NOTE: This offer may be targeted to select Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members. This offer was supposed to have ended yesterday but it has been extended until 11:59 pm (PDT) September 3, 2021, because of a computer glitch. If you tried to take advantage of this offer and it failed, you have one more day to make this purchase.
Alaska Airlines has launched a new mileage-purchase program. This unique offer rewards customers that flew in May, June and July, a discounted miles purchasing offer based on the miles flown during those months.
The Offer
Now ending at 11:59 pm (PDT) today, Alaska Airlines is offering a new miles purchase program. This program has a twist to it and is based on the number of miles that you flew this past May, June and July, 2021. The offer takes those miles flown and allows you to buy the same miles, double miles or triple miles at a discount of up to 30%.
In this case, my wife flew a total of 18,875 miles during that time period and this is her offer is to buy:
- 18,875 miles for $415.18 (20% discount),
- 37,744 miles for $778.47 (25% discount) and
- 56,616 miles for $1,089.96 (30% discount).
This offer may be targeted so check your email.
Does The Math Work?
Alaska Airlines miles are probably the most valuable miles of any airline. The pointsguy.com values Alaska Airlines’ miles at about 1.8 cents per mile. This is more than the retail mile valuations of other airlines. With that said, here is a breakdown of the math:
$415.18 divided by 18,872 miles = 2.19 cents per mile,
$778.47 divided by 37,744 miles = 2.06 cents per mile and
$1,089.86 divided by 56,616 miles = 1.92 cents per mile.
You can see that if the retail value of Alaska Airlines miles is two cents each then this deal is OK but it is not great. If you need to top off your account to book an award trip, this promotion may work for you. Alaska miles can be worth far more than two cents per mile when redeeming for international, premium class tickets.
We are flying from Seattle, WA to London Heathrow at the end of the month on American Airlines using Alaska Airlines miles. The one-way business class fare is $5,400.00. We cashed in 57,500 miles each for these business class seats. $5,400.00 divided by 57,500 miles means that the miles redeemed are worth 9.39 cents per mile. There was a charge of $19.00 for taxes and fees and a $25.00 award partner booking fee. This would bring the actual value down to 9.31 cents per mile, this is still an excellent deal.
Terms and Conditions
- This Accelerate discount offer is an exclusive, non-transferable offer for the intended recipient only and may not be forwarded.
- Eligible members may accelerate qualifying Mileage Plan miles earned during the months of May, June and July 2021 by purchasing bonus miles at a discount, as indicated in the offer e-mail.
- Eligible members must accelerate the total number of qualifying Mileage Plan miles earned during the months of May, June and July 2021, up to a total of 30,000 miles. Eligible members who have accrued more than 30,000 Mileage Plan miles during the months of May, June and July 2021 will be shown a maximum of 30,000 Mileage Plan miles available to accelerate as part of this offer.
- The customer offer indicates the number of qualifying Mileage Plan miles that may be accelerated through this offer. Mileage Plan Miles earned by flying with Alaska Airlines or any of our global airline partners or earned by spending with the Alaska Airlines Visa® card or any of our non-airline partners qualify for this offer, up to a cap of 30,000. Bonus miles earned from flights, purchased miles and miles granted as customer service gestures do not qualify.
- Transactions must be completed between 6:00 AM PST August 19, 2021 and 11:59 PM PST September 3, 2021, to be eligible for this Accelerator discount offer, and are limited to one transaction per eligible member.
- Mileage Plan Miles purchased by Canadian residents are subject to GST/HST. QST will be charged to Canadian residents.
- Mileage Plan Miles purchased through this offer are non-refundable and do not count toward MVP®, MVP Gold or MVP Gold 75K status.
- Eligible members may purchase up to a total of 150,000 Mileage Plan miles in a calendar year. MVP, MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K Mileage Plan members have no annual purchase limit.
- Offer is subject to change and all terms and conditions of the Mileage Plan Program apply.
Final Thoughts
I always like a good sale but this sale is close to the actual retail value of Alaska Airlines miles. Alaska Airlines miles are extremely valuable in booking international, premium class award flights. So, if you need to top off your account to make an award booking, this promotion may be for you. For us, we’ll pass on this one.
