Mileage Plan members can redeem miles at just 10K to 12.5K each way, and the taxes are rather reasonable at $6. You must book this offer by May 18.

You can access this offer on Alaska’s website here.

Eligible Routes:

Conclusion

These are relatively reasonable prices to travel to/from Hawaii from Alaska’s West Coast hubs. Just remember to issue the ticket(s) by the end of today.

Terms and conditions of this offer:

The indicated total purchase price (including miles, taxes, and fees) is nonrefundable and available only on flights marketed by Alaska Airlines for travel on Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, SkyWest, or PenAir. All taxes and fees are in U.S. dollars and are subject to change without notice. Bag fees apply for checked baggage (waived for up to 3 bags when traveling entirely within the state of AK), overweight/oversized items may incur additional fees; for bags checked in Canada, an additional VAT fee from $2.15 (CAD) per bag may apply. A ticket purchased at an airport location or through a reservation call center will be subject to a $15.00 administrative fee per person. Applicable fare and tax differences apply to any changes made after ticketing. Dollar amounts displayed include U.S. government taxes and fees and any foreign government taxes and fees (based on the current currency exchange rate and subject to change); certain foreign government taxes and fees are collected at the foreign airport. Some markets may not operate daily service. Seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or all days. If nonstop service is offered during the advertised travel period, the advertised fare will only apply to those flights.

Of course, the only reason why Alaska would offer something like this is because the flight in question is oversold, and they will eventually need volunteers to stay behind, offering them a lot more in credits at the airport compared to this email.

It wouldn’t even occur to me to give Alaska my seat for $35 unless I had booked a connection that isn’t all that great, and my plans changed to the point where the new alternative they offer is actually better for me, and I pocket the $35 on top.

But if Alaska is already soliciting the information that the flight is probably oversold, I’d rather gamble and see what they offer at the airport.

Here is what the email looks like they sent me:

And the alternative flights listed which – be careful – weren’t even all on the same day:

The most interesting thing was that the flights they offered in the list range from one day prior to two days later so for one you should really pay attention to the date and also you have to be quite flexible. If you were looking to change your flight then hey, even better.

The footnote of the email reads:

Offer expires 24 hours after delivery or when maximum number of acceptances is reached, whichever is earliest. Alternate flights are subject to availability at time of acceptance. Offer only available via this email.

Certificates are valid for one year from issue date. Tickets must be purchased prior to expiration date. Certificates cannot be bartered or sold. Any attempt to do so will result in forfeiture of the certificate. Certificates must be redeemed on alaskaair.com.

I wonder how many people are taking Alaska up on this offer. Are $35 really enough to entice people to change their flight, freeing up space on the flight Alaska wants them to? Apparently so.

I’m definitely not going to do it. I did check, however, the loads on the flights offered and my own that I’m currently confirmed on. Alaska is still selling seats on my flights. A lot of seats.

There are only four seats left in First Class, though on my flight, and the other flight options with seven seats or more open in First aren’t available for selection or I might have actually considered it. I guess I’m just taking my chances at this point and hope the status benefits me (or Alaska offers me one of their famous buy-up upgrades).

Conclusion

Alaska Airlines is running a new program where they contact customers booked on certain flights that are most likely oversold and offer them change options to be confirmed on either an earlier or later flight. Other than United, which offers same-day confirmed flight changes irrespective of the status of your own flight, Alaska actually pays you in advance.

If you’re up for the bumping game, you can always go to the airport and see if the agents that day are desperate to bump people, and in that case, vouchers should be plentiful and MUCH higher than $35. Maybe add a zero as a starting point.

I don’t have many options and freedom to take a later flight as I have an Alaska Cruise the next day, but an earlier flight might be in the cards with the right inducements ($$$).

Privilege Club members earn double Avios on Alaska Airlines, and you can always move the Avios between British Airways and Qatar Airways Avios accounts.

You can access this offer on Qatar Airways website here.

Qatar Airways Alaska Airlines Avios Earnings Table (Before Bonus):

Conclusion

Alaska Airlines tend to have these bonus miles campaigns with partner airlines, as does Qatar Airways. Whether you should credit Alaska Airlines flights to Privilege Club or Mileage Plan depends on how you plan to use them.

