Your Alaska Airlines miles stash just took a massive hit—here’s how the new policy quietly empties your wallet.
Starting this month, Alaska Airlines is hiking up the number of miles needed for award flights by an average of 15 to 20 percent on popular routes, meaning that $500 round-trip you saved for now costs 8,000 more miles. For the average traveler, that’s an extra $100+ in value gone from your account, and you’ll either have to pay cash to cover the gap or watch your hard-earned rewards lose buying power. Frequent fliers are already reporting that once-cheap redemptions to Hawaii and the East Coast have jumped overnight, so check your account now or you’ll be left paying more—or switching to a cheaper airline entirely.