Two specialists in cold homelands, Alaska Airways and Icelandair, have signed a deal for code-shares and for reciprocal mileage earning in their loyalty programs. The upshot should be increased availability for Americans visiting Iceland, and more chances to use loyalty miles to get there.
The agreement potentially greatly increases the reach of Iceland’s U.S. gateway cities, and, since Alaska partners with both Delta and American loyalty plans, gives more opportunities to get award seats through Alaska to those gateways.Starting October 1, Alaska flyers can earn Alaska miles on Icelandair flights, and Icelandair loyalists can earn miles on Alaska.
The two airlines will say later about award flights on Icelandair itself, but it’s bound to be an improvement. At present, the two choices are Delta (if you can find out how many miles it will cost) and United (but only by flying first to Europe and then back). Both of those services are seasonal, while Icelandair is year-round from the U.S.
