Alaska Air Group plans soft launch of its Saver Fares basic economy product in November

1 November, 2018

More details are emerging about Alaska Air Group's planned basic economy product, dubbed Saver Fares. The airline plans to to undertake a soft launch of its barer bones offering in Nov-2018.


Summary:

  • Alaska Air Group plans to to undertake a soft launch of its barer bones Saver Fares offering in Nov-2018;
  • New Saver Fare will allow seat assignments, a carry on bag and loyalty mileage accrual;
  • The company expects its Saver Fares to generate USD100 million in revenue for 2019.

Alaska plans a soft roll out of Saver Fares in Nov-2018, and the product will feature seat assignments at check in, a carry on bag and loyalty mileage accrual, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The publication noted there are no same day flight changes allowed, or no standing by for earlier or later flights.

The airline is sticking to its message that Saver Fares will generate USD100 million in revenue for 2019.

Company EVP strategy and planning Shane Tackett recently told analysts and investors that Alaska plans to do a soft launch of Saver Fares on 7-Nov-2018, selling those fares in a small subset of markets for flying in Dec-2018.

"We'll use those lessons learned throughout December to figure out if it makes sense to launch fully on January 1. And it probably won't be January 1, it'll be like the 10th, " Mr Tackett said.

He concluded it is often the case that Alaska goes "a little slower on these sorts of things, and the benefit of that is we've been able to learn from others that have gone before us and so, we should be able to get here quicker than others have had in the past".

Alaska has also previously stated it plans to generate an additional USD50 million in revenue next year by offering exit row seats for sale, improving its post-sale revenue management, dynamic pricing for Premium classes, and eliminating fee waivers for ticket changes outside 60 days.