Alaska Airlines is kicking off 2021 with a sale of up to 60% bonus.
Alaska Airlines is offering a whopping 60% bonus on its latest round of miles-buying offers, working out to a cost of US 1.85 per mile.
Again, these bonus offers are personalised for each member, so you will have to log and check what are you given.
This time round, here’s my offer:
Remember, if you are not an elite member, you can only be credited up to a maximum total of 150,000 miles (acquired through buying miles) in a calendar year, whether through purchasing miles or having it gifted to you. Given that this is the start of 2021, it’s unthinkable that you may have already hit the limit, but there’s no guarantee that there’s no better offer down the road.
The offer closes at 11.59pm Pacific Standard Time on 14 Feb 2021 (Sun), which is 3.59pm on 15 Feb 2021 (Mon), Singapore time.
What are Alaska Miles good for
This is still an incredible offer, given that Alaska Air has historically offered only up to 50% bonus miles before Covid-19. Even at 1.85 US cents per mile, the famed Singapore-Tokyo redemption on JAL business class will only set you by USD462 (S$613), or somewhere close to USD924 (S$1,226) for a roundtrip ticket, an incredible value for a business class mid-haul ride.
When travel do recover, there are also other decent redemptions you can make with your Alaska miles, such as:
| Airline | Class | One way /Roundtrip | Routing | Mileage Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cathay Pacific | First | One way | Southeast Asia to USA | 70,000 |
| Cathay Pacific | Business | One way | Southeast Asia to USA | 50,000 |
| Korean Air | Business | Roundtrip | Singapore to USA | 120,000 |
| Qantas | Business | One way | Domestic Australia | 20,000 |
Final thoughts
The key risk here is obvious: we still don’t know when the global travel economy is going to recover, and that has a hinge on flight capacity. Historically, airlines will prioritise revenue tickets over award tickets, so if there’s a situation where demand outpace the available air capacity, you could be left in a situation of too many miles, too few redemption options.
While Alaska Mileage Plan last for two years before expiring, bear in mind that Alaska is due to join oneworld later this year, so award prices may change by then.
Shanescape 