I shared on Suitesmile Chat Telegram group a couple of days ago that Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has much better Singapore Airlines Business Class award availability than Krisflyer itself; especially on the sweet spot route between Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Alaska Mileage Plan sweet spot
As shared in a recent article, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has great sweet spots for award bookings.
For 65,000 Alaska miles, you can fly on Singapore Airlines Business Class to Australia and New Zealand.
To “stretch” your miles even further, you can also start your journey in other Southeast Asian destinations like Hanoi or Bangkok, have a layover in Singapore (under 2 days), before continuing the journey to Oceania; for exactly the same amount of miles!
Related: Sweet Spots: Best ways to redeem Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles in 2022
SQ Business Class awards with Krisflyer miles
For flights to Australia and New Zealand, Singapore Airlines Krisflyer requires 68,500 miles when there is “Saver” availability and 90,000 miles when there is only “Advantage” availability.
However, even at the higher Advantage rate, it is very difficult to find award availability in the coming months, without waitlisting.
Earliest date without waitlisting
3 November 2022 is the earliest date that you can book a flight to Sydney without waitlisting. Even that is with at Advantage rate of 90,000 miles, in an older 2013 seat and for only 1 passenger.
Earliest date with Saver availability
20 November 2022 is the earliest date that you can book a flight to Sydney without waitlisting, at a Saver rate. Again, this will be in the older 2013 seat and for only 2 passengers.
Earliest date with Saver availability in new seat
22 November 2022 is the earliest date that you can book a flight to Sydney without waitlisting, at a Saver rate, in the newer 2017 Airbus A380 seat. This is only available for 2 passengers.
Earliest date with Saver availability in new seat for 4+ pax
14 February 2023 is the earliest date that you can book a flight to Sydney without waitlisting, at a Saver rate, in the newer 2017 Airbus A380 seat, for 4+ passengers.
SQ Business Class awards with Alaska miles
With Alaska’s award search engine, it is really easy to search with a calendar view, instead of 7 days at a time.
And surprise, surprise, you can find award availability at 65,000 miles/pax, in Singapore Airlines newer 2017 seat (A380) for up to SEVEN passengers, as early as 18 August 2022!
How to accumulate Alaska miles
The biggest pain in accumulating Alaska miles is that it is not a transfer partner of credit cards from Asian countries.
However, there are other ways to earn them.
1) Flight credit
Crediting your flights to Alaska Mileage Plan is the most natural way to accumulate Alaska miles. Yes, you can credit your Singapore Airlines flights (that are paid in cash) to Alaska too!
Almost always, especially in premium cabins, I credit partner flights to Alaska’s FFP for the following reasons:
- Earn more miles when crediting to Alaska, when flying with partner airlines
- No fuel-surcharges on all award bookings
- Requires fewer miles for award redemptions on key routes
- Low-maintenance FFP with easily-extendable miles validity
Related: Great Deal: Fly from Kuala Lumpur to Europe in Singapore Airlines Premium Economy from S$1,018
2) Buy miles
The great thing about this FFP is that if you are short on miles, you can buy them directly from the airline during regular offers throughout the year.
3) Mileage Plan shopping portal
Mileage Plan shopping portal is similar to Asia Miles iShop and Krisflyer Spree. You will receive Alaska miles for purchases made after clicking through this portal.
4) Convert Marriott points to Alaska miles
Marriott Bonvoy members can convert their Marriott points to Alaska miles at a ratio of 3:1. Convert in blocks of 60,000 Marriott points to receive 5,000 bonus miles; for a total of 25,000 Alaska miles.
5) Book hotels through Rocketmiles or Kaligo
Kaligo and Rocketmiles reward you with miles when booking hotels through their websites.
Bottom line
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is showing fantastic award availability for Singapore Airlines Business Class flights to Oceania.
Accumulating miles across a few different high-value FFPs allows you to take advantage of opportunities like this and the Qatar Airways award mispricing shared a few weeks ago!