Alaska Air, Delta Part Ways

Alaska Airlines has made significant changes to its Mileage Plan loyalty program, including the rollout of four new enhancements along with news that it will end its partnership with Delta Air Lines next spring.

Effective May 1, 2017, Delta will no longer be a Mileage Plan partner, as the two rivals will terminate their frequent-flier and codeshare partnerships at the end of April. In the meantime, all currently booked award travel on Delta will be honored. However, changes will not be allowed starting May 1.

Meanwhile, the upgrades to Mileage Plan include requiring fewer miles to book flights, more miles earned when flying with select Alaska Global Partners and elite members being eligible for complimentary upgrades on award travel on Alaska-operated flights.

What's more, Mileage Plan members can now earn miles on Virgin America flights following last week's completed merger.

Now, Mileage Plan members only need 5,000 miles to begin booking travel, compared to 7,500 miles before. Flights at the new starting rate include one-way travel between Seattle and San Francisco, San Francisco and Palm Springs, San Jose and Orange County, and Seattle to Portland.

The airline also said members can earn up to 80 percent more miles when flying Business or First Class with select global partners that include carriers like British Airways, Emirates, Icelandair, Korean Airlines, LATAM Airlines and Qantas, among others.

"While many other airlines are heading in a different direction and simply looking at how much people spend, we're focused on rewarding people across the board for how much they fly," said the airline's executive vice president and chief commercial officer Andrew Harrison in a statement. "Our combination with Virgin America, our portfolio of global partners and these enhancements to our award-winning Mileage Plan demonstrate our commitment to creating the most generous loyalty program for our customers."

Monday's exciting announcement for Mileage Plan members comes just days after Alaska Air completed its $2.6 billion acquisition of Virgin America to become the fifth-largest U.S. airline and an industry leader on the West Coast.

Over the next year, Alaska Air and Virgin will work to secure Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification that will permit them to operate as a single carrier.

Delta called the decision to end its partnership with Alaska Air a "positive milestone" as it continues to grow in the Pacific Northwest. Moving forward, the airline said it will focus on "creating more customer choice at its Seattle-Tacoma International Airport hub."

The two airlines had been bumping heads in recent years as Delta has moved in on Alaska Air's home base in Seattle.

Source: Travel Pulse