Buy Alaska Miles at their lowest price ever [Flash Sale]

I'm a big fan of Alaska Airlines, carry Elite status, and when I see miles discounted, I'm always tempted to add to my balance. This is current sale is a complete conundrum. The opportunity of buying Alaska Miles at their best ever price with so many unknowns going forward is a muddied situation. On one hand, I can buy Alaska Miles with a 60% bonus and that's incredibly tempting, but on the other hand when would I use the miles?

The biggest reason you want to buy Alaska Miles is it opens up the ability to use the points to redeem expensive business and first class flights for a fraction of the cost. Most of you already know about this strategy, but keep reading as I explain what I'm talking about in more detail.

The deal goes until June 28th, 2020, and if you buy more than 14k miles, you'll get a 60% bonus, or 1.72c per point.

Of course, I never recommend buying any points, regardless of program, on speculation. So only buy if you foresee a good use for them in the near future.

The more you buy, the bigger the bonus. It's actually a pretty good deal if you can't buy more than 40k points since these levels are usually tied to lower bonuses.

Alaska will be joining One World

At some point in 2021, Alaska Airlines will be joining One World. One, I'm super excited about this, but it also means that their partners may end up changing. They're already pretty heavy on One World partners ( Cathay, Japan Airlines, FinnAir, BA, AA, Qantas ), but also they partner with great airlines like Emirates and Korean. Those airlines' future with the program is quite uncertain. So...if you're thinking of using points to fly on those airlines - caveat emptor.

Again. I'd never recommend buying points speculatively, but price it out. Miles...do you buy Alaska Miles? Yes, we have!

When offers come up to get valuable points at a discount, I always think it's worth considering when planning a trip. Often times simply buying points can result in a cheaper out of pocket cost than just buying the flights outright. For instance, I flew to Australia in Qantas First Class for 70k miles. That ticket sells for north of $10k easily, and with points...roughly $1400. Obviously this is an extreme example, but it works for a domestic flights as well. Often times Alaska will have a one way premium transcon flight priced over $1000...but also priced at 25k points. Easy redemption there.

If you have elite status with Alaska Airlines, you can repeat the purchase as many times as you want to fill your account with the desired miles you need.

Unlike some other airlines, Alaska will not limit the total amount of miles you can purchase for their elites, just the total you can purchase at one time. In this case...60k + 24k bonus.

If you don't have Elite status, you are limited to 150k miles per year.

How long do Alaska miles take to populate your account

Most of the time, they populate instantaneously. However, don't count on it. I wrote an entire post dedicated to my issue with this, and the miles took a little over 24 hours to end up in my account. It could end up longer.

Alaska also allows you to book in a stopover on Award tickets.

I used the stopover to spend 3 nights in Hong Kong at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong - booked with Prive benefits.

We flew on their A350 from BNE to HKG and then HKG to LAX aboard Cathay Pacific First Class. Cathay's Business Class is a wonderful product featuring reverse herringbone, cirrus seating that is amongst the tops in the world.

Here's a list of some of the best redemptions and why you may want to consider buying Alaska Miles

Check out Cathay Biz and First to Africa and Australia - unreal deals.

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• To Asia
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  • Cathay Biz is 50k One way
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  • Cathy First is 70k One way
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  • Japan Biz to Asia is 60k
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  • Japan First to Asia is 70k
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  • Japan Biz to S.E. Asia is 65k
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  • Japan First to S.E. Asia is 75k
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  • Hainan Business Class is 50k
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  • Korean Airlines is 52.5k ( must be booked roundtrip, read this post for details )
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• Middle East
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  • BA Biz is 70k
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  • BA First is 80k
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  • Emirates Business is 82.5k
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  • Emirates First is 150k
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  • Cathay Business is 62.5k
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  • Cathay First is 70k
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• Australia - 70k miles to fly First Class from the States to Australia!
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  • Qantas Biz is 55k
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  • Qantas First is 70k
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  • Cathay Biz is 60k
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  • Cathay First is 80k
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  • Fiji Biz is 55k
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  • Korean Airlines for 125k roundtrip in Biz
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• Africa
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  • British Airways Biz is 70k
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  • British Airways First is 80k
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  • Cathay Biz is 62.5k
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  • Cathay First is 70k

A few of my favorite Alaska redemptions