Buy Alaska Miles with 50 Percent Bonus Extended to June 15

The Buy Alaska Miles with a 50% Bonus Offer has been extended to tomorrow, June 15. Note that this is a targeted offer, so some Mileage Plan members may be targeted for a lower bonus amount. I'd been delaying buying miles until my new 50K CitiBusiness AAdvantage card (see 100K AAdvantage Miles with 2 Citi AAdvantage Cards) came, so I could quickly meet minimum spend on the card (ironic I know–earn 53,000 AAdvantage miles while buying Alaska miles). The card arrived yesterday, but as it turned out I had today and tomorrow to buy Alaska Mileage Plan miles with the 50% bonus.

As a reminder, here are the offer details:

Buy Alaska miles with an up to 50% bonus (targeted) through June 15, 2016

Miles are not refundable and do not count towards elite status

7.5% federal excise tax applies for U.S. purchases; GST/HST apply for Canadian residents

Purchase is procesed by Points.com, so there is no category bonus for airlines or travel

Tiered Bonuses

The 50% bonus applies starting at 40,000 miles:

10,000 – 19,000 miles = 20% Bonus
20,000 – 39,000 miles = 35% Bonus
40,000 – 60,000 miles = 50% Bonus

So in my view, this offer is only worth it if you're buying at least 40,000 Alaska miles.

Equivalent to Buying Miles at 1.97 Cents per Mile

With the 50% bonus and taking into account taxes, you're buying Alaska miles at the cost of 1.97 cents per mile.

Alaska Miles or AAdvantage Miles?

While the Alaska Buy Miles offer even with the 50% bonus is more expensive than the current AAdvantage buy miles offer, after the 2016 AAdvantage Award Chart Devaluation, the Alaska Mileage Plan award chart is better for some awards, for example:

Cathay Pacific First Class from the U.S. to Asia: 70K Alaska miles vs. 110K AAdvantage miles (except Japan and Korea, at 80K miles each way)

Cathay Pacific First Class from JFK to Vancouver, a Fifth Freedom flight: 35K Alaska miles vs. 55K AAdvantage miles vs. 50K Avios

Cathay Pacific Business Class to Africa via Hong Kong: 62,500 Alaska miles vs. 140K AAdvantage miles (70K + 70K, since this constitutes 2 separate AAdvantage awards when flying via the Pacific)

Cathay Pacific Business Class from Australia to Asia via Hong Kong: 30K Alaska miles vs. 40K AAdvantage miles

Qantas Business Class between the U.S. and Australia / New Zealand: 55K Alaska miles vs. 80K AAdvantage miles

Alaska Mileage Plan Permits Stopovers on One Way Awards

One of the unfortunate aspects of AAdvantage awards is that you can't have any stopovers over 24 hours, even on a roundtrip award. By contrast, Alaska Mileage Plan allows you to include a stopover even on a one way award, such as stopping in Hong Kong on a Cathay Pacific award from the U.S. to Asia, or even en route to Africa.

Alaska Miles Are Great for Backup Award Flights or Uncertain Plans

One of my other favorite aspects of Alaska Mileage Plan is that cancellations and changes made online are free if they're over 60 days prior to departure. See Best Frequent Flyer Programs for Award Changes. If you make changes or cancel 60 days or fewer before departure, any change or cancellation incurs a $125 change/cancellation fee. Keep in mind that even when changing or cancelling more than 60 days before departure, the $25 partner booking fee is non-refundable, and the $15 call center fee if you make a booking by phone is also non-refundable.

Do you plan to buy Alaska miles with a 50% bonus?

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