Answer pls: SPG points in using ffmiles frp, AA tp Alaska

[Cathyb]

Alaska Airlines now has a non-stop flight from San Diego to Maui. Could I have Starwood Preferred Guest transfer my miles into American Airlines for the bonus they give and then use those miles on Alaska to get to Maui in 2013?

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Alaska Airlines now has a non-stop flight from San Diego to Maui. Could I have Starwood Preferred Guest transfer my miles into American Airlines for the bonus they give and then use those miles on Alaska to get to Maui in 2013?

You can do that, but you may be better off just transferring the SPG points to Alaska Air if you plan to fly coach, depending on when you are taking your trip.

AA has peak and off-peak SAAver awards for Hawaii. Off-peak is 17,500 OW and peak is 22,500 OW. Off-peak season for Hawaii is Jan. 12 - Mar. 8; Aug. 22 - Dec. 15. Alaska is 20,000 OW all year for super-save coach. If you plan to travel during off-peak season, move the miles to AA; if you plan to travel during peak season, move the miles to AS. -- Suzanne

 

[MichaelColey]

Do you have a backup plan if you transfer the miles and you're not able to get saver awards? That's the one big risk. If you travel off-peak and plan far enough in advance, it's less of a risk.

 

[heathpack]

Alaska Airlines now has a non-stop flight from San Diego to Maui. Could I have Starwood Preferred Guest transfer my miles into American Airlines for the bonus they give and then use those miles on Alaska to get to Maui in 2013?

You will get the same 5000 mile bonus per 20000 miles transferred whether you transfer to American or Alaska.

Another factor to consider is which airline will have better FF availability. When we flew Alaska Airlines to Alaska from LA, there was tons of FF availability, the best of any program we've ever used.

And then the third thing to think of is whether youd be better off using the SPG Flights feature. Right now, checking random dates in April, I can see that you could purchase Alaska Airlines tickets nonstop San Diego to Honolulu for $358. Using the SPG flights program, this would translate to 30,000 starpoints RT. The nice thing about this is that you would earn FF miles on the flights. Since this RT flight is about 5000 miles, you'd earn 5000 miles, decreasing your net cost to 25,000 miles/starpoints per ticket. Its definately way easier logistically to book the SPG flights.

H

 

[Cathyb]

Good point

You can do that, but you may be better off just transferring the SPG points to Alaska Air if you plan to fly coach, depending on when you are taking your trip.

AA has peak and off-peak SAAver awards for Hawaii. Off-peak is 17,500 OW and peak is 22,500 OW. Off-peak season for Hawaii is Jan. 12 - Mar. 8; Aug. 22 - Dec. 15. Alaska is 20,000 OW all year for super-save coach. If you plan to travel during off-peak season, move the miles to AA; if you plan to travel during peak season, move the miles to AS. -- Suzanne

We own a timeshare June 28-July 12 in Maui -- cannot avoid the peak season. Thank you for your ideas.