With a significantly uncertain outlook for travel opportunities over the coming months, most of our readers are quite understandably not in the market for buying miles lately. The continued border restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have kept most of us grounded for an extended period and there looks to be no immediate respite in sight.
Alaska Airlines has regular ‘buy miles’ promotions and is not holding back this year with another one now in full swing. This time the airline is offering up to 50% bonus for those purchasing or topping up their balance between now and 21st 25th September 2020, allowing you the opportunity to buy Alaska miles from 1.8 US cents each.
The September 2020 offer
This is the fifth Alaska miles bonus offer since the coronavirus situation took hold, with anywhere from 40% up to 60% bonus sales already offered this year.
This week the airline appears not to be offering its record 60% bonus, with 50% being the top level. The exact deal is targeted specifically for your account, so log on to check. Not everyone receives the same offer.
Remember that these miles are very regularly on offer at these 40-50% bonus levels.
Pro Tip: Never buy Alaska miles at full price, unless you need a small top-up quickly to achieve a specific redemption, or to urgently keep your existing balance alive if it is about to expire. These miles are almost always available on offer (there were seven purchase bonus offers in 2019 alone).
At the top end you’ll have a 50% bonus (historically the maximum, but recently Alaska miles have been sold at a 60% bonus).
Here’s a typical 50% deal, as structured for my account:
| Miles purchased | Bonus | Cost per mile |
| 1,000 – 4,000 | None | 2.75 US ¢ |
| 5,000 – 34,000 | 40% | 1.96 US ¢ |
| 35,000 – 100,000 | 50% | 1.83 US ¢ |
Why buy Alaska miles?
In normal circumstances we’d recommend buying Alaska miles at 50%+ bonus rates for excellent value First and Business Class award tickets with airlines like Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines.
That’s because even if you don’t earn Alaska miles through other means (e.g. Kaligo hotel bookings, or crediting miles from paid Emirates / SIA bookings to the programme), the effective ‘fares’ you are paying for these redemptions are highly competitive even having only acquired your miles in one of these sales.
In many cases, taxes are low with no fuel surcharges levied and Alaska allows free stopovers for no additional miles on most itineraries.
Let’s look at some examples, with the effective cost shown based on buying all the miles you need for the booking.
 |
Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$): | ||
| 40% | 50% | ||
| Singapore to New York First Class* |
75,000 miles |
$1,473 | $1,375 |
| Singapore to New York Business Class |
65,000 miles |
$1,276 | $1,191 |
| Singapore to Tokyo Business Class |
25,000 miles |
$491 | $458 |
* Business Class Singapore to Tokyo, First Class Tokyo to New York
Singapore to the USA in JAL First Class for 75,000 Alaska miles is one of the standout redemptions in the programme, and just in case you thought it wasn’t possible:
This itinerary would cost you just US$1,375 if you bought Alaska miles at a 50% bonus rate, though to be fair no one will be complaining much about spending US$1,473 for the experience at the lower 40% bonus level.
While the first flight up to Tokyo is in JAL’s Business Class seat, you’ll be in First Class for the longer overnight flight to New York.
Better still, you can search and book JAL award tickets using Alaska miles wholly online, including availability view by month, no fuel surcharges are added so the taxes are low, and you can have a free stopover in Tokyo on this itinerary for no additional miles (just US$22 in additional taxes).
|
Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$): | ||
| 40% | 50% | ||
| Tokyo to Los Angeles Business Class |
80,000 miles |
$1,571 | $1,467 |
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.
Perhaps the only decent value option is a Business Class ticket on one of the airline’s fifth freedom routes between Tokyo and Los Angeles, usually 92,000 KrisFlyer miles but available for 80,000 Alaska miles or the equivalent of US$1,467 with a 50% purchase bonus.
It’s not an incredible deal but personally we would probably rather buy the Alaska miles for this one and save the 92,000 KrisFlyer miles for a better value redemption, assuming we needed to fly this city pair in isolation.
|
Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$): | ||
| 40% | 50% | ||
| Singapore to Los Angeles First Class* |
70,000 miles |
$1,375 | $1,283 |
| Singapore to Los Angeles Business Class |
50,000 miles |
$982 | $917 |
| Sydney to New York First Class* |
80,000 miles |
$1,571 | $1,467 |
| Sydney to New York Business Class |
60,000 miles |
$1,179 | $1,100 |
| Hong Kong to London Business Class |
42,500 miles |
$835 | $779 |
| Singapore to Tokyo Business Class |
22,500 miles |
$442 | $413 |
* 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$917 (if you buy at the 50% bonus rate).
Even Singapore to Tokyo or Seoul for example drops to US$413 in Business Class at a 50% bonus.
Bear in mind though that Cathay Pacific awards using Alaska miles are not searchable or bookable online, so you’ll have to call to secure them. Using the British Airways Avios or American Airlines AAdvantage search engines to check award availability beforehand is usually accurate.
|
Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$): | ||
| 40% | 50% | ||
| Sydney to Dallas First Class |
70,000 miles |
$1,375 | $1,283 |
| Sydney to Dallas Business Class |
55,000 miles |
$1,080 | $1,008 |
| Perth to Sydney Business Class |
20,000 miles |
$393 | $367 |
If you’re based in Australia, 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$367 when buying with a 50% bonus. Pick an Airbus A330 or Boeing 787 for the newest flat-bed seats.
