Earlier today I posted about Delta’s announcement that they would be cutting elite benefits for Alaska MVP elite members traveling on Delta flights as of May 1, 2014.
For MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K members, the following benefits are being cut for travel on Delta as of May 1, 2014:
- Checked Baggage Fee Waiver for First 2 Bags
- Priority Baggage Handling
- Sky Priority® Check-in and Boarding
- Express Security Lines at Select Airports
- 50% Discount on International Economy Comfort™ Seating
Meanwhile for MVP members, the following benefits are being cut for travel on Delta as of May 1, 2014:
- Checked Baggage Fee Waiver for First Bag
- Priority Baggage Handling
- 25% Discount on International Economy Comfort™ Seating
It appears as if this was reciprocal devaluation, and that Alaska is also cutting elite benefits for Delta SkyMiles Medallion members. Specifically, if you go to the SkyMiles partner airlines elite benefits page on delta.com you’ll see the following update:
Effective for tickets purchased on or after May 1, 2014, baggage fee waivers will no longer be available as an elite benefit when flying Alaska Airlines. If traveling on or after May 1, 2014, priority security line access will also no longer be available as an elite benefit when flying Alaska Airlines.
So Alaska is cutting baggage fee waivers and priority security lines for Delta flyers traveling on Alaska. Alaska doesn’t offer priority baggage handling (all their bags are guaranteed to arrive within 20 minutes), Economy Comfort discounts (since they don’t have such a cabin), or Zone 1 boarding (since that’s just a general boarding group for Alaska), so they matched these changes as closely as they could.
At the same time I can’t help but find it a bit funny that they’re still offering reciprocal upgrades and elite mileage bonuses for travel on the other carrier. Perhaps that’s part of their partnership contract which they can’t alter.
So, what’s next?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.