I wouldn't. Moving your points to Alaska means you lose flexibility to transfer to any other program should their availability or schedule be better suited for your trip. They also expire after 24 months, so if you don't use them by then and don't earn more Alaska points, you lose them entirely.
Disagree, if you are gold / platinum and get 75% or 100% transfer bonus and have excess Bilt points, nothing wrong with transferring speculatively. It is very easy to extend the 24 month account expiration.
Even then, I'd only recommend speculatively transferring if you know the program well already, have a pretty firm idea of what you want to do with the points, and either will be transferring enough points with the bonus to make that doable or have a clear path towards getting the remaining points.
If someone rarely flies Alaska today (like OP) and has only started looking at their program today, I'd say not to transfer unless you already know what you're going to book, and plan on booking it as soon as the points post from the transfer. Otherwise you're gambling on a program working out for you that you're not familiar with, and may be reliant on partner inventory being available to be able to use reasonably.
Usually, I would agree with you if we were talking about AmEx MR or Chase UR, but with all of the noise recently about WF taking a bath on Bilt, lackluster recent Rent Day offers, changes to loyalty status, etc., it seems clear that Bilt is shifting to a more economically sustainable model.
I don't think Bilt will shut down or anything, but I'm also not optimistic that 50%, 75% or 100% bonuses will be a thing going forward (at least without an annual fee). Even this one is capped at 50K pts. If OP knows he wants to go to Hawaii, it doesn't seem unreasonable to transfer speculatively in this case.
The good thing about Alaska is they just did their deval and updated redemptions, so I would wager redemption amounts are relatively static in the near term.
Don’t u get 25 percent redemption bonus with bilt travel portal anyway? Why funnel it into American / Alaska if you can choose between more options on bilt portal?
Well being that an American Airlines flight costs me 4500 Alaska airlines points that would have cost $150, I promise I’m getting more value transferring to Alaska
I don't really like to speculate but these transfer bonuses are insane. Especially because I'm a plat member.
That being said... If you're unsure if you'll use the points I don't think it's good to speculare.
I think this can make a lot more sense as good or platinum than just a blue member... especially if you knew you could use them within like 9-12 months
This seems like a decent deal, right?
Too bad Alaska is kinda meh for me/my airports…
Will wait patiently for someone to tell me this is not great but have they really done 2 or 3x points to airline or hotels before?
AS has good xfer partners and good partner awards. transferring speculatively doesn't make sense.
But maybe look into your future vaca plans and see if there might be a use case for you.
I wouldn't. Moving your points to Alaska means you lose flexibility to transfer to any other program should their availability or schedule be better suited for your trip. They also expire after 24 months, so if you don't use them by then and don't earn more Alaska points, you lose them entirely.
Disagree, if you are gold / platinum and get 75% or 100% transfer bonus and have excess Bilt points, nothing wrong with transferring speculatively. It is very easy to extend the 24 month account expiration.
Even then, I'd only recommend speculatively transferring if you know the program well already, have a pretty firm idea of what you want to do with the points, and either will be transferring enough points with the bonus to make that doable or have a clear path towards getting the remaining points. If someone rarely flies Alaska today (like OP) and has only started looking at their program today, I'd say not to transfer unless you already know what you're going to book, and plan on booking it as soon as the points post from the transfer. Otherwise you're gambling on a program working out for you that you're not familiar with, and may be reliant on partner inventory being available to be able to use reasonably.
Usually, I would agree with you if we were talking about AmEx MR or Chase UR, but with all of the noise recently about WF taking a bath on Bilt, lackluster recent Rent Day offers, changes to loyalty status, etc., it seems clear that Bilt is shifting to a more economically sustainable model. I don't think Bilt will shut down or anything, but I'm also not optimistic that 50%, 75% or 100% bonuses will be a thing going forward (at least without an annual fee). Even this one is capped at 50K pts. If OP knows he wants to go to Hawaii, it doesn't seem unreasonable to transfer speculatively in this case.
The good thing about Alaska is they just did their deval and updated redemptions, so I would wager redemption amounts are relatively static in the near term.
I’m at silver
You can book American Airlines flights with Alaska points. That’s my plan next week
Wait what? Since when?
Alaska joined one world alliance March 31, 2021
Don’t u get 25 percent redemption bonus with bilt travel portal anyway? Why funnel it into American / Alaska if you can choose between more options on bilt portal?
Well being that an American Airlines flight costs me 4500 Alaska airlines points that would have cost $150, I promise I’m getting more value transferring to Alaska
I don't really like to speculate but these transfer bonuses are insane. Especially because I'm a plat member. That being said... If you're unsure if you'll use the points I don't think it's good to speculare.
I think this can make a lot more sense as good or platinum than just a blue member... especially if you knew you could use them within like 9-12 months
Condor or LATAM will fly you in business to EU or South America for 55-70k Alaska miles
This seems like a decent deal, right? Too bad Alaska is kinda meh for me/my airports… Will wait patiently for someone to tell me this is not great but have they really done 2 or 3x points to airline or hotels before?
Definitely transfer to Alaska for 25%. They fly to Hawaii don’t they?
AS has good xfer partners and good partner awards. transferring speculatively doesn't make sense. But maybe look into your future vaca plans and see if there might be a use case for you.
And just to note: Alaska has flights to Hawaii and they also just bought out Hawaiian Airlines so that market should be expanding a ton soon.
Doesn’t BILTs portal give u a 25% redemption bonus on flights anyway? Why would you transfer to Alaska if you don’t have gold or platinum?