Terms and conditions of this offer:

• This offer is only applicable to Privilege Club main members.
• Eligible cabin: All
• Booking Period: 01 May 2023 – 30 June 2023
• Travel Period: 01 May 2023 – 30 June 2023
• To be eligible for this offer, members need to ensure to quote their Privilege Club number at the time of booking or check-in.
• If the passenger is not a Privilege Club member, they can enroll at qatarairways.com and update their booking with membership number to earn bonus Avios.
• Members will earn bonus Avios over the base Avios earned on Alaska Airlines flights during the offer period. Any other promotional bonus Avios will not be considered in the calculation of the offer bonus.
• Tier bonus, family accrued Avios and other promotional bonus will not be considered for the calculation of bonus Avios.
• Bonus Avios are calculated based on the combination of booking date, flight date, cabin and booking class.
• Travel completed before or after the offer period will not count toward this promotion.
• Existing tickets issued prior to the offer booking period; will not be eligible for the promotional bonus, if reissued during the offer period.
• Qualifying eligible flights must be marketed by Alaska Airlines or Qatar Airways and operated by Alaska Airlines.
• Flights marketed and/or operated by codeshare partners not listed above aren’t eligible for this promotion.
• The offer is applicable only for Privilege Club members travelling on Alaska Airlines flights.
• In case of overlapping campaigns, members will receive the highest bonus currency.
• Members may use this offer more than once during the offer period.
• Not applicable for award ticket bookings.
• In case of any queries regarding this offer, please quote the offer code: 2304PC019 when you contact our Member Service Centre.

Mileage Plan members earn double miles for Qatar Airways flights if they are marketed by Qatar Airways or Alaska Airlines. You must register for this offer.

You can sign up for this offer on Alaska’s website here and access Qatar Airways here.

Note that you must register for this offer, but there doesn’t appear to be a booking window requirement.

Mileage Plan Qatar Airways Earning Chart:

Conclusion

Alaska’s earnings for Qatar’s business and first class fares are excellent, except in P. This double miles offer is good, but the flight window is short.

Terms and conditions of this offer:

Offer valid on flights operated by Qatar Airways and marketed by Qatar Airways or Alaska Airlines and credited to a Member’s Mileage Plan account. Members must register and book flights for this promotion through June 30, 2023, to receive double miles. Percentage of base miles earned can be viewed on the corresponding Qatar Airways partner page. Double miles offer is valid only on qualifying paid flights booked in fare class F, P, A, J, C, D, I, R, Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N, Q, G, T, O and W for travel from May 1, 2023 through June 30, 2023. All travel must be completed by June 30, 2023. Member must register for the promotion at www.alaskaair.com/promo/QR2301 before the first qualifying flight. Not valid on free or award travel. Double miles do not count toward Mileage Plan elite status. Please allow four to six weeks for miles to be credited to your Mileage Plan account. All terms and conditions of the Mileage Plan program apply. Offer subject to change without notice.

Mileage Plan members can already earn miles for STARLUX flights, and they are promising (often much delayed) that redeeming miles will come online in the summer of 2023.

You can access Alaska Airlines here and STARLUX here.

STARLUX Earning Chart For Mileage Plan:

You need to pay attention to the flight numbers that are eligible for Mileage Plan credit, as I found out the other year that there are wide gaps in what Singapore Airlines flights can be credited to Alaska, and I expect that the same applies here.

Alaska’s announcement:

Alaska Airlines launches partnership with STARLUX Airlines

Our newest global partner now flies between Los Angeles and Taipei with connections to 16 destinations across Asia; Mileage Plan members can earn miles on all STARLUX flights

SEATTLE, April 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — With more of us looking to travel internationally this year, Alaska Airlines is celebrating our newest global airline partner: STARLUX Airlines, a Taipei-based premium carrier, which today launched its inaugural transpacific service between Taipei and Los Angeles. Alaska is STARLUX’s first airline partner.

Our Mileage Plan members can now earn miles on all STARLUX flights, and soon they’ll be able to redeem miles on STARLUX. When redemptions become available this summer on STARLUX flights between Los Angeles and Taipei, they will start at 20,000 miles for economy, 40,000 for premium economy and 60,000 for business class for a limited time

From Southern California, STARLUX opens a new international gateway through its main hub in Taipei for connections to 16 destinations across Asia, including Bangkok, Thailand; Hanoi, Vietnam; Penang, Malaysia; Manila, Philippines; Singapore; Macau and Sapporo, Japan. Los Angeles (LAX) is one of Alaska’s hubs along the West Coast allowing for convenient connectivity to STARLUX flights for our guests.

