The Thrifty Traveler Podcast · Thursday, August 13, 2026
A beneficial loophole in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program that allowed travelers to book transatlantic business class awards for 10,000 fewer miles by including a connection has been fixed. This 'hidden city' type of pricing for award tickets has been rectified by Alaska Airlines.
“Kyle, for the past couple of years, you could drop the price of a business class partner award ticket across the Atlantic by booking a connection on either side of the pond when you're booking with Alaska.”
“So an example, if you wanted to fly American Airlines business class from Chicago to London, it would cost you 55,000 Alaska Atmos in each direction. If you added a connection though, even from like a smaller airport like Sue Falls, South Dakota, the price inexplicably dropped to just 45,000 points per night.”
“Uh, it looks like Alaska has fixed this problem. It is now gone. Just too good to last.”
“This was easily one of the best deals in the world of points and miles.”