Last edit by: rustykettel
Link to Official AS Blog Post
Major points from this thread and from missydarlin:
Link to share your feedback with Alaska Airlines:
https://www.alaskaair.com/feedback
Discussion in the American Airlines forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...an-2018-a.html
Major points from this thread and from missydarlin:
- Effective Jan 1, 2018, domestic AA-marketed flights will not earn any Mileage Plan miles. AS-marketed, AA-operated codeshares will continue to earn AS miles at the AS earning rate (ie a minimum of one mile earned per mile flown). Domestic flights marketed by other partners (eg BA) and operated by AA will no longer earn AS miles. Post-Jan 1 flights booked prior to Jul 6, 2017 may be submitted for mileage credit.
- International AA flights (including US-Canada and US-Mexico) will continue to earn AS miles. Domestic AA flights which connect to international flights will not earn miles. It will remain impossible to book international AA-operated flights through Alaska to get an AS codeshare or an AS-operated domestic feeder flight.
- Reciprocal elite status benefits (waived checked bag fees, preferred/MCE seat assignments, priority boarding) between AA and AS go away Jan 1, 2018. Seat assignments made prior to Jan 1 for post-Jan 1 flights will remain.
- The reciprocal lounge access arrangment between AA and AS will not change.
- AA will remain a mileage redemption partner of AS with only relatively minor tweaks to the award chart (some increases, some decreases).
Link to share your feedback with Alaska Airlines:
https://www.alaskaair.com/feedback
Discussion in the American Airlines forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...an-2018-a.html
AS and AA Partnership Changes (Effective 1 January 2018)
#436
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: BLI
Programs: Alaska Million Mile Flyer, Marriott Lifetime Titanium Elite
Posts: 3,193
AS can only issue tickets which contain at least 1 AS segment and does not cross an ocean. On tickets that cross an ocean, only the transoceanic carriers can issue (plate) the ticket.
Travel agents can only issue tickets on AS stock if the ticket does not cross an ocean and the first segment is operated by AS.
Travel agents can only issue tickets on AS stock if the ticket does not cross an ocean and the first segment is operated by AS.
#438
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,123
They definitely can, and sometimes you pass that thru to their website with Google Flights or some other engine.
That said, keep in mind that will result in a fare break in most cases (you pay for the AS portion and the AA portions added up on one ticket), and not all fares allow end-on-end ticketing or combinrability with another carrier (AS's do, AA's do not) so it may not be AA's lowest fare had you split it up.
That said, keep in mind that will result in a fare break in most cases (you pay for the AS portion and the AA portions added up on one ticket), and not all fares allow end-on-end ticketing or combinrability with another carrier (AS's do, AA's do not) so it may not be AA's lowest fare had you split it up.
#440
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Berkeley, CA
Programs: UA Silver, Southwest A-List, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 818
I was looking at a fare for SFO-SEA-ORD-MCO in Jan where the last leg is a codeshare with AA. In the last week, the price for the one way has dropped from $500+ to $320 to $280. Hoping this is a sign of things to come for codeshares rather than a one off case.
#441
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: SEA
Programs: AS G100K, DL PM, IHG Gold, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 843
This change certainly will hurt business travelers, since the AS network is very small compared to the big 3. I remember having to buy tickets on AA website because the AS codeshare flights were so expensive on AS web site. I may have to fly more on DL to get to the East Coast and Southern second-tier cities after this AA relationship downgrade, because I am not a fan of AA, and DL has great coverage in those regions, where AS only flies to a few major cities there.
#442
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: San Francisco area
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott T
Posts: 455
The amazing redemption options for AS program are getting a little less amazing by the day it seems. Right now C/F reduction on CX are the only real thing going on for this program, except maybe occasional reductions you see on EK. AS better keep both of them
#443
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: Delta Gold, Alaska Gold 75K, LATAM Black
Posts: 3,393
I would hope no more shoes drop for a very long time ..
#444
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 205
Http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...074.1499641620
#445
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Portland, Oregon
Programs: Hilton Platinum, Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 2,363
Maybe all this was going to happen anyway, regardless of the Virgin America purchase. On the outside looking in, it appears the Virgin America deal is not only a big zero for existing Alaska customers, but probably is a massive negative.
But industry consolidation has been in the works. There are the three majors (AA, United, and Delta) and Southwest, and then smaller players like Alaska. So maybe Alaska had to act to preserve itself because the big three is just bigger, so much bigger.
But what I do not get is why Alaska had to divest itself of so many codeshares in this deal.....when United can swallow an entire airline (Continental), and AA (can absorb US Air, which was also an absorption of so many carriers). But Alaska has to divest itself across the board because it controlled too much of LAX after the merger? Sheesh. This is all b.s.
We have to give up connections and tie ins on FF programs? We can let Albertsons and Safeway merge and operate two brands a mile from each other and still operate both stores. We can let Amazon control the world. And regulators are worried about Alaska's tie in with American?
