5 Underpriced Awards on Obscure Award Charts

With the proliferation of transferable points like Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, and Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints, Americans have access to cheap awards through tons of foreign programs.

Here are five underpriced awards on foreign award charts and how to get the miles needed to book the awards.
1. Singapore Awards Between Hawaii and the Americas
Singapore Airlines puts Hawaii and Central America--you know, those two places that are thousands of miles apart--into one region.

Alaska Airlines’ Promised 30k Offer Now Live

The Alaska Airlines card from Bank of America now offers 30,000 bonus Alaska miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in your first 90 days from account opening.

The previous public offer had been 25,000 miles for a long time with frequent 30,000 mile offers and an occasional 40,000 mile offer, but Alaska Airlines announced its plan to go to a 30,000 mile bonus this spring in a February stock market filing.
Quick Facts

Sign Up Bonus: 30,000 Alaska miles after $1,000 in spending in the first 90 days
Category Bonuses: 3

Alaska Airlines Credit Card Primer: Best Offer? Churnable?

The current sign-up bonus available to the public for the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Card is 25,000 Alaska Airlines miles upon approval. There are higher offers out there however, and the official public offer is increasing in May, but with a new minimum spending requirement.

There is no minimum spending requirement to earn the current sign-up bonus of 25,000 miles.

There is also a $75 annual fee.

Round-the-World Example with Half in Flat Bed for 100,000 Miles

You can book yourself a tour around Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia stopping in four places for only 100,000 miles total with nearly half the trip in a flat bed. By stopping in four places, I am referring to actual destinations, not connections that have to be under 24 hours.

Much like the Mega Trip to the Caribbean and South America I wrote about a few days ago, this deal relies on piecing together some sweet spot awards (and this time also a low cost carrier flight within Europe) into one big trip.

Best Way to Book Emirates First Class: Japan Airlines Miles with Cheap Prices, No Fuel Surcharges

There used to be two programs that offered Emirates First Class and Business Class redemptions at reasonable rates:

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Now there is only one.
Current State of Alaska/Emirates Awards
Sadly, Alaska Airlines massively devalued their Emirates chart with no notice.

Alaska Airlines Will Buy Virgin America. Impact on Miles & Points?

Today Alaska Airlines announced it will buy Virgin America, after weeks of speculation. Alaska beat out JetBlue in the bidding.

Alaska is predicting that it will take nine months to close the deal and another year beyond that for the carriers to combine onto a single operating certificate.

To give you an idea of the relative sizes of these airlines, look at the 2015 passenger numbers for North American airlines, according to Wikipedia.

Virgin America is a minnow.

Alaska Says Its My Fault for Emirates Devaluation, But Still Caves to My Demand

Yesterday, Alaska Airlines doubled the price of flying Emirates First Class awards with no notice whatsoever. Here was my take:
Devaluations stink.
Major devaluations stink more. (Please do it the Aeroplan way of small yearly devaluations with a few months notice instead.)
No-notice major devaluation stink the most.
They are plainly unethical. For weeks Alaska has been selling its miles with a bonus to entice you to buy.

Alaska Massively Devalues Emirates Award Charts with No Notice. And Hugely Lies!

Alaska Airlines has massively devalued its award charts to fly Emirates with zero notice.

Hainan Airlines Awards Now Bookable with Alaska Miles! 50,000 Miles One Way in Business to All of Asia!

Alaska Airlines miles can now be used to book Hainan Airlines! Award space is searchable on alaskaair.com, insanely cheap, and widely available to Asia, though there are mild fuel surcharges.

The partnership was announced last year, and the Alaska-Hainan page originally said award bookings would be available in November 2015.