“STARLUX is a premier global airline offering world-class service and amenities. We’re proud to be their first airline partner,” said Nat Pieper, senior vice president of fleet, finance and alliances at Alaska Airlines. “Our guests will love flying on STARLUX, connecting the West Coast, Taipei  and many more incredible places in Asia. We’re thrilled to offer our loyal Mileage Plan members another exciting way to see the world.”

“STARLUX Airlines has marked a successful three-year operation of our Asian routes, revolutionizing the aviation industry with our exceptional service and innovative cabin design that have been highly commended by passengers. In a new milestone, we launched our inaugural flight to Los Angeles today, offering convenient and comfortable long-haul premier services to passengers traveling to the city of angels,” said Glenn Chai, CEO of STARLUX Airlines.

Chai added: “Alaska Airlines, the fifth largest airline in the United States with a wide network covering over 100 cities across the country, is partnering with STARLUX Airlines to deliver more exquisite and convenient flights for travelers journeying between North America and Asia. The partnership will enable seamless connections for STARLUX Airlines customers traveling to destinations across the U.S., making it easier and more convenient to navigate the country’s extensive domestic air network. With this partnership, we are committed to ensuring that travelers enjoy a hassle-free journey and arrive at their final destinations feeling relaxed and refreshed.”

STARLUX operates the transpacific route with its new-generation Airbus A350-900 aircraft configured in a four-class layout: First, business, premium economy and economy. Travelers in first and business classes enjoy a private space with a sliding door and seats with full-flat and Zero G mode for full relaxation. The extra-legroom premium economy section features a 40-inch Recaro seat with a leg rest and footrest bar. Economy class seats are equipped with leather headrests and a wide seat pitch.

Inflight service on STARLUX includes Taiwanese signature dishes and amenities prepared for passengers in all classes. STARLUX will be offering first and business guests a selection of the best top chef’s creations and local Taiwanese delicacies. The popular STARLUX signature dish yakiniku donburi is served on board. And to bring greater individuality to their air travel experience, all passengers can pre-order meals online so they can enjoy the meal they want.

Alaska’s Non-Oneworld Frequent Flier Partners:

Conclusion

STARLUX Airlines taps into Alaska Airlines flight network from Los Angeles to provide much-needed connectivity for its flights from Taipei.

Taiwan already has China Airlines (SkyTeam) and EVA Air (Star Alliance), and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if STARLUX will eventually become affiliated with the only alliance (Oneworld) not yet present in the country, but Cathay Pacific may object to this.

Alaska Airlines often delays the redemption availability of its new partners (haven’t we all experienced this?). They still don’t have a comprehensive award chart for worldwide travel that would allow mixing and matching partners.

However, it is good news for many frequent fliers that you can at least credit STARLUX Airlines flights to a widely used frequent flier program.

Alaska Airlines joined Oneworld in March 2021, and you can redeem miles with alliance airlines, although a comprehensive award chart is still missing. Alaska also has ties with several non-Oneworld partners, including Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, and Condor.

You can access Alaska’s web page for buying and gifting miles here.

UPDATE: It seems that Alaska’s offer is targeted at various bonus amounts, and you can find yours here.

Alaska Airlines has instituted a maximum number of miles that non-elite members can purchase yearly (150,000). However, MVP, MVP Gold, and MVP 75K can continue purchasing miles without any limits (you have to make several purchases).

Price at 50% bonus:

The cost of an Alaska Airlines mile purchased at the 50% bonus level is 1.97 cents each.

Conclusion

Alaska Airlines miles are helpful for partner awards on premium cabins on airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and JAL. However, there have been changes in many partner awards over the past couple of years, so check the number of miles required if you have redeemed recently.

Alaska’s promised comprehensive partner award chart is still missing, and you cannot redeem awards for many routes, and mixing and matching partners is an issue.

These mileage sales usually max at 60%, although they had one 70% bonus in 2020. So if yours is less than 60%, I would wait for a better sale.

Here are the terms and conditions of this offer:

• Transactions must be completed between 6:00 AM PT April 10, 2023 and 11:59 PM PT May 21, 2023 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, MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K 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.

She asked if there was any way she could get the points back and while these programs usually say that transfers are irreversible I tried to do a test run and request Alaska Mileage Plan to return my own 25,000 / 60,000 Marriott points back to Marriott Bonvoy based on the awards now being significantly more expensive.

