Alaska Airlines today sent out the following Valentine’s Day greeting to all their loyal customers:

A little heads-up for all international travelers: To ensure aviation safety and security, Alaska Airlines is required to adhere to the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), which mandates the collection of specific information from every passenger traveling to the U.S. from other countries. Travelers must supply APIS information at time of check-in or they will be prevented from traveling. Beginning February 21, 2006, alaskaair.com will feature updated information pages for international travelers, as well as a page where you can provide your information ahead of time.

So when you fly to Mexico on Alaska, you win a free trip into a Homeland Security database (pretzels not included).