Soaring with the West Coast Alliance: American Airlines Improves Upgrades For Alaska Airlines Elites
Alaska Airlines elite frequent flyers are eligible for upgrades when flying American Airlines. The two carriers have a much tighter relationship through their ‘West Coast Alliance’ than just as oneworld airline partners.
Being an AAdvantage elite member flying Alaska is almost as good as being an Alaska elite. Being an Alaska elite flying on American is almost as good as being an American AAdvantage elite. For instance, Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K members are just below American’s own Platinum Pro members on the upgrade list.
And since you can now earn Alaska Airlines status without ever flying on Alaska itself, it’s a real option for American Airlines flyers to consider. They’re much more generous crediting partner premium cabin tickets than American is, and status is still measured based on miles flown rather than purely dollars spent.
There’s now even a new improvement to the reciprocal upgrade benefit. Alaska Airlines passengers flying on American are now eligible for upgrades even when buying American’s basic economy fares.
Here’s American’s internal documentation on the change:
That’s a nice improvement – American doesn’t see Basic Economy as a way to make the product worse as such. United views it as a way to offer a lesser product that competes with Spirit and Frontier. American sees it as a way to introduce their product to a customer, and hopefully win their loyalty.