Alaska Airlines miles are some of the most valuable in my book, especially since they are they still have not switched to a dynamic pricing model for award travel. You can book travel on some partners, like Cathay Pacific, for the same price in first class that American would charge for business class. It’s true the award chart isn’t as easy to use as some other carriers’, but there’s still a lot of value. You can even upgrade from some award tickets on Alaska to first class with your elite status.
Right now, you can buy additional miles for Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan with a bonus of up to 50%. This is one of the most generous bonuses I’ve ever seen. Typically 40% is a good offer, although 30% is also common. This promotion runs through May 19, 2019.
- Buy 10,000 – 19,000 miles = 20% bonus
- Buy 20,000 – 39,000 miles = 35% bonus
- Buy 40,000 – 60,000 miles = 50% bonus
Purchases are processed through Points.com, so you will not earn any bonus if you use a credit card that normally issues bonuses for airline ticket purchases. You are permitted to make multiple purchases to get more than 60,000 miles. If you were to max out a single transaction, you would pay $1,773.75 for 60,000 miles and earn 30,000 bonus miles, for a net cost of 1.97 cents per mile.
Keep in mind there is a cap on the number of miles that some people can buy. Earlier this year Alaska decided that its miles were so popular with some customers that it would have to restrict access. (Competition from those people would obviously limit the number of awards left for regular passengers.) That cap is 150,000 miles purchased per year, but you can still buy an unlimited number of miles if you have elite status at any level.
