How To Take Advantage Of Alaska Airlines’ Stopover Rules & Get a Flight Anywhere In The US For No Extra Miles

Alaska Airlines has long had one of the most valuable award programs in the world, largely because of their attractive redemptions and their large amount of partners. While you can’t take advantage of most of these award redemptions at this very moment in time (because most of their best redemptions are for international flights), many might soon start to plan future trips, some of which might require long-term mileage planning. For better or for worse, Alaska Airlines will be joining OneWorld later this year, which will result in major changes to its program, likely including more partners, though it may also yield negative changes such as award chart devaluations or streamlined award costs for long-haul flights – regardless of the airline.

But for now, Alaska Airlines MileagePlan is still the quirky little program with great airline partners, award redemptions, and stopover rules, all of which can play to your advantage – if used well. Alaska’s stopover rules are among the best in the industry, and a lesser known “loophole” can allow you to get free domestic flights for no extra miles.

What Are Some Of The Best Alaska Airlines MileagePlan Redemptions?

First off, Alaska MileagePlan is the award program of Alaska Airlines, which obviously does not operate any long-haul flights. However, for many years, it has had international partners which allow you to earn and redeem miles on long-haul flights on other partner airlines, though, each individual airline has its own separate award chart (and mileage earning rates), which can make things quite confusing. Alaska Airlines has the following partners (* means you can’t use miles, only earn them, OW means they are already part of the OneWorld alliance, SA = Star Alliance, ST = Sky Team).

• Aer Lingus
• American Airlines (OW)
• British Airways (OW)
• Cathay Pacific (OW)
• Condor
• EL AL Israel Airlines*
• Emirates
• Fiji Airways (OW)
• Finnair (OW)
• Hainan Airlines
• Icelandair
• Japan Airlines (OW)
• Korean Air (ST)
• LATAM Airlines
• PenAir*
• Qantas (OW)
• Singapore Airlines (SA)

So, as you can see, Alaska Airlines has a really extensive list of international airlines which you can earn or use miles on. With Alaska Airlines joining OneWorld later this year, I think that we’ll see major changes to this list, with all other OneWorld airlines to be added (such as Qatar Airways, Iberia, Royal Jordanian, Royal Air Maroc, etc.), though Alaska does already have most of them. However, I do think it’s likely that a few airlines will be removed as partners, such as LATAM (due to their partnership with Delta), Korean Air (for being in SkyTeam), Singapore Airlines (for being in Star Alliance), and Emirates (for their proximity to Qatar and ergo Qatar Airways).

Alaska Airlines MileagePlan miles are actually one of the harder points currencies to earn–they aren’t partnered with any of the four major convertible points currencies (Amex, Chase, Citi, or CapitalOne), though you can transfer points from Marriott at a 3:1 rate, with 5,000 extra points for each 60,000 points transferred, which, considering the lesser value of Marriott points, isn’t too bad of a deal. However, there are some generous earning rates on partner airlines: for example, you earn 300% miles per mile flown on Condor flights in business class, an airline which often has very generous ticket prices, even in premium cabins.

The most obvious way to use Alaska Airlines miles is on Alaska Airlines itself, which sometimes is worthwhile and other times…is not. For example, you can regularly fly from Seattle to Los Angeles for 7,500 miles, which I would say is a pretty good deal

But as you can see, that flight also costs 25,000-50,000 miles in first class, which is outrageous, for a sub-3 hour flight in a lackluster seat (I know, I know, it’s much better than economy, but you do not want to be spending $500-$1,000 worth of miles on a 3 hour flight). Transcontinental flights in first class can even go for as much as 70,000 miles (worth about $1,400) which is even more outrageous, especially given that you can book transcons in first class for “free,” as I’ll later show you how to do. Here’s a screenshot of Alaska Airlines’ award chart–as you can see, the best redemptions are for short-haul flights in economy class.

