Businesses will like this and the fares for close-in bookings can get quite high, so the Pro pass provides some price protection.
The Flight Pass Pro offers the flexibility of booking a trip to leave almost right away. Still, even these people could likely meet their goals by responding to regular sales rather than commit to monthly payments. For leisure customers, this would likely be a golfer who has the time to travel to her favorite course, or someone one who likes a regular jaunt to Las Vegas. The bigger issue for the Flight Pass is the commitment to fly six trips or more. It’s likely that when modeling the economics, Alaska has counted on some breakage, meaning that every subscription buyer will not take all of their flights in the prescribed time. Even if they only use four or five, they may feel this makes sense. The Flight Pass basic product might sell because some people will think the option value of $49 per month makes having six flights available well worth it. This brings up the adverse selection problem, where it’s possible that the only people who buy the Flight Pass Pro are individuals or companies that otherwise would have spent more money to fly on the airline. The real risk to Alaska Airlines with the Flight Pass Pro is the revenue dilution that they will face when business flyers are paying the subscription rates rather than the normally higher, last minute rates. Business passengers are also more likely to be less concerned with the breakage - meaning paying for flights they may not take. Business customers may prefer the certainty of paying no more than the subscription rates, as likely there are days of the week and times of the year that would be more expensive than what I checked. This is less than the $199 monthly rate for the Flight Pass Pro. Buying a ticket for tomorrow on Alaska from San Francisco to Los Angeles will cost me from $165 to $192 each way, depending on my flight times.
From a revenue standpoint, the Flight Pass Pro creates more risk for the airline.