by 
Well the goodies just keep coming from Alaska, although some members aren’t happy with the pace that there being rolled out. For the record this integration is taking place at lighting speed as compared to ones of the past, and less than a month after the acquisition closed several announcements and changes have taken place for Alaska Airlines and Virgin America flyers.
On December 19th a letter from the new joint airlines was issued stating the following benefits and changes for January 9th of the new year:
Elevate members will be invited to create and transfer points (at 1 to 1.3) to a new Mileage Plan account with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
Elevate Silver will be matched to Mileage Plan MVP. Elevate Gold will be matched to Mileage Plan MVP Gold.
Alaska Flyers will be able to use points to redeem Virgin America flights.
In addition to these announced benefits, Alaska Airlines also had two additional surprises for the lucky recipients that had both membership in the Mileage Plan and Elevate loyalty programs.
Surprise Number 1: A free 10,000-mile bonus in Mileage Plan accounts.
On the evening of January 8th word broke out on Flyertalk that a number of individuals where discovering an additional 10,000-mile bonus in their Alaska Mileage Plan accounts. There was no pattern that these bonuses seemed to follow, and some persons were complaining about the completely random nature that they were appearing.
Posting of the 10,000 mile bonus
The mystery was solved when later Alaska was forced to comment. The 10,000-mile bonus was for persons who had both a Mileage Plan account and an Elevate account as of December 5th, 2016. Per Alaska Airlines this bonus was meant as a “Thank You” to the individuals who were loyal to both programs and also was a way to “kick things off”, whatever that means. In any case it was a very generous move by Alaska, and four members of my family both received and appreciated their gesture.
Surprise Number 2: Generous award availability of Virgin America first class.
Not only are Alaska Mileage Plan members able to use their miles for the redemptions on Virgin America, but there is an amazing level of generous award levels for Virgin America. In particular, the first class Virgin America awards look very good from the Alaska Airline’s website booking engine. In my searches frequently all, or almost all available first class seats on a Virgin American flights were available to be booked on the Alaska site. I’ve included some searches on different dates that represent what is available:
LAX – JFK Mostly 25K one way
SFO – EWR 9:50 flight is 25K
JFK-SFO-HNL in F for 40K!!!
LAX to Orlando in F 25K
Reagan in DC to SFO in F is 25K
There are tons and tons of domestic transcontinental for 25K in first class. Virgin’s F product is excellent and while not a lie flat, still pretty darn good. The JFK-SFO-HNL for 40K in F is a down right steel. The reason for this available most likely has to do with the fact that Virgin America is a revenue based loyalty program and every seat is available as long as it’s not sold. It really an excellent deal for Alaska Mileage plan members. I don’t see how this can last for an extended period.
I don’t think this is the last of the goodies from January 9th, but it is certainly the ones we know about. I think it’s very smart how both Mileage Plan and Elevate members are winners in receiving specific perks and benefits. If the advantages were only to one of the two loyalty plans it could casus resentment and ill will. It’s also obvious how the Alaska Mileage plan will be the surviving program. Status matches, point transfers, point bonuses and new redemption options have all been one sided – Mileage Plan one sided.
