Joe Blow: Oh…. Seniors?
Alaskan Airlines: Nooooo….
Joe Blow: Students?
Alaskan Airlines: Noooo0…
Joe Blow: Uhhhh….disabled veterans???
Alaskan Airlines: No!
Joe Blow: I give up! What type of ‘certain’ customers get a special discount?!
Alaskan Airlines: Gays! That’s who!
Joe Blow: Wait a minute….gays?
Alaskan Airlines: You heard right!
Joe Blow: Is that fair? I mean….
Alaskan Airlines:
Save 10% off your Holiday travel to Newark/New York City. Purchase your tickets today. This Feature Destination runs through January 6, 2008.
Welcome.
Whether it’s your first flight with us or your 400th, we are thrilled to have you join us. In “Our World”, diversity abounds. From the land of the Midnight Sun to the beaches of Mexico and Miami, from historic Boston to the desert of Palm Springs and Tucson. alaskaair.com is a welcoming resource for our LGBT travelers.
Joe Blow: Uhhhhhh…..
Alaskan Airlines:
Upcoming Events
Stay up to date on all the LGBT events where Alaska Airlines flies. Take advantage of our special discounts to many of the events.
Joe Blow: What about me? Do I get any discounts for being…..um….a Christian, white, male?
Alaskan Airlines: WTF, dude?!
Found via Clayton Cramer’s Blog
Hat tip: Retired Geezer
Nice Deb 
So- an airline bases its pricing structure according to what passengers do with their genitals.
We SO need to get slammed by an asteroid.
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Why is this surprising? Some people base their entire existence around what they do with their genitals and demand you celebrate it. There isn’t an asteroidal antidote for this, but filtering the drinking water a tad better might help!
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Discriminating against others based on their sexual orientation? Is there a membership card like AARP?
A lawsuit awaits. Shareholders and investors overjoyed at prospect.
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This explains why wiserbud has 280,000 frequent flyer miles on Alaskan Airlines.
Also, I guess this means that the Eskimo guy painted on the tail of their planes is a homo.
Gay.
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I’m happy every frickin’ day and I don’t get discounts—not even AARP.
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Wait a minute! Joe Blow’s not gay?
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If you had say…..experimented in college one time, just one time….you know, cause you were drunk……can you still get the discount?
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Deb, where is Niblets?
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/LIFE06/711290329/1037/ENTERTAINMENT
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Because of reduced habitat, the state’s current rabbit population isn’t at the level it was during rabbit hunting’s heyday…
That has nothing to do with “reduced habitat”.
Niblets is a cannibal.
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Why couldn’t just anyone say, “Hey, I’m gay, now where’s my discount?”
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There must be a secret gay hand shake or something you have to present.
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They have special sophisticated gaydar at the ticket counter.
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They have special sophisticated gaydar at the ticket counter.
Nahh, that’s not how it works.
Ummm, I think.
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Rosetta would know.
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Ah, the AN/APG-69 pulse radar?
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If there was such a thing as a bi-sexual do you think they would get a bigger or smaller discount?
Maybe they get to fly free to help them decide?
Also, Bob Munck invented the AN/APG-69 pulse radar.
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Having thought this through, I now must wonder. Does anyone know for sure that the “Round Trip” radio button actually works?
This could be a cleverly disguised homophobic trick, loaded with one way tickets!
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Actually I used to work for the company that invented the AN/APG-69 pulse radar.
I don’t remember a cranky liberal asshole there, but it was a pretty big place.
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How does one prove they’re gay to get the discount?
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You don’t have to. The discount is available to anyone who asks for it; it’s simply been /advertised to/ gays, just like the 10% discount Alaska had for flights to Anchorage back in September was /advertised to/ Catholics attending the NASM Conference.
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A conference discount is quite a different matter than a discount based on sexuality. The question is, if we call up and ask for a 10% discount for no particular reason, will that request be honored?
…flippin’ MIT wannabes…
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Yes, it will. The assertion that this is a “special discount for gays only” is based solely on it being advertised to LGBT persons — there is no actual requirement to be gay/trans.
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The following is a list to help you find LGBT events in cities that we serve. In addition, if a Discount Code (e-certificate) is listed, Alaska Airlines is offering more savings with a special discount to our LGBT community members.
The point is, it’s not being advertised to all communities only LGBT persons. What’s the point of offering it as a special discount then? Why not just give everybody 10% off? Um, that would be because it’s for gays. A SPECIAL discount.
Of course there’s no requirement to be gay, that would be difficult to enforce, but it sure makes it easier when you only advertise this to gays.
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The assertion that this is a “special discount for gays only” is based solely on it being advertised to LGBT persons — there is no actual requirement to be gay/trans.
Do you have grounds for that assertion? Because the Alaska Airlines site (as quoted by PM) seems pretty clear that it’s a discount for LGBT folk. A reward for your sexuality. In any case it’s almost as egregious if it was in fact a general discount but only advertised to the favored few.
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If you go to AA’s website and bring up the actual sales contract, there is no requirement that you have to be LGBT to redeem the discount. You simply enter the provided code when you order your tickets. The Catholic conference discount worked exactly the same way — it was not a group rate for conference attendees, it was a general purpose discount that could be used by anyone traveling to the specified city during the specified time. It was only “for” the conference in that it was advertised to Catholics.
In any case, targeted advertisements like this are standard practice in the airline industry. Are you asserting that LGBT people are a special group whom the airlines should be required to /always/ charge full price?
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It just seems odd, okay?
Do they target heterosexuals for these types of advertisements?
How about the S&M crowd?
Targeting people based on their sexual practices…..? It’s creepy, really.
Creepy and dishonest.
The gay guy makes his reservation thinking he has to reveal to a stranger that he’s gay so he can get the discount, and it’s not even necessary?
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For the most part, the airlines will happily target any group which they think is likely to yield lots of profitable frequent fliers. For better or for worse, gays are perceived as such.
And no, you don’t have to tell anyone you’re LGBT to get the discount. You just enter the code when you order the tickets. Describing it as a “special discount to our LGBT community members” is nothing but marketing-speak.
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Having looked over the site, it appears that while these codes are commonly used for various offers, this code is unique to the LGBT offer. It is untrue that they will give me a discount without a reason. Thus, to take advantage of this offer, I have to lie.
This is more than marketing-speak and entering the code is also a lie. Since it is not a generally available discount, the original criticisms stand.
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Nowhere in the actual offer does it specify that “you must be lesbian, gay, or transgender to be eligible for this discount”. The ad is /targeted to/ that group, but not /exclusive to/ it.
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Stop yer quibbliing, kid. Some of us don’t need a legal restriction in order to understand and comply with the intent of an offer. Likewise, we don’t need an legal restriction in order to be offended by it.
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Let the company provide a “discount” to to folks they want to. Would it matter if Delta, or another airline provided it??
If other folks want the discount for a specific event, submit the required documents and ask for it.
Gays do not receive the “discount” everyday. The are for select, specific organized event. Vendors, allies, event staff would be entitled to the “disount” because they are attending the event – even if the event is marketed to a gay audience.
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Gays do not receive the “discount” everyday. The are for select, specific organized event.
The current list is, but the offer to NY wasn’t.
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