In February 2020, many of us were caught off guard when it was announced that Alaska Airlines would be joining the oneworld alliance. Since the initial announcement, there have been some adjustments to the timeline of this happening: In July it was announced that Alaska would join oneworld in late 2020 Then in September it…
Continue reading: Alaska Airlines Joining Oneworld On March 31, 2021
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I think history points out that this partnership will only mean doom and disappointment.
As a long time AS FF'er, MM etc I think Alan is correct there will ultimately be disappointment especially with AA as our "partner" going into OW. Parker is just not trustworthy and it does not look like he is going anywhere soon that means for AS flyers upgrades award seating other than basic economy is slim to none internationally forget it, in all the years I have been flying I have gotten ONE exactly ONE award seat internationally Biz. At this moment in time the only advantage I can see is not having to pay those damn seat reservation fee on BA hated that but then it one looks at the international award charts and real availability BA is about it going to Europe and EK the other way around.
Once the industry recovers, and it will take a lot of time and at least a handful of US carriers will file for bankruptcy, I suspect AS and AA will merge.
I'll put a stake in the ground and make predictions.
- AS adds award charts for the three OW carriers that touch the USA that are not already AS partners, AT, IB and QR, under the same rules as before (no other partners, just AS + the carrier in question). The pricing will be pretty "meh, OK", something like what AS did for SQ, EI or BA, or what AA has for QR out of the USA. These charts will not include routes that don't touch the USA somehow (so no DOH-NRT or EZE-MAD, but maybe USA-DOH-NRT, definitely routes like USA-DOH/MAD-Africa that have logical routings).
- Small or no changes to CX/JL/BA pricing (10-15% maybe on CX), or award pricing overall. Devaluation of existing miles is minimal to none.
- AS adds a NEW distance based multi-carrier chart that covers more than one OW carrier, similar to the BA/CX multicarrier charts (where you fly AS + 2 carriers or 3 OW carriers). These will allow you to combine carriers to fly carriers like S7, UL, MH as part of a single award. The chart won't be a good deal for shorthaul (it'll be pretty terrible, actually), but for 150-200k AS miles in J or 250-300k in F, you will have the ability to do a RTW at a comparable price to an AS EK award in J/F. This new award will include ability for multiple stopovers and open jaws.
- AS does NOT add region-based awards, so sorry, those of you based outside the USA (or OMaaT blog readers) who want to buy cheap AS miles to fly J SYD-AKL, DOH-NRT or whatever at massive discounts.
Can you write about multiple airlines on an award and using miles from one carrier to fly on another carrier (like AA miles to fly on Singapore Airlines?) I'm having a difficult time grasping that concept.
Thanks.
eponymous coward, I can live with your scenario. I could also see (and I favor) some sort of bumped up earning rates or status-earning rules, within whatever contractual obligations OW membership has, to favor fliers on AS's own metal. I can't see them screwing the Alaska or West Coast north-south fliers who have been loyal for a generation.
My hope here is that since AS is much larger and stronger than the other carriers that HP/US/AA d/b/a AA has gobbled up over the years, that this works out better for AS fliers than it did for pax on Reno Air, PSA, TWA, and whomever else I am forgetting.
Alaska Airlines 1c per mile conversion of wallet credit has been extended from Monday, October 12 to Wednesday.
I suspect the best place to start to understand earning and using miles/points on different airlines is Ben's article "What is an airline alliance?"
https://onemileatatime.com/alliances-work/
LOVE ONE WORLD!
MEGA ROUTE NETWORK!
CLUBS EVERY WHERE!
NEW, MODERN AIRCRAFT AND FACILITIES!
UNSTOPPABLE!
GREAT NEWS!
Alaska is a Welcome Addition to ONEWORLD and All Carriers will Benefit within the Alliance. Hopefully there will be a Closer Relationship between AA and Alaska where it comes to Domestic Code Sharing but on Product and Policies with the Alaska Customer Friendly policies put in Place. If done correctly This Partnership could be a Win/Win for West Coast Customers.
The simplest solution might be to move to a unified Oneworld chart that allows combining Oneworld airlines, and keeping the separate charts for all non-Oneworld partners.