Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air Introduce New Online Tool for Itinerary Changes And Increase Non-Web Change Fee

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air have introduced a new online tool that gives customers more flexibility when making itinerary changes after purchasing tickets. The "Change Itinerary" feature, available at alaskaair.com and horizonair.com, is the first online tool in the industry that displays an easy-to-read matrix of 20 itinerary change options with corresponding adjustments to fares and taxes.

The new tool allows customers to change travel dates as well as departure and arrival cities, and can be used even after some of the itinerary’s travel has been completed. The enhanced feature can be used by groups of up to six passengers and allows each customer to make different flight changes. It also allows Alaska Airlines MVP and MVP Gold Mileage Plan members to search for new flights with available upgrades to the first-class cabin.

"Our customers are increasingly using the Web to take care of all their travel needs — from buying tickets online to checking in online. Now they’ll benefit from the ease-of-use of seeing 20 reissue options on one page and have the flexibility to change their reservations after travel has begun," said Steve Jarvis, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of sales, marketing and customer experience. "This innovative new tool gives customers the information they need to make most itinerary changes quickly and easily with the click of a mouse."

Alaska and Horizon also announced today a fee increase for changes made through the airlines’ reservations centers and ticket counters. The new $75 fee, which will apply to tickets purchased beginning Oct. 3, 2007, is designed to encourage more customers to use the enhanced online itinerary change tool. The fee for online itinerary changes will remain $50. The new feature does not yet allow customers to change Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan award tickets or international itineraries. Customers can continue to make these changes through reservations call centers and ticket counters until these functions are available online in the future. The airlines’ new online change feature was deployed using ITA Software’s QPX system.

Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier, Horizon Air, serve 92 cities through an expansive network throughout Alaska, the Lower 48, Canada and Mexico. For reservations, visit http://www.alaskaair.com/. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at http://www.alaskaair.com/newsroom.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: barb.johnson@alaskaair.com

SOURCE: Alaska Airlines