Alaska Airlines has notified members of its Mileage Plan program that, effective June 1, 2013, Icelandair will no longer be a partner in Mileage Plan. That means that program members won’t earn miles for Icelandair flights after May 31. And they’ll no longer be able to book award flights on Icelandair using Alaska miles, although award bookings made before the deadline will be honored for travel through February 28, 2014.
Alaska is Icelandair’s only U.S. airline partner, so unless it establishes a new relationship with another U.S. carrier, American travelers will have no viable mileage earning or redemption options when flying Icelandair after the breakup.
Partner changes like this are a fact of travel life. The best consumers can hope for is adequate advance notification of upcoming changes so they can plan accordingly. With 3.5 months’ advance notice, Alaska has done its part.
Mileage Plan members who are interested in redeeming their miles for award travel on Icelandair have plenty of time to plan and book their trips.
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