Buy Alaska miles with up to 60% bonus

Earlier this year Alaska Mileage Plan rolled out a stealth no-notice devaluation of award pricing on Japan Airlines flights, doubling award rates in some cases, which somewhat ironically came mid-way through the a bonus promotion for members to buy additional miles directly from the airline.

Despite previously promising to give 90 days’ notice of any changes to current partner award rates, Alaska Airlines proved itself about as trustworthy as advice from a Citibank CSO with this move, back to its old tricks having pulled the same stunt with its Emirates award chart back in 2016.

Nonetheless, there’s always an Alaska Miles sale around the corner and this month is no exception, with up to 60% bonus miles on offer if you dare to take the plunge.

You should only do this for an available award that you can (and will) lock in immediately.

Alaska’s July 2023 miles bonus offer

This month Alaska is offering up to 60% bonus on miles purchases, for those purchasing at least 45,000 miles.

Do log on to check how this month’s deal is structured for your account, since it can differ slightly from person to person. For example, Eddie’s account tops out at 40% bonus for a purchase of 15,000+ miles, while mine gets the full 60% deal.

Pro Tip: Never buy Alaska miles at full price, unless you need a small top-up quickly to achieve a specific redemption. These miles are almost always available on offer (there are typically 8 purchase bonus offers per year!).

Here’s how the bonus looks based on the rate targeted for my account, which is the full 60% bonus.

Here’s how it looks for Eddie’s account, with a smaller 40% bonus.

If you are not an elite member, your account may only be credited up to a maximum total of 150,000 miles (acquired through buying miles) in a calendar year, whether purchased by you or gifted to you.

Bonus miles don’t count towards the annual crediting limit.

Remember even though the purchase limit is 100,000 miles per transaction (pre-bonus), you can make multiple purchase transactions during the offer if you wish.

MVP, MVP Gold , MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K Mileage Plan member accounts have no annual limit on the number of miles which may be purchased or gifted.

  Click here to buy Alaska Miles

Deadline: 21st August 2023

The offer closes at 11.59pm Pacific Time on Sunday 20th August 2023, which is 2.59pm on Monday 21st August 2023 Singapore time.

Alaska is strict about the offer deadline, so it will completely disappear at the end time – we’ve tested it to the minute in the past.

We would therefore recommend making your purchase before approximately 1pm on 21st August in Singapore if you’re interested, just in case you have any issues or the payment doesn’t go through first time.

Which Alaska miles redemptions are safe (for now)?

Given the recent no-notice gutting of Alaska’s award rates on Japan Airlines award flights, one thing that’s more important than ever to reiterate about buying these miles in bonus promotions is that you must have a plan to use them right away.

If there’s an available award that suits you – it’s still worth considering if the price is right.

Here’s a rundown on the most popular ‘sweet spots’ remaining for those based in Asia-Pacific.

		Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$):
		40%	60%
Singapore to Los Angeles First Class*	70,000 miles	$1,478	$1,295
Singapore to Los Angeles Business Class	50,000 miles	$1,056	$925
Sydney to New York First Class*	80,000 miles	$1,689	$1,480
Sydney to New York Business Class	60,000 miles	$1,267	$1,110
Hong Kong to Auckland Business Class	30,000 miles	$633	$555
Hong Kong to London Business Class	42,500 miles	$897	$786
Singapore to Tokyo Business Class	22,500 miles	$475	$416

* Business Class to Hong Kong, then First Class to the USA

There are some great value ways to use Alaska miles on Cathay Pacific, including Singapore to the USA in Business Class for US$925 (if you buy at a 60% bonus rate).

Even Singapore to Tokyo or Seoul for example drops to US$416 in Business Class at a 60% bonus (a good deal now that the JAL option via Alaska is meaningless).

Cathay Pacific awards using Alaska miles are now searchable and bookable online, so there’s no longer any need to call to secure them, like there was before.

		Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$):
		40%	60%
Sydney to Dallas First Class	70,000 miles	$1,478	$1,295
Sydney to Dallas Business Class	55,000 miles	$1,161	$1,018
Perth to Sydney Business Class	20,000 miles	$422	$370

If you’re based in Australia, or just visiting on holiday, using Alaska miles for coast-to-coast domestic flights in Business Class on Qantas, like Perth to Sydney or Perth to Melbourne at 20,000 miles each way, is great value.