I didn’t expect much to come of it and that Alaska would just fluff me off but they indeed acted upon my request as I stated that the award I intended to redeem (HND-BKK in Business Class) is now priced at 50,000 miles and therefore doubled in price.

Early March, I transferred 60,000 Bonvoy points, translating to 25,000 Alaska Airlines for this purpose. I’m not willing to transfer another 60k Marriott nor buy additional points just for that award.

To my surprise, it took just a few business days until a transaction showed up on my Marriott account that displayed 60,000 points being deposited as a “Mileage Exception”:

The points weren’t immediately redeemed from my Alaska account and there wasn’t an email from Mileage Plan to respond to my query either but I knew that would just be a matter of time.

Indeed, today I received an email from them that reads as follows:

The miles were then withdrawn, basically voiding the transfer. It’s nice to see that Alaska Airlines (and that means any airline really) has the ability to refuse or reverse a mileage transfer either by command or by contacting their liaison at the respective transfer partner.

Here is once again the Reader Question where one of our readers had the same issue:

Reader Question: Can I Get My Transferred Points Back From Frequent Flyer Programs After Award Devaluation?

I contacted the reader again and suggested she will file her query with Alaska Airlines as well. There is nothing guaranteed though as the email said it’s a one time exception. I’m not a status member and neither is my Alaska account (or either of my programs) tied to any identifier that would reveal I’m writing for LoyaltyLobby. To them I lodged this request as a common customer and they were fair enough to reverse the points as I requested.

These programs don’t do themselves any favor by implementing such changes without prior notice. I don’t see what difference it would have made if Alaska Mileage Plan had given four weeks advance notice considering the availability for JAL awards is so miserable that you can’t find tickets either way. At least it would be fair to members, and the argument that Alaska engages in foul play would have been moot.

I also likened the practice to sell miles constantly and then cull certain lucrative awards overnight without notice as a scam, and I still think that very least airlines who engage in such dishonest actions should do is to provide a refund when requested.

Mind you, the responsible party to contact here is Alaska Airlines and not Marriott. They can’t pull the points back, it has to be initiated by Alaska Mileage Plan.

Conclusion

A reader contacted us and asked if it’s possible to reverse a points transfer from Marriott to Alaska Airlines. Unfortunately, I had to answer that this is technically not possible and that, based on the current T&C, either program would most likely refuse such a refund.

It got me curious as I myself transferred 60k Marriott points to 25k Alaska Miles a month ago and was so far unable to use it. I decided to send an email to the program requesting my points to be refunded and Alaska Airlines responded positively to my request, sending the points back to Marriott within a few days.

You might want to try this as well if you have purchased or transferred miles RECENTLY and were negatively impacted by the recent redemption rate changes.

Some awards such as intra Asia in Business Class doubled in price while others such as South East Asia to North America went up by 50% which is a highly damaging move.

It’s especially dishonest of Alaska Airlines to do this as they constantly hawk miles through various sales, making people spend money to build up large balances of Mileage Plan miles and now they got screwed by Alaska.

Below are some examples of how Alaska has modified the mileage requirements.

Bangkok to Los Angeles in Economy Class:

This used to cost 35k miles and now Alaska Mileage plane charges 57,500 Miles.

Even worse if you just want to go from Bangkok to Tokyo:

The price for Business Class went up by 100% from 25,000 miles to 50,000 miles.

Planning to go from Chicago to Tokyo?

Business Class now costs 80,000 miles (up by 20k from previously 60k), and First Class now costs you a pretty 100,000 miles (75k previously).

The same for Tokyo to New York (via LAX in this case):

You get the picture. It’s absolutely outrageous how Alaska Mileage Plan devalues the award chart without any notice whatsoever following months and plenty of campaigns to sell miles to customers.

They might have the right to do it under the program’s t&c, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. Customers should file a complaint with the DOT and Attorney General’s Consumer Division. I’d also explore the option of a credit card chargeback if you purchased miles just recently and JAL redemptions were on your radar.

We have covered Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan extensively here on LoyaltyLobby. They were a great program for many years and allowed to collect miles quite easily, even before being affiliated with oneWorld.

Here is a case of an award ticket I redeemed in the past from Bangkok to LAX, featured in our Award Success series.

