AS isn't in an alliance. All partnerships are individually negotiated which is the main reason. Second on AA its starting to look more like this was something AA pushed not AS (same time AA made major changes with their ME3 partnerships). Also AS has very little to offer to HK Airlines and Dragon air. Condor/Thomas Cook could possibly change as they add more west coast flights but as of now the partnership is based on feeding the west coast flights (primarily Condor operated) and allowing inbound Condor passengers to fly further on along the west coast. The lounge access thing AS has improved a but again the lounges on DL/AA/UA is based on alliance rules which AS isn't in any.
Originally Posted by
PDXPremier
There are too many limitations on which fare classes earn 100% miles so I've avoided using AS partners for mileage earning and prefer utilizing the partners for award redemption. It's so much more straightforward earning status on AS metal and I agree with the previous poster...a lot of AS flyers are generally domestic West coast flyers like myself who don't care for polenta
Its AS version of a revenue based program. I would not be shocked at some point if AS metal started earning reduced miles on lower fare buckets.