December has been a busy month for Alaska Airlines without a doubt:
- It announced new award redemptions for Japan Airlines to Asia and Emirates to Australia and New Zealand;
- It completed its merger with Virgin America just last week
- It announced the transfer ratio of Virgin Elevate points to Alaska’s MileagePlus
- It reduced award redemption requirement based on distance travelled – with stopovers included on award tickets as low as 5000 miles!
- It is finally terminating partnership with Delta.
Announcing the return of our San Francisco – Orlando route! Book today to fly beginning June 14, 2017. https://t.co/jcjgXN6QZ1 pic.twitter.com/RW53MJ0p80
— Virgin America (@VirginAmerica) December 21, 2016
3 new flights on Alaska out of SFO
Today Alaska announced new route expansions from its newly acquired SFO hub. Tickets will go on sale today.
- Starting June 15, 2017 three daily nonstop flights between SFO and Orange County with 4th flight adding on July 18. Alaska currently operates three daily nonstop flights between San Jose (SJC) airport and Orange County (SNA). The new flights from SFO will definitely increase its presence between the Bay Area and Southern California. Maybe the trip to Disneyland will become cheaper in the near future? (SEE ALSO: My top 5 budget tips for Disney travelers)
- Starting July 18th twice daily nonstop flights between SFO to Minneapolis (MSP), a major Delta hub (Yep Alaska is going after you Delta!).
- Starting June 14th one daily nonstop between SFO to Orlando (MCO), a route that Virgin used to operate. I am most excited about this because I have a trip planned for Orlando next December and now I don’t have to fly United, the only other nonstop option currently available between SFO and Orlando.
Will you be able to benefit from these new routes out of SFO?
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So the short answer is SFO-SNA is attractive — it’s a viable option to SWA, even though I live in the East Bay. The problem with MSP is that you end up in MSP¹, but I certainly wish Alaska luck with that (DL deserves some of their own medicine).
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¹ As Tennesse Williams said, “There are only three cities in America — New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everything else is Cleveland.”
At least Bart takes you directly into SFO from East Bay (if you live near Bart). Alaska’s flights between SJC and SNA still cost way more than SW. JetBlue is starting SJC to Long Beach in early January so that provides another alternative. Ultimately competition is a good thing.