Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines are offering reciprocal status matches
When it announced it acquired Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines promises that elite members of each program will be able to obtain matching status.
That status match is now active, because flagged first by Gary Leff at View from the Wing.
Airlines will eventually have a loyalty program, but in the meantime, elite status reciprocity is pretty great.
It’s quite simple. You just need to come to this special event status-appropriate landing pageSign in to your Alaska Mileage Plan account, then sign in to your HawaiianMiles account.
If you have status with Alaska Mileage Plan or HawaiiMiles, you can combine that with elite status on another carrier.
| If you have | You will be matched with |
|---|---|
| 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 an opportunity here to combine your earnings in both programs into one status level. For example, if you earned 20,000 miles with Alaska and 20,000 miles with Hawaiian, you would have 40,000 miles in the combined account. That’s enough to earn you the title of Alaska Airlines Gold MVP.
Remember that members will retain their existing miles and can now also transfer their miles between accounts at a 1:1 ratio.
Alaska said members will soon have the ability to earn HawaiianMiles on Alaska flights and Mileage Plan miles on Hawaiian Airlines flights. There will also finally be additional redemption options and the ability to enjoy select elite benefits on both airlines.
This will be useful when airlines start operating flights for each other. For example, I noticed that my upcoming Alaska Airlines flight to Hawaii in April was rescheduled. When I called Alaska to find out what happened to the flight, the representative told me that Bay Area flights currently operated by Alaska would soon be operated by Hawaiian Airlines.
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I do not currently have elite status with either airline. But if I do, I would be happy to receive Hawaiian Airlines status so I can choose better seats on flights currently operated by Hawaiian.
Thanks to my American Airlines status, I can choose a seat with extra legroom on Alaska flights. Alaska’s partnership with American Airlines means that when I fly on Alaska flights, the airline recognizes me My top American Airlines AAdvantage status. That won’t work with Hawaiian.
Related: Last-minute strategies for achieving Alaska Mileage Plan elite status
You may also still be able to match status from other airlines to Alaska
Another thing to note: Alaska still presents a status challenge if you have elite status with another airline. You’ll earn instant status in 90 days by matching your current airline’s 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 the highest level Delta Air Lines Diamond Medallion status, I might consider it.
Many other reasons why the Alaska Mileage Plan seems interesting now
In fact, I’m considering applying to do Alaska next year. There are many exciting developments from the Alaska Mileage Plan and from the merger.
Alaska is currently the only major US airline that allows you to earn elite status from flights based on actual miles flown. This makes it easier to achieve Premier Mileage Plan status if you don’t buy a lot of expensive airline tickets. Alaska has also done it many positive changes on the status-earning front. Alaska Mileage Plan members will now earn miles when redeeming rewards and will also have new ways to spend for status.
As of January 1, 2025, cardholders have an existing limit Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card will earn 1 elite qualifying mile for every $3 spent, up to a total of 30,000 EQMs per year on qualifying purchases. That could get you a good part of the way towards top 100K status, which requires 100,000 EQM.
Related: Why did I apply for 2 Hawaiian Airlines cards on the same day?
Also note that Alaska is providing waitlist access for one New premium card which it says will help holders accelerate their path to status.
Another thing to remember now: Hawaiian Airlines is still the same American Express Member Rewards transfer partner. I’m considering transferring some points to Hawaii for Alaska miles.
In the meantime, if you have state in either program, you should probably match the state.
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