Book it while it's hot: Alaska Air offers fare sale on new Mexico routes
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Travelers in San Francisco will have new options for escaping to warmer climes this winter as Alaska Airlines announced new service connecting the Bay Area to Mexico.
New Routes to Mexico
Even better, the carrier is knocking up to 30 percent off select one-way fares to all eight of its Mexican destinations entice customers. Blackout dates and day-of-week restrictions apply, which you can get details about at Alaska Air's website. This sale ends tonight, so don't dawdle about booking flights.
The new routes are from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Loreto, Mazatlán and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, and will take off beginning December 18, and lasting until April 16, 2022. Alaska Air now has more nonstops from the West Coast to its eight Mexican destinations like Cancun, Los Cabo and Guadalajara than any other U.S. airline. This winter the carrier will be offering as many as 27 daily departures to Mexico from California and the Pacific Northwest.
Airline: Alaska Airlines
Routes: SFO to MZT/LTO/ZIH/CUN/PVR/SJD; SJC to SJD/GDL/PVR and more
Cost: from $159 one-way (with Saver restricted fares)
Dates: Book until Aug. 14 for travel between Sept. 7 and Feb. 9, 2022 to/from Mexico
Pay with: The Platinum Card® from American Express for 5x on airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year), the Citi Prestige® Card for 5x on airfare, the Citi Premier® Card (3x on air travel; see rates and fees) or Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on travel), the American Express® Gold Card for 3x on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel, or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card for 2x on travel.
The information for the Citi Prestige card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
We found a few examples of the reduced fare prices out of San Francisco, including this fare in early September:
San Francisco (SFO) to Cancun (CUN) from $152 one-way
San Francisco (SFO) to Mazatlan (MZT) from $199 one-way (with Saver restricted fare)
For one of the three brand-new nonstop routes Alaska Air just announced, the best prices we found were for Mazatlan after the holidays (not a surprise there). If you book Alaska Air's Saver fare, keep in mind that its their basic economy tier, which means a lot of restrictions. If you prefer a bit more flexibility, then paying an extra $40 for a Main tier seat may be best for you.
Going even further out to February, we found nonstop fares to another of the new destinations, Loreto for under $200 each way.
San Francisco (SFO to Loreto (LTO) from $199 one-way
San Jose (SJC) to Los Cabos (SJD) from $119 each-way (with Saver restricted fare)
One of the best deals we found was a San Jose-Los Cabos fare for $119 each way! Again, that's with the Saver restricted fares, but even the Main tier price is a good deal at $159 per, so travelers who use San Jose International Airport should jump on this.
How to Book
Visit the Alaska Airlines website and enter your desired departure and destination cities. Use the calendar function to search dates and prices that work for you. I spent a good amount of time looking up prices, but one bit of advice is to not hesitate about a price you find on the date you want. I saw several bargain priced fares disappear when I waited a bit too long to lock it in.
Remember, the fare sale ends tonight (August 14), so get booking!
Related: What it's like to fly Alaska Airlines
Maximize your purchase
Don't forget to use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel), Citi Prestige® Card (5x on airfare), Citi Premier® Card (3x on air travel), Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on travel), American Express® Gold Card (3x on airfare) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel). Check out this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.
You can also pay with discounted Alaska Airlines gift cards.