26,000 Alaska Miles for $225 India Mistake Fare

I recently flew round-trip from New York, JFK to Delhi, India on Emirates Airlines (see, I Sat in Coach on an Emirates A380 Flight and it Didn’t Suck!).

I credited the trip to Alaska Airlines, and received over 26,000 Alaska Air miles.  Let me explain.

1. Emirates is a partner of Alaska Airlines

Emirates is a Partner of Alaska Airlines.  However, Alaska only credits flights in economy class on Emirates Airlines 50%.

“Economy Cabin: Earn actual flight miles* flown in Y, E, R, or W classes of service. Earn 50% of actual flight miles* flown in M, B, U, K, Q, L, T, V, X, or H classes of service.”

In other words, I only received half the miles actually flown.

2. Promotion

I registered for a promotion, whereby Alaska Airlines gave double miles for flights in economy class on Emirates. (see, Hit Gold With These India Promos from Alaska/Emirates and Hyatt).

Earn Triple Miles when you fly Emirates in First Class, or Double Miles when you fly Business or Economy Class on non-stop between Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, New York-JFK, San Francisco, Seattle, or Washington D.C. and Dubai, plus onward connecting Emirates flights from Dubai.

Register by March 31, 2015, and prior to first qualifying flight, for travel between March 1, 2015, and May 15, 2015.

Applying this promo, it essentially meant that I would receive full mileage credit (rather than only 50%) for the miles flown on the Emirates trip.

3. Elite Bonus

As a Gold 75K member, I also receive an Elite Bonus –  a 125% bonus on miles earned.  This is what the website provides:

Elite Benefits: Our Mileage Plan™ MVP® members earn 50% Elite Bonus, MVP® Gold members earn 100% Elite Bonus, and Gold 75K** level members earn 125% Elite Bonus on miles earned. Elite Bonus Miles do not count toward elite qualification.

So here’s the numbers:

The JFK-DXB flights, I received half of the miles, or 3,425 miles.  I received an additional 3,425 miles for the promotion.  I also received 4,281 miles for the elite bonus.  That (hopefully) adds up to 11,131 miles.  The calculation is similar for the DXB-DEL flights.

I think I did alright!