AS Changes How You Earn Elite Status With Partners
 

TPG – https://thepointsguy.com/news/alaska...with-partners/
AS – https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...rship-benefits

Takeaways for 2021:

• Partner EQMs are now the same as AS EQMs for elite status qualification (i.e. you need 20K, 40K and 75K total EQMs to qualify for MVP, MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K respectively)
• You also need to fly a minimum of 2, 4 and 6 AS segments to qualify for MVP, MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K respectively

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a283c0c1fa.png

That's a huge drop in required flying to get status from partners. Curious to see how it will play out next year.

Darn, was hoping to see the opposite happen. Hopefully, partner-earning is slashed. I'd like to see an MVPG90K or the likes introduced now more than ever, that must be attained solely through AS flying.

I think the required AS segments is great, especially as a BOS based flyer :-)

Makes perfect sense, at least for year 1. AS doesn't want to pay for OW benefits for those that aren't ever setting foot on AS metal. I'd expect that the percentage of 75Ks that earn with partner only earnings is extremely low. Even if someone takes 6 cheapie segments on AS, it is probably a wash as to actual cost to AS (v. what it has earned on those 6 segments).

Correct me if wrong, but doesn’t this change in partner earning benefits devalue loyalty to AS? I fly AS exclusively when I am able so as to support a company I value.

Possibly. I might look at flying AA on a handful of routes I'd normally fly AS on if there were decent cost savings and they got their act together (the latter is highly unlikely). That said, I'm pretty loyal to AS too so it's unlikely in the end.

Other than AA (with perhaps limited exception), partners do not compete on the AS route network.

Are the rates for earning on partners staying the same? If so, earning AD EQM by flying AA coach is presently not exactly great so it seems like it should sweeten the deal on flying AA with your AS FF# without making it THAT much easier to actually hit the next tier up.

Also remember that a lot of people are likely to still have condensed travel schedules this year, i.e. not start flying again until the second half of the year. I know I'm probably in that group unless the COVID vaccine timeline somehow rapidly accelerates.
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Also for premium tickets it is still better to try and find AS flights vs AA as you'd get 75% bonus on AS vs. 50% (on discounted premium anyway).

I don't think so. the only time I will set foot on AA is if I have to, that being said the first 10,000 miles flown on AA were essentially a waste. My loyalty is still AS, I just dont want my AA miles to go to waste.

Good news unless the partner earning changes too.

I think the accrual rates (both EQM and RDM) will make it unenticing to be a heavy flier on partner airlines while crediting to AS. If AS credits AA flights at 25%, that 75K threshold for G75K status would be difficult at best to achieve. I read this as a benefit of OW membership for when you need that random partner flight, but not much more. It also seems to me that the AS statisticians and analysts did the math and found there would be negligible impact on AS profits. The other thing may be pressure from OW to reconfigure status thresholds. AS really had two parameters by which they could control elite membership numbers (i.e., 1 - thresholds, 2 - earning rates). This now brings it to just a single parameter (earning rates). I like this because they can still control the impact of partner earnings on elite qualifications, while simplifying the IT that does all the math in the background. I for one will not be surprised to see reductions in partner earning rates in future years.

Does this include any AA flights or only those that can be booked through AS website?

Premium cabin earning on BA credited to AS is great.