Alaska Miles On Sale With Bonuses Of Up To 40% (Very Useful For Great Premium Cabin Awards)

a plane flying in the sky

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Alaska Airlines has launched its latest points promotion in which it’s offering Mileage Plan members bonuses of up to 40% on purchases of over 30,000 miles.

Alaska Mileage plan may not be the first airline loyalty program that most people think of but, with the downward spiral most other loyalty programs are pursuing, this is definitely a program to pay attention to.

Also, and as I’ve explained in a previous post, this isn’t just a program that should be considered in the US…..it should definitely not be overlooked by UK and European based flyers either.

Here’s a link to the current promotion

Headline T&Cs’s

  • Mileage Plan accounts must have been active for at least 10 days to participate in this promotion.
  • Promotion runs until 11:59pm PAT on 28 December 2017
  • The bonuses available range from 0% to 40% depending on how many miles are purchased.
  • All purchases of Mileage Plan Miles are processed by Points.com so there are no credit card category bonuses to be had with this deal.
  • Miles must be purchased in increments of 1,000.
  • There is no limit to how many miles you can buy in Alaska Mileage Plan promotions

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

The Cost

  • Buy 1,000 – 9,000 Mileage Plan Miles – Get a 0% Bonus
  • Buy 10,000 – 19,000 Mileage Plan Miles – Get a 20% Bonus
  • Buy 20,000 – 29,000 Mileage Plan Miles – Get a 30% Bonus
  • Buy 30,000 – 60,000 Mileage Plan Miles – Get a 40% Bonus

And this is what those number look like when translated into cost per mile:

  • Buy 0 – 9,000 Mileage Plan Miles – 2.96 cents per mile
  • Buy 10,000 – 19,000 Mileage Plan Miles – 2.46 cents per mile
  • Buy 20,000 – 29,000 Mileage Plan Miles – 2.27 cents per mile
  • Buy 30,000 – 60,000 Mileage Plan Miles – 2.11 cents per mile

Why Is Mileage Plan Interesting?

Alaska Airlines may not be a member of one of the big worldwide alliances but it does partner with a mix of airlines that most other carriers can’t compete with.

This, and the fact that Mileage Plan has some very flyer-friendly rules, has led to some interesting mileage redemption opportunities.

Here are the main flyer-friendly rules:

  1. You’re allowed one free stopover on award tickets – even on one way awards.
  2. There are no charges for cancelling an award and re-depositing the miles, regardless of your status, as long as you’re more than 60 days away from departure.
  3. The airline allows you to buy as many miles as you like – there are no restrictions on the number of miles you can buy in a calendar year.

These are a few of my preferred Mileage Plan redemption options:

Business Class Awards – Roundtrip

  • American Airlines: USA – Europe = 100,000 miles
  • American Airlines: USA – South America = 60,000 – 100,000 miles
  • Cathay Pacific: USA – Asia = 100,000 miles
  • Cathay Pacific: Europe – Asia = 85,000 miles
  • Emirates: USA – Middle East = 165,000 miles
  • Korean Air: USA – Asia = 105,000 – 120,000 miles
  • Qantas: USA – Australia = 110,000 miles

a row of seats in an airplaneAmerican Airlines 787-9 Business Class

First Class Awards – Roundtrip

  • American Airlines: USA – Europe = 125,000 miles
  • American Airlines: USA – South America = 80,000 – 125,000 miles
  • Cathay Pacific: USA – Asia = 140,000 miles
  • Cathay Pacific: Europe – Asia = 120,000 miles
  • Qantas: USA – Australia = 140,000 miles

a seat with pillows on itCathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class

Alaska doesn’t charge fuel surcharges on the award tickets I’ve noted above and that makes those redemptions very attractive indeed.

Should You Buy Alaska Miles?

Because Mileage Plan allows you to buy as many miles as you want (in batches of 60,000 at a time excluding bonuses), this promotion allows you to buy as many miles as you need for an award at 2.11 cents each.

Here’s what that pricing looks like when applied to the awards I highlighted:

Business Class Roundtrip

  • American Airlines: USA – Europe = $2,110
  • American Airlines: USA – South America = $1,266 – $2,110
  • Cathay Pacific: USA – Asia = $2,110
  • Cathay Pacific: Europe – Asia = $1,794
  • Emirates: USA – Middle East = $3,482
  • Korean Air: USA – Asia = $2,216 – $2,532
  • Qantas: USA – Australia = $2,321

qantas-a330-business-suite-qantasQantas Business Suite – A330

First Class Roundtrip

  • American Airlines: USA – Europe = $2,638
  • American Airlines: USA – South America = $1,688 – $2,638
  • Cathay Pacific: USA – Asia = $2,954
  • Cathay Pacific: Europe – Asia = $2,532
  • Qantas: USA – Australia = $2,954

cathay-pacific-777-first-class-0007Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class

There is some amazing value to be had out of those options – especially Cathay Pacific in First Class between Europe and Asia (not a hard award to find) and Korean Air Business Class from $2,216.

Warning

If you can book American Airlines saver awards they can be great value but the key word to focus on in this sentence is “if”.

American Airlines international saver awards are more scarce than ever and you cannot assume that they’ll appear on the routes you’re interested in. If saaver awards are, by some miracle, available right now than that’s great – buy some miles and go nuts – but, otherwise, think hard before you make any decisions.

Bottom Line

Mileage Plan does offer bonuses of up to 50% (Joanna was targeted for this in the last promotion) so, if you’re not convinced you should be buying miles now (i.e there aren’t any awards available right now), you may want to hold out to see what Alaska offers in the New Year.

Having said that, you can still get some great value with the promotion as it stands and, as long as you check that the awards you’re looking to book are actually available (never stockpile miles), you can’t go too far wrong.

Link to Alaska Mileage Plan Buy Miles Promotion