Anchorage Daily News

Last week Alaska Airlines and Frontier Alaska announced their plans to offer a frequent-flier mileage alliance. Frontier Alaska is the parent company of both Frontier Flying Service and Hageland Aviation.

Under the plan, travelers who fly Frontier Flying Service and Hageland Aviation would accrue Alaska Airlines frequent- flier miles. Additionally, Alaska's frequent fliers would be able to redeem miles to visit far-flung destinations like Kaktovik, Savoonga, Shishmaref, Point Hope and Nunivak Island.

Bob Hajdukovich, president of Frontier Alaska, was upbeat about the announcement. "We've been the independent trucker in Alaska aviation for some time," he said. Based in Fairbanks, Frontier Flying Service operates a fleet of 19-seat Beechcraft 1900C commuter planes, in addition to several Piper Navajo twin-prop aircraft.

Hageland Aviation is based in Anchorage and also has a couple of the Beechcraft 1900C aircraft, in addition to more than two dozen assorted Cessna aircraft (208s, 207s, 406s, 206s and a 180 tail-dragger).

Rick Rasmussen heads up Alaska Airlines' mileage plan. "We're looking forward to serving more of Alaska through this new partnership," he said. "While we have not yet set specific mileage levels, our intention is to offer similar benefits to those we provide with our other Alaska partners, PenAir and Era Aviation," he said.

Hajdukovich of Frontier was shy on the specifics of the program. "One of the reasons we're delaying implementation until this fall is so we can determine how best to award and redeem the miles and how best to work with our respective reservations systems," he said.

The big winners in this deal likely are the residents of Bush Alaska served by Frontier Alaska. Currently the one-way fare from Point Lay to Fairbanks (changing planes in Barrow) is $622. The round-trip fare between Anchorage and Kaktovik is $945. Once Bush travelers arrive in Anchorage, tickets to the Lower 48 are a bargain.

Already many Bush residents carry the Alaska Airlines Visa card, and they already accrue miles when they get aboard the jets in Anchorage or Fairbanks. Many of Frontier's travelers instantly will be able to take advantage of this partnership, once the rules are in place in the fall.

For Alaska Airlines, the deal with Frontier boosts Alaska's footprint in terms of destinations throughout the state. With PenAir, Alaska maintains a strong presence in Southwest Alaska. In fact, PenAir operates Alaska Airlines' service to Dutch Harbor and travelers accrue Alaska miles to many of its other destinations such as St. Paul, Cold Bay and King Salmon.

With Era Aviation, travelers earn Alaska miles on flights to Kodiak, Cordova, Valdez, Kenai and Homer.

Just as Alaska has varying levels of participation among its partner carriers like Northwest, Continental, American and Delta, there will be different levels of awards and redemption levels. For example, on some flights where Frontier operates the same routes as Alaska Airlines, travelers won't be able to earn miles. "We will not offer Alaska Airlines miles between Anchorage and Fairbanks or between Anchorage and Bethel," said Hajdukovich. Currently that's the same arrangement between Era Aviation and Alaska Airlines -- no mileage accrual is permitted on those routes.

Other internal workings are likely to take more time, such as allowing Alaska Airlines' reservations system the ability to reserve seats all the way from Fairbanks to Brevig Mission, for example.

And many Bush residents will be watching to see if Frontier Alaska destinations will be included in any of the annual Permanent Fund dividend sales in the fall.

Scott McMurren is an Anchorage-based travel marketing consultant. E-mail him at zoom@toursaver.com.

Scott's tips

• FRONTIER ALASKA: Check the route map and make online reservations on Frontier Flying Service and Hageland Aviation. www.frontierflying.com

• WALDO ARMS HOTEL IN KAKTOVIK: Go see some bears in Kaktovik. Fly with Frontier Alaska. You can rent snowmachines, boats or four-wheelers. www.waldoarmshotel. com

• PENAIR: Peninsula Airways currently offers award travel space on Alaska Airlines. Learn more about their destinations. www.penair.com

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