The post has been updated with current information.
Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan program has a bit of a learning curve if you've been with a U.S.legacy carrier. The Alaska Mileage Plan program has its fair share of quirks, with award sweet spots that are almost always more valuable on partner airlines than on Alaska itself.
You can use Alaska's Mileage Plan to plan your next award trip. Some ways to maximize your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan redemptions will be discussed today.
There are three ways to grow your Mileage Plan balance without traveling since Alaska Mileage Plan doesn't participate in major transferrable point currencies.
Signing up for a new Alaska Airlines credit card is the first thing you need to do. If you make $2,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account, the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card will give you 50,000 bonus miles. The 50,000-mile bonus is worth an impressive $900.
You can transfer points from Marriott Bonvoy to another hotel. You will get a 5,000-mile bonus for every Marriott point you transfer. Marriott recently reduced its 5,000-mile bonus for other airlines.
If you apply for a Marriott credit card, you will be able to earn more Marriott points. The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card has a welcome bonus of 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, which can be used to make $5,000 in purchases in the first three months of card membership.
One of Alaska's frequent sales is on purchased miles. If you've already found the award space you want, buying Alaska miles can be a good idea.
The Alaska Mileage Plan has a dining and shopping program. You can earn miles when you shop online and eat out.
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You can earn miles with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
Zone-based or distance-based award charts are used in most frequent flyer programs, where the cost to travel between two cities is the same regardless of which airline you fly. It's true with Alaska. If you choose one partner over another, you could save a lot of miles.
The other major U.S. carriers have shifted away from award charts. There is an award chart page in Alaska.
An example of a one-way economy-class award would be from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Manila's MNL in the Phillipines. There are two airlines that can be found on the Alaska website.
It's clear that Japan Airlines is a better redemption value than Singapore Airlines.
Premium cabins have more price discrepancies than other routes. For flights from the U.S. to Australia, a one-way first-class award can be had for as little as 70,000 miles.
Previously, Alaska didn't show awards from other countries on its website.
There is an ultimate guide to searching award availability.
Even though Alaska is a member of Oneworld, you can still use your Mileage Plan miles with a variety of carriers.
Every flight operated by those partner airlines is not always included in the agreements. Alaska's award chart is limited to designated routes. If Alaska's website doesn't show an award chart, you won't be able to book an itinerary with mileage plan miles.
Let's say you would like to travel from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport to Incheon International Airport in South Korea. You could redeem Alaska miles for flights on Korean Air. Korean Air is not an option when searching Europe to Asia.
If you're traveling from Europe to Asia, you're limited to a few airlines.
You can earn and redeem with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
If a customer had to cancel their trip, they had to pay two $125 redeposit fees. Redeposit fees for Mileage Plan members are no longer charged by Alaska.
If you want to experience two airlines, you can book two one-way awards instead of a single round-trip. When you book one-way awards, you get a free stopover. Since you can book one-way awards on almost all of Alaska's partners, there's no incentive to book a round-trip award.
The only exceptions are flights on Korean Air. Korean flights are expensive to start with, but you can only book round-trip awards. The price of a one-way ticket will be the same as a round trip. If you want to combine one-way awards, you should avoid Korean Air.
There are sweet spots with the Alaska Airlines mileage plan.
It is possible to reach India, Australia and Southeast Asia without breaking the bank. A free stop on the way will allow you to arrive at your destination better rested and allow you to see another city for free.
It is possible to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to the airport in Thailand. It would cost you 50,000 miles each way in business or first class. For the same number of miles, you could fly from JFK to HKG, stop for a few days, and then continue on to Bangkok.
You could return through Hong Kong on the return. Booking one-way tickets will allow you to go to a different city. You can return in either Japan Airlines business class or first class. It would take at least 60,000 miles for business class or at least 70,000 for first class, but you could take a trip to Tokyo.
When you plan your travel, consider the Mileage Plan stopovers. It is a great opportunity to see a destination and break up a long journey without spending more miles.
You can use the multi-city search feature to find a stop in Alaska. If you're travelling on a partner airline, your stop should be at the partner's hub.
There are ways to maximize stopovers on award tickets.
The Alaska Mileage Plan program is a great way to travel, but you need to plan for it.
We recommend getting familiar with the different partner award prices. Flexibility is the key to scoring high- value Alaska Mileage Plan redemptions.
The additional reporting was done by Kyle.
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