Alaska Ending Partnership With LATAM: Not The End Of The World
- Konrad Tillman
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Intro
In the past, we have seen Alaska Airlines (Atmos, now), team up with many different airlines around the world to offer great redemptions. Whether you wanted to fly LATAM to Sao Paulo, Etihad to Abu Dhabi, or Starlux to Taipei, it was all pretty nice.
Well, going forward, the partnership with LATAM is coming to an end, and it's not the end of the world...
The Details
In the past, those who were members of the Atmos program or the LATAM frequent flyer program were able to earn and redeem points on both carriers. However, as of October 1st, those looking to fly book LATAM through miles will no longer be able to do so through the Alaska Airlines Atmos program and vice versa.
Additionally, any booking made after September 30th, with travel beginning after December 31st will not be eligible to gain miles.
In all honesty, this change was bound to happen at some point with how invested Delta is in LATAM. With the airline leaving the Oneworld Alliance, and Delta owning a decent-sized stake in LATAM, it was only a matter of time...
Why It's Alright
On paper, this doesn't look great, but it's really not the end of the world for those who are travelers that like to spend credit card points on business class tickets. Why? Well, Alaska had actually been blocking a lot of premium space on LATAM already, so your best bet had been with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.
As an example, you could book the following:
I mean, these are exceptional redemptions already. Sure, the 25K in J from Miami to Lima was attractive, but you could almost never find space...
Final Thoughts
Those who enjoyed spending their hard-earned Alaska miles on LATAM will not be able to as of October 1st. While this was always bound to happen, there are still plenty of lucrative options for booking business class tickets on LATAM; the trick is finding the space...
