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Alaska Airlines, Inc. Contract of Carriage

Revised March 7, 2024


Domestic Carriage and/or International Carriage of Passengers and Baggage provided by Alaska Airlines, Inc. ("Alaska"), as well as by other Carriers operating flights on behalf of Alaska under a capacity purchase or other agreement, including, but not limited to, our regional partners Horizon Air Industries, Inc. ("Horizon"), and SkyWest Airlines, Inc. ("SkyWest"), are subject to the terms and conditions of this Contract of Carriage, in addition to any terms and conditions printed on or in any Ticket or e-Ticket receipt. In addition, Alaska may sell tickets operated by one or more of our Codeshare Partners, and such tickets would also be subject to this Contract of Carriage except as stated herein. By purchasing a Ticket or accepting Domestic Carriage or International Carriage on Alaska and/or Alaska’s regional partners or Codeshare Partners, the Passenger agrees to be bound by all of the terms and conditions of this Contract of Carriage, and no covenants at law or in equity shall be implied or incorporated. This Contract of Carriage is subject to applicable laws, regulations and rules imposed by U.S. and foreign governmental agencies. In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Contract of Carriage and such applicable laws, regulations or rules, the latter shall apply.
View all rules Rule 1. Definitions Rule 2. Standard Format of Electronic Rules for Tariff Filing Purposes Rule 3. Application of Contract Rule 4. Tickets Rule 5. Reservations Rule 6. Routing, Rerouting and Stopovers Rule 7. Cancellation of Reservations and Prohibited Practices Rule 8. Liability for Delays, Cancellations, and Denied Boarding Rule 9. Travel Documents—Responsibility of Passenger Rule 10. Screening of Passengers and Baggage Rule 11. Refusal to Transport Rule 12. Special Services Rule 13. Acceptance of Children Rule 14. Acceptance of Service Animals Rule 15. Acceptance of Baggage Rule 16. Codeshare Services Rule 17. Refunds Rule 18. Fares, Charges and Currency Rule 19. Additional Liability Limitations for International Carriage Rule 20. Consent to Use of Personal Data

Rule 1. Definitions

As used in this Contract of Carriage, the following terms, whether or not capitalized, shall have the meanings ascribed below:

Adult means a person who has reached his/her eighteenth birthday as of the date of commencement of travel.

Assistive Device means any piece of equipment that assists a Qualified Individual with a Disability to cope with the effects of his or her disability. Such devices are intended to assist a Qualified Individual with a Disability to hear, see, communicate, maneuver, or perform other functions of daily life, and may include medical devices and medications.

Baggage means all luggage and contents contained therein, such as articles, effects and other personal property of a ticketed Passenger as are reasonably necessary or appropriate for the wear, use, comfort or convenience of the Passenger in connection with the Passenger's trip. Unless otherwise specified, Baggage shall include both Checked Baggage and Unchecked Baggage, such as suitcases, garment bags, tote bags, packages, camera and electronic bags, computer and equipment cases, and briefcases and similar articles, whether carried by the Passenger in the cabin or carried in the aircraft cargo compartments. Coats and wraps, when carried by the Passenger in the Passenger cabin, will not be considered as Baggage.

Baggage Check or Baggage Claim Tag mean those portions of the Ticket that identify the Carriage of a Passenger's Checked Baggage and that are issued by the Carrier as a receipt for the Passenger's Checked Baggage.

Baggage Tag means a document issued by the Carrier solely for identification of Checked Baggage, the portion of which is attached by the Carrier to a particular article of Checked Baggage.

Battery-Powered Mobility Aid means an Assistive Device used by a Qualified Individual with a Disability, such as a wheelchair or scooter when it is used as a mobility device by a person with a mobility-related disability.

Cabin-Seat Baggage means Carry-On Baggage that due to its size and nature requires the purchase of a seat on board the aircraft to transport the piece of Baggage.

Carriage means transportation of Passengers and their Baggage by air or ground, either gratuitously or for payment, together with any related services provided by the Carrier in connection with such transportation.

Carrier means the Carrier (air or ground) issuing the Ticket and all Carriers that carry or undertake to carry the Passenger and/or his/her Baggage thereunder.

Carry-On Bag or Carry-On Baggage means Baggage, other than Checked Baggage, carried on board an aircraft by a ticketed Passenger, and is also known as Unchecked Baggage, including but not limited to roller bags, duffle bags, backpacks, and garment bags, as long as by its dimensions or nature does not diminish the comfort and safety of the aircraft passengers.

Checked Baggage means Baggage that a ticketed Passenger has requested be carried by the Carrier and for which the Carrier has issued a Baggage Claim Tag to the Passenger.

Child means a person who has reached his/her second birthday but not his/her 12th birthday as of the date of commencement of travel.

Circle Trip means any trip, the ultimate Destination of which is the point of Origin, but which includes a stop at at least one other point, and which is not made via the same Routing in both directions. No more than two (2) Stopovers may be made in the fare construction. Two (2) Stopovers means one (1) Stopover in addition to the stop permitted at the Outward Destination.

