Joe and I honestly don’t look at airfare sales for our own purposes all that much. Not that there’s anything wrong with them; not at all! I mean, who doesn’t like saving money, right? But we tend to book our flights based on where we want to go, not because Airline ABC has a great fare to Aruba and we decide to go there because of that sale.
That being said, travel bloggers gotta travel blog…so I do periodically look at airfare sales, not just to see what’s out there, but also what their ads are like. I usually go to Twitter to look at them.
On the whole, ads for the legacy carriers (Delta, American and United) are usually pretty, well, dull. They must think so too, because of you look at the Twitter presence for any of them, their respective sales and deals aren’t even listed.
JetBlue and Southwest historically have clever ads that make me smile here and there. But this week Alaska Airlines was the winner, as far as I’m concerned. And not because their ad this week was particularly “fun” as much as it was something nearly all of us have encountered in this year (and change) of COVID:
Now that we’re getting back in action, it’s time to book all the trips you missed. When you book between 8/3-8/5, you can get fares as low as $39 one-way to some of your favorite destinations to see some of your favorite people. *Restrictions apply. https://t.co/6431Mel1tf pic.twitter.com/c9xWaa9jXL
— Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) August 3, 2021
This is the one that particularly made me say, “Awww…..”:
A similar ad on their website described it even better:
Alaska Airlines massive fare sale gives flyers a second chance to celebrate missed milestones, with one-way fares starting at $39.
Because really, haven’t we all had rescheduled events since early 2020? Weddings? Vacations? Milestone birthdays? Going home for the holidays?
It just struck me as sweet. Tugged at the heartstrings (not enough to get me to book anything on Alaska, because they don’t fly between where we live and the cities we plan to visit, but still…)
But then you have the other end of the spectrum
Like the ad from Frontier that looks like it’s doing something big and important…but it really isn’t.
FRIENDS WITH VACCINES FLY FREE + EARN 10,000 BONUS MILES!
For a limited time only, Discount Den Members have exclusive access to our Friends with Vaccines Fly Free sale! Book now: https://t.co/5m42ml5TKc
Plus – earn 10K BONUS MILES. Learn more here: https://t.co/CbWd8mCi1l pic.twitter.com/nkrS6RN9ix
— Frontier Airlines (@FlyFrontier) August 4, 2021
If you look at the ad, you might think they’re only allowing people who have been vaccinated to fly. Or maybe if you’re going to bring a friend to fly for free, they have to be vaccinated (which isn’t as good as a plane full of vaccinated people, but I’ll take what I can get, y’know?).
But no, if you go to make a reservation on Frontier’s website, there’s nothing that says anything about passengers having to have vaccinations. The name of the campaign is Friends With Vaccines Fly Free but that’s as hard of a stance as they take on it. You (and your friends) can be as unvaccinated as you want.
Frontier is also offering 10,000 bonus miles for every 2 flights you fly through Dec. 21. They say that passengers must be vaccinated to be eligible for the bonus miles:
But if you look at how to earn the miles, it says, “Complete the Bonus Miles form. By submitting a form, you agree that you are vaccinated.” So no proof of vaccination status is required; unvaccinated people can easily say,”Sure, I’m vaccinated; gimme my bonus miles.”
This isn’t the first time Frontier has used the word “vaccines” as part of their advertising. In February, they invited consumers to “Vaccinate Their Vacation”
“We are inviting consumers to take a ‘vacci-cation’ with us – meaning they can vaccinate their trip against change and cancel fees by booking with Frontier,” said Tyri Squyres, vice president of marketing, Frontier Airlines.
I get what they’re trying to do but using the word “vaccine” in their ads, when they do not actually require vaccines is just…silly.
But hey, at least they’re going to require their employees to be vaccinated.
Feature Photo (cropped): Wikimedia
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
