Tag: Alaska Mileage Plan

This is even better than a 40% bonus.

Alaska Air is now doing a flash sale from now until 1 July 2019 2.59pm (30 June 2019, 11.59pm PST).

Unlike previous sales where they offer 40% bonus miles (sometimes up to 50%), Alaska Air is now offering a 30% straight up discount off the purchase price.

Offer type	Effective discount
40% bonus miles	28.6%
50% bonus miles	33.3%
30% discount	30%

So if you look at the table above, you will see that a 30% discount is slightly higher than a 40% bonus, so this is a good middle ground between a 40 to 50% bonus offer.

There is a minimum number of miles you have to purchase before you enjoy the discount, and apparently this minimum differs from person to person. You will have to log into your account to see what you are targeted with. Personally I’ve been targeted with the offer provided I buy a minimum of 20,000 miles.

What are they good for?

For the uninitiated, Alaska Air has amassed quite a good portfolio of partners to earn and redeem miles on, including Japan Airlines (JAL), Cathay Pacific, Emirates and more.

One of the most widely known sweet spot with this programme is the ability to book a quasi-return trip on JAL in business class for only 25,000 miles. Specific to this promotion, that means you can buy it for US$517.34, which is an absolute steal for a ‘return’ business class trip.

How to book the ‘return’ trip on Japan Airlines:

Japan Airlines (JAL) charges only 25,000 miles for intra-Asia itineraries involving a maximum of 1 stop, to count it as a ‘one-way’ journey. Alaska Air also allows for a stopover, i.e. staying in the intermediate point for more than 24 hours.

Using the rule above, you can technically book something like, Bangkok to Singapore via Tokyo on JAL business class, which will only cost you 25,000 miles because it is technically a one-way itinerary. All you need to do is to buy another (cheaper) ticket to Bangkok to start your journey.

Another sweet spot is that JAL allows for open-jaw booking, so you can booking something like Bangkok-Osaka, then Tokyo-Singapore in a same journey.

Remember, offer ends 1 July 2019 2.59pm!

Buy at least 40,000 miles at USD$0.0275 each and get 50% bonus miles.

If you are into the miles game, you will know that Alaska Mileage Plan is kind of a stray horse here that gives incredibly good value. They also run regular promotions that gives bonus miles when you buy miles from them.

The promotion

From now until 19 May 2019 11.59pm Pacific Standard Time, which is 20 May 2019 2.59pm Singapore Time, earn between 20 to 50% bonus miles when you buy miles. The bonuses go up when you buy more miles:

• Under 10,000 miles – no bonus
• 10,000 to 19,000 miles – 20% bonus
• 20,000 to 39,000 miles – 35% bonus
• 40,000 to 60,000 miles – 50% bonus

If you want to buy more than 60,000 miles, you will need to make a new transaction. Note that Alaska Mileage Plan limits members to a maximum of 150,000 miles bought each year (this includes bonus miles), unless you hold status with the programme.

What are they good for?

For the uninitiated, Alaska Air has amassed quite a good portfolio of partners to earn and redeem miles on, including Japan Airlines (JAL), Cathay Pacific, Emirates and more.

One of the most widely known sweet spot with this programme is the ability to book a quasi-return trip on JAL in business class for only 25,000 miles.

How to book the ‘return’ trip on Japan Airlines:

Japan Airlines (JAL) charges only 25,000 miles for intra-Asia itineraries involving a maximum of 1 stop, to count it as a ‘one-way’ journey. Alaska Air also allows for a stopover, i.e. staying in the intermediate point for more than 24 hours.

Using the rule above, you can technically book something like, Bangkok to Singapore via Tokyo on JAL business class, which will only cost you 25,000 miles because it is technically a one-way itinerary. All you need to do is to buy another (cheaper) ticket to Bangkok to start your journey.

Another sweet spot is that JAL allows for open-jaw booking, so you can booking something like Bangkok-Osaka, then Tokyo-Singapore in a same journey.

Singapore Airlines have also joined them as a partner, but the partnership is limited to earning Alaska Mileage Plan miles for now. Redemption will be made available at a later date.

Good mileage programme to credit miles

I’ve credited a couple of my Qantas trips with Alaska Mileage Plan before and found it incredibly good value: Business class trips get up to 225% of the actual mileage flown.

For instance, I credited a one-way business class flight from Sydney to Singapore last year, and for the actual 3,912 miles flown, I got 8,802 miles credited after factoring in the bonuses.

If you ever buy a revenue ticket with Emirates in business or first class, be sure to credit that in with Alaska Mileage Plan as well for hefty bonuses.

This may be sacrilegious to some, but you can also credit your Singapore Airlines mileage to Alaska Mileage Plan as well. In business class, you can earn up to 225% of the mileage flown, so if you fly the Singapore-Newark non-stop service in business, you can earn up to 21,431 miles!