Alaska Airlines and Air France-KLM Are Ending Their Partnership
Alaska Airlines announced on Wednesday that it's cutting partner ties with Air France-KLM. As of April 30, 2018, you'll no longer be able to earn Mileage Plan miles with Air France or KLM.
This move is the latest Mileage Plan partner reduction, though you'll be able to continue to earn Mileage Plan miles with the European carriers until April 30. On its Mileage plan partner pages for both carriers, Alaska says:
"Effective April 30, 2018, the partnership between Air France [and KLM] and Alaska Airlines will end. Our other global partners serve all of the top destinations members have earned miles to in the past with Air France [and KLM], but we recognize that this change leaves a gap in coverage to some small European destinations. Europe continues to be a key focus area, served by partners including British Airways, Icelandair, Condor, and Finnair, and we'll continue to evaluate additional partnerships to serve your needs both to and within Europe."
In preparation for the end of the partnership, Alaska has detailed what Mileage Plan earning will look like for those traveling with Air France or KLM. Depending on when you purchased your ticket and when your flight is scheduled to depart, you'll either have the same mileage earning as you do currently, or no mileage earning at all. Here's how the Alaska earning breaks down if you're traveling with Air France or KLM:
| Tickets Booked | For Travel | Earn Miles |
|---|---|---|
| Through December 5, 2017 | Any dates already ticketed | Per chart below |
| On or after December 6, 2017 | Through April 30, 2018 | Per chart below |
| On or after December 6, 2017 | Beginning May 1, 2018 | No miles earned |
If you fall into the first category in the above chart and already have travel booked after April 30, you'll need to submit a Mileage Credit request with Alaska in order to receive the miles from your trip. As for the mileage earning, here's how it breaks down for Air France:
... And here's the mileage earning with KLM:
This is just the latest Mileage Plan partner reduction. Delta and Alaska ended their partnership on April 30, 2017, and Alaska's partnership with Aeromexico is set to end on December 31, 2017. It's likely that this move from Alaska to terminate its partnership with Air France-KLM was influenced by Delta. As One Mile at a Time points out, Delta announced plans to purchase a 10% stake in Air France-KLM, and the Atlanta-based carrier is territorial over its partners. The same situation happened with Aeromexico — after Delta formed a joint venture with Aeromexico, Alaska ended its partnership with the Mexican carrier.
After the partnership has officially ended on April 30, 2018, Alaska Mileage Plan will still have 17 partners: American Airlines (although that partnership has been altered), British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Condor, Emirates, Fiji, Finnair, Hainan Airlines, Icelandair, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, LAN, PenAir, Qantas, Ravn Alaska, Singapore Airlines and, given its soon-to-be combined loyalty program following the merger, Virgin America.