Buy Ak Air Miles
The minimum amount of Alaska miles that you can buy with the 50% bonus is 20,000 miles. You'll end up with 30,000 miles (20,000 miles + 10,000 bonus miles) for a cost of $591.25. That's 1.97 per mile.
buy ak air miles
If you were to maximize this offer, you'd receive 150,000 Alaska miles (100,000 miles + 50,000 bonus miles) for $2,956.25, or 1.97 per mile. This purchase rate is less than the value that some people assign to Alaska miles, meaning it might be a good deal for some people, depending on their situation.
Alaska Mileage Plan miles are some of the most valuable miles around. In fact, of the 18 airlines that AwardWallet has analyzed, Alaska Mileage Plan miles have the highest average value. In recent redemptions, AwardWallet users have got 2.67 per mile average redemption rate per Alaska Mileage Plan mile.
Thus, you may struggle to get enough value from Alaska Mileage Plan miles for economy and premium economy awards to justify buying miles at 1.97 each. However, first- and business-class awards can be an incredible use of Alaska miles. We will highlight some of these opportunities below.
In our previous post detailing Mileage Plan sweet spots, we listed several of the top-value redemptions possible with Alaska miles. Let's choose four of these sweet spots and compare the typical cash price with the cost to purchase the necessary miles under the terms of the best offer.
When domestic airlines levy a Federal Excise Tax on mileage purchases, it's with the assumption that the purchased miles will be used for domestic air travel. However, as many award travelers are probably aware, this often isn't the case. If you use those purchased miles for international travel, hotel stays, gift cards, or any other redemption, you should be able to get it refunded.
We have compiled a list of former Alaska Airlines buy miles promotions. As you can see, there have been quite a few previous promotions that have offered a 60% bonus, so this current 50% bonus isn't the best we've seen from Alaska Airlines. But don't get us wrong, this is still a solid deal.
Over the year, Alaska Airlines has increased the frequency and bonuses it offers through mileage sales. We've seen on quite a few occasions where the offer can reach as high as 60%. So it's important to always check the current promotion being run to see if you can grab these miles at a higher rate.
AS is the only airline where I buy miles to top off my account. I get good use out of their program. I will buy miles from them again to top off. I think their promos are good, especially since they do not have a cc to transfer points from into their program.
Quite a nice promo and the price for the miles is interesting.The only issue is the redemption which will not be imminent and so there is some risk to buy miles in advance for a future redemption.Especially because something can change in Mileage Plan after Alaska will join Oneworld.
The promo is very good, especially if you unlock the 60% promo for buying miles in October.Anyway, I have already some miles and recently I have cancelled a redemption and I had some miles deposited back in my account.For this reason I will pass.
With so many ways to earn points through various cards, why take the chance by buying miles? I rather just keep earning them through my credit card than just to buy on speculation. The risk vs rate of return seems pretty high for something like this.
Even though the most recent promotion to buy Alaska miles ended on June 30, 2020, it is interesting to consider buying Alaska miles at the standard rate because there are some values in certain situations.
Agreed, this is the 2nd time that Alaska offered 60% bonus, I always redeem Japan airline and Cathay via Alaska miles but travel is not an option for me right now and miles expire after a certain period of time. So it might not be a good idea to purchase miles without knowing when can we use it!
Thanks for the update on Alaska offers. I took advantage of the previous offer in May for two reasons: 1.) To top off my Alaska miles to give me a little extra cushion for the trip I plan to take and 2.) To quickly meet the spending requirement on a new card that will give me another cushion with that airline for a future trip I am looking forward to taking.
I agree. I think that the airlines will run more saver awards in the near future to entice people to fly again. Fares would also be cheaper until people start to feel comfortable flying again so buying the miles might not be the cheapest option.
Often buying points strategically can be a good value, and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is one of my favorite programs to buy miles from, both thanks to the frequency with which the program sells miles, and what a good deal award redemptions can be.
Not withstanding the "value" of Alaska miles does it make you wonder about the frequency of these offerings? It's a cheap way for an airline to raise quick cash plus your "buying into" an increasing cost to redeem. Someone has to pay for pilots making 500K plus annually!
Not withstanding the "value" of Alaska miles does it make you wonder about the frequency of these offerings? It's a cheap way for an airline to raise quick cash plus your "buying into" an increasing cost to redeem. Someone has to pay for pilots making 500K plus annually!with that said if one is planning a major vacation then purchasing miles works.
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Alaska Airlines is a leading carrier on the U.S. West Coast and serves more than 120 destinations across North and Central America. When you fly on Alaska Airlines, you can earn and redeem AAdvantage miles, plus, enjoy the benefits of your AAdvantage status.
You can earn AAdvantage miles when you fly on Alaska Airlines marketed and operated flights and Alaska Airlines codeshare flights operated by Horizon Air or other oneworld carriers.
Travel ticketed as an American Airlines marketed flight (booked as an AA flight number) and operated by Alaska Airlines will earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points according to the American mileage accrual chart.
Alaska-marketed codeshare flights operated by eligible partners earn miles at these same earning rates. That means you can potentially earn a lot more miles by booking an Alaska codeshare flight rather than a partner flight directly. All eligible Alaska-marketed flights earn 100%. However, some American Airlines flights only earn at a rate of 25% of flight miles.
The Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card* offers small business owners the same perks: free first checked bag, Alaska Famous Companion Fare and 20% back on in-flight purchases. The annual fee for the business card is $70 for the company and $25 per card. The card offers a welcome bonus: 70,000 bonus miles, plus Alaska's Famous Companion Fare after making $4,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening and earns 3 miles per dollar on Alaska Airlines purchases, 2 miles per dollar on eligible gas, shipping and local transit including rideshare purchases and 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases.
The Mileage Plan Shopping portal often offers bonus points for reaching spending thresholds. For example, a recent promotion offered 1,500 bonus Alaska miles for spending at least $550 through the Mileage Plan Shopping portal.
Award rates vary based on the day and the flight during the day. For example, flights from Seattle to Salt Lake City can cost as few as 5,000 miles on one day but start at 12,500 miles the next day. And first-class awards can vary across the entire 15,000- to 40,000-mile range on the same day. This means the difference between main and first class can on some days be a nominal 5,000 miles while on others it can be an astronomical 35,000 miles.
Or, stopover in Tokyo and connect onward in Asia for just a little bit more. For example, business class awards from the U.S. to Singapore on Japan Airlines cost 40,000 miles each way in economy or 65,000 miles one-way in business class.
The only downsides to the program are the lack of bank point transfer partners, the inability to combine awards operated by multiple partner airlines and some shockingly expensive awards on both Alaska and partner airlines. But, for travelers who know how to earn and burn them, Alaska Mileage Plan miles can be incredibly valuable.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan periodically puts its miles on sale. These miles can be difficult to earn, so the occasional buy miles sales can be useful for topping up or stocking up to book one of the many Alaska Mileage Plan sweet spot redemptions.
Through Nov. 2, 2022, Alaska is offering a "mystery offer" buy miles sale through which you can buy miles with up to a 60% bonus. If you're targeted for a 60% bonus, you'll be able to buy miles for as low as 1.85 cents per mile. You can log in and check your offer here.
TPG's valuations peg the value of Alaska miles at 1.8 cents each. But, buying miles for slightly higher than our valuations may provide excellent value if you have a specific redemption in mind. In particular, purchasing miles through this sale may be a good idea if you're ready to book an award flight and have already found bookable award space. 041b061a72