Buying Alaska Airlines miles for low-cost Qantas, Cathay Pacific flights
By Peter Loh, September 13 2013
Purchasing frequent flyer points or miles is a foreign concept to most Australian travellers.
Virgin Australia doesn’t allow its Velocity members to purchase points at all, while Qantas only lets you buy points to top-up an account before you book an award flight.
But its a very different scene in the USA, where most airlines not only let you buy frequent flyer miles in bulk but often run special promotions offering extra ‘bonus’ miles for your money.
Why should Australian frequent flyers care? Because these miles can often be used to book fights with partner airlines such as Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Korean Air – at prices which are far less than you’d pay those airlines for a cash ticket in business class or even first class.
Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan promo
Qantas partner Alaska Airlines is running one such promotion this month for their Mileage Plan frequent flyer scheme with bonus miles of 20-40% on top of your purchase through to September 30, 2013.
The amount of bonus miles depends on how many Mileage Plan mikes you buy. Between 30,000 and 40,000 miles lands you the top bonus of an extra 40% more miles.
From 20,000 to 29,000 miles earns a lower bonus of 30%, while a purchase of 1,000 to 19,000 miles comes with a 20% bonus.
Using Mileage Plan miles for Qantas flights
Alaska pegs a one-way Qantas business suites award flight between Australia and the USA at 55,000 miles in business class.
Under Alaska’s current promotion, US$1,182.50 will buy you 40,000 miles which qualifies you for a 40% bonus of 16,000 miles.
That adds to 56,000 miles, so for just under US$1,300 (including taxes and surcharges of around US$116) you’re getting a business class ride to the US.
A one-way business class award on Cathay Pacific between Australia and Hong Kong requires only 30,000 miles – which you can get by purchasing 24,000 miles with a 30% bonus of 7,200 miles for only US$709.50.
Other Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partners include American Airlines, Aeromexico, Air France, British Airways (although there's usually a fuel surcharge on BA award redemptions), Delta, Emirates, Fiji Airways, KLM, Korean Air and LAN.
How to buy Mileage Plan miles
In order to buy Mileage Plan miles you’ll first need to join the Alaskan Airlines frequent flyer scheme (it’s free).
When you log onto your Mileage Plan account you’ll see a Buy Miles option, so it’s pretty straightforward.
(Alaskan Airlines is actually one of many airlines which uses a third-party company called Points.com to sell points.)
Under the current promotion, a maximum of 40,000 points can be bought at a time – which means you’ll actually end up with 56,000 miles thanks to the 30% bonus.
Fortunately there doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of transactions made, so you should be good to make several purchases.
It’s worth noting that some hotel loyalty programs such as Hilton HHonors and Starwood Preferred Guest will also let you transfer your spare points into your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account, which could be an alternative to making several purchases.
However, because airlines can and do devalue frequent flyer points or miles over time, it might not be wise to plough too much money into buying Mileage Plan miles just to have them in the bank, so to speak.
When purchasing miles it’s usually best to do so only if you have a specific trip in mind, and buy just enough miles for that redemption ticket.
Booking an award flight
Once you've bought the required number of miles, the process of booking an award flight is fairly straight-forward.
With the exception of Cathay Pacific and LAN, award bookings for all of the other Mileage Plan airline partners can be booked on the Alaska Airlines website by selecting the 'Use Miles' option when searching for flights.
Unfortunately, to book award travel on Cathay Pacific or LAN you'll need to telephone Alaska Airlines a call. This is a pain for Australians as the airline’s reservations call centre is based in the US, so fire up Skype to keep your international call costs under control.
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
Peter juggles a full-time career in IT with an insatiable appetite for travel.
22 May 2011
Total posts 86
sneaky! i love it!!
02 Dec 2011
Total posts 47
What I'd like to know is availability of redemption flights. For instance J award flights from east coast Oz to LAX via QF is like hens teeth. Not much help to amass the points but can't burn them.
Any experiences with whether Alaska can open up more flights than thru the QF website? I'd open up an Alaska account just for that alone...
