Today Alaska Airlines launched an initiative similar to Air Canada when you can convert Alaska Airlines wallet credit to Mileage Plan miles. Think of it as Air Canada’s option that allows you cancel tickets you have bought and convert them to Aeroplan miles. Aeroplan gives you a 65% bonus on the miles you receive based on their standard buy miles rate which works out to buying those Aeroplan miles for well under 2 cents per mile. This Alaska offer is just as generous if not more – there isn’t a bonus but what they are doing is giving qualifying members 10,000 miles for every $100 in Alaska Airlines wallet credit. This means you are buying those very lucrative Mileage Plan Miles for only 1 cent (US$) each!
Here are the terms of this offer:
Offer valid through October 12, 2020 11:59 pm (PT): Qualifying members who receive this offer directly from Alaska Airlines via email can exchange Alaska wallet funds in increments of 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of their current wallet balance for Mileage Plan bonus miles at an exchange rate of 100 miles per $1. Bonus miles are redeemable for award travel, but do not count toward elite status qualification. All wallet exchanges for miles are final, and wallet credit once redeemed is not refundable. If wallet balance at the time of debit is below what is needed to cover the exchange, the exchange will be canceled. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer. All Mileage Plan terms and conditions apply. Mileage Plan miles do not expire, but if a Mileage Plan account is inactive for 2 years, Alaska Airlines may close the account; miles in a closed account can be reinstated for a fee for up to 1 year after closure. Exchanging wallet credit for Mileage Plan miles pursuant to this offer does qualify as account activity, so your Mileage Plan account will remain active for at least 2 years after the effective date of the exchange.
If you are one who gets this offer in your email you should really consider jumping on it. For example if you have $500 in your Alaska Airlines wallet you would get 50,000 Mileage Plan miles. Those miles are worth way more than $500! We value Mileage Plan miles at no less than 1.5 cents (US$) each so you would be coming out well ahead and as long as you keep your Mileage Plan account active you can have those miles banked for as long as you need.
This is not new to AS
Oh yes – I see that they ran the same promo back in August as well. They just didn’t have a press release for it that time like they do now.
I have $600 credit – had it for years. Never seem able to use it (always a better option out there). The dilemma is: do you bet that Alaska Air will go bankrupt first or that they will be forced to devalue their miles first.
I am trying to use all my miles and credits (no easy feat because I have tons in bunches of programs) because in the absence of lockdown exit strategies, travel and leisure related businesses will be forced to declare bankruptcy. It’s simple math: airlines are barely profitable in good times. They are losing money hand over foot now.
Regal Cinemas just shut down “temporarily” but we’ll see if that’s the case. If the virus is allowed to trickle on, drawing out the inevitable, there will be a slow quiet wave of such closures and the travel industry is right on the fore of it.
Sonesta are in my opinion bag-holders of some very large Marriott and IHG properties bailing early.