Alaska Airlines Joins Oneworld: Now What?

On March 31, 2021, Alaska Airlines officially joined the Oneworld airline alliance. Oneworld now has 14 member airlines with a fantastic global reach and includes some of the top-rated airlines in the world such as Cathay Pacific and Qatar. 

So what exactly does this mean for travelers? So far we’ve only seen the good news.

The Cheapest You Can Buy Alaska Miles

Through 11:59 PM PST October 4, 2018, you can buy Alaska Airlines miles with up to a 50% bonus. It is a targeted offer, but it seems pretty common to get targeted for the full 50%.

Alaska Mileage Plan Change & Cancellation Fees as of June 5

Alaska is tightening their the policy on change and cancellation fees in a couple weeks.

As of June 5, you will no longer be able to change or cancel an award 60 days or more prior to departure for free. The only window of time you'll have to make free changes or cancellations will be for 24 hours after booking. Any change or cancellation made after the 24 hour window will cost $125.

$363+ Roundtrips to Hawaii from Newark, April through February!

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account. I tweet from @MileValueAlerts rarely because it is designed to be used only for the best and most limited-time deals–like mistake fares–so that you aren’t bombarded by text messages.

Alaska Airline is offering a dirt cheap roundtrip economy fare to Hawaii, starting at $363 from Newark to Maui, Kona, Honolulu, and Lihue. Available travel dates span all the way from April 2018 through February of 2019.

False Alarm: Cathay Pacific 1st Still Bookable With Alaska Miles

There was a bit of a scare within the miles community last week that the ability to book First Class awards flying Cathay Pacific, one of the highest value awards you can book with Alaska miles, had evaporated.

@CTravelr tweeted the following to catch bloggers' attention:

Not sure if y’all have heard any official word on this because it pretty much kills CX redemptions @garyleff @OneMileataTime @thepointsguy @FrequentMiler
— Brian (@CTravlr) February 13, 2018

If Alaska blocked mileage redemptions within three days of departure, that would pretty much thwart the

Qantas Business Open for Two to Australia Over 2018 Holidays (Outbound Only)

Business Class award space for at least two travelers is plentiful right now from the United States to Australia, mid November through December. There aren't a lot of return options on Qantas, so you'll likely need to find other award space for the other direction (think Air New Zealand, United, or American if you want to fly back to the United States).

Yes, I realize that it's just outbound award space and most people have to fly home.

Alaska Award Sale: 10k Transcontinental, 12.5k to Hawaii

While not widely publicized, right now you can book flights within the United States or to Hawaii for less Alaska Miles in January or February than it would typically cost you.

There are various routes on sale, from short hops between Albuquerque and San Francisco to Hawaiian island routes like Honolulu to Oakland or Lihue to San Diego. Routes listed below are not the only ones on sale, but just examples (hat tip to Travel Codex for notice of the sale and the routes provided).

7 Awesome Alaska Awards w/Free Stopovers & How to Book Them

I'm a big fan of Alaska miles, because of the free stopovers on one way awards and great mix of partners from multiple alliances.
Alaska Mileage Plan Basics
Before we get into potential redemptions and stopover destinations, let's go over some basics about the program.

Partners

Alaska has a varied array of oneworld, SkyTeam, and non-allied airline partners:

Here are the award charts for flying Alaska and its partners.

LATAM and Cathay Pacific award space cannot be found on alaskaair.com. Search with British Airways award search engine instead.

Alaska Miles Flash Sale: Buy 15k for $310.41

The first 2,000 customers will get a 30% discount when buying 15,000 Alaska Airlines miles. Once 2,000 people purchase miles through the sale, the offer will expire.

All Virgin America Credit Cards Will Be Closed 1/4/18

Alaska Airlines bought Virgin America last year. In January, we saw the two companies merge and Virgin America award space started showing up on alaskaair.com.

Each loyalty program, Alaska Mileage Plan and Virgin America Elevate, has their own co-branded credit card issued by separate banks.