A brand new big change in Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has been launched, and unlimited new possibilities for mileage award travel

In recent weeks, Alaska Airlines (AS)'s mileage program-Mileage PlanA revolutionary change is quietly under way, opening a new chapter for mileage award travel. From March 11 to March 31, 2024, the new system has officially come into force. This reform is not an overnight change, but a gradual manifestation. Now, let's explore the details behind these changes and see how they can bring more open, practical and attractive award ticket options to travel enthusiasts around the world.

Let me briefly summarize the details of the many aspects involved in this change. I have to say that the various mileage redemption intervals in the past are gone forever, but at the same time, Alaska Airlines has introduced a variety of mileage redemption methods, which has made his mileage plan more flexible, transparent and virtually improved.Its global reachability.

New way to redeem mileage rewards

A new reward mechanism combining area and distance

Alaska Mileage Plan-The recent reform of the Mileage Plan can be described as a brave exploration aimed at making the reward redemption system more transparent and easy to redeem. This new redemption structure will be implemented globally, and it is planned to realize the reservations of multiple partners on international one-way award tickets by the end of 2024. This innovative initiative heralds that Alaska Airlines is working hard to break the boundaries of award travel.

As this reform progresses, Alaska Airlines has introduced three followingArea and distanceA simplified reward form based on it. This means that on the non-stop routes of Oneworld and its partner airlines, most of the minimum number of miles required for economy and business class redemption have been reduced, bringing good news to the majority of price-sensitive passengers. According to Alaska Airlines' own statement, in the changed form, up to 60% of the minimum miles required for redemption on non-stop routes in partner economy class have been reduced, and 64% of the minimum miles required for redemption in business class have been reduced. More importantly, this change ensures that when there are Saver reward slots in each class, all partners will be rewarded.Minimum mileage required for redemptionThey are all consistent, which is a significant improvement over the previous situation. (Note that this “Minimum mileage required for redemption" does not represent the actual mileage paid by the passenger when redeeming a specific flight. It also depends on whether the cabin ticket is a Saver ticket. It is determined)

Simplify complex terms, new reward form

The three major areas areAmerica Region-America(Including flights between North and South America)，Asia Pacific Region-Asia(Including trans-Pacific flights departing from the United States, flights to and from the Asia-Pacific region, and flights to and from Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the Asia-Pacific region)，Europe·Middle East·Africa Region-Europe, Middle East, Africa(Including transatlantic flights departing from the United States, and flights to and from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa)

At the same time, there are several precautions that need to be pointed out in particular：

1. The required mileage is divided by the total distance (miles) actually flown by the one-way flight；
2. The farther a passenger flies, the more miles they need to pay for it.；
3. Little partners who take a closer look at the form should pay attention to the “marked" on it.starting at”, that's what I mentioned above“Minimum mileage required for redemption”Don't be naive to think that Alaska Airlines will guarantee that the miles listed in this form can be redeemed for tickets on the passenger's designated flight. In the end, it depends on the actual redemption situation.

Boundless global reward redemption mechanism

More redemption opportunities

In the past, Alaska Airlines' mileage program could only redeem award tickets within and between selected areas. Gone are the days like this. With the implementation of the new plan, Alaska Airlines has also opened up more redemption opportunities for Oneworld and its partner airlines. This leap forward has further opened up a new door for Alaska Airlines Mileage program members to explore the world, meaning that passengers can now get rid of the previous geographical restrictions and unlock the possibility of using the Alaska Airlines Mileage program to travel around the world.

Richer redemption options

This time the expansion is not limited to unlocking geographical constraints. At the same time, Alaska Airlines has further improved the mileage program by introducing more types of reward redemption options. For example, passengers can now redeem Alaska miles for premium economy class tickets of American Airlines (AA) and Japan Airlines (JL); Alaska Airlines also opens more non-Saver award tickets for mileage program members to redeem; at the same time, there is a very interesting and specific change is that Icelandair (FI)'sThe miles required for Business Class (Saga Class) now only need to be calculated using the miles of premium economy class. This series of improvements reflects Alaska Airlines' determination to provide its members with richer and more valuable redemption options.

More diverse partner airlines

Not only that, Alaska Airlines plans to open in the second half of 2024 to allow passengers to mix multiple partner airlines on one-way award tickets. Under the old system, Alaska Airlines only allowed passengers to take Alaska Airlines to the hub airport first, and then change to a partner airline's aircraft to their final destination. The new system will make it easier to book complex trips, while also making it easier to reward the dream of traveling around the world.

More frequent reward promotions

Finally, in order to increase the attractiveness of mileage redemption for award travel, the Alaska Airlines Mileage program will launch a variety of regular global partner reward sales, with limited-time promotions every season, and members can enjoy special discounts of up to 50%. Provide a wide range of travelers looking for incentive travel opportunities with options for specific partners or routes, or specific destinations.

Suspension policy–A valuable privilege preserved in the old system

In this series of reforms, Alaska Airlines has retained its extremely generous stopover policy. Like the old system, Alaska Airlines allows passengers to make stopovers of no more than 14 days in partner hub airport cities in most international one-way flight exchanges, allowing passengers to continue to explore the world.Every corner of it.

