Alaska Air announced its acquisition of Hawaiian Air almost exactly one year ago. Since the deal closed in September, the airlines have kept up an admirably brisk integration schedule – it’s now possible to freely transfer miles between both programs, book Hawaiian awards with Alaska miles and earn elite-qualifying miles in both programs.

Alaska has told us that it expects both airlines’ elite programs to merge sometime in Summer of 2025. However, it’s now possible to match elite statuses between both programs online, allowing both Alaska Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles elite members to receive benefits regardless of which airline they’re flying.

How to match your Alaska / Hawaiian elite status

1. Visit this link. You’ll have to log-in using your Alaska Mileage Plan number

2. Using the form provided, sign-in with your HawaiianMiles info. If you don’t already have a HawaiianMiles account, create one using the link provided.

3. You should instantly reach a “match successful” screen that shows your new Hawaiian (or Alaska) status.

Which status will I receive?

You will receive matched status based on either your 2023 activity/current status OR your combined EQMs from both programs in 2024, whichever is higher.

If you’re matched by 2023 activity, or current status, it will be according to the chart below:

If you’re matched according to combined EQMs between both programs in 2024, it will be according to this chart:

Terms and Conditions

• Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles members who link their accounts will be eligible for a status match.
• We will either match your existing elite status in either program or award status in both programs based on your combined elite-qualifying miles (EQMs), whichever is higher.
• Please allow up to 72 hours for status to be reflected in your account after linking.
• Guests currently participating in a status match or fast track challenge are not eligible until they’ve completed the requirements for their challenge.

Members will receive status in both programs as follows:

• For status matched based on 2023 activity, status matched into Mileage Plan will be valid through December 31, 2024 and status matched into HawaiianMiles will be valid through February 28, 2025.
• For status matched based on 2024 activity, status matched into Mileage Plan will be valid through December 31, 2025 and status matched into HawaiianMiles will be valid through February 28, 2026. If Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles programs are combined into a single program prior to the end of 2025, equivalent status will be granted in the successor program through December 31, 2025.
• For status matched based on 2025 activity, status matched into Mileage Plan will be valid through December 31, 2026 and status matched into HawaiianMiles will be valid through February 28, 2027. If Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles programs are combined into a single program prior to the end of 2026, equivalent status will be granted in the successor program through December 31, 2026.

Quick Thoughts

Once again, I’m extremely impressed with how efficiently Alaska is managing this merger with Hawaiian. We’re barely three months past the close date and we already have reciprocal transfers, mileage earning and redeeming and now status matching. Both programs should be fully-integrated less than 12 months after the merger close.

You can see a full breakdown of Hawaiian elite benefits here and Alaska elite benefits here. As you might expect, Alaska’s benefits are more robust, but Hawaiian status can be good for discounted awards, club access, free checked bags, complimentary upgrades and more. It’s definitely worth doing if you’ll be flying Hawaiian within the next few months.

Note that Hawaiian status reset at the end of February, NOT on January 1 like Alaska. So, even if you have matched status to Alaska that terminates at the end of 2024, you can still squeeze an extra two months of Hawaiian status by matching now.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) -Many of the people arriving to and departing from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Sunday agreed that Anchorage’s main airport isn’t as tough to navigate as most right now.

On Dec. 22, three days out from both Hanukkah and Christmas, travelers at the airport were lined up, checking in, waiting for baggage, or going through security; all of those, demanding a wait. However, several travelers told Alaska’s News Source about their experiences and what they were expecting during their flights.

Matt Howard departed from Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina around 5 a.m. “It was the busiest I’ve ever seen it,” Howard said. He estimated he touched down in Anchorage around 6 p.m., adding Ted Stevens was much “less frantic” than the other airports he was at, but thought the evening time frame might have been a contributing factor.

Flying in from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, Kimberly Lamar said she visits her mother in Alaska at least once a year.

“It was pretty overwhelming, trying to get through from Atlanta,” she said. “Then I got to Seattle; it was hard to get through to the gates of Seattle. And finally, this is the easiest airport I’ve actually been in all day.”

