Welcome Back!

Hope everyone is having a great week 😊 

I actually went to a meetup for points & miles enthusiasts this past weekend - seeing a bunch of people just talking all things points, miles, travel, and more for a few hours was very interesting, but great! I’ll be at more of these events in the future, so I can gather more knowledge to share with you all 📚️ 

If you were here from the beginning (thank you so much, by the way ❤️), my second-ever newsletter was after my trip to Montreal to see the eclipse. That newsletter was Canada-themed, with a guide to Aeroplan. Well, given the news that came out this week, I thought it’d be appropriate to write an Alaska-themed newsletter!

I haven’t been to Alaska yet, by the way - but one day!! 🤞 

In today’s edition:

• 🐻‍❄️ The Alaska X Hawaiian Merger 🌴 

• 🏦 Transfer Bonuses ✈️

• 🐻‍❄️ Why Alaska Miles are Great 📈 

• 📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• 💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

🐻‍❄️ The Alaska X Hawaiian Merger 🌴 

Yes, Alaska is about to acquire Hawaiian - the DOJ had a review period that expired without them raising any flags, so that was a big step forward in this actually happening!

This also means that Alaska Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles, their rewards programs, may join forces into one. Now, whereas HawaiianMiles are not that great, Alaska Mileage Plan, is a great airline transfer partner (I’ll go into why later in the newsletter!). Too bad they only transfer from Bilt…

So the thinking is that Alaska will allow HawaiianMiles holders to move their miles over to Alaska after the merger goes through. And if HawaiianMiles can be moved to Alaska at a 1:1 transfer rate, then this may be one of the best coups for people holding onto HawaiianMiles!

Well, according to a local blogger, the Beat of Hawaii, Alaska intends to do just that!! They claim that Alaska emailed them to confirm that HawaiianMiles will transfer 1:1 to Alaska after the merger. While I cannot vouch for the reliability of this publication, I can only hope that this is indeed true, or even better than advertised 🤞 

Now here is potentially the big fish: this commitment by Alaska gets interesting, because Amex points transfer to HawaiianMiles, and Amex is currently running a 20% transfer bonus to Hawaiian. This could potentially mean that if you transfer points to Hawaiian now, you can turn them into Alaska miles later. Quite an interesting value proposition, if true!

Of course, no one actually knows for sure if this is happening or not, but the signs seem generally positive so far. Concerns with doing this now include:

• 🤷 What if the merger falls through? (doesn’t seem likely, but still)

• 🤷 What if Alaska reneges on its supposed commitment to either do 1:1 transfers from Hawaiian or decides not to absorb HawaiianMiles? (doesn’t seem likely, but still)

• 🤷 Amex transfers to Hawaiian incur a tax of $6 per 10,000 points transferred 👎️ 

I myself am cautious with my points, so I wouldn’t do this until I know for sure that I can get Alaska miles by transferring to Hawaiian. But maybe some of you are willing to take the gamble and try this out for some Alaska miles! If this pays off, this is a big, big, deal. I’m telling you, Alaska miles are great 👍️ 

In the meantime, I hope this merger is good for all consumers (something that the DOJ decided was not the case with JetBlue & Spirit)!

🏦➡️✈️ Transfer Bonuses

🐻‍❄️ Why Alaska Miles are Great 📈 

I know I can’t fit a full guide of Alaska Mileage Plan into one snippet of the newsletter, but a segment on this is well overdue - especially in light of the merger, it is more fitting to discuss the rewards program than ever!

As with other major programs, Mileage Plan is not limited to just Alaska flights, and it also has a big list of partners that you can redeem points for! Again, the one pitfall here is that only Bilt points transfer over to Alaska, which can make it harder to get points. Of course, there is the Alaska credit card, among other things.

To understand more about Alaska Mileage Plan:

• 📈 It uses a zone and distance-based award chart, meaning costs are based on the distance of your flight and the location of the origin/destination of your flight.

• ⛽️ It is a low-to-no fuel surcharge program (meaning little taxes & fees on top of the mileage cost)!

• ⏸️ With some rules to follow, stopovers can be added to itineraries for free! Why not press pause in Tokyo while flying from San Fran to Osaka?

Some sweet spot redemptions on Alaska Mileage Plan include (but are definitely not limited to):

• 🛩️ Short flights (<700 miles) within the Americas for 4,500 miles each way in economy

  • Super competitive pricing compared to other programs such as Lifemiles (6,500 for similar routes), Virgin (7,500) Qatar (9,500), and British Airways (12,000)!

• 🗽 New York (JFK) to Frankfurt (FRA), for 55,000 points one-way in Condor business class

• 🌏️ New York (JFK) to Reykjavik (KEF), for 35,000 points one-way in Icelandair business class

These redemption rates are some of the best among airline transfer partners! The opportunities for outsized value are plenty in this program (even despite some previous devaluations) - do take advantage of them for your next big trip if you have Alaska miles on hand (or if you have HawaiianMiles and they transfer to Alaska for free after the merger)!

📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️ 

• 💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses haven’t changed from last week!

• 💳️ Given Hawaiian and Alaska’s coming merger, Bilt removed Hawaiian as a transfer partner, as they already have Alaska as a partner.

• 🤝 Speaking of mergers, Hyatt is acquiring Standard Hotels to expand its footprint in “lifestyle hospitality”, whatever that means 🤷

• 🛩️ JetBlue is offering a status match if you have airline status with some other U.S. airlines!

• 👟 Enjoy 50% off Adidas through eBay here - this expires today!

• 🚌 I wrote about this last week too, but if you use NJTransit: All fares are free from August 26th to September 2nd!

📤️ Spread the Word! 📤️

Thank you so much for subscribing! This newsletter is committed to providing you all with helpful info and tips to maximize your points and rewards, at no direct cost to you! (appreciate you using any of my referral links, though!)

If you do find this newsletter informative, helpful, or entertaining, I’d greatly appreciate you spreading the word about it! If not, please do give me feedback on how I can improve your Sense per Point experience.

Also, if my newsletter helps you to book travel using points, let me know! It’ll make me so happy 😄 

Hope that all makes sense! That’s all for this week’s edition of Sense per Point.

Let’s all wish for no more devaluations anytime soon! Wishing everyone a wonderful rest of your day and week ❤️ 

- Sean Kim

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