Award Success: Japan Airlines First Class Bangkok To Los Angeles With Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Redemption

Redeeming them has often been a challenge due to strange redemption rules and routing restrictions. Even today, it’s impossible to redeem Alaska Airlines miles in a mix of different oneWorld carriers and many common partner routes.

In December, they released what they called “Comprehensive Award Charts” which eliminated the individual partner award charts, essentially taking away any safety net for customers to know what they’d eventually have to pay for their awards:

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Releases “Comprehensive” Award Charts

This wasn’t exactly a trustworthy signal and just the writing on the wall that they are up to no good.

Let’s be clear here, all programs increase their awards over time, and that’s just a normal phenomenon we have to deal with. Call it “mileage inflation” if you want. But there is a difference in how programs handle it and in some parts of the world, there is also a legal requirement to provide advance notice.

Alaska Airlines didn’t provide any such notice. They just modified the requirements overnight and now customers are the ones who are at a disadvantage. This is not a way of doing business, Alaska Airlines!

And they aren’t alone, Virgin Atlantic just did the same with ANA awards, although in a less extreme fashion. I’m really getting tired of these airlines constantly dumping on their customers.

Conclusion

Alaska Airlines has massively increased the mileage requirements for Japan Airlines award flights and didn’t provide any advance notice to members, many of which have spent a lot of money purchasing miles from Alaska Mileage Plan in the recent past.

There are still other partners that miles can be used on for a reasonable rate, such as Cathay Pacific but of course, they don’t have too many routing options and (at least at the present time) reduced capacity.

Sadly, Alaska Airlines has proven that it can’t be trusted. I’d be wary of crediting or purchasing any miles into Mileage Plan accounts at this point. They haven’t acted in good faith even since joining oneWorld with no urgency whatsoever to align their redemption rules with the way it’s usually customary within an alliance and now this devaluation. What a scam!

Members can purchase up to 150,000 miles plus applicable bonuses per calendar year (100k per transaction) and Mileage Plan Elite’s have the annual limits waived.

Alaska Airlines joined Oneworld on March 31, 2021, but awards with many alliance airlines have been delayed. In addition, Alaska has ties with several non-Oneworld partners, including Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, and Condor.

You can access Alaska’s web page for buying and gifting miles here.

Alaska Airlines has instituted a maximum number of miles that non-elite members can purchase yearly (150,000). However, MVP, MVP Gold, and MVP 75K can continue purchasing miles without any limits (you have to make several purchases).

This is the current pricing:

For this example, I picked a 30k miles purchase as that is the minimum amount to earn the 50% bonus which comes in a staggered form:

• 3,000-9,000 Miles = 30%
• 10,000-29,000 = 40%
• 30,000-100,000 = 50%

The pricing under this sale is reasonable however I’d be careful when it comes to limitations on awards and the availability of flights.

Alaska Airlines is extremely difficult with routings and even airlines that can be booked with Mileage Plan miles. A full year since joining the oneWorld alliance there is still no comprehensive oneworld award that would allow combining all airlines or using any routing that’s permissible under normal ticketing rules.

They did release an award chart last December that has simplified redemption rates on paper:

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Releases “Comprehensive” Award Charts

Unfortunately, that still doesn’t let you combine several oneworld carriers as it’s pretty common practice with other programs.

Unless you have a clear use case, I’d be careful to purchase miles for a large amount of money. I transferred some Bonvoy points to Alaska last month and then availability dried up. This would be quite regrettable had I spent cash actual money on the miles.

Conclusion

Alaska Airlines miles are helpful for partner awards on premium cabins on airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and JAL. We’re still eagerly awaiting a fully comprehensive award chart that allows mixing and matching between all different Oneworld airlines but so far Alaska hasn’t moved much in that direction.

These mileage sales usually max at 60%, although they had one 70% bonus in 2020. So this particular sale with a 50% bonus is rather standard and I would wait for a better promotion to surface.

These are the Terms & Conditions of this promotion:

Members are still bound to highly restrictive rules when it comes to using Mileage Plan miles on partner airlines, just like it has always been.

There was hope at first that Mileage Plan would finally dispose of these restrictions which Alaska claims are based on the rules of the partner carriers as the standard within an alliance has always been that you can combine all carriers on awards and aside from severe backtracking there are no restrictions involved.

I’m now using airline reward miles for over 20 years and none of the explanations given by Alaska Airlines MP agents make any sense. Over the years I have used oneWorld miles from multiple different programs and they all allowed me to combine different oneworld partners. Not so with Alaska Airlines.

