[Charts Expected To Launch 3/31] Alaska Airlines Elite Status Changes And New Unified Award Chart With Incredibly Sweet Spots On AA, El Al, Icelandair, And More

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Update: Alaska Airlines tells DansDeals that it’s looking like the new award chart will launch on 3/31. That date is still subject to change, though the airline originally promised the charts would launch in March.

The airline’s partnership with El Al will expire on 7/31, so there should be a 4 month window for some amazing bargains on El Al travel with the new award chart.

Related post: Limited Time Offer: Earn 70,000 Miles On The Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card, Get 15 Domestic Flights Or El Al Business Class To Israel, Plus Companion Pass!

Originally posted on 12/14/23:

Alaska Airlines announced a number of changes to its program for 2024.

For the elite status program:

• They will continue to buck the trend and award status based on EQMs (elite qualifying miles) flown. In the past, you needed a minimum number of flight segments on Alaska, and that will no longer be required. However, Alaska is also removing the ability to qualify for status based on flight segments flown instead of EQMs. Status requirements remain the same as 2023, 20K EQMs for MVP, 40K EQMs for MVP Gold, 75K EQM for MVP Gold 75K and 100K EQMs for MVP Gold 100K.
• Alaska cardholders can now earn 4,000 EQMs for every $10,000 spent on co-brand cards in 2024. This is capped at 20K EQMs per member for 2024.
• If you earn more than 100K EQMs in 2023, they will rollover to 2024.
• Elite bonus miles earned on paid flights starting in 2025 will be reduced, but they can be restored to current levels if you select a Choice Award to get bonus miles instead of other Choice Awards that will be added in late 2024.

Alaska’s current hodgepodge of mileage charts will also be retired for a unified chart in March. The airline has been hiding their partner award charts for the past year as each partner airline has its own pricing, but Alaska stopped publishing that information.

A unified award chart is something I predicted would happen when they first announced plans to join the OneWorld alliance. However, it seems like this will actually be advantageous for many flights.

Sweet spots like flying to Australia or New Zealand for 55K miles in business class on Fiji or Qantas will go away. But other sweet spots will be introduced.

The unified charts take Air Canada’s approach, with different distance-based charts for different regions.

Luckily, they still include a free stopover, even on a one-way ticket, or 2 free stopovers on a round-trip ticket. A free stopover is a rarity these days, so that’s great to see.

The rates seem pretty good, but note that they say “starting at.” Alaska says that the lowest “starting at” rate will be the saver award rate and will be available on all partners year-round. Alaska does offer expanded award space on some partners, and those will be priced higher, hence the “starting at” language. We’ll have to wait until March to see exactly how this will pan out, but it sounds promising.

Alaska will also add the ability to book awards on any flight in the world, something they don’t support now in some regions. Later next year they will also add the ability to book multiple partner airlines on the same ticket.

Another nice change is that airlines without lie-flat business class seats, such as Icelandair, will have their business class sold at premium economy pricing, which is a nice win.

There are many sweet spots that stand out, such as:

• NYC to Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, or Toronto in AA economy for 4,500 miles or business class for 9,000 miles.
• NYC to Chicago or Miami in AA economy for 7,500 miles or business class for 15,000 miles.
• JFK to London in Icelandair business class for 30,000 miles.
• JFK to London in AA economy for 22,500 miles or business class for 45,000 miles.
• Cleveland to Dublin in Aer Lingus economy for 22,500 miles or business class for 45,000 miles.
• JFK to Casablanca in Royal Air Maroc economy for 27,500 miles or business class for 55,000 miles.
• JFK to Frankfurt or Houston to Manchester in Singapore economy for 27,500 miles or business class for 55,000 miles.
• LA to Papeete in Air Tahiti Nui economy for 30,000 miles or business class for 60,000 miles.
• Boston, Fort Lauderdale, JFK, Newark, or Miami to Tel Aviv in El Al economy for 35,000 miles, premium economy for 45,000 miles, or business class for 70,000 miles.
• LA to Tel Aviv in El Al economy for 42,500 miles, premium economy for 55,000 miles, or business class for 85,000 miles.

Here are the upcoming award charts:

While the above charts are for partner travel, here is the chart for travel on Alaska Airlines:

What do you think of these changes?