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Update: Alaska Airlines' partnership with El Al Israel has officially ended.
In the case of the airline world, the end of one partnership generally means the beginning of another. And in the case of El Al, that means the end of a relationship with Alaska Airlines and a brand new one with Delta.
Here's all you need to know about El Al's partnership shakeup.
El Al’s Partnership With Alaska Is Ending Soon
While El Al's relationship with Alaska Airlines is only four years old, the two carriers are going their separate ways. On June 30, 2024, the partnership will officially end. This date marks the last day you can credit paid El Al flights to Alaska Mileage Plan or redeem Alaska miles for El Al flights.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is a valuable frequent flyer program, so the ending of the partnership will undoubtedly present a loss of value for those who routinely take advantage of reciprocal earnings or redemption options. The ability to redeem Mileage Plan miles for El Al flights (at good value, no less) was a relatively new feature, making the end of the partnership even more unfortunate.
But until next Summer, it'll be business as usual for earning and redeeming. As a refresher, the earning chart for El Al flights (taking effect January 1, 2024) credited to Mileage Plan is below:
El Al’s Partnership With Delta Is Now Live
And to fill the void that'll soon be left by Alaska Airlines, Delta has stepped in and launched a long-term codeshare agreement with El Al. Despite much of the language in the press release being future-oriented, the partnership is now officially live, but many of the fruits of it are not.
Starting on January 15, 2024, frequent flyers of Delta's SkyMiles program and El Al's Matmid program can take advantage of reciprocal elite benefits to the tune of preferred seats, priority check-in, lounge access, and more.
Neither carrier has published an earning chart yet, so it remains to be seen how handsomely or unhandsomely El Al flights will earn credit for SkyMiles members — or vice versa. These charts will likely debut shortly.
We have seen a few El Al itineraries show up on Delta's website that are bookable with Delta SkyMiles, such as this one between Tokyo-Narita (NRT) and Tel Aviv (TLV).
A handful of other convoluted itineraries are bookable in both business and economy class, such as this one between Seoul (ICN) and Tel Aviv (TLV) with a stop in Paris (CDG).
The rollout is, in fact, happening, but very slowly. At this time, there's nothing to/from the United States, and shorter-haul itineraries to Tel Aviv aren't yet bookable. We'll update this post when we know more.
Final Thoughts
While substituting Delta SkyMiles for Alaska Mileage Plan isn't a 1-to-1 swap in terms of value, the ability to credit El Al flights to a program other than Matmid is helpful nonetheless.
Thankfully, there's some time to adjust to the changes. Until June 30, 2024, you can continue to take advantage of El Al's relationship with Alaska Airlines through earning and redeeming. But after that, the focus will completely shift to Delta SkyMiles.
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