Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is a fantastic award program. It offers some of the lowest award rates to fly its airline partners that have solid premium cabins. In this best use of Alaska miles article, I’ll highlight one of the best ways to redeem miles in its program.
Not only can you redeem Alaska miles to fly Japan Airlines to Japan, but you can also use American miles. American Airlines charges 10,000 more miles than Alaska does when flying Japan Airlines’ first class. If you want to fly Japan Airlines business class, American requires the same number of miles as Alaska requires.
Credit Cards to Earn Alaska Miles
Marriott Bonvoy credit cards provide the easiest way to earn miles in the Mileage Plan program with your spending. Marriott has 4 cards that you can apply for, and 1 additional card no longer open to new applicants. In addition, Alaska Airlines offers co-branded personal and business credit cards that earn miles directly with your spending.
Chase offers the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ and Marriott Bonvoy Bold™. The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express®, Marriott Bonvoy Business™, and Marriott Bonvoy Amex earn Marriott points. Bank of America issues the co-branded Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® and Alaska Airlines Visa® Business.
Other Ways to Earn Miles with Alaska Ailrines
Shopping through its online portal and spending at one of its dining program partners are other ways to earn Alaska miles. You can also credit a partner flight to your Mileage Plan account to earn miles in the Mileage Plan program.
With respect to crediting a partner flight to Alaska Airlines, head to wheretocredit.com. Once there, you’ll want to evaluate whether it makes sense to credit your specific flight to Alaska Airlines.
Basic Alaska Airlines Redemption Rules
Alaska Airlines is currently the only major US airline that uses an award chart. Delta Air Lines started the move away from using an award chart followed by United Airlines. American Airlines still claims to use an award chart but its pricing runs counter to that fact. With that said, below are several important rules when booking an award flight:
- Award flights may include 1 of the following: a one-way, round-trip or open-jaw itinerary
- 1 stopover is allowed for each one-way award on international itineraries
- An award flight redeemed solely on Alaska is allowed 1 stopover for each one-way award
- 1 stopover is allowed on a one-way award
- Connecting Alaska Airlines flights on a partner award flight itinerary are provided for free
- Miles do not expire and may remain in an active account indefinitely
Best Use of Alaska Miles to Fly to Japan
As we mentioned earlier, there are a number of sweet spots in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program. With 70,000 Alaska miles, you can book a Japan Airlines’ first-class to Japan. This is a great value for a long-haul flight in one of the top first-class cabins in the world.
For those of you who don’t currently have access to Alaska miles, there’s another way to book this flight. With 80,000 American miles, you can book a Japan Airlines first-class to Japan. This may be an option to consider as it’s much easier to earn American miles versus Alaska.
Other favorite Alaska redemptions of mine include flying Cathay Pacific to South Africa, flying Qantas first class to Australia, and flying Korean Air business class to Korea. Check out God Save the Points best ways to use Alaska miles for other ways to use Alaska miles.
Conclusion on Using Alaska Miles to Fly to Japan
The Alaska Mileage Plan program continues to offer value. There are so many options with Alaska Airlines that make it easy to fly hard to access premium cabins. Competitive award rates to fly in premium cabins on Alaska Airlines partner airlines is what I appreciate most about its award program.
What about you? What is your best use of Alaska miles? Please let me know in the comments below or by sending me an email on my contact page.
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