Alaska Airlines is my preferred frequent flyer program and surprisingly useful for Australians also. I’ve covered the top three reasons why Alaska’s Mileage Plan should be considered by all Australians, and we’re about to get a fourth!
Key airlines for Australians like Qantas, Qatar, Cathay Pacific, British Airways and American Airlines are all members of the Oneworld Alliance with Alaska Airlines slated to be the 14th member by December 2020.
In this post:
What Are The Benefits Of Alaska Joining Oneworld?
Most Australians are familiar with the three tiers of elite status within Oneworld through their Qantas Frequent Flyer membership.
Key benefits include priority check in, lounge access and priority boarding as an alliance-wide standard.
However, Alaska Mileage Plan elite members have had to rely on individual agreements with each partner airline. For example, Alaska elites currently only get access to Qantas lounges internationally:
The main benefit of Alaska joining Oneworld will be full and consistent elite recognition across partner airlines.
Once Alaska is a full Oneworld member, MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K members will be able to use lounges domestically also.
The Qantas arrangement is already generous by Alaska standards, with British Airways only allowing access at London Heathrow T3 and T5 and Cathay Pacific offering zero lounge access.
Given The Pier Business Class is one of the world’s best, lounge access will be a big gain.
How Australian’s Benefit From Alaska Mileage Plan
Given how quickly you can currently earn elite status with Alaska Mileage Plan with premium cabin tickets, this is a simple hack to enjoy the equivalent of Qantas Gold status at an accelerated rate.
With Qantas domestic lounge access being added as a benefit, there is little tangible difference between Alaska MVP Gold and Qantas Gold.
The current award charts are also extremely generous with 70K Alaska miles getting you from Perth to New York in First Class, compared to 162K Qantas points.
What Might We Lose?
The current redemption rates for premium cabin travel on Qantas and Cathay Pacific especially are extremely generous. Alaska currently has a different award chart for each airline partner, which allows for sweet spots.
I expect there to be new award charts that are standardised across all Oneworld award redemptions, and for these to require more points. That said, the economic conditions for the next few years are expected to be weak so this may be phased in a year or so later.
The other probable loss is partner airlines in other alliances. Singapore Airlines is a member of the rival Star Alliance and will probably be one of the first to terminate their partnership with Alaska.
Emirates is also an Alaska partner, but given there are no elite benefits and the premium award charts aren’t good value I am less concerned.
Summary
Alaska Airlines is joining Oneworld by December 2020 and with that Mileage Plan elite status will become significantly more valuable.
There will be an inevitable devaluation in premium award redemption rates at some stage as award charts are harmonised across Oneworld partner airlines, but I expect this to be overall a positive for Alaska and Mileage Plus.
