Over the past few days, there have been some great deals, promos and opportunities to score on Alaska Airlines. There is nothing but good news from Alaska Airlines. I will put everything in this post. There is a lot to unpack so let’s get started.
Buy One – Get One Free Deal (Ends Tonight)
Alaska Airlines Chief Football Officer (CFO) has a special sale observing the home game opener for the Seattle Seahawks. Go Seahawks!
Normally, for the second passenger to fly nearly free, you have to use one of your Alaska Airlines Visa credit card annual companion vouchers. Booking on Alaska Airlines to any of their destinations would cost $99.00 plus taxes and fees. This flash sale is even better where the second passenger flies for free. Russell Wilson is giving you a chance to save your companion voucher and save some cash in the same play. That’s a touchdown in my book. This offer ends tonight so call and friend and plan a flight. If you can make the booking rules work, you will score a touchdown.
You must book by September 20, 2021 by 11:59 pm PDT using the discount code BOGORUSS.
Here’s how it works:
- In the booking form on this page, enter your departure and arrival cities, dates, and at least 2 travelers.
- Travel is valid October 5 – December 15, 2021.
- Travel to Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica, or Belize is valid Sundays through Wednesdays.
- Travel from Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica or Belize is valid Tuesdays through Fridays.
- All other travel is valid Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
- Travel on days of week not listed above, solo travel, or in First Class will be discounted at 10%.
- Blackout dates of November 18–29, 2021, apply.
- Enter BOGORUSS into the discount code field, and then click “Find flights” to start your search.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THIS SALE:
Buy one coach class ticket at the regular price and get a second ticket for just the taxes. Discount code is valid for 50% off Main base fare levels published at alaskaair.com. Valid for itineraries with a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of seven (7) people, traveling together and booked and ticketed at the same time in the same reservation and at the same fare; valid for one-way or round-trip travel. Not valid on First Class fares.
Discount code is valid between all Alaska Airlines cities, excluding Prudhoe Bay (SCC). Not all flights operate on all days. Discount does not apply to government-imposed taxes and airport fees. Cannot be combined with other promotions. Discount code must be applied towards purchase of ticket by 11:59 pm (PT) on September 20, 2021.
Travel is valid October 5 – December 15, 2021. Travel to Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica, or Belize is valid Sundays through Wednesdays. Travel from Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica or Belize is valid Tuesdays through Fridays. All other travel is valid Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Travel on days of week not listed above, solo travel, or in First Class will be discounted at 10%.
Valid for new ticket purchases only. If the itinerary is canceled or changed, any refund or credit issued will be for the discounted price for each ticket.
Discount Codes have no cash value and are not valid for travel. Lost or stolen Discount Codes cannot be replaced. Alaska has the final authority regarding Discount Code redemption. Travel is subject to Alaska’s contract of carriage. Terms and conditions as written herein are final and cannot be changed by any statement or representation of any unauthorized person, including employees of Alaska/Horizon or issuing organization. Campaign ID: BOGORUSS
Fast Track To Status Promo Is Back
Do you need a little help to attain or elevate your elite status with Alaska Airlines? Don’t worry, Fast Track continues. Earn 50% more Mileage Plan™ elite-qualifying miles (EQM) on Alaska flights now extended through December 31, 2021. You will earn 50% more elite qualifying miles on top of your base miles flown. Alaska Airlines has a 500-mile minimum for all flights. The 129-miles between Portland (PDX) and Seattle (SEA) would earn 500 EQM plus an EQM bonus of 250 additional miles. Fast Track was offered at the beginning of 2021 and it was scheduled to expire on September 30, 2021. You now have an extra three months to earn elite qualifying miles. This is a great opportunity to earn status if you are a general member of the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
New to elite status? Check out these benefits.
- Two checked bags for you and companions on the same reservation,
- Priority boarding,
- Complimentary upgrades when available,
- Bonus miles on base miles earned and
- Access to preferred seating and dedicated customer service phone lines.
Plus, there’s never been a better time to be an elite. Earn status now to take advantage of expanded American Airlines and oneworld® perks.
Read more about elite status and its perks at alaskaair.com/elitebenefits.
When Alaska Airlines offered this promotion last year, I found that the Fast Track miles counted towards my elite status but it did not add miles to my account.
Finally, For members who held elite status as of January 1, 2021, that are unable to re-qualify by year-end 2021, Alaska Airlines will extend their status through April 30, 2022. You’ll have another opportunity to retain your status by flying from January – April 2022. Look for more details later this year. This will be available to members with elite status as of January 1, 2021, excluding members in status match promotions.
