Alaska’s Vice of Loyalty, Alliances and Sales did a Reddit Ask Me Anything. He took a dig at Delta for undercutting their LATAM partnership and reports that top tier elites with the airline are upgraded more than 60% of the time.

• As an American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum, right below their own top elites on the upgrade list, my only Alaska flights have been upgraded (with a companion).
  
• Alaska seems to largely have enough seats up front relative to their top elite pool, and do a better job with upgrades than competitors, despite moving in the direction of the rest of the industry monetizing first class seats to infrequent flyers for minor ducats.
  
• But it’s nothing like it once was, of course!

Brett Catlin was surprisingly candid, but he often is, and the format pretty much requires it or things go very badly. I assume he knew what he was getting into! And he revealed several things:

• Expect multi‑factor authentication for account login soon, to fight account takeover/redemption fraud.

• While you’re seeing more expensive awards than you used to (especially for Hawaiian flights) that isn’t because they’re pricing the same seats higher – there’s been no material change to core pricing logic – you’re now seeing “all seats bookable with points,” and that means higher prices where cash demand is high (versus no redemption option at all).

  

• While they won’t return to pricing levels from a decade ago, they’re trying to avoid “monopoly-points” style inflation and keep redemption meaningful.

• Phantom partner award space is an issue, not just for Alaska, and stems from legacy technology and different booking platforms across airlines. Alaska’s immediate focus is catching failures earlier in the flow (before payment).

• They’re still a couple of years out from selling revenue premium economy tickets on partner airlines through their website.

• He described losses of big name partners – LATAM and Singapore Airlines – as “not fun” and tied to larger‑carrier pressure. That’s a pretty clear shot at Delta, which owns a significant stake in LATAM.

• They avoided the coupon book approach with their premium credit card. They wanted to do “4x dining & foreign” transactions but the math didn’t pencil. They also considered more lounge passes but that would have forced a higher annual fee.

  

• Currently Alaska doesn’t offer infant tickets on partner award redemptions. That means you can’t use your points and travel with a lap infant (unless you can get the partner to ticket it). You’d have to book an additional seat for a child under 2, which is far less available and lots of children that age can’t really sit in their own seat (and many seats don’t work well with a car seat or other restraint). The issue is “niche but impactful” and will be addressed. No timeframe was given.

• Catlin misses the old pre-pandemic 12 ounce cans of soda and wants those back.

• They’re actually actively discussing pet travel recognition (“frequent ‘fur’st class travelers”).

  

Here’s a good rorschach test for a loyalty executive – ask them what their favorite loyalty programs are besides their own. Do they understand value and can they think like a customer? Here’s what Catlin had to say.

I’ll answer this a couple of ways. First, I have a ton of respect for programs like Aeroplan, AAdvantage, Flying Blue, and Qantas Frequent Flyer. They all offer compelling member value, have innovated over time, and built real trust with their members.

In terms of my favorite loyalty program (Atmos excluded), it’s without a doubt World of Hyatt. I love how they’ve managed to put rewards at the center of the brand and use it as a way to punch above their weight in an industry dominated by consolidated giants (sound familiar?). They’ve invested in the details: tech that works, a great mobile-first experience, benefits that can be shared (amazing!), and a really solid earn/burn proposition.

My favorite recent Hyatt redemption was at the Park Hyatt Sydney with my spouse and six-year-old – terrific value, an awesome breakfast, and a swoon-worthy location. I’m also looking forward to the Park Hyatt Niseko this winter with the family (and getting there on an Air Group 787 via SEA/NRT). Thanks to the Reddit community for helping me figure out when redemptions opened at the PH Niseko to score four nights with the suite upgrade!

Good answer, though I’d push back a bit on Qantas. It’s good for the region, and they’re good at merchandising, and much of what’s bad isn’t exactly the fault of the loyalty program – strict credit card interchange regulation forced massive devaluation given a desire to maintain earning of a point per dollar on spending (each point had to be worth less). The other major problem is award availability but that’s a revenue management issue, that stems from lack of aircraft relative to demand coming out of the pandemic (although long haul premium cabin space was never good, but they now do make more space available to their own members than to partner carriers).

Hyatt is undoubtedly the best program for elite guests given a more robust breakfast benefit, consistent delivery of late checkout, and confirmed suites at time of booking. If their footprint works for you, it’s hard to argue a customer looking for a program to stick with should go elsewhere, despite some consistency challenges and significant points devaluation over the past five years.

It’s not just spin that Delta SkyMiles doesn’t get mentioned here, and not coincidence that Alaska’s loyalty program has remained a key differentiator with Delta that’s driven the airline’s strong performance in the face of that carrier’s onslaught in the home Seattle market. Competition turns out to be actually good for consumers.