Get Up to a 50% Bonus When You Purchase Alaska Miles

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Following a massive devaluation for Emirates awards just a few months ago, Alaska miles aren't nearly as appealing as they once were, but you can still get some great deals. If you have a specific redemption in mind, you could get some decent value from the airline's latest promotion, which is offering up to a 50% bonus when you purchase miles through September 29, 2016.

As you can see above, this promotion is available to all Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members and is a "mystery bonus," meaning you'll either receive 35%, 40% or 50% bonus miles after entering your Mileage Plan information.

To max out the promo (assuming you're targeted for a 50% bonus), you'll need to purchase 60,000 miles for $1,773.75 (including tax). You'll receive a bonus of 30,000 miles, bringing your cost down to 1.97 cents per mile (compared to the usual cost of 2.96 cents each).

That may sound like a lot to spend, but it's enough to score a one-way business- or first-class flight to Asia on Cathay Pacific, including a free stopover in Hong Kong. So you could fly one-way from New York to Hong Kong in first class, stop in Hong Kong for a week and then continue on to Bali, for example, for less than $2,000 — and you'd have 20,000 miles to spare. Or, you could pair this promo with the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card sign-up bonus and have enough for a round-trip in business class — again, with miles left over that you can use toward another trip.

Here’s how to take advantage of the promotion:

1. Visit Alaska’s Buy Miles page.
2. Enter your details, select the number of miles you want to purchase and click Continue.
3. Add your credit card details and click Continue.
4. Review the information, check the box to agree to the Terms and Conditions and click Continue to finalize the purchase.

Keep in mind that the usual restrictions for purchasing Alaska miles apply to this promotion, including the following:

• Miles may be purchased in increments of 1,000 miles up to a maximum of 60,000 miles per transaction (though there's no annual limit).
• Miles may take up to 72 hours to post to your account.
• Purchased miles do not count toward elite status.

In addition, the transaction is processed directly by Points.com, so it isn't eligible for an airfare category bonus on a card like the Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express.

Will you be purchasing Alaska miles with a bonus?