I’m going to be headed down to San Francisco for BlogHer08 later this week and I decided to check the Alaska Airlines website to make sure there weren’t any service changes or issues I needed to be aware of. Nothing I like less than arriving for a flight and finding out some policy has changed and I’ll only be granted a boarding pass if I’m wearing green or some other such nonsense.

Anyway, this little piece of information about a new cashless cabin policy caught my eye.

Effective August 5, 2008, Alaska Airlines will offer the convenience of a cashless cabin. Passengers will no longer need to hunt for cash to pay for on board purchases — including Northern Bites® meals, Picnic Paks, cocktails, wine, beer, Red Bull® and digEplayers. Onboard purchases can be made with any major credit or debit card. Cash will no longer be accepted onboard.

Now, it could just be me, but if they’re doing this for my convenience, they should let me pay with cash. Admittedly, having the choice of cash or charge is nice, and I can imagine it would be quite helpful for business travelers, but not everyone who travels has access to a credit card.

The notice goes on to say that everyone who uses their special Alaskan Airlines credit card will actually be earning miles with every dollar.

How interesting.

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software