Deals

Buy Alaska Miles with up to a 60% mystery bonus ( 1.72c per point ) and then 70% Bonus later in the year ( 1.61 cpp )

a stuffed animal on a seat

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Buy Alaska Miles and get up to a 60% bonus

I’m a big fan of Alaska Airlines, carry Elite status, and think they offer one of the most valuable airline miles.  That doesn’t mean it’s worth speculatively buying them, but when the bonus is high, and you have a need to shore up your account, it can be an opportune time to strike.

A little history:  70% has been the best public offer, and over the past few years that offer has popped up a few times. We see 60% bonus quite frequently, and this current offer is similar to one they presented a few years ago that allows you to buy today with up to a 60% bonus, and then a 70% bonus later in the year. Only those who buy now will have access to the 70% offer later ( so they say ).

I will note that we saw a 70% bonus in March of this year without the special trigger, so take that how you will. Alaska also changed their award chart March 1st, and have had some bad press, so they’ve been selling points with larger bonuses ever since.

The biggest reason you want to consider buying Alaska Miles is to use them for to fly expensive business and first class flights redemptions at a fraction of the cost. Most of you already know about this strategy, but keep reading as I explain what I’m talking about in more detail.

Only buy if you foresee a good use for them in the near future.

Buy Here, up to 60% bonus ( 1.72 c per point )

The offer is tiered depending on how many you purchase.

a screenshot of a website

 

In October per the terms, you’ll have access to a 70% bonus on purchased Alaska Miles

100k with a 70k bonus ( 1.61c per point ) In a single purchase looks like this:

  • I will note that you are limited to 100k + 70k purchases in a single purchase, and how many purchases you can make is dependent on your elite status.

a screenshot of a website

If you have elite status with Alaska Airlines, you can repeat the purchase as many times as you want to fill your account with the desired miles you need.

Unlike some other airlines, Alaska will not limit the total amount of miles you can purchase for their elites, just the total you can purchase at one time. If you don’t have Elite status, you are limited to 150k miles per year whether those are bought or gifted to you. ( This does not include bonus points, so you’d be limited to buying 160k total with a a 60% bonus. I would split them into two purchases:

How long do Alaska miles take to populate your account

Most of the time, they populate instantaneously. However, don’t count on it. I wrote an entire post dedicated to my issue with this, and the miles took a little over 24 hours to end up in my account. It could end up longer.

Alaska Airlines is a part of One World

In 2020 Alaska Airlines announced that they were joining One World. This became official on March 31st, 2021. There is also improved benefits when flying domestically on American, including upgrades for Elites, lounge access, etc. In my opinion, it’s never been better to have Alaska Elite Status. Read the in depth break down here.

inside an airplane with rows of seats

Again. I’d never recommend buying points speculatively, but price it out. Miles…do you buy Alaska Miles? Yes, we have!

When offers come up to get valuable points at a discount, I always think it’s worth considering when planning a trip. Often times simply buying points can result in a cheaper out of pocket cost than just buying the flights outright.

Alaska also allows you to book in a stopover on Award tickets.

I used the stopover to spend 3 nights in Hong Kong at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong – booked with Prive benefits.

a room with a view of water and boats

We flew on their A350 from BNE to HKG and then HKG to LAX aboard Cathay Pacific First Class. Cathay’s Business Class is a wonderful product featuring reverse herringbone, cirrus seating that is amongst the tops in the world.

a tv in the middle of an airplane

Here are the Alaska Award Charts

a screenshot of a chart a screenshot of a graph a screenshot of a graph

Interested? You can go here to purchase.

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

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The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

31 Comments

  • TMel March 8, 2024

    I’ve done this a few times to build up miles for international trips from LAX. Thankfully we were able to fly some impressive business class seats by doing this. After the recent changes to their milage chart I’m finding it challenging to plan trips that I had hoped to take with these miles. I suspect there are some ‘sweet spots’ yet to be made known and I’ll just have to keep digging.

  • Pete March 8, 2024

    You haven’t added in the tax. With tax included, the cost per mile is ~1.74 cents (assuming you have been targeted for a 70% bonus)

  • mojo August 12, 2022

    From the T&C’s on the Points.com purchasing page:

    ” 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**. “

  • Anthony P. June 22, 2022

    Any advice on transferring points and buying Alaska points to roundtrip in style to Bangkok?

    • Miles June 22, 2022

      What points do you currently have?

      • Anthony P June 22, 2022

        I have a 100k on Amex Platinum, and could fly out of ORD or JFK and we are traveling at the end of Jan. 2023. This is for the wife and I, she has the 130k sub bonus on Amex Hilton Honors but that may be Hilton points only.

