Business Platinum Card from American Express
130,000 MR points
9 Sweet Redemptions with Alaska Mileage Plan
This article was originally published in April 2018. With Alaska Airlines joining Oneworld later this year likely heralding some changes to the program, it’s time to update this list of attractive Alaska Mileage Plan redemptions to reflect the best sweet spots in the present program – consider booking these for your 2021 travels while they’re still around!
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MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard
- Earn 30,000 Alaska miles upon spending $1,000 in the first three months
- Receive an Annual Companion Fare for discounted travel on Alaska Airlines flights
- Earn 3x Alaska miles on Alaska Airlines purchases
- Earn 1x Alaska miles on all other purchases
- Minimum income: $80,000 personal or $150,000 household
- Annual fee: $99
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Is it possible to update this very interesting article? Congratulations to the whole team.
Hi
you should update the post since there’s no more possible to book EK first class with Alaska Miles. (neither other porgram than EK itself)
It appears that you can no longer use BA or Qantas website to find Alaska Airline’s award seat availability of Cathay seats (since you cant search Alaska and have to call. For a series of dates Im seeing business class seats on BA and Qantas’s website but the Alaska phone agent is not seeing them.
How do you recommend I proceed?
Hey, is the 3 month rule before re-applying for this card on mbna’s website?
I could not find it. I already have the mbna WE card and was thinking of changing it to a no-fee card and then apply for a new one.
Just curious where the 3 month rule came from, thanks.
I am on the same boat and already downloaded to no fee rewards plat plus card and waiting for this new promo.
even if there is 3 month rule.. i will be short by 4 days as the new promo expires on jan 1,2022 where as my downgrade happend on Oct 5th 2021
any dp of getting the sub with in the 90days rule will be appreciated
Hi Ricky,
It looks Manaus (MAO) is not longer offered by AA from MIA.
Probably you can fix it or leave as is as AA might bring back post pandemic..you never know..for now its not available in this route.
With Alaska Airlines joining the oneworld alliance, do you think they will be changing this reward chart? And if so, would it still be worth it to try to save up points right now Cathay business class
Are you sure about USA-India on JL F for 70K I see 75K on the redemption chart on Alaska’s website.
I’m late here, but I’ve corrected this – Alaska must have moved India back to the “Rest of Asia” zone at some point.
JFK or ORD via LAX to NAN (stop) to BNE for only 55K in J….a deal. Just waiting for someone to discover a vaccine.
Thanks, Ricky for this update. Are there still any sweet spots to fly Intra-Asia with Alaska MP redemption? I know there was a sweet spot for SIN-HKG-KUL, with a stopover in HKG. but it’s gone now.
Unfortunately you can no longer book stopovers on intra-Asia one-ways: https://princeoftravel.com/blog/alaska-mileage-plan-cuts-intra-asia-stopovers/
You can still book decent deals like Singapore–Hong Kong in Singapore Suites for 35k, but it’s no longer as good as before.
Hey Ricky, is there any other trick to get to Aus/NZ for only 150k alaska miles now that EK no longer flies SIN-CMB route? Thanks!
Best bet now is to take advantage of their AKL-DPS route. YYZ-DXB-AKL-DPS is 180k Alaska Miles.
Not that I’m aware of at the moment. Let’s hope Emirates adds some more interesting fifth-freedom routes soon!
Is Emirates first class to Sri Lanka via Australia still bookable?
Can we fly YVR to Bali on Cathay?
When I look to Alaska award chart, Bali do not show on Alaska’s little map when selecting ‘Asia’; it seems highlighted on the map only by selecting ‘South Pacific’… but then Cathay is not listed (only Fiji and Korean)… I’m trying to confirm the number of miles required in business.
Yes, you should definitely be able to do that. The little map isn’t really accurate.
OK so Bali is 50 000 Alaska miles on Cathay, right?
I’m trying to find the Toronto Peru redemption kin economy, but no matter what dates I search there’s only mixed cabin available at 30k one way. Annoying since only one of the two flights would actually be business. Also I’m guessing certain dates are blacked out? I can’t find anything around christmas/ new year through search. Not really sure what to do with my points.
Thanks!
Not "blacked out" per se, but likely the fact that American Airlines doesn’t want to release those seats as awards since they’re confident of selling them to paying customers.
I’d say an economy class redemption to Peru is still good, since the business class on these flights isn’t really anything special anyway.
Hi Ricky,
If I just got the WE Card 2 months ago (and hit the MSR), is it possible to Product Switch over to a No Fee card, and then apply in a month for the Platinum Plus? Or is the time frame too aggressive. Thanks!
I think that would be possible. MBNA is rather lenient on these things.