Maybe bigger issues at work and there probably are, but dang, Alaska is going to suck big time for awhile before it hopefully gets better again.
But industry consolidation has been in the works. There are the three majors (AA, United, and Delta) and Southwest, and then smaller players like Alaska. So maybe Alaska had to act to preserve itself because the big three is just bigger, so much bigger.
But what I do not get is why Alaska had to divest itself of so many codeshares in this deal.....when United can swallow an entire airline (Continental), and AA (can absorb US Air, which was also an absorption of so many carriers). But Alaska has to divest itself across the board because it controlled too much of LAX after the merger? Sheesh. This is all b.s.
We have to give up connections and tie ins on FF programs? We can let Albertsons and Safeway merge and operate two brands a mile from each other and still operate both stores. We can let Amazon control the world. And regulators are worried about Alaska's tie in with American?
Maybe bigger issues at work and there probably are, but dang, Alaska is going to suck big time for awhile before it hopefully gets better again.
#446
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Posts: 10,907
I would not say it is a big fat zero or a negative. I live in the Bay Area and it was very hard being an AS flyer as just about had to route everything through SEA or PDX. VX opened up a LOT of routes out of the Bay Area. Sure, for now it is hard getting recognition as an AS elite on VX flights, but it can be done and it will get better. The merger is one of the main reasons I moved over to AS from UA. The partnership with AA helped a lot too. Will have to see how much it really hurts with most of the AA partnership going away. But VX was a plus for a Bay Area AS flyer.
#447
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,067
But what I do not get is why Alaska had to divest itself of so many codeshares in this deal.....when United can swallow an entire airline (Continental), and AA (can absorb US Air, which was also an absorption of so many carriers). But Alaska has to divest itself across the board because it controlled too much of LAX after the merger? Sheesh. This is all b.s.
We have to give up connections and tie ins on FF programs? We can let Albertsons and Safeway merge and operate two brands a mile from each other and still operate both stores. We can let Amazon control the world. And regulators are worried about Alaska's tie in with American?
We have to give up connections and tie ins on FF programs? We can let Albertsons and Safeway merge and operate two brands a mile from each other and still operate both stores. We can let Amazon control the world. And regulators are worried about Alaska's tie in with American?
With this nonstop codeshare agreement, each carrier could set their own fares, and although it's the same plane, it's as close as true competition as you can get without flying another plane. From the regulators' perspective, this is like flying the route as well. Had they had a lesser codeshare agreement, it's likely it would have been able to stand (e.g., you can only book a codeshare as a connection, or a codeshare in conjunction with one of the carrier's native flights), as it would have resulted in only connecting itineraries being codeshareable, and those have a lot more competitive options than nonstops.
Despite UA and CO being much larger, they were highly disparate networks with focuses in different parts of the country. Their nonstop overlap was some like 13 routes in total. When you take VX and AS, and include the former AA codeshare routes, the route overlap was actually more than UA/CO.
They all had to give up something when they merged. I believe CO had to give up some gates at EWR. US/AA had to divest slots and/or gates in DCA/LGA.
I would not say it is a big fat zero or a negative. I live in the Bay Area and it was very hard being an AS flyer as just about had to route everything through SEA or PDX. VX opened up a LOT of routes out of the Bay Area. Sure, for now it is hard getting recognition as an AS elite on VX flights, but it can be done and it will get better. The merger is one of the main reasons I moved over to AS from UA. The partnership with AA helped a lot too. Will have to see how much it really hurts with most of the AA partnership going away. But VX was a plus for a Bay Area AS flyer.
#448
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: BART Platinum, AA Plat Pro
Posts: 1,158
Just to clarify, it was US that absorbed AA, not the other way around. And US itself had been previously absorbed by HP. In each case HP kept the more prominent of the brands. Doesn't affect your argument.
#449
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: Delta Gold, Alaska Gold 75K, LATAM Black
Posts: 3,393
I'm a little confused by this. So the mileage redemption chart reads:
US/North America in business/first to SOUTH AMERICA ZONE 1 is currently 40,000/ will become 52,500 ... (but currently it costs 30,000 from NYC to Peru in business class)
What does this route cost after Dec 31 - 52,500 one way?
US/North America in business/first to SOUTH AMERICA ZONE 1 is currently 40,000/ will become 52,500 ... (but currently it costs 30,000 from NYC to Peru in business class)
What does this route cost after Dec 31 - 52,500 one way?
#450
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,932
When AA loses QR redemptions in the near future, it will be the most worthless program on earth.
Http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...074.1499641620
Http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...074.1499641620
AA could make a special award chart for QR with worse redemption rates, and/or remove the exceptions that QR has for one-award routings to Africa and the Indian Subcontinent, or something like that, but I think that's the most it can do.