Long term, I'm sure these will become electronic, but like any organization, Alaska Airlines has to set priorities for its I.T. department resources, and this just doesn't happen to be at the top of the current list. As you can imagine in today's environment, the top of the I.T. wish list consists of anything that will save or generate money. The bigger the amount, the higher it appears on the list. By almost any standard, this kind of thing doesn't measure up as profit generating or money saving. (OK, we could talk about the implications to brand loyalty, but that's really stretching it a bit, don't you think??)

That said, the reason we opted to go this route as a short term solution is because of the rampant (and I do mean - RAMPANT) abuse of these coupons. In a perfect world, gate agents would read every document while boarding the flight and everything would get caught, but in today's rush and hussle world, it just doesn't. We're talking about 1 person having to get 150 or so people on an airplane with about 20 minutes of time to work with.

The only way to get serious about collecting these pieces of paper is to have it done prior to the rush of boarding when time is most critical (think TANGO! ).

Sorry if it's perceived as an inconvenience, but think of it as relatively short term - once they eventually become electronic (very likely at some point), this will all get easier.

Thanks for your patience folks, it's much appreciated.