Alaska Airlines Mileage points

Elites in Alaska are allowed to earn miles for free with friends and family.

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Alaska Airlines devalues more heavily

Since time immemorial, Alaska MileagePlan mileage has been one of the most precious and diverse mileage programmes. Some of the best solutions for Alaska's airlines were the first-class seating on the Emirates A380. Unfortunately, Alaska Airlines has dramatically raised the number of mileage required for an Emirates First class flight over night, to put it mildly.

This table shows the new number of required miles: You can see that these are significant gains across the front, with First-class seats being the most affected. The number of mileage required for First-Class tickets to Africa has increased from 100,000 to 200,000 per trip!

Typically, when airlines announce a larger increment of required mileage for a reward, they are adding a few month goodwill notice so members can cash in their mileage. US airlines gave their members several month's time to cash in their mileage at the old course before their recent depreciation. Unfortunately, Alaska Airlines has raised the number of mileage with immediate effect.

Obviously, this is not good news, and will devalue immensely the value of the Alaska mile. And for those who own Alaska mileage, you can still spend your points on Cathay Pacific or Qantas First Classic rewards, which are still good business in comparison to the new American Airlines rewards overview. Alternatively, you can use your points for Emirates First class through Japan Airlines, which is a member of Starswood Points.

Japanese Airlines uses a distance-based equation, which means the more you travel, the more mileage you have to cover. A return between New York and Dubai, for example, would just take you 135,000 JAL-mile, which is LESS than a one-way fare on Alaska Airlines' new premium overview.