Alaska Airlines Mileage plan has just rolled out the first offering to purchase Alaska Miles in 2021. It is a targeted offer and you could be eligible for a bonus of upto 60% or the lower 50%. I had a look and while I have been targeted for 60%, my P2 has been targeted for 50% and P3 for 60%.
When you are targeted for 60%, here is the offer:
1000 to 2000 miles – no Bonus
3000 to 39,000 miles – 40% Bonus
40,000 to 100,000 miles – 60% Bonus.
If you are targeted for 50%, here is the offer:
1000 to 2000 miles – no Bonus
3000 to 14,000 miles – 40% Bonus
15,000 to 100,000 miles – 50% Bonus.
So, its interesting to note that those who have been targeted for 50% bonus come out ahead if one wants to buy the base amount of points between 15,000 to 39,000 points as you get a bonus of 50%.
To do a comparison:
Customer A with up to 60% bonus
Buys base of 15,000 plus 6,000 bonus points at 40% for USD $412.50
while,
Customer B with upto 50% bonus
Buys base of 15,000 plus 7,500 bonus points at 50% for USD $412.50
You can buy a minimum of 1000 points up to a maximum of 100,000 miles per transaction. Those who hold MVP, MVP Gold or MVP Gold 75K in the Alaska Mileage Plan program have no annual limit on the number of miles they can purchase or gift, while the rest have a maximum limit of 150,000 miles per calendar year.
This offer is good through February 14, 2021.
Its ironic that the maximum limit for those without a status in the program is 150,000 miles as thats the amount of miles that one would need to snag a first class seat on Emirates as I did a while ago when it was a mere 90,000 miles before the devaluation.
So lets see how this compares if you are targeted for 60% Bonus:
Cost to purchase 150,000 miles is 95,000 plus bonus of 57,000 at 60% Bonus costs USD $ 3173.54.
To book a flight say New Delhi to Toronto will cost you 150,000 miles plus $31.82 in taxes and fees for a grand total cost of USD $3205.36
The cash price of this flight on Emirates.com works out to $5393.94 – a saving of over USD $2,000.00. However, note that with the redemption using Alaska Miles, you do not have access to the chauffeur car.
The purpose of doing the comparison was to demonstrate that at times it cheaper to purchase miles for luxury travel. Having said that I would personally never purchase all the points needed, but only buy a few to top up if I am short by a few miles.
The easiest way to accumulate Alaska Miles is by applying for either the “MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard” or “MBNA Alaska Airlines Platinum Plus Mastercard” to receive the welcome bonus and then earn on every day spend.
You can also lower the initial annual fee by applying via GreatCanadianRebates.ca.
I have a step by step guide in my earlier post here and note that there is an enhanced rebate being offered on the “MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard” thats valid until February 27, 2021.
Another point to remember is that you will no longer be able to book First Class on Emirates effective April 1, 2021. You will only be able to book flights in Business and Economy on Emirates April 1, 2021 onwards. Note you still have access to all other partner airlines, but in this post I wanted to focus on booking Emirates First class.
So, while we plan for the future, when travel opens up again, its a good idea to lock in some bookings. Having said that, here at CanadaPointsGuy.com, we have and always will advocate responsible and safe travels.
Written by Dominic Fernandes aka CanadaPointsGuy.
Image Photo by Miguel Ángel Sanz on Unsplash