Last week I wrote about Alaska Mileage Plan’s Global Getaways – a quarterly promotion that offers up to 50% off Economy/Premium Economy redemptions to select destinations. I’ve been playing around with what is possible (as opposed to the written terms) and the results are rather interesting…

Travel DOES NOT have to originate in the USA

Contrary to the terms (you can read them in full at the bottom of this article if you wish), travel does not have to start in the USA. You can, in practice, get the discounted rates booking a one way to the USA from any of the eligible cities on the current list.

For example, Dublin to New York for 17,500 miles:

Or, Hanoi to Los Angeles for 30,000 miles:

This gives you much more flexibility (even if you just wanted to book a return trip starting from the US anyway).

Stopovers are fun…

You are allowed a stopover (of up to 14 days) on a one way booking, or 2 stopovers on a return. As it turns out that you can actually still get the discounted rate regardless of the direction you book, opting for 2 one-ways is a bit simpler for the Alaska system to handle if you want to include stopovers.

As you can see from the two screenshots below, I was easily able to price up New York to Hanoi with a 4 day stopover in Taipei:

All you need to do is use the multi-city search on the Alaska website and add the dates you want – assuming there is availability.

Where things get interesting though is with the routing rules, which seem to be more or less non-existent (at least within America).

For example, say that you are in Ireland and want to visit both Los Angeles and New York. As you might expect, it’s certainly possible to book Dublin -New York (stopover for up to 14 days) – LA as a one way award. But, that would leave you on the West Coast. Alaska also allows you to book Dublin-LA (stopover for up to 14 days) – New York:

It’s usually considerably cheaper (using cash or miles like BA Avios) to then fly back to Europe from the East Coast rather than the West.

Bottom line

I have only scratched the surface of the sorts of trips you could put together using the Alaska Global Getaways rates, but that’s enough for now. I’ll aim to publish some more complicated itineraries in a few days time!

Terms

Global escapes pricing is offered on flights in Economy & Premium Economy class only. Travel has to originate in the US.Each award is subject to taxes and carrier-imposed fees starting from Promo is valid on bookings March 11, 2025–April 11, 2025 for travel March 11, 2025–July 31, 2025. Each award is subject to taxes and carrier-imposed fees starting from $5.60 per person, each way. These taxes and fees vary by itinerary and are based on trip origin and destination. The exact amount of taxes and carrier-imposed fees that will apply will appear when searching for a particular itinerary, and can start at $100 for international itineraries with select partners. For itineraries that include one (1) or more partner award segments, a $12.50 (USD) nonrefundable fee will be collected per person, each way.One (1) enroute stopover of up to 14 days is allowed per one-way on eligible international itineraries. On a roundtrip international itinerary two (2) stopovers are permitted with one (1) in each direction of travel.Prices have been available for one-way trips within the last 24 hours and may not be currently available.Lap infants are not permitted on international partner awards and will not be accepted for travel. Members will need to book seats at prevailing rates.