Hey what cycle of churn do you recommand for MBNA MC? How long should I keep the card to cancel and how long should I wait to reply? I’ve churned this card 3 time over few year but it seems too passive.
General rule of thumb is hold 6 months, wait 3 months. MBNA seems quite lenient, so going more aggressive than that might indeed pay off.
Hey Ricky,
Is this JFK-DXB-MEL-SIN-CMB routing still available ? Cant seem to search for it ?
Nope, Emirates no longer flies the SIN-CMB route.
Hey Ricky, for the JFK-DXB-MEL-SIN-CMB routing, are you limited to those layovers being a short period? If not, are you able to check-in your luggage and grab it in MEL?
Yeah, you can’t have stopovers unless it’s in DXB. You could probably short-check your luggage to MEL if it’s an overnight layover. Note that Emirates doesn’t fly SIN-CMB anymore, so that reduces the value of this sweet spot.
Those are so clever examples! I’m trying to package flights in business class from south-east of BC to Bali (DPS), stay there and visit a couple of islands during 3 weeks and then visit Viet-Nam from south to north, during one month and then fly into Japan for 3 weeks, before flying into Montreal. Goal is to use minimum miles and pay minimum surcharges/taxes.
I was thinking:
1) using Alaska to position flight from Spokane to Vancouver or Seatle
2) then Alaska on Cathay to Bali (maybe with a 2d stop-over in H-Kong, but not really interested)
3) find a way to fly to Saigon
4) Alaska on Japan Airlines to Tokyo (stop-over 3 weeks), manage a couple of local flights (using Low-cost, or other Alaska miles on JAL, or Avios??), and then continue with JAL to either Chicago, NY or Boston to find a connection to Montreal.
Any comments?
Would you have any ideas to be creative with:
– the flight from Bali (or Lombok LOP or Labuan Bajo LBJ) to reach Saigon. Avios? Low cost? Through KUL or CGK?
– how to include internal flights in Japan by the same token? Instead of flying from HAN>NRT on JAL, move to Taipei to use the interconnections on JAL between Taipei-Osaka KIX-Sapporo CTS and NRT to somehow get stopovers in those 3 areas ??
Is there any point to collecting Mileage Plan if I live in Winnipeg? I know Alaska doesn’t fly here. I’m most interested in first class flights to Asia.
Does Alaska have Mini RTW Options or Stopovers of over 300 days?
No Mini-RTW, but you can have one free stopover on a one-way booking of up to 364 days.
They should, or at least a stopover that you can push well into the year; I believe Ricky has a post mentioning the Cathay routing of Hong Kong-Vancouver-New York, and if you live in Vancouver, you can take the Vancouver-New York leg later on in the year.
Does the Emirates routing via Australia with a destination of Colombo still work? When I search on the Alaska site, no availability is coming up, even for economy class.
Unfortunately, I believe Emirates recently discontinued their service between Singapore and Colombo, which kills off that possibility. You can now only route back as far as Asia.
How has this now changed with Mariott Merger? Is the only practical way to earn through Bonus and regular spend?
"Before we begin, a reminder of the best ways to earn Alaska miles here in Canada:
The MBNA Alaska Airlines MasterCard gives you 25,000 Alaska miles upon spending $1,000 in the first three months; this card can also be “churned” repeatedly so as to obtain the bonus multiple times
SPG Starpoints can be transferred to Alaska Mileage Plan at a 1:1 ratio; you also get a bonus of 5,000 miles for every chunk of 20,000 Starpoints you transfer
Marriott Travel Packages allow you to trade in 270,000 Marriott Rewards points for 120,000 Alaska miles, PLUS 7 nights at a Category 1–5 hotel
You can still transfer points via Marriott (now at a 60,000:25,000 ratio, taking into account the 1:3 conversion from SPG), as well as through the Marriott Travel Packages. However, the Travel Packages have been devalued significantly in the new program, meaning that they aren’t nearly as great value anymore.
Hi Ricky,
Avid reader of your blog here. Thanks very much for the valuable information you put out there! I now have enough points for a flight from Canada to Japan in First or Business class , and I am trying to book a seat on Alaska’s website, but… what a let down! There is NO availability whatsoever from Eastern Canada (Montreal, Toronto) or even Boston, other than mixed cabin with the long leg of the flight in coach… I have tried every date from January to August, no luck. Ricky, how do you find those amazing seats?? I would very much like to enjoy the fruit of your advice, which I have been following for over a year now… 🙂
Hey Val,
Alaska doesn’t operate flights to Toronto or Montreal, and also doesn’t let you combine multiple partners in one reward. This means that you basically can’t redeem Alaska miles for a Japan Airlines First/Business class award to Japan starting from Eastern Canada – you have to start from the US and book a separate ticket to that US gateway.