Actual comparison between the new system and the old system

First let's use some examples that will be used in real life to see the actual changes in the miles required for reward redemption. The first is some examples of depreciation.：

• One-way Alaska Airlines (AS) economy class rewards from Seattle (SEA) to Anchorage (ANC) increased from 10,000 miles to 12,500 miles (25%)
• One-way Fiji Airways (FJ) business class rewards from San Francisco (SFO) to Nadi, Fiji (NAN) increased from 55,000 miles to 75,000 miles (36%)
• The one-way Japan Airlines (JL) economy class award from Boston (BOS) to Tokyo (HND) has been increased from 35,000 miles to 37,500 miles (7%). The premium economy class award miles will remain the same, or 50,000 miles, while the business class will increase from 60,000 miles to 75,000 miles.(25%)
• One-way Cathay Pacific (CX) economy class rewards from New York (JFK) to Hong Kong (HKG) will be increased from 30,000 miles to 42,500 (42%), business class rewards will be increased from 50,000 miles to 85,000 miles (70%), and first class will be increased from 70,000 miles to 130,000 miles.Cheng (86%)
• One-way Qantas (QF) business class from Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney (SYD), Australia, has also increased from 50,000 miles to 85,000 miles (70%), and first-class ticket rewards have also increased from 70,000 miles to 130,000 miles (70%).86%）

There are also examples that remain the same：

• The one-way Star Airlines (JX) business class award from San Francisco (SFO) to Singapore (SIN) remains unchanged at 85,000 miles.

Of course, there are also examples of reducing the required mileage.：

• The new program provides great value for short-distance rewards in the Americas. Passengers can redeem 4,500 miles for a one-way flight of up to 700 miles, and 7,500 miles for a flight of up to 1,400 miles.
• The business class award of Icelandair (FI) from the United States to Europe via Iceland is only 35,000 miles
• Business class rewards from Boston (BOS) to Dublin (DUB) in Ireland or London (LHR) in the United Kingdom only cost 45,000 miles, or 67,500 miles in first class.
• The business class rewards of Qatar Airways (QR) from Doha, Qatar (DOH) to Mumbai, India (BOM) have been reduced from 40,000 miles to 15,000 miles (63%)
• Japan Airlines (JL) business class rewards from Tokyo (HND) to Shanghai (PVG) have been reduced from 35,000 miles to 15,000 miles (58%)
• Malaysia Airlines (MH) business class rewards from Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Malaysia to Bangkok (BKK), Thailand have been reduced from 65,000 miles to 15,000 miles (77%）

Summary: Alaska Airlines Mileage Program makes short-haul rewards more attractive! ！

My thoughts on the reform of Alaska Airlines mileage program

Although some people may miss the “golden age” of the Alaska Airlines mileage program in the past, they can redeem miles for trans-Pacific to first class at a relatively low cost. For example, under the old system, only 70,000 miles could be redeemed for a Cathay Pacific (CX) first-class award ticket from the United States to Asia. But it is undeniable that times are changing drastically. These low-mileage award tickets continue to expand as the number of miles held by passengers continues to expand, and the number of award tickets available for redemption continues to decrease. In the big era environment, the depreciation of miles is just like inflation. It is inevitable. Those dessert exchange intervals can only live in the exchange form, which is theoretically feasible, but there is almost no availability in real life. When was the last time a passenger was able to redeem a Cathay Pacific first class award for trans-Pacific through Alaska Airlines' mileage program?

For short-DISTANCE travel in the region, the new redemption form is very attractive, cooperating with Alaska Airlines' partner airlines in Oneworld and its unique out-of-ALLIANCE partners, such as Korean Air (KE), Hainan Airlines (HU), Xingyu Airlines (JX), Condor Airlines (DE), Icelandair (FI) and even Singapore Airlines (SQ) can redeem it. Although it currently seems that these changes have indeed significantly depreciated the value of Alaska miles, at the same time I also think this is an excuse for Alaska Airlines to distribute the value of miles more evenly, rather than just a simple depreciation of miles.

Through reforms, Alaska Airlines has made its mileage program simpler, more transparent, more practical and actionable, more in line with the travel needs of current passengers, and provides support to a wider range of passengers. From short-distance adventures to transcontinental expeditions, these reforms can provide achievable ways for various travel goals.

Conclusion: Start a new chapter in exploring the world

Through these mixed improvements, most of the various ticket redemption intervals that existed before Alaska Airlines' mileage program have been depreciated, but in fact, many times these tickets only exist in theory and cannot be redeemed by passengers. On the contrary, the reformed mileage program has become more practical, not only keeping up with the pace of changes in the travel world in the post-Covid era, but also setting a new standard. Now, this plan has become a guide light for those who dream of exploring every corner of the earth, providing a way to travel full of value, diversity and promise of adventure.

With the upgrade of the Alaska Airlines mileage program, the future of mileage award travel looks brighter and easier to achieve than ever before. Whether it's a short weekend trip or a long-distance trip around the world, this new plan is ready to take travelers to every corner of the world, transforming miles into unforgettable memories for travelers all over the world.