Alaska Air Group Inc. has started accepting card payments for purchases made during 22 daily transcontinental flights.
The Seattle company said Monday that it plans to accept cards on more flights this fall, and will eventually do so on all its flights.
Observers said that cards are becoming a more common payment option for low-value purchases in the transit industry.
Alaska Air said its flight attendants carry hand-held devices, built by GuestLogix Inc. to process credit and debit card payments when passengers buy food or drinks or rent entertainment players.
“We live in an increasingly cashless society, and we’re pleased to bring the same pay-with-credit option to our flights that customers have come to enjoy at grocery stores, restaurants, and most other retail locations,” Steve Jarvis, an Alaska Airlines vice president, said in a press release.
Alaska Air said its yearlong field test of the devices showed that passengers enjoyed the convenience of paying by card, and that the devices helped flight attendants track payments more easily.
A growing number of airlines are allowing in-flight card payments. American Airlines stared offering such a service in May 2006 for purchases snack boxes, sandwiches, alcoholic beverages, and headsets. The AMR Corp. unit said it was the first U.S. airline with a global network to offer this option aboard all aircraft.
Other carriers offer more limited card acceptance. Delta Air Lines Inc., for instance, has used seatback card readers since 2004 in its in-seat entertainment systems, which travelers can use to watch premium movies or play games, though it is available mainly on its transcontinental flights.
Brian Riley, a senior analyst at TowerGroup, a Needham, Mass., independent market research unit of MasterCard Inc., said that real-time card authorization presents a wide variety of opportunities for airlines. “Maybe frequent fliers get reduced meals. You could even tie in to those in-flight shopping magazines. It’s an impulse buy.”
Tracking sales electronically also could improve the carriers’ stocking practices and reduce theft, he said. “It opens up a broader level of purchases. It also opens up a broader level of inventory control.”