You can also use Alaska Airlines miles for American Airlines domestic flights, which has a much more streamlined award chart–economy class flights cost 12,500 miles and business class flights cost 25,000 miles – which I’d say is a pretty good deal for transcontinental flights, especially on AA’s premium ones from JFK-LAX/SFO. However, Alaska Airlines’ best award redemptions aren’t for domestic flights–they are almost undoubtedly for redemptions on international airlines.

Alaska Airlines has a different award chart (as of now) for each different airline, though that’s possibly or even likely to change once they join OneWorld. Consequently, redemptions on some airlines will be much better than on others. For example, I would say that the following airlines provide great opportunities to redeem points, with some of the best uses on each airline listed below (full award chart linked here):

• Cathay Pacific: While you can’t search awards on Cathay Pacific on Alaska’s website (you have to call them), you can search them on American’s website, which should provide the same (or similar) award availability. For example, you can fly from the US to all of Asia for only 30,000 miles in economy class, 35,000 miles in premium economy, 50,000 miles in business class, and 70,000 miles in first class, which is fantastic, given that Cathay has among the world’s best business and first class products. But this deal can get even better if you fly Cathay beyond Asia: it only costs 70,000 miles (or 80,000 miles to Australia) to fly Cathay’s first class from the US to Africa and the Middle East, though the segment between Hong Kong and Africa/Middle East/Australia would be in business class, as Cathay doesn’t provide first class on those routes. Still, 70,000 miles for one (ultra) long-haul flight and one long-haul flight in business still is one heck of a deal. The only caveat (as with all other airlines) is that you can’t mix and match different airlines; in other words, you can only fly one partner airline on one one-way ticket.
• Qantas: Alaska has great redemptions for Qantas business class traveling to Australia; while economy and premium economy cost 42,000 and 47,500 miles, respectively, business class only costs 55,000 miles and first class only costs 70,000 miles for a one-way ticket between the US and Australia, which is fantastic. However, award availability on Qantas is limited.
• Hainan Airlines: It only costs 50,000 miles to fly in business class from the US to China on Hainan Airlines and 30,000 miles in economy class one-way, which is excellent, given Hainan Airlines’ world-class products, in both cabins. However, Hainan’s future as of now is still uncertain, and I believe you can only fly them between the US and mainland China, though I may be mistaken.

• Japan Airlines: Alaska has pretty reasonable flights for business and economy class flights on Japan Airlines, with economy class costing 35,000 miles and 40,000 miles from the US to Eastern Asia (including Japan) and Southeastern Asia, respectively, and 60,000 miles in business class to Eastern Asia and 65,000 miles to Southeastern Asia. It also costs 70,000 miles to fly from the US to Eastern Asia in first class and 75,000 miles in first class to Southeast Asia, though I don’t believe that first class awards on JAL are bookable as of the moment. One of the sweet spots that I stumbled on is that it actually only costs 60,000 miles to fly from the US to Southern Asia (i.e. Delhi) via Japan in business class, which is a great deal, as you are getting two long-haul flights in business class (the flight from the US to Japan and the flight onwards to India), which is the same price as it would cost just to fly from the US to Japan.
• Fiji Airways: To fly from the US to Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand, and of course, Fiji), one-way, on Fiji Airways, it only costs 40,000 miles in economy class and 55,000 miles in business class. Fiji Airways also recently introduced a new fully-flat business class product onboard their A350s, of which their angled seats onboard their A330s are a far cry from, which makes this redemption all the more valuable. And, as I’ll later elaborate on, stopovers (in this case Fiji) are always free.

