Alaska Airlines announced today a pretty compelling offer for its Mileage Plan members: get twice as many award miles on many of its “Coast2Coast” flights during 2019. It’s nice that you can take advantage of this benefit all year long, so my guess is Alaska is really going after business travelers with frequent and regular travel schedules.
Sadly, flights to/from Seattle and Portland aren’t on the list of eligible routes. Boo!
These double miles will only apply to award miles, the kind you can earn and redeem toward redemptions on Alaska and its international partners like Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and British Airways. You’ll still earn the normal amount of elite qualifying miles that help you achieve Mileage Plan status.
Be sure to register for the promotion before you fly. You can sign up for Mileage Plan on the registration page if you haven’t joined already.
Eligible Routes
The promotion includes nearly all of Alaska’s non-stop coast-to-coast routes out of California, where the company is putting a lot of its marketing effort these days since the Virgin America acquisition. Sadly no routes out of Seattle or Portland are included.
Eligible on West Coast departures between:
- Los Angeles (LAX) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)
- San Diego (SAN) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Newark (EWR), or Orlando (MCO)
- San Francisco (SFO) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Orlando (MCO), Philadelphia (PHL), Raleigh (RDU), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)
- San Jose (SJC) and New York (JFK) or Newark (EWR)
Eligible on East Coast departures between:
- New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), or San Jose (SJC)
- Newark (EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), or San Jose (SJC)
- Baltimore (BWI) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), or San Francisco (SFO)
- Boston (BOS) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), or San Francisco (SFO)
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
- Orlando (MCO) and San Diego (SAN) or San Francisco (SFO)
- Philadelphia (PHL) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
- Raleigh (RDU) and San Francisco (SFO)
- Washington-Dulles (IAD) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
- Washington-Reagan (DCA) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
Service on Alaska Airlines
There’s always a critic in the audience who complains that Alaska doesn’t have a competitive product on coast-to-coast flights, and to some extent that’s true. Alaska does not have lie-flat seats, an extensive wine list, or built-in personal entertainment. If you are a celebrity on an expense account (the only reason American Airlines still offers three-cabin domestic first class is because the contract requires it), then Alaska is not your airline. If you’re flying coach, then the two are practically identical.
On the other hand, I think Alaska does a very good job of delivering value to the customers it targets. There is a sizable population who prefer a non-stop flight out of San Jose vs. the inconvenience of shlepping it up to SFO. The variety of flights, even if only once or twice a day, is better than being forced to connect through SFO/LAX/JFK/EWR. Their food and beverage are generally on par with the other carriers, and even better on some routes with enhanced meal service.
Second, there’s an advantage to taking out the lie-flat seats and built-in entertainment, which are heavy and might limit the availability of upgrades. Will you bother to use the bed feature on a daytime flight? Even the miles you earn on Alaska are more valuable and pegged to the distance you fly, not the price you pay. So for someone like me, who pays for his own travel, wants to fly non-stop from a non-hub, and doesn’t mind watching movies on his iPad, Alaska’s product is pretty good.
