A Little-Used Mileage Program Nets First Class for Up to 80% Off
Perfect if you’re headed for Africa, Asia, Europe, or India.
Alaska Airlines is the Sarah Palin of the industry: Independent, unorthodox, flying by its own lights. It’s that independent streak you can take advantage of to get yourself into the front cabin on more mainstream carriers. Alaska doesn’t hew to alliance boundaries—it offers mileage redemption with a variety of airlines, in particular First Class with American, British Airways, and Cathay Pacific. And this is not always a long-shot. The award availability on these carriers through Alaska Airlines’ mileage program is often the same as if you were using these airlines’ own program.
That means buying miles in Alaska’s Mileage Plan program is actually a gateway to many destinations worldwide because Alaska does not impose an annual mileage purchase limit and sells miles at a decent rate of 2.75¢ plus taxes (limit 40,000 per transaction; unlimited transactions permitted). And now through Dec. 21 Alaska is offering a 30% bonus on buy-ing miles, making this an even better opportunity to buy into First Class at a lower cost. (You can also transfer points into miles with Starwood or Diners Club.)
Sample savings: Here’s how you can fly First Class from Los Angeles to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific using Alaska’s mileage program. Buy 108,000 miles ($3,193), which with the promotion gives you enough miles for a free First Class ticket on Cathay to Hong Kong (140,000). Booking on Cathay would cost you $15,718. Your savings: $12,525 (80%). Many other destinations offer similar savings, as the chart to the left shows.
First Class Savings via Alaska Partner Airlines Award
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American’s Mileage-Purchase Deal Saves Up to 78% on Domestic First Class Travel
From now until Dec. 31, American is not only offering a 50% bonus on miles purchased, but it has raised the purchase limit from 40,000 to 60,000 during the promotion. That means you can get 90,000 miles instantly. Earmark these miles for high-priced domestic routes, such as Hawaii, and AA’s three-cabin transcon (Los Angeles and San Francisco-JFK).
The Opportunity
First Class for Almost the Price of Coach to Hawaii: First Class award seats to Hawaii start at 75,000 miles, but the 50% bonus brings the actual cost down to 50,000 miles—only 5,000 more than the price of coach. With this deal, a First Class Dallas-Honolulu trip costs $1,513, whereas the First Class fare is $3,392, a savings of up to $1,879 (55%).
First Class for Less Than the Price of Business Class on Transcon: First Class award seats for the three-cabin trans-con start at 65,000 miles, but the promotion brings the price down to 45,000 miles—5,000 fewer than the price of Business Class. Flying LA-JFK in First Class costs $1,365 versus the published fare of $6,293, a savings of up to $4,928 (78%).
Free First Class Mileage Space on American
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