• Korean Air: For awards traveling on Korean Air, round-trip tickets cost the same amount of miles as one-way tickets, meaning that if you were to book a flight on Korean Air, you should never book a one-way flight. However, when booking a round-trip flight using MileagePlan, you can use a different airline flying back to the US than the airline you flew on the outbound (i.e. you could fly Korean from the US to Seoul but fly JAL back via Tokyo on the return). Round-trip (and ergo also one-way) flights on Korean Air in economy class to Eastern Asia cost 70,000 miles and in business cost 105,000 miles, while flights to Southeast Asia cost 80,000 in economy and 120,000 miles in business. I’d say that 52,500 miles for half a round-trip segment from the US to Asia is pretty good (same with 60,000 miles to Southeast Asia), though the rules requiring a round-trip ticket are a major annoyance.
• Emirates: Prior to the devaluation in 2016, you could fly Emirates first class from the US to the Middle East for only 90,000 miles, making it an excellent redemptions; now, that same redemption would cost 150,000 miles, making it one of the worst uses of Alaska Airlines miles, as you could also fly Cathay First class from the US to the Middle East round-trip for 10,000 miles less than that. However, business class awards (though only to the Middle East) are still somewhat reasonable, at 82,500 miles one-way, which can be useful, especially if you book a stopover in Dubai. However, that’s just about the only reasonable Emirates redemption with Alaska Airlines left, in my opinion.
• LATAM: Alaska Airlines actually has great redemption rates on LATAM, but I doubt that the partnership will last long-term (with joining OneWorld and LATAM’s partnership with Delta), though you also can’t search them online–you have to call Alaska (BA and ExpertFlyer are both great ways to search for LATAM availability). Flights between the US and South America only cost between 22,500 and 30,000 miles in economy one-way, and 45,000 miles in business one-way, which is great for flights that can be almost 10 hours long.

Meanwhile, redemptions on other airlines are…less worthwhile:

• Aer Lingus: Rates on Aer Lingus aren’t actually too bad, costing as low as 60,000 miles in business class or 30,000 miles in economy class, though Alaska has put in place dynamic pricing for Aer Lingus tickets, meaning that they often cost as high as 80,000 miles in economy or 280,000 miles in business (I would hope that no one would ever spend that many miles for a transatlantic business class product)!
• Singapore Airlines: Flights from the US to Asia on Singapore Airlines cost 47,500 miles one-way in economy, 100,000 miles in business, and 130,000 miles in first, which is a far cry from other airlines such as Cathay. Perhaps the best redemption is to fly from the US to Japan for only 80,000 miles in business class, though the only flight where that is possible is from Los Angeles to Tokyo, in which you could fly the same route for 20,000 less in business on JAL.

• Icelandair: Business Class on Icelandair costs 55,000 miles from the US to Europe and 50,000 miles in business to Iceland (from the US), which isn’t great, considering that Icelandair’s business class product is more of a premium economy product, and their seats are akin to domestic first class seats (not lie-flat). Economy class can be somewhat of a better deal, costing between 27,500 and 35,000 miles in economy between the US and Europe (one-way) and between 22,500 and 30,000 miles one-way between the US and Iceland.
• Condor: Condor has a pretty mediocre business class product with angled lie-flat seats on their 767-300ERs (used on transatlantic flights), which is not worth the 55,000 miles one-way which it costs. Meanwhile, premium economy (which is more economy plus than premium economy) costs 45,000 miles one-way, while economy costs between 25,000 and 40,000 miles one-way, which I wouldn’t recommend, given Condor’s already great fares in economy.
• British Airways: BA’s rates aren’t too bad, but the killer is their surcharges, which often cost upwards of $500 one-way in a premium cabin, and even cost a few hundred dollars in economy. Between the US and Europe, the rates are on average more than those when using AA miles, which are worth less (60,00 miles in business, 70,000 miles in first, 42,500 in premium economy, and 32,500 in economy), while rates are between 10,000 and 18,000 miles higher when traveling on to the Middle East, India, or Africa.

• Finnair: Finnair’s rates aren’t too great, when traveling between the US and Europe, costing 30,000 miles in economy (not too bad) and 70,000 miles in business (which wouldn’t be too bad with another program, but Alaska miles are worth significantly more than most points currencies). Rates are slightly lower between Europe and Asia, costing 32,500 miles in economy and 60,000 miles in business, which could make sense if traveling between cities such as Singapore and London.
• American Airlines: I wouldn’t really recommend using Alaska miles for AA flights, as they generally cost the same amount as flights do when booking them with American Airlines miles, which generally are valued to be much less. For example, it costs 57,500 miles to fly from the US to Europe in business and 85,000 miles in first, with prices being the same to South America. However, as stated earlier, domestic flights can sometimes be a bargain.

