Alaska Airlines caught my attention yesterday with two high value deals. The first deal was a 2-hour flash sale with round trip Oakland to Maui, Hawaii for under $200. I priced the fare on AlaskaAir.com near the end of the sale period, but stopped short of making a purchase since it would have been a solo trip. My wife has no interest in a Hawaii vacation, yet I don’t think it would play too well in our household if I traveled to Hawaii alone again after my December 2012 trip to Kauai.
There are still round trip fares on Alaska Air between Oakland and Maui for $169 each way.
Alaska Air OAK-OGG (Maui) Jan 7-12, 2015 $337.60 round trip.
Alaska Airlines “Ski the West” free round trip offer
More suitable for our travels is the Alaska Airlines “Ski the West” offer for a free round trip flight (pay tax only) between February 1 – April 30, 2015 to any of ten snow destinations. The promotion is restricted to Alaska Airlines members residing in California, Oregon and Washington who complete four one-way segments between a west coast Alaska Airlines city in one of these states to one of the ten ski cities by February 23, 2015.
- Mammoth Lakes, California
- Steamboat Springs, Colorado
- Sun Valley, Idaho
- Bend, Oregon
- Bozeman, Montana
- Kalispell, Montana
- Reno, Nevada (RNO)
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- Vancouver, Canada
[NOTE: January 31, 2015 shown in the image was incorrect. The T&C state February 23 and the image was later changed on the Alaska Airlines website to show February 23, 2015.]
San Jose Airport is 75 miles away from Monterey.
SJC-RNO (Reno) is a $116 to $118 round trip price. It is possible to fly SJC-RNO in the morning, spend 10 hours in RNO and fly back. Or stay a couple of days and take advantage of low Reno hotel casino room rates.
Two quick round trips to Reno for $236 earns the free round trip ticket to one of the ski airports.
While Kelley has no interest in traveling to Maui, we both find Vancouver to be a good vacation destination, even in the cold season.
Alaska Airlines has one route out of Monterey to San Diego. The terms of the promotion state that the free round trip can be used from any Alaska Airlines airport in California, Oregon or Washington to one of the ten ski cities in this promotion.
There appears to be no restriction to using the free airline ticket to fly from Monterey to San Diego and from there to one of the ten ski cities.
MRY-YVR Feb 8-Feb 15, 2015 for the price of taxes = $58.40 round trip.
Monterey-Vancouver airfare for this itinerary is $657. My total cost would be under $300 to fly two round trips to Reno SJC-RNO and pay taxes for a free ticket to Vancouver.
Even using San Jose as the city of departure for the free ticket shows the fare as $349 to fly round trip to Vancouver.
Alaska Airlines promotion allows many of us on the West Coast to book two trips for relatively low cost and get a third round trip award ticket to another, more expensive, destination that is priced higher than the cost of the two cheap round trip flights.
Wanna get away this winter?
I don’t even ski, but I am ready to fly to some Alaska Air ski destination airports in December and January with this deal for a free flight in February, March or April.
Both of our accounts are now registered for Alaska Airlines Ski the West promotion.
Alaska Airlines Ski the West Terms & Conditions
*Offer Terms & Conditions:
Offer is valid for Mileage Plan™ members who are residents of Washington, Oregon, or California. Registered members who fly 4 qualifying nonstop flights between any Alaska Airlines city in Washington, Oregon, or California and Bend (RDM), Bozeman (BZN), Kalispell (FCA), Kelowna (YLW), Mammoth Lakes (MMH), Reno (RNO), Salt Lake City (SLC), Steamboat Springs (HDN), Sun Valley (SUN), or Vancouver (YVR) by February 23, 2015 (Ric Garrido note: the date is January 31 in all other references to this promotion), will receive a Discount Code for a ticket (taxes and fees starting from $29 apply) valid for travel between any Alaska Airlines city in Washington, Oregon, or California and Bend (RDM), Bozeman (BZN), Kalispell (FCA), Kelowna (YLW), Mammoth Lakes (MMH), Reno (RNO), Salt Lake City (SLC), Steamboat Springs (HDN), Sun Valley (SUN), or Vancouver (YVR). Discount Code will be awarded via email within two weeks of meeting the promotion’s qualifications. Registration is required prior to your first qualifying flight. Flights must be marketed and operated by Alaska Airlines. Flight miles must be credited to your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™ account. Not valid on free or award travel. All travel must be completed by January 31, 2015, and credited to your Mileage Plan™ account by March 14, 2015. Maximum of one Discount Code per Mileage Plan™ member will be issued. All terms and conditions of the Mileage Plan™ program apply. Offer subject to change without notice.
*Discount Code Terms & Conditions:
Discount Code is valid for one-way or round-trip travel between any Alaska Airlines city in Washington, Oregon, or California and Bend (RDM), Bozeman (BZN), Kalispell (FCA), Kelowna (YLW), Mammoth Lakes (MMH), Reno (RNO), Salt Lake City (SLC), Steamboat Springs (HDN), Sun Valley (SUN), or Vancouver (YVR). Passenger is responsible for all applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges, including checked baggage fees. Discount Code must be ticketed by March 30, 2015. No changes are allowed once ticket is issued. Travel is valid from February 1, 2015, through April 30, 2015. W class of service must be available. Seats are limited and may not be available on every flight. Discount Codes are non-transferable. The recipient of the Discount Code must be the traveler. Not eligible for Mileage Plan™ or other frequent flyer program miles. Discount Code cannot be applied to tickets that have already been purchased and issued. Valid only on flights operated by Alaska Airlines, and flights operated on behalf of Alaska Airlines by Horizon Air, SkyWest and PenAir.
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Ric Garrido of Monterey, California is writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler.
Loyalty Traveler shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. Check out current hotel loyalty program offers across all the major chains in Loyalty Traveler’s monthly hotel promotions guide.
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