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 May 2013
Total posts 69
Ozkid, I agree with you. I am looking at a trip to Canada next year with the family and this would be a great way to do it if only the QF redemption can be gained. Being able to potentially purchase a business class fare for the price of economy - happy days!!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 May 2013
Total posts 69
Let me rephrase that. Being able to potentially purchase a business class fare for not much more than a economy seat and substantially cheaper than a normal business class fare - happy days!!
21 Apr 2012
Total posts 3006
Agreed. U and P inventory for international flights on QF is hard to come by. It is so not worth the bother.
I suspect they're holding them back for QFF point upgrades. I suppose it pays for them to look after their own.
24 May 2013
Total posts 5
This sounds like a great deal!!! just wondering, can you use the miles on any Qantas flights or just those to the US?
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
The online booking engine is limited to domestic and trans Pacific flights - maybe you can book others by phone if you can locate award inventory (eg via ExpertFlyer of QF website)
EK redemptions appear to be limited to USA-Europe/Middle east and USA-SE Asia.
See the AS website for details
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
Note:
The catch?
despite signing up I cannot purchase points - I assume the account has either to be open for a minimum period and/or needs a points balance >0. I have tried transferring some Marriott points over to the AS account to try "activiate" the account, but don't know if these will register before thre points purchase promotion ends at the end of the month...
...so if you aren't already an AS member trying to get in beofre the promo ends may all be a wasted effort!
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
Im having the same problem.
Cannot purchase points. (just joined today).
Any other ideas?
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
10 Jan 2012
Total posts 258
AAdvantage also allow Australian residents to purchase miles and they regularly offer bonuses.
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
Another point...the screen shot as above is potentially misleading since you only find out that business is NOT available on every flight sector later in the booking process - thus in the above example you will almost certianly find it's the BNE-SYD leg which is available in business and the SYD-LAX only available in economy.
24 May 2013
Total posts 5
It s possiable to get business class on the Australia to US leg, but they are hard to come by.
Air China - Phoenix Miles
20 Dec 2012
Total posts 105
Finnair is offering 40% bonus when purchasing Finnair Plus points.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
They are offering 40,000 + the 16,000 bonus for 1,000 EUROS
Alaska are offring the same- for 1,100 USD
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 116
Not as appealing at it first seems.
If you do a dummy booking, you'll notice that they don't offer direct Qantas Trans-Pacific in business for redemption. All the Qantas business flights shown require a stop. Then this is where they get cheeky....the flights have the domestic sector in business, but the flight to LA in Economy!
24 May 2013
Total posts 5
Not all of them, ie. on the 2nd july you can get a MEL-LAZ flight in business.
24 May 2013
Total posts 5
*LAX
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
For some reason- I cannot purhcase.
I get this message on the page AFTER selecting amount of points- milage number and name:
Please correct the following errors:
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 May 2013
Total posts 69
Wolf13, I am having the same problem and getting the same error message. If you try and use their automated travel assistant, they just refer you back to the page where you purchase them - bloody useless.
I tried checking their terms and conditions but it only refers to bonus miles. I can't find any t & c for buying additional miles although they claim there is some. It may require an email to sort out.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
Very bloody frustrating.
Article is slightly misleading- saying "first join, then go purchase miles"
Obviously there's more too it than that.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 May 2013
Total posts 69
I think your right. Trouble is neither the article nor Alaskan website offer any clues to the intricacies of the offer.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
It is common practice that your account has to be open for at least an Xamount of time, so if you just joined, big chance you are not eligible and you have to wait for the next promo.
Personally I have been buying points via US Dividend miles and it has worked well for me. First class flights for decent prices, you can route Australia-USA via Europe even for the same price and do a stopover. Mind you, it can be quite a puzzle to get the flights (often availability is ok, especially on TG) and as with AS you will have to deal with a US based call centre. If you are a bit airline / airport savvy and know how to deal with customer service centres it is not too hard to book though. USD Dividenmiles is great for TG, TK, AC, CA and NH flights (hard to come by LH F seats). I am waiting for my mileage to transfer to AA so I can book the menitoned CX flights.
