Patti writes: I will be flying to Hawaii in November, and am looking at flying Alaska Airlines. Can I get Delta Frequent Flyer miles for flying Alaska Airlines, if I book through Alaska Air?
My wife and I were actually looking to fly to Hawaii in October, but decided to visit family in Florida instead! We are both flying First Class on Delta and used our SkyMiles to get the tickets for free. They were kind of expensive but traveling just over 11 hours in economy class would have been torture.
This is a question that seems to come up a lot! The answer is the same with any type of rewards program (Hotels, Car Rentals, etc.) and it does not matter if the airlines are partner, as in this case both Delta and Alaska are partners.
If you book your flight on Alaska Airlines you cannot earn Delta SkyMiles. The only way you can earn Delta SkyMiles is by either purchasing your ticket directly from Delta.com (which they might put you on an Alaska flight) or if you book your flight from a site like Expedia, on a Delta flight.
If you do book your flight on Alaska Airlines, then be sure you get your own Alaska Airlines account so you can capture those miles. Since Delta and Alaska are partners you can book a flight on Delta using your Alaska Airline miles and vice versa. Ive always stayed with Delta so have never actually booked a flight on Delta using Alaska Airline miles. I have on the other hand booked a flight on Alaska Air using my Delta SkyMiles when I was flying to Alaska to visit my ‘then’ fiancé.
A few times I had to call Delta in order to book a flight on an Alaska flight. This was because all of my miles were with Delta but I needed to fly on an Alaska plane, since Delta does not have direct flights from Seattle – Anchorage.
Whatever airline you book with, be sure you have your frequent flyer account setup so you will get credit for the miles you fly. It amazes me at how many people will fly without ever getting their own frequent flyer account, how many miles have they wasted? How many free tickets or free flights could they have had by now? Always look to earn rewards points or miles in everything you do!