It’s also worth checking out Australia to USA award pricing.
Business Class on one of the world’s longest flights (the 16-hour mammoth from Sydney to Dallas) comes in at around US$1,000 when buying miles at a 50% bonus.
|
Effective cost buying at bonus levels (US$): | ||
| 40% | 50% | ||
| Singapore to Chicago Business Class |
120,000 miles return |
$2,357 | $2,200 |
Korean Air awards 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$2,200 at the 50% bonus rate.You can search and redeem online for all partners, except Cathay Pacific and LATAM, where it has to be done over the phone.
Deadline: 21st 25th September 2020
The offer closes at 11.59pm PST on Sunday 20th September 2020, which is 2.59pm on Monday 21st September 2020 Singapore time.
Offer extended! Now closes at 11.59pm PST on Thursday 24th September 2020, which is 2.59pm on Friday 25th September 2020 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 2pm on 21st 25th September in Singapore if you’re interested, just in case you have any issues or the payment doesn’t go through first time.
Cancellation fees
Do note that Alaska Airlines charges a US$125 fee (around S$170 at the time of writing) for award ticket changes or cancellations, which is pretty steep. You’ll no doubt want to have relatively firm travel plans and dates before booking, in order to avoid this penalty.
Note: Alaska is currently offering change and cancellation fee waiver for award tickets booked between now and 31st December 2020, for travel booked through 30th November 2021, due to the coronavirus situation. Tickets must be changed or canceled prior to the departure of your original flight.All options
For those not familiar, here’s a recap of the airline and route options using Alaska Miles applicable to the majority of our readers in Asia-Pacific.
| Airline | Routes |
 |
Asia – Canada/USA, Caribbean & Mexico Australia/NZ – Canada/USA |
 |
India/South Asia – Canada/USA & Mexico |
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Asia – Canada/USA Australia/NZ – Canada/USA India/South Asia – Canada/USA Intra-Asia Hong Kong – Africa, Australia/NZ, Europe, India/South Asia & Middle East |
 |
Asia – Canada/USA Australia/NZ – Canada/USA India/South Asia – Canada/USA |
 |
Australia/NZ – USA |
 |
Asia – Canada/USA, Europe & Mexico India/South Asia – Canada/USA, Europe & Mexico |
 |
Asia – Canada/USA & Mexico Intra-China |
 |
Asia – Canada/USA Intra-Asia |
 |
Asia – Canada/USA Australia/NZ – Canada/USA India/South Asia – Canada/USA Korea – SE Asia |
 |
Australia/NZ – Canada/USA Intra-Australia |
 |
Asia – USA Asia – South Pacific Asia – India Asia – Middle East Asia – Europe Asia – Africa Intra-Asia |
You can view the full Alaska miles award charts here.
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:
| Card | Miles per S$1 | Notes |
 Citi Rewards Visa / MasterCard(see our review) |
4.0 | 4 mpd on all online spend in a statement period, capped at S$1,000 per card. |
 DBS Women’s World Mastercard*(see our review) |
4.0* | 4 mpd on all online spend in a calendar month, capped at S$2,000. |
 UOB Visa Signature(see our review) |
4.0 | 4 mpd on all overseas spend of at least S$1,000 in a statement period, capped at S$2,000. |
 Standard Chartered Visa Infinite(see our review) |
3.0 | For non-SGD spend, provided total card spend (any currency) is S$2,000 or greater in the same statement cycle. |
 UOB PRVI Miles (see our review) |
2.4 | All non-SGD spend. |
 OCBC Voyage Visa(see our review) |
2.2 | All non-SGD spend. |
 Citi PremierMiles (see our review) |
2.0 | All non-SGD spend. |
 Citi Prestige (see our review) |
2.0 | All non-SGD spend. |
* 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.
Should you buy?
In our opinion – probably not.
Even over the last two months with 60% bonuses on offer, buying Alaska Miles speculatively in the current climate doesn’t seem wise, unless you’re taking this opportunity to top-up for a specific redemption (later in 2021 for example).
Alaska Airlines should survive COVID-19, but no airline is 100% immune. Crucially, Alaska Mileage Plan is not ring-fenced from the airline. If Alaska Airlines goes down, so do your miles.
If you used Alaska miles in this example to make a partner redemption, like a JAL flight sometime in 2021, chances are it will not be honoured as the financial compensation between Alaska and the partner airline for an award flight happens after the flight has taken place.
Given that JAL knows it won’t be compensated in this case, they likely won’t honour the booking.
There’s also the risk of devaluation. Alaska miles have been devalued before, sometimes without notice, and the airline’s upcoming entry into the oneworld alliance (recently reaffirmed by oneworld itself) spells bad news for future changes to the award charts in our opinion.
If you still want to though:
Click here to buy Alaska Miles
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(Cover Photo: Alaska Airlines)