Alaska Airlines and Qantas just announced some great news for Mileage Plan and Qantas Frequent Flyer elite members. Starting June 20, 2017, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan MVP Gold, MVP 75K and Alaska Lounge members will receive complimentary access to all 13 Qantas-operated, international business class lounges worldwide and to all 24 domestic Qantas Clubs within Australia when traveling on any Qantas-operated flight.
Alaska Lounge members already have access to select Qantas Clubs world-wide but this new partnership will grant access to all Qantas Lounges (except first class lounges) world-wide when traveling on any Qantas-operated flight. Alaska Lounge members not traveling on Qantas-operated flights will still get lounge access per their program policy. Additionally, Qantas Frequent Flyer members with Gold status or higher and Qantas Club members will receive access to all Alaska Airlines Lounges in Los Angeles, Seattle, Anchorage and Portland when traveling on any Alaska Airlines flight, connecting to, or from, a Qantas-operated international flight.
This is great news for Alaska Airlines elite fliers as Qantas operates some of the best lounges in the world including the fantastic Qantas oneworld Business Class Lounge at LAX.
And the new Qantas Business Class Lounge at Perth.
This new lounge access joins the ever growing list of benefits for Alaska Airlines MVP Gold and MVP 75K members including:
- Access to the London Heathrow Galleries Lounge (terminals 3 and 5) when traveling on British Airways.
- Access to the VIP Lounge in Haikou, Beijing and Xi’an and the First Class/Business Class Lounge in Guangzhou and Urumqi when traveling on Hainan Airlines.
- Access to the Saga Lounge at Keflavik International Airport when traveling on Icelandair.
I’m not an Alaska Airlines elite member but I’m sure this will make a few people happy. It may not affect many people at the moment (as most Qantas fliers are probably American Airlines fliers) but as Alaska Airlines grows its airline partnerships and reciprocal elite benefits with other international airlines, the Mileage Plan program will continue to distance itself from the other legacy frequent flier programs. Good job Alaska Airlines!
Hat tip to Alan over at the Single Flyer for this info.
The press release by Qantas detailing the new partnership can be found here. Alaska Airlines has not updated their website with this new info yet.