When I redeemed 27,500 miles for Cathay Pacific First Class from Tokyo to Hong Kong this week, trying to add additional segments I was told several things that don’t add up.

Here are some things the manager noted:

• Cathay Pacific (and any other partner) makes their own rules about what is allowed with award tickets on their metal ;
• Cathay Pacific doesn’t allow stopovers on intra-Asia itineraries, only 14 days when continuing from HK to North America and none at all for Asia to Europe
• Award partners can never be combined
• Alliance membership doesn’t mean you combine airlines in one award ticket

Alongside other ridiculous statements.

This is absolutely untrue and doesn’t make any sense. The main rules governing award tickets are set by the frequent flyer program and not the operating airline. The program decides if they allow stopovers or not, what the award levels are, and what program participating airlines you can include in a ticket.

Combining several alliance partners in one ticket is standard and common practice with pretty much all other programs. I have done so several times on awards issued by American Airlines AAdvantage and British Airways Executive Club and it was never a problem.

Alaska has had this problem for a long time and while its award chart has some real sweet spots, the practical aspect can be quite the opposite and a source of many headaches.

So now, Mileage Plan still imposes routing and carrier restrictions on its awards, even after the most recently published comprehensive award charts:

Combining different airlines is still not possible in many cases, and some airlines are likewise still not bookable on all of their routes. This is unacceptable for a carrier that was allowed to join a major alliance almost a full year ago.

We covered Alaska Airlines many times as far as them joining oneWorld and award restrictions are concerned:

Alaska Airlines Joins Oneworld By Summer 2021

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Changes Due To Oneworld?

Normally I find Alaska Airlines to have some of the more pleasant and knowledgeable agents to talk to so it isn’t as bad as calling some of the other carriers. But their knowledge extends only as far as they are trained and if these are stories they’re being told in training that how would they know better!?

Conclusion

Members of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan still can’t use their miles in a way that is common standard with other alliance programs. They apply their own strange rules that are highly restrictive and then claim that the operating carriers are at fault for this.

It simply doesn’t make any sense. Any oneworld program offers awards where multiple partners can be combined including but not limited to round-the-world awards (which Alaska doesn’t offer either).

Maybe it’s time that Mileage Plan is given a proper review and they make up their mind of the airline and program is really suitable as an alliance partner if they skeet the standards and rules wherever they please.

Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll try to cover them here several times a week.

Email From The Reader:

Alaska Airlines- Gate agent promise

I love your article, and respect your level-headed advice you dole out, so I’m asking you if I’m completely in the wrong here with a situation that happened yesterday when attempting to travel on Alaska Airlines.

I’ve tried to reach out to AA, first with the gate agent in question after the incident, then a supervisor but ultimately I was told to call Customer Care (3+ hour wait)

We had a flight from Portland (our home) to Seattle.  Once landing in Seattle, we had two hours to get our luggage and check in for an international flight, on another airline (dream vacation to Iceland).  We understood that there is always risk when not using one airline on a trip.

Our flight was delayed, then delayed again.  Alarmed, I jumped in line with about 20 other people who sought seats on another PDX-SEA flight (there is about one an hour all day back and forth).  I asked one of the gate agents if there was a chance with all the people in line ahead of me that we could get rebooked on the next flight still- she said there would be no problem to do so.  I asked again, mentioning there were quite a few people in line, and we needed to get to Seattle for a flight to Iceland (not on Alaska Airlines).  Again, she said it would be no problem.

The line literally didn’t move for twenty minutes.  No-one left the counter.  At that point she announced there were QR codes on sines to connect to agents via chat, or we could go to other gates to get help.

Panicking I ran to another gate and (and while waiting in the smaller line, also connected to Alaska Airlines chat) and was told that all that was available now was Standby on the only flight that would get us to Seattle in time.  I explained the first gate agent promised we would be able to get on this flight, but they weren’t concerned.

Sure enough, we didn’t get on that flight, and our flight left to Iceland without us.  I am in the process of seeing if I can reschedule this vacation package but since I didn’t cancel within their deadlines it doesn’t seem likely at all.

