The recent merger of Alaska and Virgin America has created America’s fifth largest airline. We know that Alaska is going to drop the Virgin America brand, but that was originally supposed to happen in 2019. It’s apparently been moved up. Virgin America’s Elevate program is now scheduled to end on January 1, 2018. Its airline partnerships will begin dissolving even earlier.
Alaska bought Virgin America last December, and though have released a few details on how the merger would impact elite benefits, mileage earning, and other short-term concerns, they have kept travelers waiting for a bigger picture view of what these airlines will look like when the merger is complete.
Now, we finally have the answers. In general, there are more positives than negatives, especially for Alaska elites, though some features will be disappearing that Virgin America loyalists will probably miss.
The merger between Alaska Airlines and Virgin America continues to create new opportunities. The most recent announcement is that companion fares are now eligible to be redeemed on Virgin America flights. In this post, we will explain the process for booking companion tickets, give some useful tips, and talk about new possibilities that the Virgin America merger makes possible.
Alaska Airlines recently received permission from the Department of Justice to purchase Virgin America, meaning the takeover is officially happening. Now that Alaska is sure the deal will go through, they have announced more details on how the two airlines will operate going forward, what changes will be made to elite benefits, and how the mileage accrual and award tickets will work.
If you’re a member of Virgin America’s Elevate loyalty program you can get up to 2,500 points when you refer your friends, and if you’ve been thinking of joining, its a good time to get started because you’ll get 500 Elevate Points as a sign-up bonus.
Discount ticketing website ScoreBig.com has teamed up with United, Southwest, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines to offer frequent flyer miles to people who buy event tickets through its service. ScoreBig’s deals with the airlines are similar, giving ticket-buyers a bonus with their first purchase and miles or points for future ticket sales as well.
Virgin America previously had a partnership with Barclays for its reward credit cards, but in 2014 it changed to a lesser-known bank partner, Comenity. They now issue a card that is even more rewarding than before.
