Up to 82% Off on First and Business Class through the airline’s loyalty program loophole…
We already know what most of you are thinking: I will never fly Alaska Airlines. So why bother joining its frequent flyer program?
Because the point isn’t to fly Alaska Airlines, it is to take advantage of its lucrative frequent-flyer-mile sales (offered to members residing in NorthAmerica), such as the one just announced—and then to use the miles on Alaska’s extensive partner network, which includes American, Air France, BritishAirways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Qantas, and eight other carriers. The miles can also be used for itineraries that do not originate in the U.S.
The Current Deal
Alaska is offering a bonus of up to 40% on miles purchased. The maximum purchase per transaction is 40,000 miles, and there’s no limit on the number of transactions. However, no more than four transactions are permitted on the same credit card in 30 days. (If you need more than 224,000 miles, use a second credit card.) The cost during this promo comes out to 2.1¢ per mile, including taxes.
Limited Time Sale
The sale ends Oct. 14, and to take advantage of it you must be a member of Alaska’s Mileage Plan for at least ten days. So there’s still time to join (it takes less than five minutes) if you’re not a member already. Use the waiting period to investigate availability for your itinerary before you purchase the miles.
Sample Savings
U.S. to/from Canada Flights: Save up to 75% on a First Class flight on Cathay Pacific. The published fare from New York to Vancouver is $6,311. Booking the ticket using Alaska miles lowers the cost up to 75% ($4,749), to just $1,562 round-trip.
International Flights: Save up to 82% on First Class on British Airways. The published First Class fare from New York to London is $16,681 round-trip. With this special booking strategy, the price drops to $3,040 (includes the award taxes), a savings of $13,641 (82%). See chart below for more sample route savings.
More Reasons to Like this Strategy
Generous Stopover Rule on Partner Awards: Alaska allows a free en route stopover on one-way partner awards in the partner’s hub city. For example, if you fly British Airways in Business Class from LAX to Johannesburg, you could get a free stop-over in London.
Kick the Tires First: Some airlines, among them Air France and British Airways, require you to sign up for their mileage program in order to check award space online. Alaska does not, so you can see what’s offered even before joining.
See availability on Alaska partners Aeromexico, Air France, American, British Airways, Delta, Emirates, Fiji Airways, KLM, Korean, and Qantas; for travel on Cathay Pacific or LAN call Alaska at (800) 252-7522.
Flexibility = Options: Alaska’s “Mix and Match” awards allow you to use a different partner in each direction, or to book a one-way award. All of its partners, except Delta and Korean allow one-way bookings at 50% mileage cost. (When Delta or Korean flights are used one-way in combination with Alaska or another partner airline to create a round-trip itinerary, then the Delta or Korean flights will be charged at a one-way rate.)
Tax Savings: On some international routes, Alaska charges lower award taxes than the operating airline itself charges. For example, Air France’s Business Class award taxes on the New York-Paris route are $664 round-trip, while that ticket booked through Alaska’s mileage program incurs only $174 in taxes, a savings of $490 (74%).
Investment Think
Don’t think of this as buying Alaska Miles: Instead, view this as investing in a highly convertible currency. With these miles, you can save many, many thousands of dollars on premium air travel—or net free upgrades—depending on how you look at it.
More Business and First Class Potential Savings via Alaska Partner Airlines Awards
[table_opt style="blue-header" id="941 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]