Alaska Airlines has made this announcement:

With hygiene and safety concerns top of mind, Alaska Airlines is making it easier for guests to travel touch-free. Through improved technology and innovation, Alaska is creating more convenience and less contact among guests and employees during travel.

Over the coming weeks, new touch-free options for Alaska guests and employees will include the ability:

• To pre-order meals and purchase food and beverages on board using a stored credit card (pending return of food and beverage for purchase in main cabin).
• To print bag tags without having to touch check-in kiosks.
• For agents to scan boarding passes up to six feet away while boarding.
• To receive a text message instead of a printed boarding pass if guests don’t already have the Alaska Airlines mobile app.
• To get an emailed receipt for baggage instead of printed receipt.

The Alaska Airlines mobile app is still the single best tool to limit contact while traveling. The Android and iPhone app allows guests to check in for their flight, generate a mobile boarding pass, change seats and prepay for bags. Guests can also stay up to date on their flight status, gate changes and boarding notifications.

“These advancements help make the travel experience easy and almost entirely touch-free for our guests and are just part of the many ways we’re keeping our guests and employees safe during this time,” said Charu Jain, senior vice president of merchandising and innovation.

Recently, Alaska implemented nearly 100 actions to keep guests and employees safe. Flyers must always wear a cloth mask or face covering when at the airport or onboard Alaska aircraft and complete a health agreement at check-in to acknowledge and attest to their willingness to adhere to the mask requirement. Other layers of safety include: EO Essential Oils alcohol-based, relaxing French lavender-scented sanitizing wipes available on all Alaska and Horizon Air flights; enhanced cleaning   between every flight; hospital-grade HEPA air filters; an air filtration system that circulates fresh, outside air into the cabin every three minutes; limited onboard service to reduce interactions; hand-sanitizing stations throughout the journey and more. The actions are all  part of Alaska’s commitment to Next-Level Care.

From the Alaska Airlines blog:

With hygiene and safety concerns top of mind, we’ve made it easy for your travels to be almost entirely touch-free.

With the Alaska mobile app, you can check in for your flight, generate a mobile boarding pass and so much more. Plus, our improved technology will soon allow us to scan boarding passes up to six feet apart, print bag tags without touching the check-in kiosk and purchase food and beverages on board using your stored payment preference.

See what’s in the works to make your journey more convenient and touch-free:

Pre-order meals & store payment for touch-free purchase in the air

Great trips call for great planning! Now available in First Class on select flights over 2 hours—and coming soon to Premium Class and Main Cabin—guests can pre-order meals on flights (that have them) beforehand using the Alaska app or at alaskaair.com. You can also store your payment preference using your Alaska Airlines account so when it comes time to pay for your meal in the air, you can do so touch-free.

Unfortunately, our food & beverage service is still limited to reduce the interactions between our flight crews and guests. So your foodie favorites may not be there but hopefully will be back soon! Here’s what we’re currently offering on board (for more details visit our website):

• First Class: Signature Fruit and Cheese Platters on flights over 2 hours and a variety of beverages including beer and wine from our West Coast partners.
• Premium Class: Small snack and a variety of beverages including beer and wine from our West Coast partners.
• Main Cabin: Small snack and variety of soft drinks or bottled water. To reduce the use of plastic water bottles, we encourage our guests to #FillBeforeYouFly.

Print bag tags without touching the check-in kiosk

Soon, you will be able to print your bag tags by simply scanning your  boarding pass (mobile or printed at home) at one of our kiosks. Here’s how it works: Once you pay for your baggage fee(s) using the Alaska mobile app or online, you can simply walk up to our kiosk at the airport, scan your boarding pass and your tags will be printed from the kiosk where you can safely grab the tag from the machine to place it onto your bag(s). You can also print your bag tags from home if that’s easier or ask one of our agents for assistance.

Once you’ve placed your tag on your bag(s), you can safely drop off your baggage to one of our agents, while maintaining physical distance.

Scan boarding passes from a distance

Currently, our agents are able to scan guests’ boarding passes using a mobile tablet or scanner while boarding. To help create more distance between guests, we’re providing our agents with the ability to scan a boarding pass from six feet away—if the conditions are just right. To scan from that far away, the boarding area will need to have good lighting and the barcodes need to be printed clearly. While we can’t achieve this laser-focus every time, our agents are working hard to “mind their wingspan” and taking every measure to keep our guests safe.

Get a text or email instead of paper

Coming soon to an airport near you will be a messaging tool that our customer service agents will use—to avoid printing & handling boarding passes or receipts—that is capable of sending you a text message that includes all of your travel information with a link to your boarding pass, gate and seat assignment.

Agents can also email any receipts, such as bag fees, if needed.

Touch-free check in, mobile boarding pass, prepaid bags

The Alaska mobile app is still the single best tool to limit contact while traveling. You can make sure your trip is as smooth as possible every step of the way by using it to check in for your flight, generate a mobile boarding pass, change seats and prepay for your bags. The app also keeps you up to date on your flight status, gate changes and boarding notifications. Download the app today if you don’t already have it!

Watch more ways we’re offering:

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Alaska has implemented nearly 100 actions to keep guests and employees safe, all part of Alaska’s commitment to Next-Level Care. Some examples include:

• Require guests and employees wear a cloth mask or face covering at all times when at the airport or onboard Alaska aircraft. Flyers must also complete a health agreement at check-in to acknowledge and attest to their willingness to adhere to the mask requirement.
• Make EO Essential Oils alcohol-based, relaxing French lavender-scented sanitizing wipes available to guests during beverage service on all Alaska and Horizon Air flights.
• Enhanced cleanings of our planes in between every flight.
• Hospital-grade HEPA air filters on every aircraft; an air filtration system that circulates fresh, outside air into the cabin every three minutes.
• Limited onboard service to reduce interactions.
• Hand-sanitizer stations throughout the journey and more.