Intriguing: Alaska Airlines Launches $5 Monthly Subscription

Alaska Airlines has just unveiled a monthly subscription service, and I’m not sure what exactly to make of it.

The basics of $5 monthly Alaska Access subscription

Alaska Access is the name of Alaska Airlines’ new monthly subscription program, which it describes as being ideal for savvy, price-conscious customers. Starting today, travelers can sign-up for Alaska Access at the cost of $5 per month (with a 12-month commitment), offering exclusive savings on flights and Wi-Fi.

With Alaska Access, you receive:

• A monthly inflight Wi-Fi voucher, offering you complimentary Wi-Fi on a single Alaska flight (this would ordinarily cost $8 per flight); each voucher is only valid for one calendar month, and has to be used by the subscriber
• Early access to fare sales, whereby you’ll receive access to flight sales a night before they’re made open to the public, with the option of booking immediately; this will be through the Alaska Airlines app
• A personalized fare page, whereby you’ll be able to view the lowest fares using money or miles to more than 500 global destinations, taking the guesswork and time out of finding the best value flights

Here’s how Shane Jones, Alaska Airlines’ VP of Business Development, describes this new service:

“We know time is valuable for our guests who are busy balancing a lot in their lives and we kept that in mind when we developed Alaska Access. Alaska Access is part of our commitment to make travel more affordable and convenient for everyone – whether planning for your dream vacation or returning home from college. Our new subscription service allows you to discover some of our best deals of the year right at your fingertips, in just minutes.” 

My take on the Alaska Access subscription service

It’s unusual to see an airline ask you to pay to essentially receive access to fare sales. However, I think this is kind of smart, or at a minimum, it’s something worth experimenting with.

The price is low enough so that many people will probably subscribe without thinking twice. Then as I view it, the core value proposition is that you’re getting access to discounted Wi-Fi:

• If you fly Alaska once per month and would use Wi-Fi, you’re already saving $3 per month compared to just buying a Wi-Fi pass for $8
• If you fly Alaska at least once in eight different months, you’d come out ahead compared to buying Wi-Fi each time

Furthermore, having these Wi-Fi vouchers may encourage some people to choose to book Alaska over another airline. Then again, Alaska’s biggest competitor is Delta, and the airline offers free Wi-Fi to all SkyMiles members on most aircraft.

As far as the early access to fare sales go, I couldn’t imagine actually paying for access to airline fare sales:

• Airline fare sales are rarely anything to get excited about, but rather are mostly about marketing
• Fare sales tend to not book out that quickly, since they’re usually not such great deals
• The calendar feature doesn’t necessarily sound all that different than what you’d have access to if using a website like Google Flights

This isn’t the first time that Alaska has experimented with a subscription concept, as the airline previously sold a flight subscription pass.

Bottom line

Alaska Access is a new subscription service from Alaska Airlines. It costs $5 per month, and gives you early access to fare sales, which seems like an odd value proposition. However, what could quickly make this worthwhile is that you get a free Wi-Fi voucher every month, offering instant savings for frequent Alaska flyers who don’t have a Wi-Fi subscription.

I’d only take advantage of this if you value the Wi-Fi perk. While I don’t think the value is huge beyond that, I do think this is a pretty smart marketing tool on Alaska’s part, as it won’t just generate revenue, but will also make people more engaged in the airline.

What do you make of Alaska Access?