You can buy Alaska Mileage Plan Miles with a 40% bonus–is this offer worth it, especially now that you can't book Emirates First Class awards online from April 2015?
Alaska regularly offers 35% and 40% bonuses for buying Mileage Plan miles, with 40% being the best offer. Here are the current promotion details:
- Offer valid until April 3, 2015
- Buy 5000 – 9,000 Alaska miles, get a 10% bonus
- Buy 10,000 – 19,000 Alaska miles, get a 20% bonus
- Buy 20,000 – 39,000 Alaska miles, get a 30% bonus
- Buy 40,000 Alaska miles, get a 40% bonus
- While not in the terms, unfortunately seems that only U.S. and Canadian credit cards are being allowed to buy miles.
So if you purchase the maximum 40,000 Alaska miles + 16,000 miles bonus, you'd have 56,000 Alaska miles for $1182.50, a cost of 2.11 cents per mile.
That's Over 2 Cents per Mile! What Am I Missing?
There's no question it's cheaper to earn miles via credit card bonuses, and it is possible to get the Alaska Visa bonus again, even if you still have the card. Currently the bonus is only 25,000 miles and the $75 annual fee is *not* waived, yet even so you'd be buying miles at a third of a cent: $0.003 per mile. It was an even better deal last year, when a 50K Alaska Visa offer was around.
Still, unless you put significant spend on the credit card or also earn Alaska miles by flying, it can be challenging to earn enough Alaska miles for first and business class awards, particularly if you need to earn enough for a couple or family, so buying miles with a 40% bonus can be a good way of topping up an account or even buying enough miles for an award ticket outright, depending on your needs and what the alternatives are for that award ticket.
Pros of Alaska Miles: Why Use Mileage Plan Instead of AAdvantage Miles for Cathay or Qantas Award Travel?
I can't tell you how many times for my Award Booking Service a client has asked about stopovers on AAdvantage awards. Unfortunately, it's not possible to stop anywhere for 24 hours or more on an AAdvantage award–you'd need to book 2 separate awards. A huge advantage of using Alaska Mileage Plan miles is that a stopover IS possible, even on a one way award. That's more generous than most other programs, where if a stopover is allowed, it's only on roundtrip awards.
Another advantage of using Alaska Mileage Plan vs. AAdvantage miles is being able to route via Dubai to Europe, Africa or Asia, or via Hong Kong to Africa. AAdvantage is far more restrictive in transiting a third region, breaking these types of awards into two awards.
Cons of Alaska Miles
There are of course cons as well when using Mileage Plan miles. You're no allowed to mix carriers on a single award, with the exception of using Alaska in the U.S. for your positioning flights. You also must book your award to or from the U.S., so you can't use Alaska miles for awards that are between other regions and don't touch the U.S.
What About Emirates First Class Awards with Alaska Mileage Plan Miles?
As I wrote earlier in January 2015, there are no Emirates First Class awards bookable online with Alaska Mileage Plan miles from April 2015. For awhile, it was possible to Hang Up, Call Again (HUCA) to find an Alaska agent willing to do a manual sell to book Emirates First Class (see Emirates A380 First Class Award Booked).
Unfortunately, the screws have apparently been tightened, and it's almost impossible to find an Alaska agent willing to do a manual sell to book an Emirates First Class award, even if you can see Z award space using ExpertFlyer. See this post by Flyertalker SFO777:
“Yes, as recently as yesterday [I was able to book Emirates First Class award space] but it was like pulling teeth. Many HUCAs. One agent confided that she had received another directive from Seattle stating in no uncertain terms that they were not permitted to use “the old manual sell system” for Emirates…”
This is an effective devaluation of Alaska miles for anyone who wanted to use them for Emirates First Class, and while I have no inside information, I'm not optimistic of this changing. Alaska was the main source for U.S. based flyers to book Emirates First Class awards, and one can only imagine the reimbursement amounts they've been paying to Emirates for these first class awards.
Is There a Limit to the Number of Alaska Miles I Can Buy?
You can buy a maximum of 40,000 + 16,000 bonus miles per transaction, but Alaska Airlines doesn't limit how many purchases you make per year, so you could make multiple purchases in order to earn the number of miles you need for an award.
Do I Earn Airline Category Bonuses for Buying Alaska Miles?
No–as usual, the transaction is processed by Points.com so you don't earn 3X with your AMEX Premier Rewards Gold card or any other airline or travel category bonus.
Current Top 5 Awards for 100K Alaska Miles
Note that all awards below are quoted as one way–simply double the amount for a roundtrip award. You can view Alaska's award charts by region: Asia, Europe, Africa / Middle East / India, Australia
1. Cathay First/Business Class U.S. to Johannesburg via Hong Kong for 70,000 Miles
Cathay Pacific First Class from the U.S. to South Africa via Hong Kong used to be by far the best value, but unfortunately Cathay's 747s on this route are being replaced by 777s with no first class, only business class. Still, you could fly first class to Hong Kong then fly flat bed business class to Johannesburg for 70,000 miles, which is a great deal, especially since you can break up the journey with a free stopover in Hong Kong, even on a one way award.
2. Cathay First/Business Class from the U.S. to Australia via Hong Kong for 80,000 Miles
It can be very tough finding award flights from the U.S. to and from Australia, so being willing to route through Asia helps your chances of finding availability. Cathay Pacific only flies Business Class between Hong Kong and Australia, so first class would only be from the U.S. to Hong Kong, then business class from Hong Kong to Australia. Or, fly business class the entire way for 60,000 miles
3. Qantas Business Class U.S. to Australia for 55,000 Miles
There's no question it's very tough to book Qantas business class, let alone first class awards, using Alaska Mileage Plan miles. That's why I'm not even listing Qantas first class as a great award value, because it's nearly impossible to book with Alaska miles. If you are able to book Qantas business class for your dates with Alaska miles, however, it's a fantastic use of miles for those nonstop flights, especially if you're flying to or from NYC and are able to include the Qantas flight between LAX and JFK.
4. Emirates Business Class U.S. to Seychelles and Africa for 77,500 Miles
Since Emirates First Class awards using Alaska miles are virtually dead, I won't list Emirates First Class, which would be a great way to get to the Seychelles if you could find award availability. Instead, business class is now about as good as it gets. You could use fewer miles if you happen to have JAL miles, but most U.S.-based flyers aren't rich in JAL miles and may not be willing to transfer so many SPG points into JAL miles, rather than use cheaper Mileage Plan miles.
5. LAN Business Class U.S. to South America for 45,000 Miles
Now that there are no more AAdvantage Explorer Awards, Alaska miles are one of the best ways to book business class awards to South America without worrying about AAdvantage third region restrictions that would break your itinerary into 2 awards. Plus, you can build in stopovers while connecting in LAN hubs such as Santiago, Buenos Aires or Lima.
Do you plan to buy Alaska miles with a 40% bonus?
Related Posts
No Emirates First Class Awards via Alaska Mileage Plan
Seychelles Award Travel with Miles and Points and Where to Stay
Maximize Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Awards
Alaska Companion Ticket: No More First Class
Need Award Booking Help? Our fee is as low as $75 per ticket if you book your hotel through us.
If you enjoyed this, join 150,000+ readers: please follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book 5-Star Hotels with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partner Amenities!