Codeshare Partner means a Carrier, other than Alaska or one of our regional partners, operating a flight on which Alaska has placed its airline designator code “AS,” or whose airline designator code is displayed on flights operated by Alaska or by one of our regional partners.

Connection means a stop at an intermediate point on the route to be traveled where a change of planes is made and which does not fall within the definition of a Stopover.

Consequential Damages means damages which are the result of an act but are not direct or immediate.

Contract of Carriage means the terms and conditions contained in this document, as it may be amended from time to time by Alaska.

Credit means a Credit in a specified dollar amount valid for one (1) year from the date of issuance. A Credit must be used for travel booked and flown within one (1) year from date of issuance. Credits are non-transferable unless otherwise stated herein.

Domestic Carriage or Domestic Air Transportation ("Domestic") means transportation in which the place of departure, the place of Destination or Stopover, and the entire transportation is between points within the United States.

DOT Hazardous Materials Regulations means the hazardous materials regulations issued by the DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and its predecessor agencies in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 171 through 180 (49 C.F.R. Parts 171-180).

Endorsement means the transfer of authority required when a Passenger with an international Ticket wishes to rebook to a Carrier other than the Carrier shown on the Ticket.

Force Majeure Event means any event outside Carrier's control, which includes, but is not limited to, weather conditions and meteorological events, such as storms, rain, wind, fire, fog, flooding, earthquakes, haze, or volcanic eruption; acts of government or airport authorities (e.g., air traffic control delays, runway closures, airport construction); acts of God; pandemics, quarantines, U.S. military or airlift emergency or substantially expanded U.S. military airlift requirements, as determined by the U.S. government; grounding of a substantial number of aircraft as a result of activation of the U.S. Civil Reserve Air Fleet; strikes, work stoppages, slowdowns, lockouts or any other labor unrest or disputes involving or affecting Carrier's service; civil commotions, disturbances or potentially volatile conditions, riots, embargoes, wars or other hostilities, whether actual, threatened or reported; government regulation, demand or requirement; damage to aircraft caused by a third party; mechanical difficulties by entities other than Alaska; inability to obtain fuel, airport gates, labor or landing facilities for the flight in question; an emergency situation requiring care, protection or response to protect persons or property; or any event that is not reasonably foreseen, predicted or anticipated by Carrier.

Government Transportation Request (GTR) is a form used by the U.S. federal government for Ticket payment and travel authorization for Passengers traveling on official business for the U.S. federal government.

IATA Intercarrier Agreement on Passenger Liability means the agreement entered into by members of the International Air Transport Association ("IATA") on October 31, 1995, in order to take action to waive the limitation on recoverable compensatory damages in Article 22, Paragraph 1 of the Warsaw Convention as to claims for death, wounding or other bodily injury of a Passenger within the meaning of Article 17 of the Convention.

Infant means a person who has not reached his/her second birthday as of the date of commencement of travel.

Interline or Interline Transportation means Carriage on the air transportation services of more than one Carrier where Carriers agree to accept each other's Tickets and Baggage.

International Carriage or International Air Transportation ("International") means any Carriage other than Domestic Carriage; however, when the Warsaw Convention and/or Montreal Convention apply, the definitions of "International" stated therein shall prevail.

Local Passengers are those who are originating their travel or those who are on a Stopover and are continuing their travel.

Maximum Outside Linear Dimensions means the sum of the greatest outside length plus the greatest outside width plus the greatest outside height.

Mileage Plan means Alaska Airlines' frequent flyer program as described at www.alaskaair.com.

Montreal Convention means the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, signed at Montreal, May 28, 1999.

Most Significant Carrier ("MSC") means the Carrier performing the most significant part of the service. The Canadian Transportation Agency has stipulated that only a single set of Baggage rules may apply to any given interline itinerary. The selecting Carrier is permitted to use the MSC to determine which Carrier's Baggage rules apply to an international Interline itinerary to or from Canada, while reinforcing the role of tariffs in the determination of which Carrier's rules apply.

On-line Tariff Data Base means the remotely accessible, on-line version of (1) the electronically filed tariff data submitted to the "official DOT tariff database," and (2) the DOT approvals, disapprovals and other actions required by DOT, maintained by the filer.

Oversold Flight means a flight where there are more Passengers holding valid confirmed reservations and Tickets that check-in for the flight within the prescribed check-in time than there are available seats.

Participating Carrier(s) includes both the selecting Carrier and other Carriers who are identified on the Passenger's Ticket as providing interline transportation to the Passenger.

Passenger means any person, except members of the crew working on the flight, carried or holding a Confirmed Reservation to be carried in an aircraft with the consent of the Carrier and who is bound by this Contract of Carriage.