From the US gateways, space on Japan Airlines in business/First is not exactly plentiful, but it’s certainly there. For example, First Class for 2 passengers is available ORD–NRT on Jul 1 or Jul 6, and business class for 2 passengers is available on Jul 8 or Jul 9. The farther in advance you look, the better your chances of securing the best seats.
thanks. I had hoped Alaska would have some decent business awards, but it seems it mainly for first class. I’ll skip the card then . much appreciate the work
Cathay and JAL business class are pretty great as well. It’s not that the value isn’t good for business class (it is!) just that the value is SO good for First Class that business class sometimes gets glossed over.
Hey Ricky,
Thanks for posting this! There are rumours that cathay might be pulling out of Alaska. Do you think this is a possibility?
Partner airline changes are always a possibility for any program. Until we hear anything official though, I wouldn’t put too much faith in rumours.
Hi Ricky!
Thank you for all of the great tips! I was wondering, based on my churning schedule, I believe I can redeem for a CX J or F one way trip to australia. However, I’m stuck for the return – do you have any recommendations on which program would be best for me to get back to canada? Thanks!
If you’re doing Alaska in one direction only, combine it with an Aeroplan trip on the way back! You could fly any of Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, ANA, etc. and experience their outstanding business class cabins as well. You can’t do any stopovers on a one-way, but could work in a few long layovers here and there.
Thank you, that’s a great idea! I definitely want to try a trans-pac on EVA Air.
Do you have any experience booking with SQ? Online sources suggest that they rarely release availability to partners but that was dated a few years ago, I want to try their J class from australia to SIN.
I recently booked SQ J on my crazy Aeroplan trip for next year. Totally doable between Australia and SIN (I had booked to PER with the new 787-10 business class).
"You can fly from Singapore to Tokyo, stay for up to 364 days, and then fly to Kuala Lumpur. Alaska treats this routing as a one-way redemption, even though it’s for all intents and purposes a roundtrip flight "
As for the layover case in Japan as above, would I be able to take my luggages out or I would only see my luggage again in KUL? because I would like to spend a week in Japan and a carry on bag would not carry as much as I would like…
Yes, you can check your bags to Tokyo, since it’s still considered a stopover and therefore makes perfect sense that you’ll be needing your bags.
Great article. Living in southern Ontario. Interested in the American Airlines redemption to Peru. Would love to fly out of dtw but also would consider yyz. Would this be possible?
Should be possible, as American Airlines flies from Toronto to quite a few destinations.
Great article. Fiji is definitely next up for us unless we get can get the ultimate stopover for YVR residents, HKG-YVR-JFK with YVR being the stopover and using the YVR-JFK leg later in the year so you get two trips in F for the price of one. Of course, you need to get to or already be in HKG for that.
Thanks for the reminder of the diversity of the Alaska program. There’s a reason we love its churnability in Canada.
Can we do stopover in DXB or any other city while booking Emirates rewards ?
Yes, you can stopover in DXB. There are also a handful of other cities where you can stopover, but they’re not quite as useful: CMB, MLE, LUN, ACC, BKK. They tend to be cities where Emirates operates some fifth-freedom flights onwards to other destinations.
When searching up the Emirates combination, would you have to call to force the stopover in the particular city you want or is it only for two segments at a the airlines hub? I noticed when you search JFK-MEL-CMB or MLE, it would not combine or link the segments together when separating the searches.
If you can’t get a route to show up on the search engine, but it should be bookable in theory (i.e., no layovers in the same city twice and stopovers in one of the allowed cities indicated above), then you can try your luck calling in to book.
Thanks Ricky. Love those kind of reviews. very informative.
Very informative, just what I was interested in. I just started reading about all the amazing things you can do with points. I have always just stuck to one card until the Marriot card was discontinued. I have started with the spg and will also apply for the Alaskan MC. My goal is to redeem a one way ticket in business class from Toronto to Australia. Should I be focusing on Alaskan miles to redeem on Cathay flights? Still new to this. Thank you
Very informative, just what I was interested in. I just started reading about all the amazing things you can do with points. I have always just stuck to one card until the Marriot card was discontinued. I have started with the spg and will also apply for the Alaskan MC. My goal is to redeem a one way ticket in business class from Toronto to Australia. Should I be focusing on Alaskan miles to redeem on Cathay flights? Still new to this. Thank you
Hey Amy,
Business class from Toronto to Australia would certainly be doable with Cathay, and would cost you 60,000 Alaska miles for a one-way ticket. You could also look at Aeroplan, whose miles are easier to earn, where you’d get charged 80,000 miles. Note that you would be able to do a stopover in HKG with the Alaska/Cathay option, but Aeroplan doesn’t allow stopovers on one-way awards.