Alaska Airlines incentivises SAF purchases with loyalty points

May 8, 2024 - 2:34 pm

Alaska Airlines has become the first US airline to offer loyalty scheme-linked incentives to customers opting to purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) during their flight booking process.

“Alaska is on a journey to make air travel more sustainable with an ambitious goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Now we are inviting our guests to join us on the journey,” highlighted Diana Birkett Rakow, senior vice president of public affairs and sustainability at Alaska Airlines. “The more people who know about and support this important technology, the better we can impact efforts to make a sustainable future for air travel a reality”.

The SAF credit options are based on carbon emissions associated with a passenger’s flight and are available to purchase as a 5%, 10% or 20% package. They are worked out using IATA’s recommended guidelines for calculating passenger CO2, which leverages parameters including aircraft fuel consumption, flight path, seat configuration, cabin class and load factors sourced directly from the airline’s operational data.

A 5% carbon reduction on a flight from Seattle to JFK is estimated to cost $12.55 to offset, rising to $50.20 for a 20% contribution. Alaska Mileage Plan members will also earn elite status-qualifying miles through their SAF purchases, scoring 500 points for every $500 spent on SAF (up to 5,000 elite-qualifying loyalty miles per year). “We’re proud to be the first US airline to make this connection between guest engagement in SAF and earning elite status,” concluded Rakow.
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