It may seem odd, but Alaska Airlines and American Airlines have had a pretty close partnership. American Airlines elites get several benefits when traveling on Alaska Airlines and the same is true in reverse. In years past I loved the American and Alaska Airlines partnership. It gave me an opportunity to travel with Alaska Airlines and still earn valuable EQM and EQD.
In addition to earning miles I also received several Alaska Airlines elite benefits as an AAdvantage Elite member. I didn’t receive complimentary upgrades to first, but I did have access to priority lanes and preferred seats. Even back then it seemed as though the Alaska and American partnership was too good to be true. Clearly American though the partnership is too generous because AAdvantage members recently received an email informing them of upcoming changes. Beginning January 1, 2018 the American Airlines will implement the following changes to the Alaska Airline partnership agreements.
Reduced Partner Benefits
In years past American elites received reciprocal benefits when traveling on Alaska Airlines. Benefits included access to priority lanes at airports, preferred seating, and free checked bags. After December 31, 2017 all of those benefits are going away. Starting in 2018 American Airlines elite members won’t receive ANY benefits when traveling with Alaska Airlines. The same is true for any Alaska elites traveling on American.
Obviously this is fairly disappointing for American elites. Alaska offers great service and is among my favorite airline to fly domestically. If you go after elite status year after year, traveling on the same airline week after week can get pretty old. It was nice to book Alaska Airlines flights and get a different on-board experience while still earning elite miles and receiving elite status benefits. It’s sad to see this partnership end from the point of view of an American elite.
Reduced Mileage Earning Rates
Prior to this upcoming change AAdvantage members earned EQM and EQD when traveling with Alaska Airlines. These earning rates are determined by fare code, but it didn’t matter if you purchased an Alaska Airlines flight number or an American Airlines flight number. Starting January 1, 2018 AAdvantage members are only going to earn EQM and EQD on Alaska flights marketed by American. That means to earn AAdvantage miles on an Alaska Airlines flight you must purchase an AA flight number. AA flight numbers will then continue to earn EQM and EQD based on the published fare rates which are found here.
This isn’t a huge deal, but it does mean American AAdvantage members need execute a little more caution when booking flights with Alaska Airlines segments. If you’re hoping to earn AAdvantage elite miles when flying with Alaska you need to make sure to book flights with AA flight numbers.
Is There Any Good News?
Well the only good news is that American Elite members will still be able to redeem AAdvantage miles for flights on Alaska Airlines. Also, American Admirals Club members continue to have access to Alaska Airlines Board Rooms when traveling on eligible flights.
Final Thoughts
I don’t think anyone is too surprised by these changes. As Alaska Airlines continues to grow and take market share away from legacy carriers it only makes sense to reduce partner benefits. I’m glad to see that American and Alaska will continue to have a limited partnership, unlike Delta. Many of you may remember earlier this year that Delta and Alaska split ways completely! It’s nice that American AAdvantage members still have the ability to earn miles when traveling on Alaska. It’s also nice to see that American AAdvantage members can still redeem miles for flights on Alaska Airlines.
In all honesty I think Alaska Mileage Plan members are getting the short end of the stick here. American offers a much better domestic flight network and Alaska elites no longer receive elite benefits when traveling on American. Also, Alaska is making it a little more expensive to book award flights on American Airlines for many routes.
Either way it’s always sad to see a program become less valuable and sadly these changes make both the AAdvantage program and Alaska Mileage Plan a little less valuable than before. Hopefully we’ll see less of these negative changes in the future, but for now it seems the great devaluation of airline loyalty programs continues.