That’s equivalent to just US$370 when buying miles with a 60% bonus.

Pick an Airbus A330 (see our recent review here) or Boeing 787 for the newest flat-bed seats, with these flights taking upwards of five hours.

It’s also worth checking out Australia to or from USA award pricing.

Qantas A380 First Class on the 15-hour non-stop from Los Angeles to Sydney comes in at around US$1,295 when buying miles at a 60% bonus.

		Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$):
		40%	60%
Singapore to Chicago (return) Business Class	120,000 miles (return)	$2,534	$2,220

Korean Air awards using Alaska Miles must be booked as a round-trip, however for 120,000 miles you can fly from Singapore to the USA and back in Business Class for US$2,220 when purchasing miles at the 60% bonus rate (equivalent to S$1,110 each way).

		Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$):
		40%	60%
Singapore to Helsinki Business Class	60,000 miles	$1,266	$1,110

A decent but not incredible deal is Business Class with Finnair from Asia to Europe for 60,000 Alaska Miles, or about US$1,110 at the 60% bonus rate.

This also allows you to experience the carrier’s latest AirLounge Business Class product from Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo, and even avoid a hefty fuel surcharge on the Tokyo – Helsinki route.

		Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$):
		40%	60%
Singapore to Auckland Business Class	65,000 miles	$1,373	$1,203
Tokyo to Los Angeles Business Class	80,000 miles	$1,689	$1,480

There aren’t really any great value ways to use Alaska miles on Singapore Airlines, since the intra-Asia stopover ‘tricks’ were shut down in October 2019.

Singapore to Auckland (or Australian cities like Melbourne and Sydney) at 65,000 miles can make sense, even though KrisFlyer charges only 68,500 miles for the same itinerary, since Alaska gets better award space on SIA flights.

Perhaps the only other decent value option is a Business Class ticket on one of the airline’s fifth freedom routes between Tokyo and Los Angeles, usually 103,500 KrisFlyer miles but available for 80,000 Alaska miles or the equivalent of US$1,480 with a 60% purchase bonus.

It’s not an incredible deal but personally we would probably rather buy the Alaska miles for this one and save the 103,500 KrisFlyer miles for a better value redemption, assuming we needed to fly this city pair in isolation.

Change and cancellation is free

Alaska Mileage Plan abolished its US$125 change and cancellation (miles redeposit) fee on award tickets in 2020, but instead partner awards now have a US$12.50 booking fee per one-way trip (US$25 for a round-trip), which is not refundable if you cancel.

That means you won’t be significantly out of pocket if you lock in a redemption that you then can’t use – but remember don’t just leave refunded miles in Alaska MP! Redeem again as soon as possible at a competitive rate – the next overnight partner devaluation could be round the corner.

Alaska Miles don’t expire

Alaska Mileage Plan miles don’t expire, provided you have some earning or redemption activity within the last 24 months.

Buying miles, like in this sale, counts as earning activity.

Which card to use

If you are going to buy in this promotion, and assuming like most of our readers you are based in Singapore, you’ll want to achieve the maximum number of credit card miles for the purchase itself when buying Alaska Miles.

The transaction itself happens in US dollars (i.e. non-SGD) and is processed by points.com.

You can earn the most extra miles for the purchase transaction by using one of the following Singapore issued credit cards if you can:

* Note: Our readers have reported that using the DBS WWMC card via points.com does not automatically award the higher 4 mpd earn rate. You must usually appeal and claim the bonus miles later.

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Buying Alaska miles in a bonus sale was never for everybody, and that’s perhaps true now more than ever with the programme returning to its duplicitous ways, including no-notice devaluations apparently becoming the norm again.

Cathay Pacific’s excellent award rates for travel between Asia and the USA remain intact, but they look at serious risk of going the same way as JAL’s good-value awards… sooner or later.

As we’ve always said, you should not buy Alaska miles speculatively. Have a plan to use them, preferably immediately for an available award at “current” rates, before you take the plunge.

Changes in both partner redemption relationships and valuations can and do occur, and the scheme’s 90 days’ advance notice promise has now proven meaningless.

  Click here to buy Alaska Miles

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(Cover Photo: VDB Photos / Shutterstock)