Last week, I mentioned that Alaska Air is still, for the most part, my preferred airline and airline loyalty program. However, they’ve given me some reason to worry. You see, Alaska Air is increasing some award pricing without notifying us in advance.
To be clear, Alaska Airlines raising its award pricing isn’t anything new. In fact, in the world of points and miles, them doing it without prior notification is common too. And, in fact, Alaska did just that a while back and received major blowback for doing so. At the time, they promised not to do it again, but here we are.
Alaska Air Increasing Some Award Pricing
Now, the change we’re talking about doesn’t impact me all that much. You see, Alaska Air is only increasing first class award pricing. I’ve never flown first class with mainline Alaska, and probably wouldn’t make it a point of doing so regularly. But, it’s an increase nonetheless and one we should all be aware of. Those increases include:
- Hawaii – North America: currently 40k to 80k, increasing to 40k to 95k
- Within North America
- 1,401 to 2,100 miles: currently 25k to 60k, increasing to 25k to 70k
- 2,101+ miles: currently 30k to 70k, increasing to 30k to 95k
These changes, which go into effect on March 1, range from a 10,000-mile difference to a whopping 25,000-mile difference. Yikes! That said, these changes are only on the upper end of the pricing spectrum. If you can find saver first class award fares, nothing is really changing.
Final Thoughts
When Alaska Air joined Oneworld, I voiced my concern about changes to Mileage Plan. Thus far, things have remained relatively similar to the before times. Does this change mean that this will no longer be the case? Probably not. At least I don’t think so. But, it is important to be cognizant of what can and likely will happen down the road. What worries me more is the fact that they may not give us a heads up about the change.