Drawback when not being a high status member of the FF program is often availability (does not seem to be the case with AS as PLATY pointed out) and the fact that change fees can be high.
All in all great way to buy premium tickets on the cheap. Often you do have to be flexible in your travel as availability varies.
10 Aug 2013
Total posts 29
How exactly do I go about getting the Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong? Do I have to call them first to confirm they have seats, then buy the tickets and then book?
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
Search for an awards booking
10 Aug 2013
Total posts 29
I take it you did not read the whole article. IT mentions you cannot book CX tickets online. While KG above says he is waiting for a mileage transfer to AA to book the CX flights.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Aug 2012
Total posts 2199
If you cannot book it online you will need to ring up the call centre.
Same for AAdvantage.
10 Aug 2013
Total posts 29
Thanks, just needed to make sure before getting some skype credit.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
Is there anywhere you can actually do a search for CX flights?
qantas
18 Oct 2012
Total posts 68
Thought... Can you gift them to your self?
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
Michael, why would you? You can simply buy multiple times! Per my earlier post, others have bought up to 4 lots on the same credit card and then simply used a different credit card to amass huge points totals.
Before spending up big, however, consider whether the cash is better spent elsewhere - AAdvantage typically have a buy 90,000 (the limit of 60,000 points plus a bonus of 30,000) promo from time to time for around USD2000. You can use the 80,000 AA points for a one-way to Europe in first on OnWorld flights weher award inventory is available, etc.
One key feature of Alaska Airline promo is that you can buy as many points as you feel you want/need! Maybe just be sure you can use the points yu buy for what you intend!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Sep 2013
Total posts 1
Question, if I purchase a ticket with(bought) Alaska Air miles for a MEL>LAX return trip, can I actaully fly under my QF FF # so I get the status credits?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
You never get mileage or status credits for award bookings. It is a specific booking class so even though it is an AS award, QF would not qualify your flight as being able to earn mileage and sc's.
If only that would work, we'd be flying almost for free ;)
qantas
18 Oct 2012
Total posts 68
Has anyone completed a transaction from being to end with this deal yet? No problems?
qantas
18 Oct 2012
Total posts 68
*Beginning to end
14 Sep 2013
Total posts 14
I'll probably sign up and see what its all about, but assuming like AA that Oz-US awards can only be flown TransPac and its two awards to fly via Asia is it??
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
UPDATE:
I can now buy points on my Alaska Airlines account. I opened the account 12 days ago. I also booked one (very cheap) hotel night through their website, but suspect the black out period since account sign up to be the former issue preventing point purchase.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Sep 2013
Total posts 10
I have just called Alaska Airlines and there is a 10 day waiting period from the time you join until the system permits you to purchase miles.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
Great bit of information. Thanks James.
27 Sep 2013
Total posts 7
This is similar to Delta Airlines:
Buy miles may only be received into SkyMiles accounts that have been established for at least 10 days and have earned at least one mile since enrolling in the SkyMiles program.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Sep 2013
Total posts 10
And the latest update on this offer.........if you reside outside US/Canada and do not have a US or Canadian credit card billing address, they reject the purchase.
I spoke with them this morning, having received an email rejecting my purchase which stated "Your transaction could not be completed because your credit card information could not be confirmed. Your purchase was cancelled and your credit card was not charged." [I should add I used a Citibank Emirates Platinum Credit Card, not some shonky credit card company]
Although there are no conditions for this purchase on the Alaska Airlines website they are adament that this offer is only for US and Canadian citizens.
Not good enough Alaska Airlines!!!!!!!!!
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
Wow... What a bummer.
Did anyone actually complete the purchase 'without' a US credit card / address?
qantas
18 Oct 2012
Total posts 68
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
Did the author of this article actually go through the entire process- or was it just speculation?
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
Yep, I attempted two transactions yesterday and neither have gone through.
They accepted my credit card when I made a hotel booking on their website (perhaps because that is processed by a third party such as Expedia).
