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In short, eligible flights will earn you one base mile per actual mile flown. However, you can also purchase extra miles, with periodic Mileage Plan sales even giving you a way to buy them at a cheaper rate.
You'll need an account to buy Mileage Plan miles. If you don't have one, setting one up is free.
Once you have an account, the basics of buying miles are below:
Alaska Airlines reserves the right to change how much miles cost at any given time. As pricing for miles is only available on the Alaska Airlines website to Mileage Plan members, we have listed the current prices at the time of writing below for your convenience:
With Alaska Airlines' extensive list of airline partners, you can redeem Mileage Plan miles for flights all over the world. Cash prices of international tickets can be much higher than award prices, making mile redemption a valuable move for those who travel often. Because Alaska Airlines is partnered with carriers such as Qantas and Cathay Pacific, both business class and first class travel to the US and domestically can become more affordable for Australian travellers. It is therefore a worthwhile consideration for those who make frequent business trips or want slightly cheaper holidays, especially those who frequent the west coast of the US.
As well as being able to purchase flights at a slightly cheaper rate, Alaska Airlines also offers complimentary stopovers on one-way trips booked with award miles. This allows you to visit two cities for the price of one. Note that most competing airlines require round-trip travel to book stopovers or simply don't allow them at all.
Savvy travellers should keep an eye on Mileage Plan promotions, as bonus points really stack up. For instance, the airline has run promotions offering 40% bonus points, which means you can fly first class to Dallas from Sydney for approximately US$1,600 (80,000 mileage points). For comparison, the same flight, first class with Qantas costs just under AUD$13,000 one way as of November 2018.
Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan program can be extremely valuable for the right person. If you are someone who travels often on a range of carriers in the US, redeeming Alaska Airlines miles can offer some great deals. For Australian travellers who do not frequent the US, one of the best ways to utilise miles is to use them for travel on Qantas, Fiji Airways or Cathay Pacific.
Bear in mind that, as Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan program is most beneficial to US-based customers, it may be better to consider Australian alternatives such as Qantas Frequent Flyer or Virgin Velocity. If you are a frequent domestic flyer, these programs allow you to redeem points for flights across Australia.
The bottom line is, depending on how you fly, Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan can offer some great international deals, especially during promotional periods.
Image source: Alaska Airlines
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