I went back to the original gate agent and told her she had guaranteed we would get on the flight, and, if she hadn’t told me that I would’ve simply called Alaska immediately as soon as I got in the line and gotten seats on the next flight myself before they were all gone.  I trusted her and waited line as she had told me to do. She apologized and said that there had been twenty seats when she told me that we could get on the flight but there was nothing she could do.  Then she tried to blame the next airline company we were flying to Iceland on (Icelandic) for being difficult to work with when I told her we couldn’t get there until the next day or later.  Then she added that since we weren’t flying with Alaska Airlines to Iceland anyway try would’ve taken people with connecting flights ahead of us anyway!  She would’ve told us to step aide to pick behind us in line?

The main problem is that you should never book separate tickets without adequate time between them, especially if you are self-connecting to a long-haul flight.

Having two hours between short and long-haul flights with luggage to claim and recheck them leaves absolutely zero buffer for any delays. (Note that the exact time between these two flights is unclear, but the reader referred to two hours.) Nothing generally prevents airlines from checking bags through on separate tickets (many still do) than internal policies.

If I am doing a self-connection to a long-haul flight, I always try to leave 12 to 24 hours between the flights and preferably arrive the previous day.

Depending on the fare, you can sometimes tack in the connecting flight for a reasonable price that then makes the possible misconnection airlines’ headache.

The reader’s question was, is there some responsibility on Alaska’s shoulders due to the gate agent’s misinformation?

Unfortunately, some airline employees tell you what you want to hear to get you off their faces, and there is no recourse. Sometime the misinformation may be intentional.

How many times have you heard announcements in-flight on delayed flights that the connections are held only to find out that all went out on their scheduled departure times or that there will be employees at the arrival gate to handle rebooking/give out hotel vouchers when there aren’t any?

Conclusion

I don’t want to blame anybody here, but I wanted to post this experience to remind readers to be very cautious when buying flights on separate tickets and to understand the consequences.

Airlines have no responsibility if you misconnect on separate tickets, even when they are on the same carrier.

You can often save significantly when choosing an advantageous departure point (don’t we love how airlines price tickets?), but then you may “lose” a day when flying in the day before.

Fees vary and can be as little as $12.50 per ticket but since there is zero additional effort to reserve a flight on another carrier, is there any justification for charging it?

Not only do certain programs charge for booking mileage tickets on their own alliance partners, but in case you have to cancel the ticket, that fee isn’t even refundable, and the airline will pocket the money.

Here is an example of a recent Alaska Airlines ticket operated by Japan Airlines that I had initially reserved for next week but which I decided to cancel:

It’s a simple one-way from Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur which was really the only decent connection in Business Class at the time I booked it.

These were the associated fees:

The good thing about Alaska Mileage Plan is that they (as most U.S. based programs) don’t charge the pesky fuel surcharges for awards, however the booking fee for partners of their own alliance still prevails. $12.50 are being charged for any mileage ticket that isn’t on Alaska.

And it’s nonrefundable!

When my plans changed and I no longer desired to either stay or transfer in KL I decided to cancel.

This is the refund notice:

The cancellation was done promptly and I have received the miles back instantly. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan currently doesn’t charge to change, cancel and redeposit tickets so that’s definitely a customer friendly policy that makes the $12.50 irrelevant.

It still begs the question why these fees exist in the first place. Booking awards on a partner carrier doesn’t cost them anything extra in maintenance or manpower. Of course they have to pay the partner for the flight but that’s part of the game if you offer it in the first place and it’s not like you can take Alaska Airlines instead of JAL from Tokyo to KL.

It’s simply a money grab by those carriers that charge it and have no justification in practice. On routes where both their own flights and those of partner flights are available it should probably deter people from booking other airlines rather than their own but to make this universal makes no sense. Don’t join an alliance or partnership then!

Alaska Mileage Plan isn’t the only carrier that charges such fees but the only one where I personally encountered it recently.

There are plenty of fees one can encounter when booking award flights. For the longest time, American Airlines wanted to charge a callcenter booking fee when booking awards over the phone, even though the website wouldn’t allow to book that specific award online (usually JAL or Cathay in my case). In 4 out of 5 cases I had to escalate it to a supervisor to get the fee waived. After all it isn’t a choice, let a lone a particular joy to call the airline and deal with the surly agents for an award booking. U.S. Airways back in the day was especially bad and likewise fee-laden.

Conclusion

Some airlines frequent flyer programs still charge fees for booking flights on partner airlines, even their own alliance that they elected to join. This fee is usually not refunable. Likewise you might be confronted with fees for booking through the callcenter rather than the website. Usually when people call to book rather than doing it quickly on their own the reason is that the website functionality doesn’t allow to book in the first place. Always take a screenshot and dispute such fees.

