Use Alaska miles to fly from the US to Australia with a stop in Fiji

If Australia And Fiji high on your travel wish list, this could be the perfect destination award for you.

The non-stop flight from Los Angeles to Sydney takes around 15 hours, but a stop in Fiji can break up your transpacific journey and allow you to visit Australia and Fiji in the same trip.

In today’s fun post I will show you how to book a one way bonus from USA to Australia with a stop in Fiji using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan mile.

Related: 8 common misconceptions about traveling to Australia

Why is it special?

In the last days of 2022, Alaska Mileage Plan announced new partner award rankings. Now, the Alaska Mileage Plan international partner rewards chart only lists the starting prices for rewards originating in the US or Canada. In the time since the new partner award rankings were announced, Alaska has devalued Japan Airlines award no notice. So you might want book the remaining sweet spots of Alaska Mileage Plan while you still can.

Alaska’s new rewards chart shows one-way rewards from the US to the South Pacific starting at 30,000 miles in economy class, 45,000 miles in premium economy class, 55,000 miles in business class and 70,000 miles for first class. However, behind the scenes, the bonus price is still mainly based on which partner operates the flights.

The hot spot we’re focusing on today is Fiji Airways’ ability to fly one way between the US and Australia with 40,000 Alaska miles in economy class or 55,000 miles in business class. This is a hot sweet spot because Alaska Mileage Plan Offers One Free Stop about a one-way award. So you can make a stop in Fiji, where I appreciate the culture, the beautiful island landscape and the possibility of breaking up your long journey across the Pacific Ocean.

Related: Best ways to use points and miles from US to Australia

Unfortunately, that’s not all good news: The ability to offer business class prizes from the US and Fiji is practically nonexistent. You’ll find limited quantities from Fiji to the US and limited availability between Fiji and Australia. Due to the limited number of business class rewards for this attraction, we will focus on economy class rewards in this guide.

Related: Flight Review: Fiji Airways Economy Class from Nadi to Los Angeles on A350

The Alaska Mileage Plan charge a non-refundable fee of $12.50 per person each way for partner airline usage rewards. You can cancel or change the partner award No charge if your plan changes.

Here are the steps you need to take to find and book this fascinating place.

Find available prizes

Finding an available bonus that matches your date and travel plans can be the hardest part of booking it, especially if you want to fly in business class. As I noted above, there are very few seats available in business class right now, but if you want to fly economy class, you’ll likely find one.

You can’t use much Alaska Airlines Partner on the same award. So you’ll need to use flights operated by Alaska Airlines and Fiji Airways for this exciting place.

Although you will book your rewards through the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan website, I recommend using the American Airlines calendar search feature to find available rewards.

Related: The best sites to look for the availability of Oneworld awards

First, use American Airlines’ calendar search to find a seat on a Fiji Airways-operated flight between San Francisco or Los Angeles and Nadi, Fiji.

Then use American Airlines’ scheduled search to find a seat on a Fiji Airways operated flight between Nadi and Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide, Australia.

If you want to start somewhere besides Los Angeles or San Francisco, you can also search the American Airlines website for available seats on an Alaska Airlines-operated flight.

You’ll also need to find available rewards for your return flights, but now you know how to do it.

Related: Your ultimate guide to finding awards available for major airlines

Search the Alaska Airlines website

Now that you know the date, starting point, and destination to look for, visit the Alaska Airlines website. Below where you normally enter your search information, click “All search options”. You’ll want to click here instead of looking for a one-way reward due to your Fiji stopover.

Once you’ve made that adjustment, click “Multiple Cities,” select “Use Miles” and enter the information for your outgoing flights. Theoretically, you could also enter your return flight information here. but for now, let’s say you want to set a one-way reward. Click “Find Flights.”

On the next screen, you’ll see the flights you found using an American Airlines calendar search.

If there’s a picture of a seat next to the award fare, you’re looking at a mixed cabin award ticket. For example, this is a Sydney to Los Angeles hybrid business class bonus where the Sydney to Nadi leg is passenger van and the Nadi to Los Angeles leg is business.

You need to agree to continue with the mixed cabin prize if you want to book that option.

Let’s say you decide to go ahead with the 40,000-mile economy prize we’ve been looking for above. You can add this prize to your cart by clicking “Add to Cart”. Once the prize is in your cart, you can check the flight details. Click “Next” when you are ready to continue.

You’ll need to sign in to your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account, then enter or confirm your passenger name and contact information. You can choose a seat on any Alaska-operated flight in your booking profile before entering your payment information and purchasing your rewards.

Related: 6 things to know about Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

A way to earn Alaska Airlines miles is to register and use an Alaska Airlines credit card. If you’re looking to add a new card to your wallet, check it out Current sign-up bonus available on Alaska card:

• Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card: Get $100 statement credits, 50,000 bonus miles, and Alaska Popular Companion Fare from $122 ($99 fare, plus taxes and fees from $23) with this offer. To qualify, earn $2,000 or more on purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
• Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card: Get 50,000 bonus miles, a $100 statement credit, and Alaska Popular Companion Fares from $122 ($99 fare, plus taxes and fees from $23) with this offer. To qualify, earn $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.

You can also Marriott Bonvoy point transfer to Alaska Mileage Plan at 3:1, but keep in mind that you must transfer at least 3,000 points. TPG . value Marriott points at 0.84 cents per mile and Alaska miles at 1.8 cents per mile. So at a 3:1 transfer rate, you’re giving up about 0.6 cents worth of every Alaska mile earned transferring Marriott points to Alaska.

Finally, there are other ways to earn Alaska Airlines miles. For example, you can fly Alaska Airlines and its partners. Or, you can click through Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Shopping portal before shopping online. You can also subscribe to Weaning plan and eat at participating restaurants.

Related: When should Marriott rewards be transferred to airlines?

If you want to fly to Australia, change Alaska miles to fly Fiji Airways is a great choice. Taxes and fees are acceptable, you can stop in Fiji and the bonus prices are better than most other programs.

I loved Fiji when my husband and I visited in 2019 for a review Fiji Marriott Momi Bay Resortthe Hilton’s DoubleTree Resort. Fiji Hotel – Sonaisali . Island and InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa.

However, earning Alaska miles for this award can be challenging because Marriott Bonvoy is the only major transferable currency you can move to Alaska. Another challenge is the difficulty of finding enterprise-grade awards.