Alaska Airlines is currently running a rather unbelievable promotion on Business class award flights to the United States. For just 40,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles each way, you can fly with Fiji Airways in Business class from Australia, New Zealand or the South Pacific to the USA.
Fiji Airways serves three destinations in the United States via Nadi – Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu.
With this Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan promotion, you can fly from the South Pacific, Australia or New Zealand to Los Angeles, San Francisco or Honolulu for just 20,000 Mileage Plan miles one-way in Economy or 40,000 Mileage Plan miles one-way in Business class. This offer is available for Alaska Airlines award bookings on Fiji Airways made until 29 February 2020, for travel any time during the next 11 months.
You’ll also need to pay any taxes, but there are no fuel or carrier surcharges applicable when redeeming Alaska Airlines miles for Fiji Airways flights. (Note that the taxes are charged in U.S. Dollars.)
Award availability is limited, but there are a few dates available if you’re prepared to be flexible. For example, we found Fiji Airways Business class award availability from Sydney to San Francisco on this date in June:
There is somewhat more award availability with Fiji Airways to Honolulu. Here’s an example of an itinerary that is currently available with a ~23 stopover in Nadi on the way home:
Unfortunately, the long Nadi-Honolulu flights are on Fiji Airways Boeing 737s with recliner Business class seats (and not lie-flat beds). Some flights also have an extra stop in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
It is also possible to redeem Qantas points for Fiji Airways flights. But the number of points required is much higher. For example, the above round-trip itinerary from Sydney to Honolulu would cost you 164,000 Qantas points, plus taxes.
Using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is a popular frequent flyer program because it sells miles directly to the public. During regular promotions, you can even get up to 40% bonus miles on purchases. Unfortunately, there is currently no promotion available. But if you already have a stash of Mileage Plan miles, this Fiji Airways promotion could represent a good opportunity to redeem them for even better value than normal.
You can book award travel on all Alaska Airlines partners (except Cathay Pacific and LATAM) on the Alaska Airlines website. However, you may find it easier to first search for Fiji Airways award availability on the Qantas website, where you can use the calendar to view availability over an entire month.
Even outside these kinds of promotions, Alaska Airlines redemptions from Australia to North America are great value. It costs just 55,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles one-way to fly Business class to the USA with Qantas or Fiji Airways. You can also redeem Alaskan miles to fly on American Airlines, Korean Air, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines or Emirates – although the number of miles required varies depending on the airline you’re using.
The main catch is the difficulty of finding award availability, which at times can be very limited. But there are some flights available – even in Qantas Business class:
Fiji Airways also happens to currently have a sale on Business class airfares from Australia to Tokyo, Japan.
Last week, Alaska Airlines announced that it will join the Oneworld alliance in 2021.
