Back in 2019, Alaska Airlines and EL AL launched a partnership. We had been promised all along that we’d eventually get reciprocal mileage redemptions, and that feature is finally live.
In this post:
What are Mileage Plan redemption rates on EL AL?
Alaska Airlines hasn’t published an award chart for travel on EL AL, though has quietly made these redemptions bookable on alaskaair.com. The EL AL partner page on Alaska’s website simply indicates that awards are available to Europe and the Middle East.
Mileage Plan pricing on EL AL seems to vary based on when you’re looking to book. For travel between the United States and Israel way in the future, one-way pricing is 50,000 miles in economy, 80,000 miles in premium economy, and 100,000 miles in business class.
Meanwhile for travel in the near future, one-way pricing is 40,000 miles in economy, 65,000 miles in premium economy, and 80,000 miles in business class.
There don’t seem to be any carrier imposed surcharges on these redemptions, which is good news. Also keep in mind that when redeeming Alaska Mileage Plan miles you’re in theory allowed a free stopover, though I’m not seeing much availability beyond Israel at the moment, so the practical implications of that are a big question mark.
My take on EL AL redemptions through Mileage Plan
My initial reaction is that it’s great to finally see Alaska redemptions on EL AL go live, as we’ve been waiting years for this. Alaska Mileage Plan is no doubt at a crossroads when it comes to value — based on what we’ve historically been used to, 100K Alaska miles for a one-way business class flight of 10-12 hours is hard to get excited about.
At the same time, there are limited ways to redeem on EL AL, so something is better than nothing. EL AL’s Matmid frequent flyer program is currently undergoing a major overhaul, and the only other practical way to book EL AL awards is through Qantas Frequent Flyer.
I think the most interesting thing here is how Alaska hasn’t published an award chart for EL AL. We know that big changes are coming to Alaska Mileage Plan’s award charts later this month, so I’m curious how this new redemption option ties into that.
So yeah, this is better than nothing, but based on my valuation of 1.7 cents per Mileage Plan mile, paying the equivalent of ~$1,700 for a one-way EL AL business class award isn’t too exciting. Then again, I’ll probably have to adjust that valuation in the near future, based on the direction that redemption opportunities are headed.
Bottom line
While it took several years, it’s finally possible to redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles for travel on EL AL. It’s no doubt good news that there’s another decent option for redeeming on EL AL, though I’m guessing the redemption rates won’t get most people very excited.
What do you make of the value of redeeming Alaska miles on EL AL?
I am finding it harder and harder to be excited about Alaska miles. I had been traveling almost weekly on Alaska for work from SFO to Seattle and SoCal until the Pandemic. I can't seem to find any worthwhile redemptions to anywhere remotely fun.
Just booked J on JAL for a March flight ORD-HND, then onward to BKK out of NRT five days later, for 65,000 miles...ticket is pricing out at close to $4,700 currently. For July, I'm holding a J ticket on Cathay ORD-HKG, then onward to BKK 4 days later, that cost me 50,000 miles and is pricing out at about $4,500. Both are refundable (well, minus the $12.50 one way partner booking fee AS charges...) and...
Just booked J on JAL for a March flight ORD-HND, then onward to BKK out of NRT five days later, for 65,000 miles...ticket is pricing out at close to $4,700 currently. For July, I'm holding a J ticket on Cathay ORD-HKG, then onward to BKK 4 days later, that cost me 50,000 miles and is pricing out at about $4,500. Both are refundable (well, minus the $12.50 one way partner booking fee AS charges...) and the fares I've quoted here are not, so if you can find these types of awards, Mileage Plan is hard to beat...but it's definitely getting harder and harder to find these.
When did you book the CX flight? Cause I haven't seen any J availability FROM CX in a very long time.
@Luis - about a month ago. I check frequently to see what pops up as in July I have a lot of flexibility, and I appear to have gotten lucky...a few days prior, it was not available. Same thing with the JAL flights. ORD doesn't often have great availability, so when I saw these, I jumped on them. I also saw an ORD-SGN itinerary available in J on JAL for early March as well...two days...
@Luis - about a month ago. I check frequently to see what pops up as in July I have a lot of flexibility, and I appear to have gotten lucky...a few days prior, it was not available. Same thing with the JAL flights. ORD doesn't often have great availability, so when I saw these, I jumped on them. I also saw an ORD-SGN itinerary available in J on JAL for early March as well...two days later, it was gone. One thing that has helped me is doing a layover - I will often see no availability to South East Asia in J, but if I do two separate leg searches, I'll find availability and can piece it together as a multi stop itinerary.
@Ralph4878 That's amazing. I haven't been nearly as lucky. Since my wife has gone back to work and the kids are in real school (hint, grades with a number and not pre-k/day care) and I switched jobs, my travel has slowed down. I have accrued millions of hotel points across Hyatt/Marriott/IHG/Hilton/Choice and a few more million across AMEX/Cap1/Citi/Chase in addition to the 400k Alaska and 220k Delta. I am itching to burn, but flexibility just...
@Ralph4878 That's amazing. I haven't been nearly as lucky. Since my wife has gone back to work and the kids are in real school (hint, grades with a number and not pre-k/day care) and I switched jobs, my travel has slowed down. I have accrued millions of hotel points across Hyatt/Marriott/IHG/Hilton/Choice and a few more million across AMEX/Cap1/Citi/Chase in addition to the 400k Alaska and 220k Delta. I am itching to burn, but flexibility just isn't there for me right now. Maybe I'll look to join you in Asia this summer.
There's usually a LOT of intra-Asia availability with Mileage Plan...so if you can get over there on a cheaper ticket and want to hop around, CX J availability throughout the region is usually plentiful @ 25,000 miles (with a free stopover in HKG).