Alaska is first airline to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone – giving guests more choice for how to pay

Whether you’re on your way to a celebratory vacation or coming home after a long business trip, that inflight beverage always hits the spot. Coming soon to your next flight, you can pay for your alcoholic beverage or snack pack with just a simple tap from your iPhone or Apple Watch to pay with Apple Pay, other digital wallet, or contactless credit or debit card – no more swiping!

Our flight attendants use iPhones onboard the aircraft to make sure you’re seated correctly, deliver your pre-ordered meal, offer you an elite chocolate and take snack and alcohol orders. Because of new technology from Apple and our partnership with Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, we can now use those iPhones accept your contactless payment method of choice.

“We’re constantly innovating to give our guests the most seamless and caring experience possible,” said Charu Jain, senior vice president of innovation and merchandising. “We’re proud to partner with Stripe to be the first airline to bring Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone technology to flight.”

How does it work?

When it’s time to pay for your beverage or snack pack, simply hold your iPhone or Apple Watch to pay with Apple Pay, your contactless credit or debit card, or other digital wallet near the flight attendant’s iPhone. The payment will be securely completed via NFC technology.

Voila! It’s that easy.

Tap to Pay on iPhone is rolling out on select flights and will be available across our fleet in the next few months.

Pre-order your meals before you board!

We’re constantly bringing new and interesting meals onboard our flights. You can catch the latest menu here. All meals onboard our flights must be preordered at least 20 hours before your flight.

Here’s how you pre-order on the Alaska Airlines app:

  1. Log in and locate your upcoming trip from app home screen.
  2. Under flight info, locate “food pre-order”
  3. Make your pre-order selection and follow steps to store your credit card information for an easy, touch-free transaction on board.

Between pre-ordering your meal and tapping to pay for your cocktail, we’re making it as easy as ever to enjoy your flight. This is just another way we are innovating to bring our guests the most seamless experience possible – from our airport lobbies to the aisles of our aircraft.