When it announced its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines promised that elite members of each program would be able to match status.
That status match is now live, as First flagged By Gary Leff at View from the Wing.
Airlines will eventually have a loyalty program, but in the meantime, reciprocal elite status is great.
It is quite straightforward. You just need to go to this special Status match landing pageLog in to your Alaska Mileage Plan account and then log in to your HawaiianMiles account.
If you have status with the Alaska Mileage Plan or HawaiianMiles, you can match it with elite status on another carrier.
| If you have | You will be matched |
|---|---|
| Alaska Mileage Plan MVP status | HawaiianMiles Pualani Gold Status |
| Alaska Mileage Plan MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K or MVP Gold 100K status | HawaiianMiles Pualani Platinum status |
| HawaiianMiles Pualani Gold status | Alaska Mileage Plan MVP status |
| HawaiianMiles Pualani Platinum status | Alaska Mileage Plan MVP Gold Status |
Even if you don’t have status with either airline, there’s also an opportunity to combine your earnings in both programs into one level of status. For example, if you earned 20,000 miles with Alaska and 20,000 miles with Hawaiian, you’d have 40,000 miles in the combined account. That’s enough to earn you Alaska Airlines MVP Gold status.
Remember that members will retain their existing miles and can now also transfer their miles between accounts at a 1:1 ratio.
Alaska says members will soon have the ability to earn HawaiianMiles miles on Alaska flights and Mileage Plan miles on Hawaiian Airlines flights. Finally there will be additional redemption options and the ability to enjoy select elite benefits on both airlines.
This will be helpful as airlines will start operating flights for each other. For example, I noticed that my next Alaska Airlines flight to Hawaii in April was hit with a schedule change. When I called Alaska to find out what was on the flight, the agent told me that the Bay Area flights currently flown by Alaska will soon be operated by Hawaiian Airlines.
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I do not currently have elite status with any airlines. But if I did, I would have been happy to have Hawaiian Airlines status so I could choose better seats on the flights that will now be operated by Hawaiian.
Because of my American Airlines status, I was able to choose extra-legroom seats on flights to Alaska. Alaska’s partnership with American Airlines means that when I fly on Alaska flights, the carrier recognizes my top American Airlines AAdvantage status. It won’t work with Hawaiian.
RELATED: Last Minute Strategies to Earn Alaska Mileage Plan Elite Status
You can still match status on Alaska with other airlines
One more thing to note: Alaska still offers a status challenge if you have elite status with another airline. You will receive instant status for 90 days by matching your current airline elite status; There’s a chance to extend that status through the end of 2025 if you fly at least 5,000 miles on Alaska-operated flights (20,000 miles for MVP Gold 75K). Since I have top-tier Delta Air Lines Diamond Medallion status, I might consider it.
More reasons Alaska Mileage Plans look interesting now
In fact, I am planning to go for Alaska status next year. The Alaska Mileage Plan and the merger have led to several exciting developments.
Alaska is now the only major US airline that allows you to earn higher status on flights based on actual flight miles. This makes it easy to get top-tier mileage plan status if you’re not buying a lot of expensive plane tickets. Alaska also made it Many positive changes on the status-earning front. Alaska Mileage Plan members will now earn miles on award redemptions and have new ways to spend toward status.
By January 1, 2025, cardholders with current Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card Earn 1 elite qualifying mile for every $3 spent on qualified purchases up to a total of 30,000 EQMs per year. That can get you a good chunk of the way to top-tier 100K status, which requires 100,000 EQMs.
Related: Why I Applied for 2 Hawaiian Airlines Cards on the Same Day
Note, too, that Alaska is offering waitlist access for a new premium card that it says will help holders speed their path to status.
Another thing to keep in mind right now: Hawaiian Airlines is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards. I am thinking of transferring some points to Hawaiian that will turn into Alaska miles.
In the meantime, if you have a position in either program, it probably makes sense for you to match the position.
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