Alaska Airlines is raising lounge membership fees for 2024, tightening restrictions along the way.
Beginning February 1, 2024, the Seattle-based airline will increase the cost of both a standard Alaska Airlines Lounge membership and an Alaska Airlines Lounge+ membership – for both elite and non-elite Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members.
Alaska will also feature one of the most unusual benefits of its lounges: the ability to gain access regardless of which airline you fly.
The changes were first noted by One Mile at a Time, but confirmed by TPG with the airline.
Here’s what you need to know.
Cost of an Alaska Airlines lounge membership
Alaska Airlines sells two types of lounge memberships. Standard membership gives you access to the airline’s network of nine lounges, while Lounge+ membership gives you access to Alaska’s lounges as well as those of the 25 Oneworld Alliance and other partner airlines.
However, the carrier does offer a $100 discount for members with Mileage Plan elite status.
Beginning February 1, 2024, standard membership prices will increase by $50. Lounge+ memberships increase by $100.
Here’s how it breaks down.
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Alaska Lounge Membership:
- The membership price will increase from $500 per year to $550
- The membership price for elite members will increase from $400 to $450
Alaska Lounge+ membership:
- The membership price will increase from $650 to $750
- The membership price for elite members will increase from $550 to $650
It’s worth noting that complimentary Alaska Lounge+ membership remains a 100K Choice Benefit option for Mileage Plan elite members with MVP Gold 100K status.
Also, cardholders with the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card will receive a $100 discount on an annual Alaska Lounge+ membership after paying with their card. (Please note that the credit card discount cannot be combined with the elite status discount).
However, these changes for 2024 follow steps the airline took over the past year to increase the annual cost of the cards and add new restrictions, such as the ability to purchase discounted lounge day passes.
New lounge access restrictions
Beginning February 1, 2024, Alaska will also tighten rules for lounge access.
Going forward, members can only enter a lounge with a boarding pass from Alaska, a Oneworld partner or one of the airline’s other non-Oneworld partners.
Granted, this is a rule that travelers face on most (if not all) US airlines. After all, you cannot enter the American Airlines Admirals Club with a Delta Air Lines ticket.
Alaska, however, was the exception.
Current rules specify that entry is available free of charge to members and immediate family or up to two friends. All they need is “a boarding pass with a same-day ticket from any carrier.”
With the new restrictions, the airline will largely bring its entry requirements in line with those of many other airlines. However, it still won’t have the kind of sweeping guest restrictions and other policies put in place at lounges like the Amex Centurion Lounge or Delta Sky Clubs.
The same rules apply for day pass holders: you must fly on Alaska, a Oneworld airline such as American Airlines or another Alaska partner such as Condor.
In short
Alaska Airlines’ lounge changes are twofold: more expensive annual membership prices and the end of a fairly lenient policy that allows members to gain access regardless of which airline they fly.
In a statement to TPG, the airline cited “more generous benefits” with its lounge memberships compared to other U.S. airlines.
“Occasionally we need to adjust our prices to ensure quality remains at the level our members value,” an Alaska spokesperson added.
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