Fee Changes Coming to Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines has posted baggage and service fee changes to their website.

The fees don’t go into effect until tickets purchased on or after October 30, 2013, which is plenty of notice. Much better than unannounced changes or changes that go into effect immediately.

While baggage fees are increasing marginally for the first 2 bags and the change/cancellation fee is increasing by $50 for changes made less than 60 days to departure, I actually think it’s a positive change in that there’s no longer a change or cancellation fee for changes made more than 60 days prior to ticketed departure. To me, this is a very positive development as it’s a move for an airline to acknowledge that changes or cancellations 60 days prior to departure don’t really affect an airline’s revenue planning since they can likely still sell the seat. This is also the service that I’m most likely to take advantage of, as I try not to check bags whenever possible anyway.