What’s in store for air travelers in 2025? Flights, fares, seats and loyalty plans continue to change

What’s ahead for travelers in the new year?

There are lots of changes in terms of who flies where, for how much. The deck also is being shuffled for loyalty plan members, who will see their elite qualifying miles drop back to zero on Jan. 1, 2025.

One big change on the horizon is Alaska Airlines’ acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines. The first real change Alaskans will see is Hawaiian’s wide-body jets flying between Anchorage and Seattle starting in June.

Many readers were holding out hope that Hawaiian would use its planes to fly from Anchorage nonstop to Tokyo and Seoul in 2025. But Seattle got the nod for those routes.

So there are no nonstop flights planned to Asia, at least for now.

The last outfit to float that idea was New Pacific Airlines (formerly known as Northern Pacific Airways). The airline has a couple of 757s and had grand plans for making Anchorage a hub for transpacific travel.

Today those 757s have been retrofitted to accommodate 78 passengers in an all-business-class configuration for charters.

But New Pacific still runs Ravn Alaska and its fleet of de Havilland Dash-8 aircraft, which seat between 25 and 37 passengers.

As recently as 2019, Ravn Alaska flew to more than 100 communities throughout the state. Today, they operate just five routes from Anchorage to St. Paul Island, Homer, Valdez, Unalakleet and St. Mary’s.

It’s hard to predict Ravn Alaska’s plans for 2025. But recently, the carrier was awarded a $5.6 million annual Essential Air Service contract to fly between Anchorage and Valdez. The carrier already flies there — but now they’re receiving a subsidy to do so.

As part of the deal, Ravn Alaska is offering cheap tickets to Valdez: $49-$69 one-way.

[Major carriers are already beefing up for the summer tourism season in Alaska]

Loyalty plans continue to play an outsized role in travel planning. All airlines, including Alaska Airlines, are doubling down to encourage travelers join their plan — and get a credit card.

Right now, the richest offer from Alaska Airlines is a 75,000-mile bonus when you apply for and receive a new Visa card from Bank of America. There’s a $95 annual fee and a $3,000 minimum spend within 90 days.

Alaska plans to offer a premium credit card later in the year. Details are scarce, but I’ll definitely take a look.

Delta offers a selection of American Express cards from which to choose. Mileage bonuses range from 50,000 to 70,000 SkyMiles, depending on the color of the card. Benefits include statement credits for hotels and vacation packages and rideshare services. Platinum and Reserve AMEX cardholders also receive an annual companion fare.

I’m a fan of the Chase Bank family of cards. One reason is that the points earned on the card can be applied to a number of different travel companies. Although I’ve used the points for airline tickets, I usually save them up to use for hotel stays. Chase points can be redeemed for IHG points (Intercontinental and Holiday Inn), for Marriott Bonvoy (including Sheratons) and Hyatt. Usually, the Hyatt plan offers the best conversion rate for points.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card includes a 60,000-point bonus. The Ink Business Preferred card features a 90,000-point bonus. Both cards have a $95 annual fee.

Another big change that Alaska Airlines is making for 2025: All award trips now will earn mileage. That’s a big change that takes the sting out of the frequent flyer’s dilemma: Should I redeem the miles or buy a ticket and earn more elite qualifying miles?

There are other big changes previously announced by Alaska Airlines, regarding premium seating. Back in July, the carrier announced it was retrofitting its aircraft to accommodate more first class and premium seats.

For most planes, it means adding a row of first class seats or converting a row of economy seats to extra leg-room premium seats. The work already has begun on some aircraft — and will continue throughout 2025.

What Alaska’s announcement did not include was this: Economy seats will be squeezed closer together from 31 inches of pitch to 30 inches. That’s not as bad as discounter Sun Country Airlines (29 inches). It’s on par with United, American, WestJet, Condor and Discover. But it’s tight. That leaves Delta with the roomier ride at 31-inch pitch. Also, Hawaiian’s A330 wide-body planes feature a 31-inch pitch in coach.

In 2025, all airlines, including Alaska, are boosting the number of miles you need to redeem to get a ticket. Also, the word is out: The best value for your mileage points is to score a lie-flat seat on a partner airline.

Redemption levels in the forward cabin, if you can even find the seats, are increasing the most.

[Airline customer service agents share their top travel tips]

I still think Condor Air offers some of the best redemption value for Alaska Airlines miles. The airline is resuming its seasonal schedule on May 17, 2025. Coach seats on the Anchorage-Frankfurt nonstop are available for 50,000 miles one-way. Premium Economy, which features a nicer seat, more legroom and a better meal, costs 70,000 miles one-way. If you want one of the lie-flat business seats, it’ll cost you 185,000 miles each way.

If you don’t mind flying coach, you can fly Alaska to Seattle and catch Condor’s nonstop to Frankfurt. It’s just 35,000 miles each way. Flying round-trip, there’s a $211 charge for taxes and fees.

I was curious to see how Alaska Airlines would price the flights on Hawaiian Airlines to Australia. To fly in May from Anchorage to Australia on Alaska and Hawaiian, the rate is 210,000 miles on the outbound, 225,000 miles coming back. Taxes and fees are an extra $113.

The take-home message for 2025 is you’ve got to get up early to snag those premium mileage seats — and it costs a lot.

I’m confident there will be more surprises in 2025.