How anyone—even non-mileage program members—can save a bundle by booking through a carrier you may never even fly.
We love Alaska Airlines for its independent streak. It doesn’t belong to any alliance. It doesn’t put a limit on annual mileage purchases. It doesn’t put an expiration date on miles. It now offers one-way awards on partners.
Now More Reasons to Like Alaska
Through April 26, Alaska has turbocharged its loyalty program, Mileage Plan, offering a 40% bonus on miles purchased, which anyone can buy. The maximum purchase per transaction is 40,000 miles, but there’s no limit to the number of transactions. The cost is 2¢ per mile plus 7.5% tax after bonus.
[aside headline="The One-Way, Round-Trip Imperative" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Alaska now allows one-way awards with American and Delta (which Delta doesn’t even offer) at 50% mileage cost; and by the end of the year it plans to offer one-way awards with all of its 12 partners. (See FCF March, page 2, for more on the importance of one-way awards.)[/aside]
Why join Alaska’s Mileage Plan if you’ll never fly the carrier? Simple: To use its liberal mileage-purchase policy to book on one of Alaska’s 12 major partners. You’re not buying Alaska Miles; you’re buying a highly convertible currency, which FCF calls a Super Airline Currency. With these miles, you can save up to 81% for travel originating from countless countries, for travel to countless countries.
Why Anyone Can Play With Alaska Airlines
Joining Mileage Plan takes maybe five minutes and doesn’t even require you to fly the airline. It’s open to residents in most countries. One thing to note: There’s a 10-day waiting period before you can buy miles.
Broad Airline Applicability
Alaska partners with 12 major carriers across the alliance spectrum: Air France, Air Pacific, American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Emirates, Icelandair (ends June 1), KLM, Korean, LAN, and Qantas.
Broad Destination Applicability
- Within the U.S., Hawaii, and Canada
- The Caribbean and Mexico
- Central and South America
- Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific
- Africa, Europe, India and the Middle East
Sample Savings
Domestic Flights: Up to 71% on a Business Class transcon flight (NY-LA) on Delta. Right now this ticket costs $3,840, all in, round-trip. If you purchase the miles from Alaska during the promotion—with the bonus, you need 36,000 instead of the 50,000 normally required—the cost is only $1,099, a savings of $2,741 (71%).
Potential Business and First Class Savings via Alaska Airlines Partner Awards
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International Flights: Save up to 70% on a Business Class flight on Cathay Pacific. The published Business Class fare from New York to Hong Kong is $7,425. With this promotion the price drops to $2,202, a savings of $5,223 (70%).
International residents: please see page 11 for sample savings chart.
[aside headline="7 Scenarios for Using Mileage Plan Miles" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]
Given all the amazing Flash and EasyUp Fares out there for Business and First Class on domestic and international routes, is it really still worth buying miles, not to mention building a mileage war chest? Yes, because they’re your ace in the hole in the following situations:
- When you’ve missed the advance-purchase window.
- When you can’t fulfill the minimum-stay requirement.
- When there’s no EasyUp fare for your itinerary.
- When you don’t want the hassle of making a connection to get a promo fare.
- If you don’t care about earning elite-status miles.
- If you usually travel First Class internationally, as EasyUp deals for the front cabin are few and far between
- When you have a multi-city itinerary. Alaska allows up to two free en-route stopovers on its flights and one on partner award tickets, whereas the lowest international fares seldom allow a free en-route stop.
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See Availability Online for Alaska, American, and Delta
(Alaska claims more partners will be online soon) Search online here and you can see availability in full-month view. With this award search, you can also find flights for American and Delta for the same trip—however, calling Alaska is often faster than doing partner searches online. I find checking availability one-way at a time to be the best approach. This program is looking better all the time.
For other partners, you must call Alaska’s partner desk at (800) 252-7522: Bookings incur a $15 to $40 fee per person.
Fine Print
Here are important details to remember: Alaska will not hold award space unless the miles needed are in your account. This is important. If you travel often and are flexible, stock up now to increase your options. That’s my key strategy: Always have a portfolio of airline currencies at the ready.
You can also use the promotion to pay for an upcoming itinerary, in which case it’s even more important to join and get the 10-day waiting period out of the way.
The Booking Process for One-Off Flights
First check flight availability. The more flexible you can be, the better chance you will have, as availability can change by the time you book.
One way to work around availability volatility: Get on the phone and book the space while purchasing the miles online. When the reservationist confirms your flights, hit the mileage-purchase button. The miles should show up in your account within seconds, as they did on my last transaction.