Cathay Pacific’s Business Class
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Alaska Airlines has extended their 50% bonus deal on miles purchase to 1559 hours Singapore time on 31 December 2019. As usual, ignore the term “50% bonus”. You should only care about the actual price-per-mile that is being offered. This offer means that you can now buy Alaska miles at S$0.027 each. This is 23% more expensive than my valuation of $0.022. However, it is Alaska’s best sale historically.
What is Alaska miles? Why do I value it more than Krisflyer? How to accumulate them? How to use them?
All these questions are answered here!
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You will need to purchase a minimum of 30,000 miles to receive the 50% bonus. The maximum number of miles that you can purchase is 60,000, which would bring your total to 90,000 miles after the bonus.
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Business Class to USA for only $1,350 each way (50,000 miles)
In a previous article, I shared how you can fly Business Class to Japan with just $605 worth of miles each way. With this sale, you can travel to the other side of the globe on Cathay Pacific’s Business Class with only 50,000 Alaska miles each way, which costs $1,350 during this sale.
Why is this a good deal? A round trip redemption will cost you $2,700 plus taxes of about $150. This ticket costs close to $6,000 if you purchase it directly from Cathay Pacific! And also, Singapore Airlines Krisflyer charges a whopping 99,000 miles each way for a similar flight. That is almost 100% more! If you are holding on to some SQ miles, check out my article on Singapore Airlines sweet spots for suggested redemptions of better value.
Usual ticket price for round trip Business Class on Cathay Pacific
Do note that you will need a stopover at Hong Kong when you fly Cathay Pacific. This means that you can enjoy more free food and drinks at Cathay’s Business Class Lounge in HKG before continuing your journey to your city of choice in USA.
Maximum number of miles you can purchase
You may purchase up to 90,000 miles per transaction with this offer (60k + 30k). However, a member can purchase up to a generous 150,000 miles per calendar year. If you need more than 90,000 miles, you may purchase over two transactions. However, remember that the 50% bonus only kicks in when you buy a minimum of 45,000 miles (30k + 15k). If you need 120,000 miles, for example, you should be buying 60,000 miles twice to guarantee receiving 50% bonus on both transactions and not hold any phantom miles in your account after a redemption.
If you are an MVP, MVP Gold or MVP Gold 75k member, there will not be any annual limit. Here are the exact words from Alaska’s terms and conditions:
”Your Mileage Plan account may be credited up to a maximum total of 150,000 miles acquired through Points.com in a calendar year, whether purchased by you or gifted to you. MVP, MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K Mileage Plan member accounts have no annual limit on the number of miles which may be purchased or gifted through Points.com.”
How to redeem for flights
Please refer to this complete guide on how to redeem Alaska miles on partner airlines.
Conclusion
The usual rule-of-thumb applies; I do not recommend buying miles/points if you do not intend to use them in the foreseeable future. If you have been smart in crediting your flights and hotel stays to Alaska’s Frequent Flyer Program, this sale will be very useful for you to top up the difference to make a full redemption. You will also like the fact that Alaska miles expiry dates are very easily extendable with a small purchase on their shopping portal. If you are making a purchase, I recommend using OCBC 90°N Mastercard for 4 miles per dollar.