So…Alaska Airlines miles are valued to be worth more than the miles of most other carriers (i.e. Delta or United) because of their very lucrative redemptions on partner airlines, such as Cathay Pacific. HOWEVER: not all partner airlines provide good value, with the best redemptions generally being on transpacific flights, not transatlantic flights. Again, all of this may change when Alaska Airlines joins OneWorld, when they likely will streamline award costs.

Alaska Airlines’ Stopover Rules

Alaska Airlines has very generous stopover rules, which allow you to have a stopover for each one-way ticket or two on a round-trip ticket. Like with all tickets, you can only fly on Alaska Airlines and one partner airline, though on round-trip tickets (including ones with or without stopovers), you can change the partner airline that you fly on.

For example, if you were to fly from Los Angeles to Singapore with a stopover in Tokyo on Japan Airlines, you could fly coming back from Singapore to Los Angeles on Korean Air with a stopover in Seoul. Complimentary stopovers (which don’t increase the mileage price) are also allowed on domestic flights within the US, as well as on all international ones, though backtracking for the most part isn’t allowed, with the exception being certain international routes.

To book a stopover, you will have to go to Alaska Airline’s award search engine and then click “Multi-City” and “Use Miles.” From there, enter your flight to your stopover destination in the “Departing Flight” area and enter your connecting flight to your final destination in the “Connecting Flight” area of the search engine. You can also create a stopover on your returning flight in the area below, though it is not required that you have a round-trip ticket to have a stopover. If this sounds a bit confusing, below is a screenshot of Alaska Airlines’ award search page. It’s kind of hard to explain, but using it is pretty self intuitive.

The most common use of a stopovers is on international routes, in which you book a stopover on the way to your destination in what is (generally) the airline’s hub city. For example, one of the most conventional uses of Alaska Airlines’ stopovers would be to fly from New York to Paris on British Airways, with a stopover in London, in which you would be able to see two world cities for the price of one. Now, is the value great on this redemption? No, especially with the surcharges –60,000 miles + $746 for a mediocre business class product – is an awful deal, though there are certainly many similar redemptions which provide much greater value! However, my point in this is not to suggest that this is a fantastic use of Alaska Airlines miles, but is a demonstration of a rudimentary use of their stopover function.

An example of a more complex redemption which would provide far greater value is for a round-trip on Japan Airlines and Korean Air. For example, with this next redemption, you would be able to fly from New York to Delhi with a multi-day stopover in Tokyo on Japan Airlines and then return on Korean Air with a multi-day stopover in Seoul for only 130,000 miles (and only $100 in fees!), with all 44 hours of flying in business class! That same routing with all segments in economy class would cost 85,000 miles, though you also theoretically could fly one-way in business and the other in economy.

Side-note: while the Korean Air flight would cost 140,000 miles one-way from Delhi to New York on it’s own as a one-way ticket in business, as a round-trip flight, the one-way segment costs half that amount, or 70,000 miles. However, because the Japan Airlines one-way segment from Delhi to New York costs 60,000 miles (both on it’s own or as part of a larger round-trip ticket), the entire ticket costs 130,000 miles in business.

There also are some more creative ways to use Alaska’s stopovers. For example, you could fly from the US to Perth in Australia via Sydney, have a stopover in Perth, then fly back to Sydney (or anywhere else in Australia and New Zealand) as your connecting flight. This gets you more value than if you were to fly from the US to Sydney and then fly to Perth as your connecting flight.

Another great use of a stopover which provides great value would be to fly from the US to Hong Kong in Cathay Pacific first class for 70,000 miles or in business for 50,000 miles, and then fly on (after a stopover in Hong Kong) to Southeast Asia (i.e. Bali or Singapore), South Asia (i.e. Delhi), the Middle East (i.e. Dubai), or Africa (i.e. Johannesburg), which all require spending no additional miles in contrast to a ticket ending in Hong Kong. However, most flights within Asia, including (I believe) all flights to South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa on Cathay don’t have first class, so if you book a first class ticket, you would be booked in business for the connecting segment, which still is a great deal.

