Delta & Alaska End Partnership May 1

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Delta and Alaska Airlines are completely severing their partnership as of May 1, 2017. If you were planning on redeeming Alaska miles on a Delta flight, or a Delta miles on an Alaska flight, do so by April 30.

What This Means

No more codeshare agreement, no more earning miles nor elite credits, and no more redemptions of miles on each others flights.

Below is the timetable released by Delta of which flights on Alaska, depending on when they were/are booked, will earn SkyMiles. The chart also makes clear that you can redeem SkyMiles on Alaska flights through April 30, but not after.

As for Alaska Mileage Plan, the timetable is the same. Below are which flights on Delta, depending on when they were/are booked, will earn Alaska miles:

Alaska also makes it clear that you can redeem SkyMiles on Alaska flights through April 30:

This also means that as of May 1, any benefits elites may have in one program will not carry over when flying the other airline.

So…who should I credit butt-in-seat miles to now when I fly Delta?

Unless you were chasing Delta Elite status, it’s likely you have been crediting redeemable miles earned flying Delta to Alaska. Delta follows a revenue-based award earning structure, so cheap Delta economy flights you pay for with cash probably aren’t going to rack up as many redeemable Delta miles as they would Alaska miles since Alaska still bases award earnings on the distance flown.

Check out Where to Credit Butt in Seat Miles: Flying Delta.  Wheretocredit.com is another helpful resource.

Bottom Line

You have until April 30, 2017 to book Alaska flights with your Delta miles or Delta flights with your Alaska miles. You can book for travel dates through the end of the schedule, as long as the redemption is made by April 30.

You will not be able to earn Delta miles on Alaska flights, nor Alaska miles on Delta flights, flown May 1 and on.

Reciprocal benefits for elites between Alaska MileagePlan and Delta SkyMiles will also end May 1, 2017.