Alaska Airlines decided to join Oneworld Alliance in 2020 (read more here) and later clarified the date to be March 31, 2021 (read more here).
Usually, both earning and redeeming miles on alliance airlines are available from the joining date, but this is not the case with Alaska.
You can access Alaska’s page for Oneworld here.
Here’s Alaska’s updated timeline:
Oneworld awards will be available in Summer 2021. Alaska Airlines have not given an exact date.
You can already redeem with British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, and Qantas. Awards on Qatar Airways should be available from March 31, 2021.
Here are recent posts about Alaska’s joining of Oneworld:
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan To Change Booking Classes & Mileage Earning From March 31, 2021
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Announces New 100K Elite Tier Level For 2022
Alaska Airlines Elite Qualification Change & Minimum Flight Requirements For Status In 2021
American Airlines & Alaska Launch Reciprocal Upgrade Benefits
Oneworld Finally Acknowledges Alaska’s Plan To Join The Alliance
Alaska Airlines Likely To Speed Up It’s Oneworld Membership, Joining Sometime In Late 2020
Conclusion
With most of the partners that Alaska Airlines has added, their awards have not necessarily been available since the partnership has begun, but sometimes many months later.
However, it is surprising that Oneworld awards won’t be available from March 31, 2021, because previous airlines that have joined the alliance have had both the earning and burning of miles available on partner airlines from the joining date (sometimes delays of few days).
Let’s hope that there are no further delays, and we get to know the exact date soon.