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Quote:
Discount Codes (previously e-Certificates) are special price reductions that you can redeem with certain ticket purchases at alaskaair.com, horizonair.com and EasyBiz. Discount Codes might be included in your e-Newsletters, Mileage Plan correspondence, direct mail, local newspaper advertisements, or via other promotional partners.
Do you get the weekly Insider Newsletter. Theres a new link every week for the discount codes.
click on the link below to sign up. Or click on newsletter on the bottom of the Alaskaair.com website
I don't think the codes appear anywhere else but the Insider. Also, you can't save these discount codes in your "My Discount Codes" - not sure why. Hold onto the e-mail until the code expires if you think you might use it.
There are sometimes other discount codes as part of published promotions (the new Prescott service had one, I think) that you can save in My Discount Codes.
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I'm still unclear on the difference between "My Discount Codes" and "My Wallet" on the AS website.
I would have thought that the $25 certificate (labeled as CUSTOMER CARE $25 SR E-CERT) I got when the fare dropped would have been something to add to "My Wallet," but it actually got deposited in "My Discount Codes."
(On that note, it looks like they are now usable online, which means that you don't need to call and pay the $10 phone fee to use them!)
Also, when I first attempted to add it to "My Wallet," it warned me that certificates deposited in "My Wallet" would no longer be available for use outside of the wallet. I don't like the sound of that...
Also, when I first attempted to add it to "My Wallet," it warned me that certificates deposited in "My Wallet" would no longer be available for use outside of the wallet. I don't like the sound of that...
Wouldn't that just mean that if you put the certificate in "My Wallet" that you can't then use the paper certificate at the airport ticket counter? That doesn't seem to be a big deal, you just decide how you want to redeem the certificate, online or in person.
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Ah, is that what My Wallet is for, then--converting paper certs into electronic ones?
I took it to mean that I wouldn't then be able to, for example, give a $100 credit (if I had one in there) for a friend to use--it would always be locked to my account.
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Currently the only thing that can be deposited into your my Wallet are gift certificates. Its not meant for discount codes.
Think of it as the difference between a coupon and a gift card. One is a discount and one is a form of payment.
Say you go to the store and buy a $200 coat with a $25 coupon.. the cost of the coat is $175. You are taxed on $175 and If you return it, you get $175..and the coupon is gone. Thats similar to a discount code.
But say you go into the store and buy a $200 coat with a $25 gift card. The cost of the coat is still $200. You are taxed at $200 and if you return it, you'll get $200 back.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by missydarlin
Currently the only thing that can be deposited into your my Wallet are gift certificates. Its not meant for discount codes.
Think of it as the difference between a coupon and a gift card. One is a discount and one is a form of payment.
Say you go to the store and buy a $200 coat with a $25 coupon.. the cost of the coat is $175. You are taxed on $175 and If you return it, you get $175..and the coupon is gone. Thats similar to a discount code.
But say you go into the store and buy a $200 coat with a $25 gift card. The cost of the coat is still $200. You are taxed at $200 and if you return it, you'll get $200 back.
So is a fare credit issued by the GAR program a coupon or a gift card?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by missydarlin
Currently the only thing that can be deposited into your my Wallet are gift certificates. Its not meant for discount codes.
Think of it as the difference between a coupon and a gift card. One is a discount and one is a form of payment.
Say you go to the store and buy a $200 coat with a $25 coupon.. the cost of the coat is $175. You are taxed on $175 and If you return it, you get $175..and the coupon is gone. Thats similar to a discount code.
But say you go into the store and buy a $200 coat with a $25 gift card. The cost of the coat is still $200. You are taxed at $200 and if you return it, you'll get $200 back.
I'm confused about this 'tax' thing you are talking about... why would someone tax a coat? I understand the Gov'ts willingness to get $ from airfare... but a coat?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beckoa
I'm confused about this 'tax' thing you are talking about... why would someone tax a coat? I understand the Gov'ts willingness to get $ from airfare... but a coat?
Keep ANC tax free
You mean AS won't waive taxes on airfare if you show an Alaska driver's license?
Currently the only thing that can be deposited into your my Wallet are gift certificates. Its not meant for discount codes.
Think of it as the difference between a coupon and a gift card. One is a discount and one is a form of payment.
Say you go to the store and buy a $200 coat with a $25 coupon.. the cost of the coat is $175. You are taxed on $175 and If you return it, you get $175..and the coupon is gone. Thats similar to a discount code.
But say you go into the store and buy a $200 coat with a $25 gift card. The cost of the coat is still $200. You are taxed at $200 and if you return it, you'll get $200 back.
Unfortunately, the way AS has implemented this, it's a not entirely consistent distinction.
Coupons/discounts usually have "potential" value -- that is, they're not actual money, and you're not out anything if you don't use them.
What should be in My Wallet (which is a poor name which dates back to dot-com era naming conventions; it's really more like "Credits") really is actual stored value.
So anything for which hard dollars were already paid should be in My Wallet (or, as I might name it, "Credits"). That includes gift certificates, unused ticket value, and vouchers issued by AS Customer Care for tickets that have dropped in price. (This last now shows up under My Discount Codes -- yes, a code is needed to use them, but they're actually stored value.)
It's not currently implemented this way, which makes it confusing. The way it's implemented now is that it's really My Gift Certificates (in My Wallet) and My Other Credits/Discounts (in My Discount Codes). This seems more driven by programming limitations and inside-out accounting procedures than how it's perceived by customers. In reality, right now, My Wallet/My Discount Codes is one big bucket and it's not clear to a customer why something sloshes into one side and not the other.
I'm hoping eventually someone at AS gives it a facelift and renaming to make it less confusing and more useful.
(Thank you, missydarlin, for giving me a soapbox. )
Last edited by Seattlenerd; Apr 4, 09 at 7:51 am..
Reason: thanking missydarlin
I was under the assuption ticket credits and money from price differences was to start going into my wallet along with gift certificates. No offense but if its just going to be a feature for gift certificates, its almost a waste of time.
To me it also seems like the op is asking if theres some site like coupon mountain or something. If thats what theyre asking the answer is no. Just sign up for the newsletter and you too can get discount codes for bizarre city pairings
I was under the assuption ticket credits and money from price differences was to start going into my wallet along with gift certificates. No offense but if its just going to be a feature for gift certificates, its almost a waste of time.
I think that's the ultimate vision. As it's implemented now, though, it's not very useful for those of us who sit on -- and have to keep track of -- a bunch of unused tickets.
And having the money from price differences show up in My Discount Codes makes no sense to me, from a where-it-should-be-based-on-name standpoint. It's a code, but not a discount code -- it's a stored value code, like a gift certificate.
) or a BOGO of sorts (not exactly, but kinda 
)
