Toshbaf

I think EVA Air should be Alaska next partner. Air Canada (alternatively Westjet) would be another choice.

JetBlue would help with AA nearly dropping out in 2018 but that is not going to happen. Domestically, it's not going to be DL, AA, or UA. WN would also be alien though helpful.

Without AA or DL, it may be necessary to abandon AS in 2018.

beckoa

B6 would happen thru a merger

jinglish

Westjet could be in the realm of theoretical possibility, given that AS doesn't fly anywhere in Canada east of YEG, but why would BR or AC want/need to partner with AS? The latter seems to be getting along with UA just fine, so I doubt they're dying for another US airline for connections; the former seems to be filling two daily 777s SEA-TPE just fine without any feed on the SEA end, and they have UA and AC at their other west coast destinations. "A few elites want to earn and redeem on more airlines" isn't enough of a reason for AS to pursue a partnership, and AS already has plenty of earning and burning options in Asia between JL, CX, HU, and now SQ (and EK, I guess, if you feel like flying twice as far). Hell, TPE and HKG are only, what, an hour's flight apart? All AS flyers get is earning on US-TPE directs and access to a bit more award space, while possibly pissing off CX, the partner with the best values on premium cabin awards.

I agree, though, that the loss of DL and near-loss of AA hurts a lot: it's part of why I likely won't be able to maintain MVP after next year despite still planning to fly 50k+ annually. But it's Europe, not Asia, that's their international partnership weak zone, especially in terms of what's available from SEA and PDX. I actually like FI and plan to keep flying them when convenient, but 25% earnings on deep-discount Y won't get me very far, and there are a lot of destinations that they and DE just don't serve. And BA's... BA.

Orwaid

Hi -

The point of partners is to help drive traffic back and forth in a timely efficient manner to expend their footprint and their brand.

SO, I suggest that AS move to do this with QX.

felicidad76

I hope LH orSWISS or Austria. That would help quote a bit. For us options, I am not sure

CDKing

If anything it will be another VX partner.

missamo80

Westjet pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!!!

Neil

BearX220

Without a domestic partner for AS, another niche international partnership is meaningless to me. I would like to see a pooling / reciprocal-credit arrangement with TrueBlue, but I have no illusions about the odds.

I'm not going to reattain MP status for 2018 and the wrapup of the AA arrangement means this is the end of the line for me and AS. MP is still a good program as of now, but I assume it will degenerate over the next few years like all the others.

98103

The only other VX partners out there besides SQ are:

VA - already has extensive agreement with DL
HA - Too much overlap, and beyond HI is largely covered by other partners.
EK - Already an AS partner

Even though it won't bring much, I'd like to see them staple on Thomas Cook UK.

milypan

MU, CZ, and CI are all VX codeshare, but not Elevate, partners. Until now, for AS being a codeshare partner was necessary and sufficient for being a mileage partner.

All three of those are ST, but MU has a variety of partners outside ST as well. Thus it might be the most likely of the three to become a partner (but I wouldn't hold my breath).

pbelmore

I would love if HA became a partner so I could choose solely by price rather than price + mileage earning (we fly SEA-OGG every year or so), but I agree that it's probably never going to be a partner with Alaska. Way too much overlap.

CDKing

Ill take MU with all the great fares posted recently

MahiMahi524

Agree weak spot is Europe, but they did recently gain Condor. That may be the kind of partner (along with IcelandAir) they want (or are able) to get without joining a major alliance. They already have BA/KL/AF, which may be enough for the major airlines for them. Air Europa anyone?

quemalo

LH would be my #1 choice if they added someone else, BR would be #2 . NZ would also be nice, but I don't know if Qantas would like that. IB, QR, and EI (in that order) would also be pretty handy, but if they add LH I could probably avoid flying any of them.

jinglish

EI actually might have a shot as IAG exerts more control and they drift away from UA, given that they serve LAX and SFO; depends on whether they go full OneWorld flagbearer and stick with AA for their domestic connections or keep using B6 for their east coast feed. IB only serves LAX--a much more substantial hub for AA than AS--seasonally, and QR might annoy EK, especially given the current political situation in the gulf. LH would certainly help SEA-Europe, but they're in a transatlantic JV with UA and AC.A partner hubbed on the Iberian Peninsula would be nice, but the closest UX comes to the west coast is LAS (seasonally). FI and DE help substantially--and I really appreciate that their fare structures, unlike DL's, allow me to buy one-ways at reasonable prices when I'm putting together complex itineraries--but they're leisure airlines with more limited schedules with the alternative. Doing some research for a future RTW, the current DE schedule will allow me to do NAP-MUC-SEA on a Monday, but not the Sunday that'd be ideal.