Now, through February 29th, you can purchase Alaska Airlines miles with up to a 60% bonus. This offer is NOT targeted so any Mileage Plan member can purchase miles and receive the bonus just by signing in to your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account. I tested this purchase using the email link from Alaska Airlines and just logging on to my account and I had the same results.
The Offer
The more miles that you buy, the bigger the bonus you will receive:
- Buy 3,000 – 19,000 miles and receive an extra 40% in bonus miles,
- Buy 20,000 – 39,000 miles and receive an extra 50% in bonus miles and
- Buy 40,000 miles or more and receive an extra 60% in bonus miles.
The maximum purchase amount is 100,000 with a bonus of 60,000 miles for a total of 160,000 miles.
Bonus Threshold Examples
Miles purchase at the 40% threshold
Miles purchase at the 50% threshold
Miles purchase at the 60% threshold
Miles purchase at the maximum purchase of 100,000 miles
Is This A Good Deal?
Let’s see just how good a deal this is. To figure this out, I’ll use the retail valuation by The Points Guy at 1.4 cents per mile. Here is the math using the examples above:
- 3,000 + 1,200 miles = 4,200 miles at $82.50. $82.50 divided by 4,200 = 1.96 cents per mile
- 20,000 + 10,000 miles = 30,000 miles at $550.00. $550.00 divided by 30,000 = 1.83 cents per mile
- 40,000 + 24,000 miles = 64,000 miles at $1,100. $1,100.00 divided by 64,000 = 1.72 cents per mile
- 100,000 + 60,000 miles = 160,000 miles at $2,750.00 $2,750.00 divided by 160,000 = 1.72 cents per mile
As you can see, all four of these examples exceed the retail value of Alaska Airlines miles at 1.4 cents per mile.
Who Should Take Advantage Of This Offer?
This offer is perfect if you need to purchase award tickets now and your account is short on miles. You can use this opportunity to purchase award tickets in a higher-fare class:
- Premium economy over economy,
- Business class over premium economy,
- First class over business class.
Paying With Your Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card
This is something that you need to know before buying Alaska Airlines miles at any time. The sale of miles is handled through the website points.com. Therefore, mileage purchases do not credit triple miles or double miles using the Alaska Airlines Visa credit cards. You should survey your credit card inventory and use the credit card that will get you the most points for your purchase.
Final Thoughts
Most any sale is better than paying the full retail price. This sale is no exception but is it really a good deal? Judging by the math, it is an OK deal. This deal is great if you need to book an award ticket today and you are short on miles. If you are one of those people, you should go for it.