        Thanks

  • Mike M April 15, 2022

    I will take Greyhound before Alaska Air.
    Three hours before a 7am flight a text from Alaska canceling the flight (4/09/22). Offering a booking on 4/11/22. Quite a random offer. Certainly not convenient nor possible for me. No same day rebooking on one of their « alliance » carriers.
    Text chat flat out disabled. So many « non-refundable » events hinged on a 4/09/22 arrival.
    Come to discover Alaska Air has been stringing their pilots contract renegotiation along for 3 years. Note that started pre-covid. Absolutely unacceptable bordering on criminal to take advantage of a group like that.
    Truly, Greyhound before Alaska Air.

  • Maribel October 24, 2021

    New to Alaska card holder, how often is this offered?

    • mojo August 12, 2022

      3 to 4 times a year

  • ktc October 7, 2021

    does buying Alaska miles extend your miles?

  • InLA May 11, 2021

    I’ve purchased Alaska miles in the past and won’t do it again. Problem #1 is with trying to book international business class on partner airlines to Europe. With Alaska, there can be up to four flight segments and only one domestic segment will be in business or first class. The rest are in economy. It’s next to impossible to get a transatlantic segment in business class. Rarely, a British Airways transatlantic segment is available in business (or even premium economy), but the surcharges are rediculous—that’s problem #2. When using United Miles, on the other hand, the international flight is always in business class but the domestic legs will be in economy.

  • Kelly April 13, 2021

    Thank you for the article! I’ve only been targeted for a 50% bonus. Is there a way I can influence that? I live in Alaska and have tickets I’d like to buy for myself and my daughter to Ohio in June.

  • Coralbaydivers October 31, 2020

    That’s obviously a huge bonus. Thank You

  • Guana August 17, 2020

    It is up to 50% miles, I personally am targeted for 40%. I have MVP Gold Status as well

    “Enjoy 40% bonus miles on your purchase when you buy miles now through August 26, 2020.”

  • supportpoint May 23, 2020

    That’s obviously a huge bonus. Great

  • Sus April 20, 2020

    I got their email and am excited to buy some points! What is the expiration policy with Alaska if we want to bank the miles for a trip in Fall 2021?

    • Christian April 20, 2020

      You just need some activity every 24 months. Between mileage purchases, shopping portals, dining miles, affiliated credit cards, etc, you should be good even if your trip plans change.

  • Sus January 27, 2020

    After helping us last year, the lightbulb went on and we just took advantage of this and more for Japan Gameshow Trip 2.0! For just over $1.5k, purchased 70k miles + $18 award fee to book a First Class(!!!) JAL flight from SFO to Haneda on a Sat. Then transferred Chase Points to United because there was a 72.5k + $50 fee offer on ANA Biz from Haneda to SFO. Had been hoping to even find an 83.5k chance for Biz so how lucky to come across this, right?

    Prior to this, Barrie had found an economy flight on JAL for over $1.4k and for less than $200 more can now travel First and Biz. The cash cost of these flights would’ve cost almost $21k. I really struggled how to figure out the whole points and partners system last year and thank you for your patience, help searching and for educating me so I felt confident enough to do this myself this time around.

    I highly recommend Miles/Zach’s services to make the most of planning a trip with miles and/or points. And to start early on with this blog to understand how to earn those with credit card(s).

  • […] up. Until then, I wanted to give a little heads up regarding purchased Alaska miles. Right now, they’re offering up to a 50% bonus on miles, and I wanted to take advantage of it to nab some first class Emirates seats for my return. I have […]

  • […] a 40% bonus on purchased miles. That means you could straight buy this route for roughly $750. Read more here. Buy […]

  • […] Japan Airlines First Class. Personally, I think this combo is one of the best in the sky, and when Alaska puts their miles on sale, you can straight up purchase the points for under $1500. Amazing […]

  • Gilly August 23, 2019

    Would be helpful to recommend best credit cards for purchasing–does Alaska use Points.com or will using the Alaska CC provide additional benefits?

    • Miles August 23, 2019

      Hey Gilly – its processed via points.com so pretty much universally 1x – some have gotten 3x with Ink Business Preferred but by my understanding that no longer exists

  • […] If you’d like to read more details, including great redemptions ideas ——-> Read this post […]

  • Mike April 20, 2019

    Be aware of the new terms and conditions Alaska Air has put in place:

    Your Mileage Plan account may 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. MVP, MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K

    • Miles April 21, 2019

      Absolutely true and when I updated the post I forgot to update those terms. Corrected now. thank you!

    • mojo August 12, 2022

      From the T&C’s on the Points.com purchasing page:

      ” 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**. “

      • Miles August 13, 2022

        Thank you for pointing this out, I updated the post to reflect this!

  • BlueMountain August 25, 2018

    If I get approved on Alaska Airlines Visa Signature that requires $1000 total purchase within 90 days, can I use that to pay for purchasing miles with 50% bonus and earn both bonus miles and current offer of 30k for meeting purchase requirements within 90 days?

    • Miles August 28, 2018

      yep! make sure you see if you’re targeted for the 40k offer too

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