Alaska Airlines sets new date for full Oneworld membership

Alaska Airlines has a new date for when it will be a full fledged member of the Oneworld alliance: March 31, 2021.

The date is about three months later than executives planned when the Seattle-based carrier was officially invited to join the alliance in July. However, it is on par with the "sometime late Q1" timeline that was disclosed in September.

One thing that has not changed are the benefits Oneworld membership will bring to Alaska frequent flyers. They will still be able to earn and burn miles across the alliance's 13 member carriers, use lounges around the world and have access to more than 1,000 destinations across the alliance map.

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In addition, frequent flyers on other Oneworld members will have access to Alaska's network and lounges. This includes the new flagship lounge that the airline opened at its Seattle/Tacoma International Airport (SEA) base in 2019.

"We are officially joining a family with some of the best airlines in the world," Nathaniel Pieper, senior vice president of fleet, finances and alliances at Alaska, said in a statement on Oct. 12. "The possibilities are tremendous.”

Alaska's Oneworld membership is part and parcel with an expanded codeshare arrangement with American Airlines. The carriers have expanded the number of flights carrying each airline's code from West Coast hubs, including Los Angeles (LAX) and Seattle. At the same time, American plans to begin new international service between Alaska's Seattle home and London Heathrow (LHR), Bangalore (BLR) and Shanghai Pudong (PVG) in 2021.

The codeshare expansion includes several of Alaska's new routes from LAX — to Boise (BOI), Missoula (MSO) and Spokane (GEG) — that it launched in 2020, according to Cirium schedule data.

Related: Alaska Airlines delays full Oneworld membership to early 2021