Alaska Airlines To Join the Oneworld Alliance

It was a while ago that I last wrote about Alaska Airlines. I had promoted this as a backup program to for anyone who flew and collected miles on Star Alliance-based programs (I have since flirted with Asiana, United, and now Air Canada). 

I had written a post about the flexibility of Alaska Airlines, and about the benefits of "going at it alone." Back then (~2013), they were partners with numerous Skyteam members (KLM, Air France, Delta, Aeromexico, and Korean Airlines) as well as Oneworld members (American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and British Airways). They had absolutely no Star Alliance members. What a perfect complement for those who don't normally fly on Skyteam or Oneworld member airlines with regularity, but don't actually want to lose out on any miles that could potentially be earned?

Something that was also unique was that all airline partners counted towards status for Alaska Airlines. This, of course, was not a big deal given that the benefits of status were only really for travel on Alaska Airlines, and Alaska Airlines had a minuscule footprint compared to its partners.

Then there were some changes that weren't so good
Delta started to encroach upon Alaska's Seattle hub and began to compete with Alaska. Finally, in 2017, Delta and Alaska severed their relationship: they were no longer code-sharing, and there were no longer reciprocal mileage earning benefits.

In 201, American Airlines had taken steps to do something similar. Reciprocal elite benefits were taken away (waived checked baggage fees, priority boarding, preferred seats). Members could no longer earn miles on domestic flights that were not under a code-share agreement). In October 2019, more changes were announced: Alaska Mileage Plan members could no longer earn or redeem on American Airlines' flights and vice versa except for on code-share flights after March 2020.

And then something big happened 

On February 13, 2020, Alaska announced that it had full intention of joining the Oneworld alliance. This was a complete reversal of the cuts made to its current Oneworld world partner, American Airlines.


Some of the notable pieces of this release are that:

• Effective immediately, one can redeem points again on all American Airline flights, and use the AAdmirals club from American Airlines
• Effective in Spring 2020, one can earn points again on all American Airlines flights
• Effective in Summer 2021, Alaska can earn and redeem on all Oneworld partner airlines, and elite members will have full reciprocal benefits within the Oneworld partner airlines. 

What it doesn't say (but seems obvious to me), is that once Alaska enters into the Oneworld alliance, its relationships with the other "global member airlines" will likely have to cease. This means that it will likely no longer be a good backup for those who are occasional flyers with Skyteam airlines. And of course, people will be comparing why one would want to choose American over Alaska when it comes to crediting points from flights. One will need to understand

• points earning ratios
• changes to mileage requirements for earning status
• changes to minimum spend requirements (currently Alaska does not have any whereas American does)
• changes to redemption costs 

More details to be released soon, we hope.