It turns out it’s not too late to score a last-minute summer 2023 deal to Europe.
Alaska Airlines is offering some enticing business-class award deals through its Mileage Plan program.
Here’s the catch: The flights aren’t actually on board Alaska aircraft.
The deals involve customers who book flights operated by German leisure carrier Condor, a non-Oneworld Alliance partner of Alaska, through their Mileage Plan accounts.
Condor operates flights between Frankfurt and several U.S. cities. Known for its colorful striped aircraft, the carrier offers a business-class product to its transatlantic flyers. (Some routes are on its Airbus A330-neo aircraft, and others are on its Boeing 767. Check to see which plane you can expect when booking.)
As part of this deal, Mileage Plan members can get business-class tickets to Frankfurt for 55,000 miles each way — or 110,000 miles round trip. This could be a great way to visit Frankfurt or get to Europe before booking a low-cost flight or train ride to another city. (We should note it’s almost time for Oktoberfest 2023.)
Thanks to Frequent Miler for being the first to point out this great business-class award space.
Here’s what to know about this deal.
Deal basics
Airlines: Condor but via Alaska’s booking channels
Routes: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, New York City, Washington, D.C., and other cities with Condor service to Frankfurt
How to book: Through your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account
Travel dates: August 2023, with more limited availability in September and October
Book by: ASAP
Sample flights
The deals involve business-class trips to Frankfurt on Condor but need to be booked through Alaska Airlines via the carriers’ partnership.
You can search and book these flights as you normally would when redeeming miles for any other Alaska flight, but you’ll see when you check out that they are operated by Condor.
When you pull up the award calendar, you’ll see that the dates are limited. This is the August business-class calendar for flights originating in San Francisco.
Below are just a few of the routes and award prices we found for business-class tickets. If Condor serves your city, it’s worth checking to see if you can find a similar deal.
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) for 110,000 Mileage Plan miles, round trip
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to FRA for 110,000 Mileage Plan miles, round trip
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to FRA for 110,000 Mileage Plan miles, round trip
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to FRA for 110,000 Mileage Plan miles, round trip
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) to FRA for 110,000 Mileage Plan miles, round trip
Know that you will generally have to pay $223 in taxes and fees on top of your Mileage Plan miles.
The best award space at this rate comes in August, which is great news for travelers open to a somewhat last-minute European trip.
Depending on your home city, you may be able to find this deal in September and October as well. We generally found these 55,000-mile deals to be less widespread in fall, though.
Here’s an option for summer travelers departing from the West Coast. You’d leave LAX on Aug. 8 at 7:45 p.m. local time and arrive the next day in Frankfurt at 4:30 p.m. local time.
It’s a daylight flight on the return trip that lands midafternoon in Southern California.
You’ll depart and land a bit earlier on this mid-August itinerary from San Francisco.
The deals are a little less widespread for East Coast travelers, but we did find a decent number of options at this price point in the Washington, D.C., area. The flights depart from BWI.
For those hoping to fly in the (very) near future, you can score this deal on an itinerary departing as soon as the first week of August.
Maximize your purchase
Use the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card to earn 3 Mileage Plan miles per dollar spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases.
Other credit cards that let you earn bonus points on airfare purchases include:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 2 points per dollar spent on travel
- American Express® Gold Card: 3 points per dollar spent on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: 5 points per dollar spent on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 of these purchases per calendar year)
- Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees): 3 points per dollar spent on airfare
- Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3 points per dollar spent on airfare
Bottom line
Thanks to Alaska Airlines’ partnership with Condor, travelers hoping to book a last-minute trip to Europe can make great use of their Mileage Plan miles to visit the region with these 110,000-mile round-trip itineraries to Frankfurt in business class.
As is often the case with great deals, booking as soon as possible is your best bet to lock in the deal at that price point.
