Should You Still Credit Your Flights to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan with the Devaluation?

Following the immediate cessation of stopovers on intra-Asia award redemption tickets using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles yesterday, would it still make sense to credit your flights to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan if you are based in Southeast Asia? As I have previously mentioned, the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan was one of my favourites since it not only allowed me to accrue plenty of miles on revenue Business Class flights but I can also double-dip by earning PPS Value on flights operated by Singapore Airlines.

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Photo Credit: Singapore Airlines

You Will Still Earn More Miles with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

If you follow The Shutterwhale on Instagram, you will notice that I travel down to Auckland in New Zealand quite a bit for work and therefore, I am going to use this city as an example to illustrate a point. All rewards and mile-accruing credit cards issued in Singapore give cardholders the option to convert points (or whatever currency the bank uses) into KrisFlyer miles. In other words, there are already so many ways you can pick up KrisFlyer miles from going about your day-to-day life so you should also focus on earning other FFP miles.

According to the latest KrisFlyer Mileage Accrual Levels available online, Business Class tickets with booking classes D and U (the usual fare classes that I purchase anyway) earn 125% KrisFlyer Miles of the actual miles travelled. To put this into an example, consider a return Business Class flight from Singapore to Auckland:

• Route: SIN-AKL-SIN

• Cabin: Business Class

• Booking Class: D or U

• Total Distance: 10,454 Miles (5,227 miles each way)

Photo Credit: Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Crediting the two flights above into the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program will earn you 13,068 miles while crediting the same two flights into the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program will earn you 20,908 miles (60% more miles!). From an absolute magnitude point of view, crediting your flights into the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program will give you more miles for a comparable booking class (do note that some Economy Class flights do not earn miles on the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program).

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles are (Usually) Worth More

Apart from just accruing more miles, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles are actually worth more if you use them wisely. Using the same example (SIN-AKL-SIN) above, here's how both programs compare:

13,068 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles

Economy Class from Singapore to Zone 2: 7,500 Miles

Business Class from Singapore to Zone 2: 19,000 Miles

Business Class from Singapore to Japan: 47,000 Miles

20,908 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles

Economy Class from South East Asia to South East Asia (SQ): 17,500 Miles

Business Class from South East Asia to South East Asia (SQ): 25,000 Miles

Business Class from Singapore to Japan (JL): 25,000 Miles

Photo Credit: Japan Airlines

With the 13,068 KrisFlyer miles that you earn on KrisFlyer from the aforementioned flights, you will only have enough for a one-way redemption from Singapore to any Zone 2 cities in Economy Class (7,500 KrisFlyer Miles). According to the Award Charts published by Singapore Airlines, Zone 2 covers only Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei - the furthest you can go is Bali (DPS) which is a 2-hour flight and in my opinion, not a bad place to use your miles. However, it will not be sufficient for a flight in Business Class (what you should really redeem your miles for) as the minimum requirement is 19,000 KrisFlyer Miles.

While 20,908 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles will not get you on Business Class either, it puts you in a much better position as you are only approximately 4,000 shy away from a proper Business Class award redemption. Using your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles for Singapore Airlines in Economy Class is a terrible idea (since it requires 17,500 miles) but you can get great value from putting 25,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles towards a one-way Japan Airlines Business Class flight between Singapore and Japan (instead of 47,000 KrisFlyer Miles on Singapore Airlines using KrisFlyer Miles).

Elite Status on Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Gives You Even More Miles

As mentioned last year, I have actually managed to obtain MVP Gold status on the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program back in 2018 as I had quite a number of long-haul flights that year for work. Firstly, elite status with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program lasts longer than the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program - an elite status earned with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program is valid until the end of the following year. While a lot of the perks that come with the MVP Gold status do not really benefit me since I do not fly on Alaska Airlines (as I am based in Singapore), I really do appreciate the 100% bonus on base mileage.

Photo Credit: Singapore Airlines

Keeping that in mind, let us go back to that Singapore to Auckland Business Class flight example again. Assuming you have top-tier status in the KrisFlyer program (and that is KrisFlyer Elite Gold), you will earn a 25% tier bonus on actual miles flown on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir amongst other benefits. However, if you have top-tier status (MVP Gold 75K) in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program, you will earn a staggering 125% bonus on base mileage across all partner airlines. To put things into a more comparative perspective, KrisFlyer Elite Gold requires 50,000 elite miles to be earned within 12 consecutive months. While MVP Gold is not the highest tier in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program, it does too require 50,000 qualifying miles to be earned within a calendar year. For the sake of comparison, let us only compare the top-tier KrisFlyer Elite Gold status with the mid-tier MVP Gold status:

Photo Credit: Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

With the aforementioned flights from Singapore to Auckland, a KrisFlyer Elite Gold member will earn 15,681 KrisFlyer Miles (with a 25% tier bonus) while an MVP Gold member will earn 31,362 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles (with a 100% tier bonus)! Now if you were to go back to that previous section with the number of miles required for an award ticket, you will notice that 15,681 KrisFlyer Miles will still not get you anywhere but 31,362 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles will take you to Japan in Business Class at the very least!

You Can Still Earn PPS Value

If you are concerned about earning PPS Value from your revenue flights on Singapore Airlines in Business Class and First Class, you should know that crediting these flights to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program will still earn you PPS Value so long both loyalty programs are linked. What this means to say is that if you spend at least S$25,000 in premium cabins on Singapore Airlines and credit all these flights to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program, you will still acquire PPS Club status. In fact, those flights will also earn you elite status with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program so you can double-dip on those earnings!

Photo Credit: Cathay Pacific

There Are Still Great Redemption Options with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

There is no doubt that the discontinuation of stopovers on intra-Asia awards has made the program comparatively less attractive. You used to be able to do an-almost-return trip to Tokyo for 25,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles but without the ability to do stopovers now, you will have to use 50,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles for a return trip. While that may not sound like a great deal, Singapore Airlines charges at least 94,000 KrisFlyer miles for a return flight between Singapore and Japan so you are paying almost half of what is required with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program. You can also travel on Cathay Pacific for cheap with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program - a Business Class flight between Asia and the US requires only 50,000 miles in Business Class and 70,000 miles in First Class!

Final Thoughts

Crediting flights to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program still makes plenty of sense if you are based in Singapore or the Southeast Asia region - miles are relatively more valuable and you can easily pick up a lot more miles (especially with elite status in the program) along the way. You should already know this but there is currently a 40% bonus on Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles if you were to purchase them before 31 October 2019. If you are based in Singapore, charging this to the OCBC 90°N Card will earn you 4 miles per dollar with no cap and no minimum. Remember, you will be able to earn 4 miles per dollar on all non-SGD eligible transactions until 29 February 2020 with the OCBC 90°N Card so make sure you apply early to take full advantage of this amazing offer.