Alaska Airlines Makes Tickets Refundable

Alaska Airlines said Tuesday that it has made all of its tickets--including those sold at a discount--refundable, becoming the most recent carrier to reduce restrictions on cheap air fares.

“As far as consumers are concerned . . . it’s a win,” said Donald S. Garvett, an airline consultant at Simat, Helliesen & Eichner in New York. “It removes what could be burdensome and possibly expensive restrictions.”

Last month, Southwest Airlines changed its discount fare policy, making all tickets fully refundable and eliminating other conditions that limited the use of discount tickets. Several of Southwest’s rivals, such as United Airlines, also adopted the changes on competing routes.

Alaska Airlines said its revisions are aimed at simplifying often complex fare rules.

In the past, only Alaska customers who bought full-price coach or first-class tickets were eligible for refunds. But during fare wars, the Seattle-based airline also made discount tickets refundable--sometimes. And sometimes not.

“It was a mess,” company spokesman Lou Cancelmi said.

Under the new policy, Alaska’s discount tickets are refundable--minus a $35 fee. The fee also applies to customers who need to change their itinerary after purchasing tickets.

“The refundability factor makes it attractive for someone to come to Alaska,” Cancelmi said.

United said Tuesday that it will also offer refundable discount tickets on routes that compete with Alaska, while American Airlines said it is still studying the option. Delta Air Lines will not match the offer, a spokesman said.

Alaska’s revisions do not go as far as Southwest’s. On discount fares purchased 14 days in advance of travel, Southwest also eliminated a restriction that has rankled budget-minded business travelers: the Saturday night stay-over.

Because most business travelers want to return home in time for the weekend, few wanted to meet that requirement and, as a result, paid full price.

“We feel the new fares are flexible enough for both leisure and business travelers,” Southwest spokeswoman Linda Burke said. (On fares purchased seven days in advance, Southwest still requires a one-night stay, but it can be any night of the week.)

The first significant move to simplify fare rules came about two years ago when American launched its ill-fated Value Pricing program, which reduced the thousands of different fares and related restrictions. The only feature of Value Pricing that has survived allows discount passengers to reuse their tickets at a later date for a fee.

Despite potential financial risks, airlines are expected to continue easing fare restrictions. For example, by eliminating Saturday night stay requirements, an airline might end up selling fewer full-fare tickets to business travelers. That could add financial stress to carriers, which have long used such barriers to boost revenue, Garvett said.

“You’ve got to make it up somewhere,” Garvett said. “They might have to charge more in the long run.”