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The dust has settled on the first day of the Alaska Airlines and Virgin America integration, and the speed of that integration is even faster than it first appeared. On December 14th we learned that the deal had closed and that on December 19th several nice program benefits would be shared between Alaska’s Mileage Plan and Virgin America’s Elevate program, which I covered in this post. On top of this news we also learned that miles flown on Virgin America counted as Alaska Elite Miles, and would be accrued toward Alaska Elite status as of December 19th. That again, is very fast in the airline merger universe.
In addition to the speed of merging benefits of the two frequent flyer programs, there were two surprises for Virgin America Elevate Members.
The first surprise came in the form of an added benefit year for Elevate members; even those who hadn’t qualified for 2017 benefits. Per the letter from Virgin America to it’s Elevate members:
Elevate elite status automatically extended through 2017
The reasoning for the extra benefit year is unclear, but a couple reasons could make sense. Alaska Airlines just spent $4-billlion on the acquisition of Virgin America, and for that sum they were sure to want the access and visibility to the customer base of that airline. Even if the member had not qualified for elite status again for 2017. Additionally, the DOJ approval took an extended period of time this year, and some Elevate members may have been discouraged, so this may be a peace offering by Alaska.
The second surprise was the letter from Elevate also coincided with an automatic status match by Alaska, early. As in the same date of the letter early – December 19th, 2016. For Virgin America Elevate Gold members the matching Alaska level was MVP Gold, and it included all 4 MVP Gold guest upgrades (GUU’s).
Automatic status match includes all the perks, including 4 GGUs for Elevate Golds
Alaska Airlines is aggressively matching Virgin America Elevate members with Mileage Plan status. Alaska is acutely aware how different these two airlines were before the merger, and they seem to be showering Elevate members with quick and generous perks in order to win the perception war of public opinion. Being an Elevate Gold member I can share with you I’m fairly impressed.
Today also included the publishing of the mileage charts for both Mileage Plan and Elevate, and both looked fair for both parties, everything considered. We also learned about the long awaited transfer ration of Virgin America Elevate points to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan points – which is 1 Elevate point = 1.3 Mileage Plan points.
Virgin America earn rates for Alaska flights
Alaska Airline earn rates for Virgin America flights
With all the other Alaska news today, these surprise benefits for Virgin Elevate members were also welcome developments as the two airlines start working together.
