Alaska Airlines and Aeromexico are ending cooperation on January 1, 2018. The announcement was made quietly overnight on Alaska Airline’s Mileage plan partner page. Losing a Mileage Plan partner is never good, but Aeromexico and Alaska Airlines’ partnership has been on the fritz for several months. Since Delta and Aeromexico launched a Joint Venture and Delta purchased 49% of Aeromexico, Aeromexico has shunned away form Alaska.
Earn Only, No Redemption opportunities.
Alaska Airlines and Aeromexico have been partners for several years. Since 2016, their partnership has had its limits. Over the course of the last few years, Alaska and Aeromexico have been blocking award travel on each other’s flights. In January 2017, Alaska removed Aeromexico award charts. Making it official, that Aeromexico was not more than an earning and codeshare partner. This made Aeromexico only a partial Mileage Plan partner.
Since February 2016, awards travel on Aeromexico has been impossible. Now, it’s official, the partnership is ending. Award space is never coming back. The partnership ends on January 1, 2018. Until then, only miles can be earned while flying Aeromexico.
Our partnership with Aeromexico is ending on December 31st, 2017.
Starting January 1st, 2018, Aeromexico will no longer be a Mileage Plan partner. Please review the details below for Aeromexico mileage earning information.* You can rest assured that Alaska still has your travel needs to Mexico covered. With new service to Mexico City this fall, Alaska and Virgin America have the most nonstop flights from the West Coast to Mexico of any U.S. airline.
*Note: Aeromexico has been an earn-only partner since early 2016.
Earn Miles on Flights Already Purchased
Alaska Airlines has one of the most generous frequent flyer programs. Mileage Plan program does have flaws, but overall it’s a great frequent flyer program. With that said, know that Alaska Airlines will honor select mile earning opportunities on Aeromexico beyond January 1, 2018.
Similarly to when Alaska and Delta broke up, Alaska allowed earning of miles on Delta after the termination date on tickets already purchased. Now, Alaska Airlines is following through with the same offer.
Final Thoughts: This isn’t Terrrible
The termination of the Aeromexico and Alaska partnership isn’t terrible. The writing has been on the wall for a long time. I predicted it months ago. It became more evident when Aeromexico expanded service to Seattle and Portland. Thus, directly attacking Alaska. But in all fairness, in response to Alaska’s own Mexico City expansion.
When the Delta-Aeromexico joint venture was approved, I said,
Pressure appears to be mounting from Delta to suffocate Alaska Airlines from all sides. With Mike Medeiros running Aeromexico (former VP of Delta operations in Seattle is now Aeromexico’s Chief Operating Officer), the Eskimo will likely go from partner, to frenemy, to rival. After all, that is exactly what happened when Medeiros was promoted to VP of Seattle operations at Delta.
It is now evident, my prediction was correct. Yet, this opens new opportunities for Alaska to expand other partnerships.
Currently, Alaska serves several cities in Mexico via Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. Most destinations are holiday locations along the Pacific Coast. Through the partnership with American Airlines, Alaska Airlines opens up several other opportunities to Central and Eastern Mexico. Earning miles while travel to Mexico and beyond may be more difficult, but award opportunities are not changing.
Finally, we know that Alaska Airlines is great about adding unique partners. Mileage Plan has several new airlines partners this year. Finnair, Singapore Airlines, Condor Airlines, and JAL have all been added to Mileage Plan recently. Maybe the termination of Aeromexico will allow for other unique partners. Maybe Interjet?
Time will only tell what will happen. I for one will remain hopeful! In the meantime, earn your miles with Aeromexico while you still can!