In the case of Alaska Mileage Plan they have very few other fees and currently allow free changes, cancellations and mileage deposits for all tier levels and as such I don’t want to beat up on them too much for charging $12.50 but it remains an annoying item.

Have you encountered this with other airlines as well?

Alaska Airlines joined Oneworld on March 31, 2021, but awards with many alliance airlines have been delayed. In addition, Alaska has ties with several non-Oneworld partners, including Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, and Condor.

You can access Alaska’s web page for buying and gifting miles here.

Alaska Airlines has instituted a maximum number of miles that non-elite members can purchase yearly (150,000). However, MVP, MVP Gold, and MVP 75K can continue purchasing miles without any limits (you have to make several purchases).

Price at 50% bonus:

The cost of an Alaska Airlines mile purchased at the 50% bonus level is 1.97 cents each.

Conclusion

Alaska Airlines miles are helpful for partner awards on premium cabins on airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and JAL. We eagerly await the comprehensive award chart that allows mixing and matching different Oneworld airlines that should come out soon.

These mileage sales usually max at 60%, although they had one 70% bonus in 2020. So if yours is less than 60%, I would wait for a better sale to surface.

Here are the terms and conditions of this offer:

• Transactions must be completed between 6:00 AM PST January 18, 2023 and 11:59 PM PST February 20, 2023 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, MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K 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.

Alaska has had this problem for a long time and while its award chart has some real sweet spots, the practical aspect can be quite the opposite and source for many headaches.

Mileage Plan still imposes routing and carrier restrictions on its awards, even after the most recently published comprehensive award charts:

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Releases “Comprehensive” Award Charts

Combining different airlines is still not possible in many cases, and some airlines are still not bookable on all of their routes but that isn’t even the problem one of our readers has.

Here is his email:

For the last few years, I earned almost 300k Alaska miles by signing up for credit cards ad transferring hotel points. I’m not ready to book a flight for myself and my wife but can’t seem to find any availability no matter for what destination.

We’re planning to go to Thailand and Vietnam and the most reasonable way is from NA through Tokyo or Hong Kong. Long-range flights on Japan Airlines are available and so are the connections but only when searched separately, never in the same search. I don’t have enough miles to book this separately. At this point we don’t even care anymore where in South Eat Asia we fly, worst case we stay there for a few days and then buy a cheap ticket to travel onward. Suggestions?

Well, it’s always good to be flexible like this, and it definitely helps to keep one’s options open, but that doesn’t explain the root cause of the problem.

The reader didn’t specify from where in North America he wants to fly from but the underlying issue is either a technical fault with Alaska Airlines website or a some married segment requirement. Married Segment is synonymous for two segments booked in combination, but in this case, it seems to be reversed, namely that the reader would like to book it all together but can only find it separately.

Here is an example:

Alaska shows nothing when searching for the entire routing but when you put in each route individually then you’re able to book it. As two separate tickets though.

There is one way around this, you can book the main route (the most important one) first and then call Alaska to request to add another segment. This also works when the website doesn’t display the correct class of service on a through ticket but when you search separately it has everything available.

This happened to me last year when I booked Bangkok-Tokyo-Los Angeles:

Award Success: Japan Airlines First Class Bangkok To Los Angeles With Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Redemption

It might now always be the most convenient option to having to call the airline and wait long times on the phone to get something like this resolved, but at some point, you gotta pick your poison as they say.

You will be charged with the additional amount of taxes and miles (if any) and the ticket will be reissued.

I find Alaska Airlines to have some of the more pleasant and knowledgeable agents to talk to so it isn’t as bad as calling some of the other carriers.

Conclusion

One of our readers contacted us to receive advice on how to proceed with an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan award booking on partner airlines. The website is acting up for him and he doesn’t seem to get any results that would allow him to book his ticket in one itinerary. I suggest that he calls Alaska Airlines in this instance, especially as he can see both segments being available when booked individually. When that happenes to you, take down that information (times and flight numbers) and give it to the agent.

The reader should be able to piece together his desired itinerary that way. What the website shows isn’t always what can actually be booked on the phone, and agents usually have the power to manually fix things that the website doesn’t show. This doesn’t just go for Alaska Mileage Plan but most other frequent flyer programs as well, with one of the exceptions being Avianca LifeMiles which is absolutely horrible.