File this one under: “Didn’t see it coming”. Today Alaska Airlines announced Condor, a Frankfurt based airline, as their newest partner. Condor is owned by Thomas Cook Group, a British travel company.
The earning structure when crediting Condor flights to Alaska Mileage Plan is surprisingly generous. Condor doesn’t have their own frequent flier program. Prior to this partnership, you could earn up to 2,500 miles for a Condor flight when credited to Lufthansa’s Miles and More program.
With the new Alaska partnership, when flying on Condor passengers can now earn significantly more miles.
A round trip from Seattle to Frankfurt on Condor in Business Class will net you over 20,000 Elite Qualifying Miles, nearly enough for MVP status in one trip.
Even the cheapest Economy flights will earn you 50% of distance flown; more generous than flying American Airlines.
Note: The earning chart above doesn’t yet show the exact classes of ticket for each cabin. It is possible that Condor may have some tickets more discounted than “Economy Promotion” that would not earn any miles. Condor’s website currently doesn’t make it clear if you are booking Base or Promotion or something else altogether.
Condor does charge for seat selection but baggage and meals are included.
Perhaps the best news for some Alaska (the state) based Mileage Plan members is that Condor flies direct from Anchorage and Fairbanks to Europe.
Airports served by Condor are marked with a yellow pin:
Along the West Coast, Condor serves Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego and Las Vegas — many of which are cities that Alaska is working on making into hubs. The Condor partnership makes sense for Alaska Airlines. It also makes sense for Condor in order to get their passengers to smaller airports across the West Coast that they do not currently serve.
Currently you can’t redeem Alaska miles for Condor flights, but the website states that redemptions are coming soon.
I’m looking forward to having another option to fly to Europe. Currently Air France and KLM are nearly impossible to book with Alaska miles (and with partial Delta ownership I believe that partnership won’t be around much longer). British charges insane fees on their award booking. Icelandair is a decent option but you have to stop in Reykjavik and the airport is a crowded mess.
Do you see yourself trying out Condor now that they are an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partner?