Qualified Individual with a Disability means an individual with a disability who has a physical or mental impairment that, on a permanent or temporary basis, substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment as further defined in the U.S. Department of Transportation regulations in 14 C.F.R. Section 382.3 and who (1) as a Passenger (referred to as a "Passenger with a disability") (a) with respect to obtaining a Ticket for air transportation on a Carrier, offers, or makes a good faith attempt to offer, purchase or otherwise validly obtain a Ticket; (b) with respect to obtaining air transportation, or other services or accommodations required by the U.S. Department of Transportation regulations in 14 C.F.R. Part 382 (i) buys or otherwise validly obtains, or makes a good faith effort to obtain, a Ticket for air transportation on a Carrier and presents himself or herself at the airport for the purpose of traveling on the flight to which the Ticket pertains; and (ii) meets reasonable Contract of Carriage requirements applicable to all Passengers; or (2) with respect to accompanying or meeting a traveler, using ground transportation, using terminal facilities, or obtaining information about schedules, fares, reservations, or policies, takes those actions necessary to use facilities or services offered by the Carrier to the general public, with reasonable accommodations, as needed, provided by the Carrier.

Schedule Change means:

  1. The cancellation of a scheduled flight where no Alaska flight of comparable routing is available within sixty (60) minutes of the original time of departure; or
  2. A change in the scheduled departure time of an Alaska flight which exceeds sixty (60) minutes; or
  3. A change in the routing of a scheduled Alaska flight which adds one (1) or more stops to the original itinerary; or
  4. A change in the routing of an Alaska scheduled flight that results in a scheduled arrival time more than sixty (60) minutes later than the original scheduled arrival time; or
  5. Any change in the arrival time of an Alaska flight that results in a misconnection to any flight shown in the same reservation and Ticket.

Schedule Irregularity means any of the following, unless due to a Force Majeure Event:

  1. Delay in scheduled departure or arrival of flight resulting in a misconnection; or
  2. Flight or service cancellation, omission of a scheduled stop, or any other delay or interruption exceeding 60 minutes of the scheduled operation of an Alaska flight; or
  3. Substitution of aircraft type that provides a different class of service; or
  4. Schedule Changes which require rerouting of the Passenger at departure time of the original flight.

Segment means that part of a journey from a Passenger's boarding point to a deplaning point. Each flight coupon represents a Segment of a trip.

Selected Carrier means the Carrier whose Baggage rules apply to the entire interline itinerary.

Selecting Carrier means the Carrier whose designator code is identified on the first flight Segment of the Passenger's Ticket at the beginning of an interline itinerary issued on a single Ticket whose origin or ultimate destination is in Canada.

Service Animal means a dog, regardless of breed or type, that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a Qualified Individual With a Disability, including a visual, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Animal species other than dogs, emotional support animals, comfort animals, companionship animals, and service animals in training are not Service Animals.

Special Drawing Right ("SDR") means a special unit of currency created by the International Monetary Fund ("IMF"), the value of which in U.S. dollars fluctuates and is recalculated each banking day. These values are known to most commercial banks and are provided daily by the IMF at http://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/data/rms_sdrv.aspx.

Standby Passengers means Passengers who will be enplaned on a flight subject to availability of space at departure time and only after all Passengers having a confirmed reservation for such flight and all Passengers without reservations but paying fares other than Adult standby fares, have been enplaned on such flight.

Stopover means a deliberate or intentional interruption of a journey by a Passenger, agreed to in advance by Alaska, scheduled to exceed four (4) hours at a point between the place of departure and the place of destination.

Ticket means the record of agreement, including electronic Tickets or "e-Tickets," for Passenger air transportation provided by Alaska under certain terms and conditions to the Passenger named on the Ticket and in accordance with applicable governing tariffs and regulations and this Contract of Carriage. An "e-Ticket" is the record of the Ticket agreement maintained and processed within Alaska's or other Carrier's electronic reservation system. A receipt is provided to the purchaser of the Ticket that contains an alpha-numeric reference number for retrieving the record within Alaska's or other Carrier's reservation system and summary of the Ticket information. Alaska or other Carrier may require the issuance of an e-Ticket, regardless of market, Carrier, form of payment, or customer type. The Ticket constitutes Passenger's evidence of their Contract of Carriage with Carrier.

Transit Passengers are those onboard a flight at an en route stop, or a connecting Passenger with a Stopover, to/from other scheduled flights.

Unaccompanied Minor means a Child/Minor of 5 to 17 years of age when traveling alone or not accompanied on the same flight and in the same compartment by a companion Passenger of at least 18 years of age or with a legal guardian or parent.

Unchecked Baggage means Baggage, other than Checked Baggage, carried on board an aircraft by a ticketed Passenger, and is also known as Carry-On Baggage.

Warsaw Convention means the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules relating to International Carriage by Air, signed at Warsaw, October 12, 1929, or where applicable, that Convention, as amended, including without limitation, by the Protocol signed at The Hague, September 28, 1955.