Alaska Airways and Contour Airways have quietly launched a partnership, providing mileage incomes alternatives. Extra airline partnerships are all the time an excellent factor, although I can’t assist however suppose that this appears form of random.
Earn Alaska miles for Contour Airways flights
It’s now attainable to earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles for flights on Contour Airways. The catch is you can solely earn Mileage Plan miles for Contour Airways flights if you happen to e book instantly by Alaska (that means your ticket quantity begins with “027”). As you’ll be able to see beneath, you earn 100% redeemable and elite qualifying miles for tickets booked within the M, B, Q, N, and Y, fare lessons.
Alaska Airways states that choose Contour Airways flights are bookable by Alaska’s web site and app, and I’m discovering that to be the case. To be clear, you’ll be able to e book nonstop flights wholly on Contour Airways by Alaska’s web site, so that you don’t want a ticket that features journey on a number of airways.
Now, Contour Airways routes aren’t precisely complementary to Alaska’s community, because the airline doesn’t even fly to the West Coast.
Be aware that it’s solely attainable to earn miles for Contour Airways flights, so you’ll be able to’t redeem Mileage Plan miles for Contour Airways.
So I’m undecided I completely perceive the premise of this relationship. Is it simply meant to present Mileage Plan members a possibility to be rewarded on much more airways? Don’t get me fallacious, I’m all the time joyful to see extra choices to earn Mileage Plan miles, and that is in all probability how I’d attempt to e book a Contour Airways ticket. It simply appears… random.
What’s Contour Airways, anyway?
For these not conversant in Contour Airways, it is a scheduled public constitution operator (for regulatory functions, so as to be a Half 135 operator), very similar to JSX. That signifies that Contour Airways sells tickets, after which flights are literally operated by Contour Aviation, technically a separate entity.
Contour Airways sells tickets on a fleet of almost two dozen regional jets, primarily Embraer ERJ 135s, 140s, and 145s. Every is supplied with simply 30 seats, so it’s by no means a dense structure. That structure is intentional, since that’s the seat cap for a public constitution operator.
By being labeled as a Half 135 operator, the airline isn’t subjected to the identical TSA safety necessities, doesn’t want to rent pilots with no less than 1,500 hours, and so on.
Contour Airways largely sells tickets in Important Air Service (EAS) markets, which is why lots of the service’s routes might go away the common particular person scratching their heads. If you wish to fly to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Owensboro, Kentucky, or or Kirksville, Missouri, Contour Airways is your service.
So the airline largely has enticing fares and comfy planes, and the economics of that work as a result of the federal government is pitching in for many of the service’s companies.
Backside line
Alaska Airways and Contour Airways have launched a partnership. With this, Mileage Plan members can earn miles for Contour Airways flights, so long as they e book their ticket with Alaska. That is in all probability now the easiest way to be rewarded for Contour Airways flights, so I’m joyful to see this partnership. Nonetheless, I don’t see the networks of the 2 airways as being notably complementary.
What do you make of the brand new Alaska Airways and Contour Airways partnership?