Born and raised in Alaska, Gideon Mahoney was traveling to Colorado where he recently relocated. “I’m actually really surprised, right now it’s easy and we were a little late, so…” Mahoney said, glancing at the line for security.

Growing up in Alaska, Mahoney said flying into Denver International Airport can be overwhelming at times.

“We’re working on figuring out how to deal with that,” he said. “We’re getting it.”

As for travelers who haven’t left just yet, Lamar’s advice was aligned with a prepared statement from Alaska Airlines: both said arriving early is the key for holiday travels.

“If you’re flying, make sure you leave early because those lines are crucial,” Lamar said.

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On a recent December afternoon, Soldotna farmer Taylor Lewis preps for a day of harvesting crops. She walks to a tray filled with ripe lettuce and snips a head of it by the stem.

It’s just one of about 900 plants that Taylor and her mother-in-law Jayme Lewis will harvest and process this week – despite freezing temperatures and slushy snow outside. That’s because the duo works for Edgy Veggie, an indoor farm that grows produce year round.

“In the summer, a lot of our business drops off because folks are gardening at home. But in the winter, they’re not, because it costs money to heat your greenhouse,” Jayme said. “It costs a lot of money to heat your greenhouse.”

The company is a hydroponic farm, meaning they grow plants without soil. Hydroponic systems recycle and reuse nutrient-filled water, which minimizes waste. Specially made lighting and climate controlled conditions make it possible for Edgy Veggie to grow indoors during the winter months.

Around Thanksgiving, the company harvested 150 pounds of lettuce, enough to make about 800 salads. That took two days and was one of their biggest hauls of the year. Although not a typical harvest for the company, Jayme says she does see an uptick in business during the winter when Alaska’s produce is almost exclusively shipped up from the Lower 48.

“If you go to the grocery store and pick up a head of lettuce right now, by the time you get it home it will be wilted,” Jayme said. “That’s sad. Literally, that’s sad.”

Jayme says some local restaurants have sourced their vegetables from Edgy Veggie because they last longer and are fresher than grocery store produce.

Nestled between two train cars-turned-restaurants on the other side of town, Henry Krull walks inside his shipping container farm. He points to a wall that’s growing hundreds of bunches of butter lettuce.

Krull is the owner of fresh365, another Kenai Peninsula based hydroponic farm. Just like Edgy Veggie, the farm operates entirely indoors.

“The advantage of growing indoors, in a container like we have, is that we can control the environment,” Krull said. “We can grow no matter what’s going on outside. It can be 30 below outside, but it’s always 70 degrees or so inside.”

fresh365 also sees an uptick in direct-to-consumer sales in the winter. Otherwise, most of their sales go to other businesses, like local restaurants.

And while indoor farming means fresh, local produce year-round for Alaskans, it faces a number of challenges. Krull says growing in a hydroponic setting is much more expensive than traditional farming methods. So, to offset his farm’s energy costs, he installed solar panels, which were partially funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP.

But, Krull says the property doesn’t get much sunlight in the winter.

“The sun is a very valuable commodity, it’s valuable for not only producing electricity, but it helps to lower the energy costs,” he said. “And the energy costs of the farm containers we have is actually very, very high, because we can’t take advantage of the sun.”

Edgy Veggie, on the other hand, doesn’t even have solar panels. Jayme says their energy costs are high year round.

“Electricity, especially, is outrageous,” she said. “I wish that the state had some sort of option with the electric companies to help support farming. We’re providing a service to the community, honestly. We’re trying to, but it might run us out of business.”

Other challenges to hydroponics include faulty pumps and timers, ventilation issues and water leaks. Like traditional farming, hydroponic farmers say it’s backbreaking work.

But, for farmers like Taylor Lewis, offering fresh and local produce year round is a labor of love.

“Being able to supply our community with anything fresh is great,” Taylor said. “What we have as options in the grocery store – it’s not cutting it.”

“These belong in every community,” Krull said. “We’ve been able to prove that as a business model, it works. You can make a profit doing it, you can provide a good service to your community, and I think we can really do good for our community by providing something that is not readily available on a year-round basis.”

According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, only 5% of food Alaskans consume is grown locally. The state also has very short growing seasons.