Talk about things I didn’t see coming this morning! Alaska Airlines – who has toyed with becoming a oneworld connect partner in the past – is now officially joining oneworld as a full member.
According to Alaska’s press release, they’ll be joining the alliance in summer 2021. With joining oneworld, Alaska and American will be renewing their left for dead partnership. The final cuts to the partnership – which effectively gutted everything except for reciprocal lounge access – were set to kick in March 1. Alaska and American are calling their renewed partnership a “West Coast international alliance”, which means:
- the ability to earn and use miles on both Alaska and American
- full elite status reciprocity
- lounge access to nearly 50 American Admirals Clubs worldwide and seven Alaska Lounges in the U.S.
- continued domestic codeshare and expanded international travel from Los Angeles and Seattle for hassle-free booking and travel between Alaska and American Airlines
But wait, there’s more!
In what might be an even more unexpected move, American is launching two new long haul flights from Seattle!
- Bangalore, India, which begins October 2020 (tickets on sale next month) using a 787-9
- London, England, which begins March 2021 using a 777-200
Both flights will feature 3 class cabins (economy, premium economy, and lie-flat business). Personally, American’s 787-9 is my second favorite aircraft in their fleet (behind the 777-300ER) and features the B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seat in business. The Bangalore flight will clock in 8,078 miles – making it American’s second longest flight (DFW-Hong Kong is currently) The Seattle-London is 4,800 miles, and will add further capacity from Seattle, as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic already operate a daily flights (increasing to 2x/daily each during warmer months).
What does oneworld mean for Mileage Plan Members?
For those unfamiliar with airline alliances, the purpose of them is to provide a more seamless experience for customers when traveling internationally. Eventually, Alaska elites will get the perks that American elites have enjoyed for a long time, including priority seating, access to business and first class lounges, and priority baggage handling. Alaska will need to map its current status levels to the different tiers of oneworld, which if they stay as they are (which might be a big if), will probably look something like this:
- Mileage Plan MVP = oneworld Ruby
- Mileage Plan MVP Gold = oneworld Sapphire
- Mileage Plan MVP 75k = oneworld Emerald
The benefits of each tier are outlined below:
| Ruby | Sapphire | Emerald |
| -Access to Business Class priority check-in -Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating* -Priority on waitlists and when on standby* | -Access to Business Class lounges -Access to Business Class priority check-in -Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating* -Priority on waitlists and when on standby* – Priority boarding -Extra baggage allowance -Priority baggage handling | -Access to First and Business Class lounges -Access to First Class priority check-in -Fast track at select security lanes -Priority baggage handling** -Extra baggage allowance*** -Priority boarding -Priority on waitlists and when on standby -Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating |
What’s next
Joining oneworld won’t happen overnight, so Alaska has provided a timetable as to when members can expect changes:
Effective immediately:
- Redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles on all American Airlines flights and continue to earn miles on American flights with an Alaska flight number.
- Access any of American’s 50 Admirals Club locations worldwide with an Alaska Lounge membership.
- Continue to earn and redeem Mileage Plan miles on our current portfolio of 16 Global Partners.
Starting spring 2020:
- Earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles on any American Airlines flights, domestically and internationally.
Starting summer 2021:
- Earn and redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles on all oneworld airlines.
- Alaska elites will enjoy privileges, including priority boarding, premium seating, baggage benefits and more when you fly on American Airlines or any oneworld airline.
- Access 650 lounges within the oneworld network as an MVP Gold or Gold 75K member.
My take
Alaska
This is great news overall, with some caveats. On the one hand, Alaska – Seattle’s hometown airline – joining forces with American to take on Delta is a bit of a feel good story, since Delta has really bullied their way into the market. On the other, I’m afraid Alaska may end up losing its competitive advantage with its MileagePlan program.
Currently, Alaska has individual agreements with more than a dozen international airlines that allows MileagePlan members to redeem on airlines such as Qantas, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and others. What’s always made Alaska’s program even more alluring is that they charge comparatively low redemption rates for premium cabins redemptions. For instance, redeeming American miles for Cathay Pacific first class will cost you 110k AAdvantage miles, while using Alaska miles, the same flight cost 67.5k.
Alaska has unique partners that are either aren’t apart of an alliance, like Emirates, or in the case of Singapore and Korean Airlines, belong to other alliances. My fear is that the individual agreements they’ve set with each airline may dissipate in order to be more aligned with American/oneworld. With that said, if you’re eyeing one of those sweet spot redemptions, I’d book it sooner than later. Again, my hope is that those partnerships remain in tact, but only time will tell.
American
As for the American side of the announcement, there’s nothing not to be happy about (’bout damn time!). American is restoring its partnership with Alaska, and by next summer, will offer reciprocal benefits to both airlines’ elites. The fact that they’re calling this a West Coast Alliance just goes to show how symbiotic this relationship. Currently, American has almost no capacity on the west coast unless you’re originating or ending in LA or Phoenix. Alaska on the other hand has a robust network all throughout the west coast, including smaller destinations.
American has offered some codeshares with Alaska, but booking the codeshare has typically cost a considerable amount more than booking directly with Alaska for the same flight. With the restart of the partnership, the two airlines will immediately begin offering more codeshares from LAX and SEA. Eventually, you’ll be able to book any Alaska flight, enter your AAdvantage number, and earn miles. This is where I’ll get the biggest benefit, as lack of west coast capacity is one of the primary reasons I broke up with AA.
As for the new flights out of Seattle are really the gravy on the announcements today. Increased capacity is always a good thing, and the additional American “metal” on the west coast gives AA elites another option to redeem systemwide upgrades, though I’m sure the Bangalore flight will be a hard one to clear. The Bangalore flight represents American’s first flights to India since 2012, and the only US airline flying to Bangalore. It’s also interesting since the initial rumor was that the flight would be out of Dallas, but at over 9,200 miles, was probably too much for a conservative airline like American to take on (unlike United is very aggressive at ultra long haul flying).
Lastly, this development might make me think about keeping my American Airlines Executive World Elite MasterCard (which comes with Admirals Club access), depending on how quickly other codeshares are rolled out. In November, American announced that it would copy Delta and United, allowing only those traveling same day on American, oneworld, or Alaska flights eligible for entry, regardless of whether you have a membership. You read my write up the American card as well the other cards in my wallet here.
Are you excited for Alaska to join oneworld? Will you be flying either of American’s new flights out of SEA?
