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It’s no secret that Alaska Airlines offers some of the sweetest sweet spots in the game ( don’t worry – we included a list of our faves.) These sweet spots are why I abandoned American, and why a lot of people buy their miles to capitalize on it. 70k for Cathay First… CAHMON, that is just so tasty. But, in order to fully understand how to take advantage of those sweet spots we thought it’d be helpful to put together a list of our tips to booking Alaska award tickets like a PRO. You’ll be booking that bad mamajamma of a flight you’ve been pining over in no time – and if you need some help – don’t forget we offer an award booking service 🙂
Photo Tour of some dope ways you can use your Alaska Miles
Crunching the numbers of dope deals with Alaska miles
Check out Cathay Biz and First to Africa and Australia – unreal deals.
- To Asia
- Cathay Biz is 50k One way
- Cathy First is 70k One way
- Japan Biz to Asia is 60k
- Japan First to Asia is 70k
- Japan Biz to S.E. Asia is 65k
- Japan First to S.E. Asia is 75k
- Europe
- Air France biz is 62.5k
- BA Biz is 60k
- BA First is 70k
- Middle East
- BA Biz is 70k
- BA First is 80k
- Cathay Business is 62.5k
- Cathay First is 70k
- Australia – 70k miles to fly First Class from the States to Australia!
- Qantas Biz is 55k
- Qantas First is 70k
- Cathay Biz is 60k
- Cathay First is 80k
- Fiji Biz is 55k
- Africa
- Air France Biz is 70k
- British Airways Biz is 70k
- British Airways First is 80k
- Cathay Biz is 62.5k
- Cathay First is 70k
OK – let’s get to those tips…
Most partners can be found using Alaska Airlines
I think Alaska has a pretty proficient search engine for partner flights that are accessible for booking. However, it doesn’t show all availability and it doesn’t allow for very complex bookings. If you can piece together a trip segment by segment, but the search engine can’t price it, it doesn’t mean a rep can’t do it. So call in and ask for them to do it, and request the phone fee to be waived. Cathay and LATAM can’t be booked online, let’s address that:
Cathay Pacific Space:
One of the very best redemptions for Alaska miles is Cathay Pacific.
- Cannot be searched on Alaska’s website
- Alaska doesn’t have access to all Cathay Pacific space
- Search BA
- Then Qantas at 5-7 day mark
- Then Asia Miles
Cathay Pacific prioritizes inventory for their own loyalists, so searching via Asia Miles should be a last minute strategy and avoided initially because it will show space Alaska may not have access to. Therefore…
Search on British Airways to find space until 5-7 days prior to departure. BA blocks space on Cathay within that timeframe. So then switch to Qantas to search, but not all space shows up there either. So if you really want to see potential space, search on Asia Miles, but Alaska may not have access to it.
LATAM:
LATAM is the result of a merger between LAN and TAM. Alaska is a technically partner of LATAM, but only on flights that are operated by what was once LAN…where Alaska established the partnership. Confused? Don’t worry – here’s the easy hack: Look at the flight number
- If it starts with JJ, Alaska won’t have access because it used to be a TAM flight
- If it starts with LA, Alaska does have access because it used to be a LAN flight
You can search using BA.com, but it doesn’t truly show all the space, so if you really want to see saver space search on LATAM itself.
Add in a stopover for more value
Alaska allows you to bake in a stopover on award tickets for no additional charge. This could be used during your trip or at the end of your trip in preparation of another one…
- Example: You want to go to Bangkok from Los Angeles
- You could fly fly via Tokyo on Japan Airlines and stopover in Tokyo for a few days to experience another city
- simply make sure there is space on the days you prefer, and call in to book.
- You could fly fly via Tokyo on Japan Airlines and stopover in Tokyo for a few days to experience another city
- Example 2: You’re flying home from Bangkok to Los Angeles, but have a trip months later to NY.
- You could fly from Bangkok through Tokyo ( without a stop) to Los Angeles ( with a stopover), and then months later continue on to New York all on the same ticket.
The main caveat of this perk is that the airline mix must be on partner only, or partner + Alaska. So if you want to fly back from Bangkok via Asia and stopover in LA, but continue on months later to New York, the flight from LA to NY must be on Alaska metal.
Changing a booking
- Outside of 60 days….no fee
- Inside of 60 days – a $125 fee
- Unless you are Gold or Gold75k – then the fee is waived
*Pro Tip – changing in the middle of your itinerary to get a better cabin*
Example: You booked a trip in business class from BKK-HKG-LAX with a stopover in HKG
- While in Hong Kong you notice first class space to LAX has opened up
You can change your booking in the middle of an itinerary, you’ll just need to pay a change fee and any difference in points, taxes, fees, etc.
You see space available online – here’s how to guide the rep to finding it too
If you’ve constructed a fare, break it down into components and ask the rep to search individually. Then request it to be assembled.
Example: You live in Chicago and want to go to Bangkok and you’ve found ORD-LAX-HKG-BKK mixing Alaska and Cathay
If you ask the rep to find space from Chicago to Bangkok it may result in them saying it’s not available because the system can’t support the complex search.
However.
If you say ” Can you confirm space from LA to Hong Kong on Cathay Business on April 2nd.” You’ll have much better luck. Then ask, ” what if we added on Hong Kong to Bangkok…etc”
Hope these tips help you plan and book your dream trip. If you need help – we offer an award booking service 🙂
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
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.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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.