there might be more linkups with travel and hospitality firms.

PYMNTS’ Digital Economy Payments February 2022 U.S. Edition study found that many consumers were thinking more about travel, with 79% of consumers buying travel in January 2022 having paid online.

While credit cards were an underused method, the study found that digital wallets had been used quite often, which was unexpected. PayPal was the most used option.

The study found that consumers had paid $3.88 billion in travel purchases on PayPal — a bigger number than all the other digital and mobile wallets combined.