Another Way To Use Alaska Airlines’ Stopovers

But what if you don’t want a stopover? Are you just going to throw away a free flight? Because of Alaska’s very generous stopover rules, you can often get a free domestic flight anywhere in the US (including Hawaii!), at no extra charge, conjunctionally when booking an international ticket. Sounds confusing? Let me explain.

Suppose that you live in Los Angeles and want to book a round-trip ticket to (only) Tokyo in business class and decide to use Alaska Airlines miles to do so. Suppose that you also want to take a trip to Seattle a month before your trip to Tokyo, and want to take a trip to NewYork a couple months after your Tokyo trip. With Alaska Airlines’ generous stopover rules, you can get two free domestic segments when attaching them to a round-trip international ticket. So, with MileagePlan, you could fly from Seattle to Los Angeles (having booked the outbound with cash separately), have a month long layover in LA (where you live), fly to Tokyo, fly back from Tokyo, have a two month long layover in LA, and then fly to New York as your connecting flight, booking your flight back from New York with a separate ticket.

In this situation, you would have just saved 25,000 miles if you had booked the flight from Seattle to Los Angeles separately in business class (or 7,500 miles if you had booked it individually in economy) and 30,000 miles if you had booked the flight from Los Angeles to New York in business class (or 12,500 miles if you had booked it individually in economy). So, in terms of getting the same experience (with all flights in business class), using this strategy, all four flights would cost 120,000 miles, while if you had booked all segments separately, they would have cost 175,000 miles, saving you a total of 55,000 miles, valued at almost $1,000!

My point here is that you can use Alaska Airlines’ stopovers for itineraries where your “stopover” isn’t really a stopover, getting you a one-way ticket anywhere within the US (where Alaska Airlines flies) from the same airport you arrived at from your arriving international flight at any date in the future without any additional charge, similarly to United’s Excursionist Perk. I’ll give a couple more examples just to show how lucrative this can actually be.

My second example has someone flying from Paris to New York (having gotten to Paris through different means), where they live, and then flying to Honolulu a month later on a separate trip. Now, if you were to book the two trips separately, the flight from Paris to New York would have cost you 22,500 miles, and the flights from New York to Honolulu would have cost you another 17,500 miles, totaling at 40,000 miles.

Now, if you were to have used the strategy where you book both flights on the same ticket, creating a “stopover” in New York, where both flights are on the same reservation, the combined ticket would only cost 22,500 miles, saving you a total of 17,500 miles, worth over $300. Of course, in this scenario, you would have to book the return flight from Hawaii separately (which generally costs about half of what the round-trip costs) and book the flight to Paris separately.

One thing to note is that while backtracking (flying one direction, having a stopover, and then flying back that same direction to another city), is often not allowed, sometimes (for one reason or another) it is. For example, in this scenario, you would fly from London to Seattle, have a “stopover” in Seattle, then fly on a separate trip to New York.

Lastly, here’s one redemption which really stretches all of Alaska’s stopover limits. In this redemption, you would fly from Colombo to Dubai to Los Angeles (the routing via LA being completely redundant–I only included it to show the extend to which “backtracking” is possible) to Washington, and then (after an unlimited “stopover”) from Washington to Seattle to Honolulu, all for 82,500 miles in business/domestic first class. I’d personally say that 82,500 miles for 37 hours in business class, over 20 of them being on Emirates is a spectacular deal!

Anyways, I just wanted to include this as it’s a cool little-known aspect of Alaska’s stopover feature which can, as long as you plan ahead, save you (up to) thousands of dollars in miles.

Conclusion

Alaska Airlines miles are among the most valuable (airline) points currencies which exist; I’d probably (definitely) also say that they are the most valuable in America. What makes Alaska MileagePlan so valuable is undoubtedly their vast array of international partners, which likely soon will be shuffled around with their entry into OneWorld, though their stopover rules allow you to both see two international (or domestic) cities for the price of one, in addition to giving you a free domestic flight when not used internationally.