Until October 31, 2024, you can earn up to 60% bonus miles when you purchase Alaska Mileage Plan miles.
The offer is targeted: some members may receive a lower bonus, for example 50% or 40%.
This is a recurring offer: up to 60% bonus was offered in September and also in August 2024.
The normal annual miles purchase limit is 150,000 miles (before bonus) per account per calendar year. The maximum is 100,000 miles per transaction.
For example, a purchase of 40,000 miles will cost you US$1,100. You’ll get 24,000 bonus miles, for a total of 64,000 miles.
Here are the bonuses awarded at different purchase levels:
The points purchase transaction is in U.S. dollars. For Quebec residents, GST and QST must be added.
We recommend that you use a credit card that does not charge foreign currency conversion fees, such as:
You’ll save 2.5% in fees with this points purchase!
Purchases are made via Points.com, a site external to Alaska Mileage Plan. Therefore, this will not count as an eligible travel purchase.
The answer to that question is… yes.
In Canada, as of November 27, 2022, we no longer have the opportunity to have credit cards that directly earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles.
So buying Alaska Mileage Plan miles can be an interesting solution, but ONLY when you have a very specific goal in mind.
Personally, I value Alaska Mileage Plan miles at 1.8 US cents (2.4 Canadian cents). However, they can be used to much greater value.
The only other indirect way to earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles is to transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
The transfer rate is 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per 1 mile Alaska Mileage Plan. Plus, there’s a 5,000-mile bonus if the transfer is 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
Alaska Airlines joined the Oneworld alliance on March 31, 2021, giving it access to many new partners.
But since then, Alaska Airlines has changed its fare structure in December 2022. Miles to be redeemed for an airline ticket now depend on distance, departure area or change according to demand.
This fee schedule was then revised in March 2024 according to different geographical zones, and the limits on point redemption between certain geographical zones were removed, which is good news.
The Alaska Mileage Plan program entitles its members to a free one-way stop on most award tickets.
For example, you can travel from Boston to Singapore with a few days stop in Tokyo for free.
Over the years, Alaska Airlines has diversified its partners, who may or may not be part of different airline alliances: Cathay Pacific, Fiji Airways, Qantas or Icelandair.
With the addition of Oneworld, you’ll be able to use Alaska Mileage Plan miles with more than twenty airline partners.
Buying Alaska Mileage Plan miles can be interesting for some. It can be for a specific travel goal, or to top up a balance of Alaska Mileage Plan miles toward an award ticket.
Especially since there is no longer any other option for obtaining them in Canada, other than transferring Marriott Bonvoy points!
Savings are here:
