Working the System!

My mom got me a free (only $25 for taxes) flight to Anchorage using her Northwest Airlines miles. Unfortunately, Northwest charges $15 for your first checked bag, which would still let me fly cheap, but it seemed like a rip off, especially considering that my Northwest Airlines flight is actually operated by Alaska Airlines, which doesn't charge for the first checked bag. Tonight, when I printed off my reservation (from my email), I noticed that there was not only a Northwest confirmation code, but also an Alaska confirmation code. So I went to the Alaska website to see if I could check-in online with the code. I did, and was able to select 1 checked bag, at no charge! Hooray for working the system! Tomorrow morning I will just take my boarding pass (which I have printed) to the Alaska airlines counter to check my bag in for free! Yay!