Traveller reference · AS
Alaska Airlines
oneworld · IATA AS · the dominant carrier on the US west coast
Travelaidnow is an independent travel agency and is not Alaska Airlines, nor affiliated with or endorsed by it.
This page is a general reference written by our team. Baggage allowances, fees and policies are set by the airline and change without notice, so confirm anything that affects your trip with Alaska Airlines directly before you travel.
Official site: alaskaair.comAlaska is the strongest carrier on the US west coast, anchored at Seattle with substantial operations in Portland, Anchorage and California. Its network reaches further than many travellers expect, and its merger with Hawaiian has extended it across the Pacific.
Joining oneworld changed what an Alaska ticket is worth. Mileage Plan, long regarded as one of the more generous US programmes, now sits inside a global alliance, which affects both earning on partner flights and what status gets you when travelling on British Airways, Qatar Airways or Japan Airlines.
Alaska Airlines at a glance
- IATA code
- AS
- ICAO code
- ASA
- Based in
- United States
- Alliance
- oneworld
- Type
- Full-service
- Frequent flyer
- Mileage Plan
How Alaska Airlines baggage works
Alaska structures allowance by cabin and fare, with Mileage Plan status and the co-branded card adding entitlements. Saver is the restricted entry fare and behaves like a basic economy tier.
Domestic tickets generally include a carry-on and personal item with checked bags priced separately. Itineraries involving oneworld partners can follow the operating carrier's rules on some segments, which matters on longer international routings.
Check the allowance against your own booking on alaskaair.com, particularly on itineraries that mix Alaska with a partner airline.
Check-in
Online check-in typically opens 24 hours before departure through the website or app.
Cutoffs differ by airport. Alaska serves a number of smaller regional airports where the operation is leaner and the cutoff can be earlier than at a major hub.
Boarding
Alaska boards by numbered groups, running from pre-boarding and First through status tiers and Premium Class to the Saver fare last.
On regional aircraft serving smaller communities, full-size carry-on bags are commonly gate-checked as standard, so keep essentials in the smaller item.
Before you fly Alaska Airlines
Saver is the restricted fare
It carries limits on seat selection and changes, and boards last. On short flights that may not matter; on a full flight with a carry-on, it can.
Mileage Plan works well across oneworld
Since joining the alliance, Alaska miles and status interact with British Airways, Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines and the rest. If you fly those carriers occasionally, crediting to Mileage Plan is worth considering.
The Hawaiian integration is still in progress
The two airlines are combining, and details such as booking systems, loyalty accounts and baggage handling on through-itineraries continue to change. Confirm specifics rather than assuming full integration.
How often Alaska Airlines runs late
Alaska Airlines files its operational performance with the US Department of Transportation every month. These are those filings, not our estimates. The airline accountability index puts these figures next to every other reporting carrier, and publishes the underlying table as a file if you want to check the arithmetic.
Alaska Airlines — domestic US operation
- Arrived over 15 min late
- 16.7%of 29,184 flights
- Cancelled
- 0.7%
- Average delay
- 9.1min
Of every filed minute of delay on Alaska Airlines domestic flights, 70.5% was coded as carrier delay or late-arriving aircraft and 4.2% as extreme weather. The commitments US airlines make to rebook you and cover meals turn on whether a delay was within their control, which is why the split is worth reading — though which side your own flight fell on is not something a monthly total can answer.
- Carrier delay — 33.7%
Filed against the carrier's own operation — crew, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. - Late-arriving aircraft — 36.8%
Filed because the inbound aircraft was late. What delayed it is not recorded. - Air traffic system — 25%
Volume, routing and airport capacity, attributed to the national airspace system. - Weather — 4.2%
Extreme weather recorded as the cause.
That first figure is two filed categories added together: carrier delay, and late-arriving aircraft. BTS reports them separately and the sum is ours. It is not a finding of fault — the late-arriving code records that the inbound aircraft was late, not what delayed it, so some of it began as weather or traffic flow earlier in the day. Both components are listed above so you can reject the sum.
These are monthly aggregate filing codes. They cannot establish what caused your individual flight, whether it was within the carrier's control, or whether compensation is owed.
Its least reliable routes this month
Routes with at least 300 flights in the month. Thinner routes are excluded because a handful of bad days on a weekly service produces a dramatic percentage that means nothing.
Figures cover May 2026, a single reporting month, from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics On-Time Performance database. Retrieved 2026-07-28. Reporting under 14 CFR part 234 covers domestic US scheduled service only, so no international route appears — including anything to or from Mexico.
If your Alaska Airlines flight is delayed or cancelled
As a US carrier, Alaska Airlines is covered by 14 CFR part 260, which is a refund rule rather than a compensation one: past a significant delay you may have your money back, but US law owes you nothing for the disruption itself. The threshold is 3 hours on a domestic itinerary and 6 on an international one, and the right survives only while you decline a voucher or rebooking.
Check what Alaska Airlines owes youOther oneworld carriers we cover
Alliance partners share bookings, and often lounges and status benefits, so a oneworld itinerary may involve more than one of these.
Planning a trip rather than researching a carrier?
Our route and airport guides cover the journey itself — when demand peaks, which airports work, and how long the connection really takes.
FAQ
Alaska Airlines — common questions
General guidance only. Alaska Airlines sets these policies and can change them, so confirm anything that affects your trip at alaskaair.com.
Is Alaska Airlines part of an alliance?
Yes, Alaska is a member of oneworld, alongside British Airways, Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific and others. That affects where you can earn and redeem Mileage Plan miles and what elite status gets you when flying partner airlines, which was not the case before it joined.
What is Alaska Premium Class?
Premium Class is an extra-legroom section within the main cabin with earlier boarding, not a separate premium economy cabin. First Class on Alaska is the distinct forward cabin. As with most US carriers, the naming compresses two quite different products into similar-sounding words.
What is happening with Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines?
The two carriers are in the process of combining operations. Integration of this kind takes time and affects booking systems, loyalty programmes and how baggage is handled on itineraries that span both. If your trip involves both airlines, confirm the current arrangements rather than assuming they operate as one.