Last week we learned about Alaska's Mileage Plan program adjusting mileage earnings rates for travel on British Airways. The changes were drastic on both ends, and very much mirrored the trend we're seeing in the industry -- airlines are awarding more miles for people traveling on full fare/premium cabin tickets, and fewer miles for people…
Continue reading: Alaska Mileage Plan Reduces Mileage Earnings Rates On Air France/KLM
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
The generally cheap V class on KLM previously earned nothing, and now earns 25% so there's a (marginal) benefit to some travelers. I remember this clearly because a cheap Norway flight last year on KLM in V class earned nothing, but hey I'd get something for them now with Alaska.
Unless I'm missing something, isn't this actually better earning (25 from previously 0) for some deeply discounted classes? N, V, R, G? Or are these brand new classes just introduced by AF/KLM?
Do you have any actual information that "this probably isn’t even Alaska’s doing, but rather the request of the “native” airline." Or is it just speculation?
Yes, my guess is this was requested by AF/KLM. The Mileage Plan earning for economy now mostly mirrors what you could get by crediting to Flying Blue. They probably didn't want their partner being so much more generous than they are for flights on their metal. It's still somewhat of a bummer that they didn't match the premium bonuses AF give (300% for Premiere!).
@ Mark -- Nope, just (educated) speculation based on information about changes in the past.
In fact it seems that the discounted (read: regular) fares didn't use to earn anything, now they do. It is not often that I fly AFKL in a higher fare than these discounted ones, so I would argue that for many this actually is an improvement to the program.
The earning is now pretty much identical to AFKL's own program, Flying Blue. Though they do offer Elite bonuses and qualification based on segments - which I doubt Alaska does.