American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are working together to become closer and more integrated partners with the addition of mileage accrual across both airlines. As Alaska Airlines prepares to join Oneworld in 2021, Alaska and American are expanding codeshare agreements and providing frequent flyers of both programs to once again earn and redeem miles. Starting April 1, 2020 all flights on either airline can earn miles for the other airline’s frequent flyer program.
Earn American Advantage Miles When Flying Alaska Airlines
American Airlines now allows all purchased fare classes on Alaska to earn miles into the Advantage program. To earn miles when flying Alaska Airlines, calculate the total miles earn based on the fare class. Cheaper fares will earn fewer miles. American Airlines is allowing Alaska Airlines basic economy aka saver fares to earn 25% of base miles. First class fares earn a bonus fo 50-75%.
| Cabin | Purchased fares booked in | Base miles | Cabin bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | F | 100% | 75% |
| First | P, I | 100% | 50% |
| First | Y, S, B, U^ | 100% | –Not available |
| Economy | M, H, Q | 75% | –Not available |
| Economy | L, V, K, G | 50% | –Not available |
| Economy | T, R, X | 25% | – |
American Airlines is currently not offering Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD) or Miles (EQM) for flights on Alaska Airlines. Hopefully once Alaska joins OneWorld this will change. In the meantime, to earn EQD and EQM the airline must be sold with an AA flight number. See all details on American’s webpage.
Earn Alaska Miles by Flying American Airlines
In a change of course from previous years, Alaska frequent flyers could only earn miles on American’s international flights. Now, even domestic flights are eligible for mileage earning. Alaska Airlines program awards miles based on distance flown. Mileage Plan is the last remaining US based program that earns 1 miles for every mile flown. American Airlines has transitioned to a revenue program, earning miles based on cost, not distance. To counteract this, Alaska Airline frequent flyers will earn miles based on fare class and distance when flying American Airlines. The cheaper the fare, the fewer the miles. Alaska Airlines also allows flyers to earn bonus miles for premium cabins. Do not that Alaska does not award miles for American Airlines basic economy, or “B” fare class.
| Cabin | Purchased Fare Class | Base Miles | Bonus Miles | Total Miles Earned |
Elite Qualifying Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | F | 100% | 100% | 200% | 200% |
| First | A | 100% | 50% | 150% | 150% |
| First | X (Upgrade) | Earning is based on original booking | |||
| Business | J | 100% | 100% | 200% | 200% |
| Business | D, I, R | 100% | 50% | 150% | 150% |
| Business | C (Upgrade) | Earning is based on original booking | |||
| Premium Economy | W | 100% | 10% | 110% | 110% |
| Premium Economy | P | 100% | 0% | 100% | 100% |
| Economy (Main Cabin) | H, K, L, M, Y | 100% | 0% | 100% | 100% |
| Economy (Main Cabin) | G, V | 75% | 0% | 75% | 75% |
| Economy (Main Cabin) | N, S | 50% | 0% | 50% | 50% |
| Economy (Main Cabin) | O, Q | 25% | 0% | 25% | 25% |
To calculate mileage accrual on American Airline flights, calculate the distance X the percentage of the correlating fare class. For example, a flight from Seattle to Miami is 2,724 miles. If you are flying in O class, one would earn 2724 X .25 = 681 miles. Thankfully, unlike American Airlines, Alaska will offer Elite qualifying miles on American Airline flights.
As Alaska kicks off their new mileage accrual abilities with American Airlines, Alaska is also offering a bonus for long haul international flights with American Airlines. Between March 1 and December 31, 2020, earn a minimum of 10,000 miles round-trip for flights between North America and a non-North America destination. This promotion is also available on several other partners.
More Benefits To Come
Alaska and American are planning to become more cozy as Alaska joins Oneworld in 2021. Alaska has already announced that there are more benefits coming in 2021. This includes earning and redeeming Alaska Mileage Plan miles on all Oneworld airlines such as Qatar, Malaysia Airlines, etc. In addition, Alaska elites will enjoy privileges, including priority boarding, premium seating, baggage benefits and more when flying on American Airlines or any Oneworld airline. More changes to Alaska Mileage Plan are also likely.