Earning Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) From Credit Card Spend
Normally, elite qualifying miles are earned from “butt-in-seat” miles or miles actually flown. It is rare that you can earn elite qualifying miles or status from credit card spending.
For every $2,500 you spend on purchases with your credit card, you can earn 2,500 elite-qualifying miles (EQMs) up to 20,000 EQMs. This offer is valid on purchases starting September 16, through November 15, 2021.
This means that that you can go from zero to MVP (tier 2) status just from credit card spending. If you have more than one Alaska Airlines Visa credit card, be aware that you cannot combine spending from multiple credit cards to reach the $2,500.00 threshold. I would use only one Alaska Airlines Visa credit for spending over the next two months.
Sale On Alaska Airlines Miles Purchases
Now, through September 21, 2021, you can earn up to a 50% bonus on purchased miles. This is a tiered-bonus structure:
- Buy 3,000 – 14,000 miles, get a 30% bonus
- Buy 15,000 – 39,000 miles, get a 40% bonus
- Buy 40,000 – 100,000 miles, get a 50% bonus
The pointsguy.com values Alaska Airlines’ miles at 1.8 cents per mile. At a 50% bonus, this is a so-so deal for me. However, if you redeem your Alaska miles for international, premium class tickets that valuation can change dramatically. This past July, Shelly and I flew from Zurich to Dubai to San Francisco on Emirates in first class. The retail value of that ticket is $13,000.00 and I redeemed 180,000 miles plus $142.00 in taxes and fees. Here is how the math breaks down:
- $13,000.00 minus $142.00 equals $12,848.00
- $12,848.00 divided by 180,000 miles equals 7.14 cents per mile
In this example, by spending my miles wisely, I was able to get a value of 7.14 cents per mile. I got almost four times the value by flying international, premium class flights. You can read my flight reviews for both Emirates first class flights here:
This is a great deal if you need to book an award trip using Alaska Airlines miles and your account is short. You could top off your account with the sale to book that dream trip.
In this example, I could purchase 100,000 miles and receive an additional 50,000 miles for a total of $2,956.25. This still equates to purchasing at 1.97 cents per mile.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
- Transactions must be completed between 00:00 AM PDT September 16, 2021 and 11:59 PM PDT September 21, 2021 to be eligible for bonus miles.
- Miles are purchased from Points.com Inc. for a cost of $27.50 per 1,000 miles, plus GST/HST for Canadian residents and QST for Quebec residents.
- Miles are non-refundable and do not count toward MVP and MVP/Gold status.
- You may purchase and gift Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles in increments of 1,000 miles up to 60,000 miles, and in increments of 5,000 miles up to a maximum of 100,000 miles per transaction.
- MVP, MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K Mileage Plan member (Elite Member) accounts have no annual limit on the number of miles which may be purchased or gifted through Points.com. If you are not an Elite Member, your account may only be credited up to a maximum total of 150,000 miles acquired through Points.com in a calendar year, whether purchased by you or gifted to you. Bonus miles do not count toward the maximum total of 150,000 miles.
- Offer is subject to change and all terms and conditions of the Mileage Plan Program apply.
- *Points.com Inc. is collecting Federal Excise Tax on behalf of Alaska Airlines Inc.
- Alaska Airlines Inc. has the obligation to collect Federal Excise Tax and remit the tax to the appropriate government agency.
New Top Elite Tier – MVP Gold 100K
I have saved the best news for last. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan will have a new top-tier level – MVP Gold 100K. Alaska Airlines decided to go with a fifth elite tier to be in line with other oneworld alliance members like American Airlines. Here is a breakdown of tiers by the numbers:
The differences that I noted for MVP Gold 100K were:
- 150% elite mileage bonus versus 125% for MVP Gold 75K,
- Upgrades clear starting 120 hours prior to departure (like MVP Gold 75Ks) but with the highest priority,
- Two one-way international upgrade certificates on American Airlines,
- Complimentary snack and drink in coach,
- MVP Gold 100K status will require a minimum of 24 segments flown on Alaska Airlines.
In my opinion, they could have sweetened the deal by adding these perks:
- Add another 50,000-mile bonus for MVP Gold 100K status and
- Let MVP Gold 100K members use their Alaska Airlines Visa credit card companion vouchers for booking first class seats.
You will need to fly 24 segments for top-tier status so this may reduce the number of people trying to status match to top-tier if they have to actually fly Alaska Airlines.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, nothing but great news from Alaska Airlines. All of the deals, steals, promotions and new top-tier information is in one place. Evaluate your account and see if any of these offers can elevate your flying on Alaska Airlines for the next year.
