The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan buy miles bonus is back and
once again we see it up at the 60% level which continues to be new
normal for the airline. The bonus is tiered in that if you buy 3,000 to
19,000 miles you’ll get a 40% bonus, 20,000 to 39,000 you’ll get a 50%
bonus and the 60% kicks in at the 40,000 mile level.
At 60% you’ll be buying Mileage Plan miles for as little as 1.85 US
cents each. With the program making it relatively easy to redeem at over 2 cents per mile for premium class award flights
this can be a really
good deal.
Offer details:
Receive up to 60% Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you buy or gift miles. Valid until Aug 21, 22
Buy or gift 3,000 – 19,000 miles, get a 40% bonus.
Buy or gift 20,000 – 39,000 miles, get a 50% bonus.
Buy or gift 40,000 – 100,000 miles, get a 60% bonus.
Does it make sense to buy Mileage Plan miles?
Yes
in some cases it does! Those cases tend to be for premium cabin
redemptions (business or first class) on Alaska’s partner airlines like
JAL, Korean and Cathay Pacific. For example, here is a round trip business class
flight between Vancouver and Seoul on Korean Air this November:
You can redeem 105,000 Mileage Plan miles + US$86.16 for these
flights. If you had to buy all 105,000 miles it would cost you US$1951.12 as you could buy 65,000 miles for $1921.56 US to end up with 104,000 miles then buy an additional 1,000 for $29.56
Convert that to C$, add in the GST/HST on the miles purchase and then the fees
on the redemption and you are looking at spending between C$2,800 –
C$3,100 (price is dependent on which province you are in for GST/HST and what US$-C$ conversion rate you get). That’s a big purchase and a lot of money but when you compare
it to the actual cost of the flight it provides over $800 savings over the current price for these flights:
Definitely not for everyone but something to consider if you are in the market for this type of opportunity!
Click here to learn and/or to buy Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles