so what does one do if you have to book onto skyteam partners? my practice has been to create an account with each of the alliances to credit points there. i currently have accounts with american airlines (AA, oneworld) and delta (DL, skyteam) so that i can credit those miles there. it's helpful because these points don't expire (as long as there is activity within 18 months for AA, and in the case of DL, miles do not expire). if i didn't have a whole bunch of miles on AA, i would definitely be looking into alaska airlines (AS).
AS has a very similar mileage earning and spending rate (aka earn and burn rate, respectively) as what you would expect on the other major north american airlines. but here are some of the benefits of consolidating your points into the alaska mileage plan:
- AS partners with many airlines within different alliances without being in a major alliance itself.
- star alliance partners: nil
- oneworld: american airlines, cathay pacific, british airways, lan, quantas
- skyteam: delta airlines, korean airlines, klm, air france
- other: air pacific, era alaska, pen air (alaska), iceland air (partnership ending june 30, 2013)
- earning elite status
- miles earned from AA and DL count towards status on alaska (and, for that matter, flights earned on alaska count as status miles on AA and DL).
- benefits of mvp status (their elite tiers) will allow for some benefits on AA and DL. this includes checked baggage fee waivers, pre-boarding, and in the case of DL, upgrades.
- miles don't expire as long as you have activity every 24 months
- it's not that difficult to earn miles on actual alaska airline flights as a canadian
- alaska focuses on vancouver as a focus canadian city. they do this by having multiple flights departing from bellingham, a mere hour's drive away from vancouver. no other legacy airline flies out of bellingham.
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