Does this mean that they won't accept a credit card for a flight booking?
And what happens if I try to use the 25,000 pts I have in my account with them and need to pay for csh component of reward flight?!
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
If its the case that no Australian can by miles- I think the author owes an apology to the readers- or at the very least- an amendament to the story to better explain the process.
I'm sure there's been countless Aus-BT'ers that have wasted time on this process- purely from reading this article.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 May 2012
Total posts 580
Wolf13, I can confirm that Australian credit cards can be used when purchasing the points. However, some banks may block the transaction by default especially if there's no established pattern of foreign transactions.
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
Was told after a lengthy call to AS that my two transactions are supposed to be processed sometime in the next 24 hours - not clear if this means that they will be accepted or not!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 May 2012
Total posts 580
PLATY, if you encounter problems with credit card verification when making the flight booking these issues can usually be sorted out by the call centre.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
I've been buying US Airways dividend miles for years now with various credit cards issued from different banks in different countries, never had a problem! Surprised to read of the issues that people have buying AS miles.
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
OK, so my two transactions were just finally confirmed. It's taken 4 days, but thankfully resolved.
So two tranches of points, which cost USD1185 apiece, now representing potentially around $12,000 worth of business class travel.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
PLATY:"AusBT needs to do its reseach so as not to mislead its readers and encourage costly mistakes in time and money!"
Guess AUSBT did not mislead their readers after all?!?! :-))
Good to hear you and others were succesfull, could you please let us know how you went with actually booking the award seats (how long did it take, where did you search for award space, were your first choices available, what class, what were the booking costs and fuel/ sevrice charges etc etc)? Woudl be interested to get some insight in that.
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
Thanks to Peter the article is good in introducing the concept of buying points on discount to potential advantage (as ever assuming individual travel patterns and award availability).
Only a suggestion - for such articles perhaps it would be good to include any obvious practical info such as the main restrictions (e.g. need to be member >10 days), confirm offer open to Aussies, or if uncertain at least a note that these will need to be checked by the individual reader?
qantas
18 Oct 2012
Total posts 68
Success for me also.
Pretty please with that. Hope to book flights today - will be interested to see how that goes.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
My attempt has hit the rocks.
Received the rejection email overnight.
Called Alaska Air- they said its been restricted to American and Canadian customers as of late last week.
Pretty much said my card had red flags because its international.. (Australian card- and my mailing address is Singapore where I currently reside).
Told me to take it up with points.com
No help whatsover.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
US Airways processes the miles via points.com as well, so you should be able to use an international card.
All in all it sounds like the whole buying AS mileage is a bit of a hit and miss. Might be better off concentrating buying on UA or US (soon hopefully to be AA) mileage.
qantas
18 Oct 2012
Total posts 68
Flight booked, .... NYE to Australia in J for about $1300 AUD all inclusive. Thats a massive win; thanks for the tip AUS BT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
Congrats, that is great. Could you perhaps fill us how far out from departure you booked, what were the taxes, did you book it online or via a call centre, where did you find award availability (assuming you are flying QF on AA codeshare) was availability similar to QF availability ?
qantas
18 Oct 2012
Total posts 68
Purchase of Points
Hi KG
I transacted every thing on line; never spoke with alaskan. I charged the transaction to AUD credit card that has a US bill address.
Alaskan award bookings mirror exactly the classic awards on the QF site; So I did my research on QF, interestingly the second i completed the transaction with alaskan the award flight dropped off the qf site also. I'm traveling mid 2014. The boking is showing on my QF profile also.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 12
What do you mean you have a AUD credit card with a US billing address?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
Thanks for elaborating on this Michael. Great price for a rtn in J.
As Wolf13 I am curious what type of credit card you've used.
qantas
18 Oct 2012
Total posts 68
Its one way only - but it could have been return for exactly twice the price. About $2700 - It also includes a domestic leg in business. I used an amex.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
My bad, indeed one way. Good price though.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Buying Alaska Airlines miles for low-cost Qantas, Cathay Pacific flights