PDXPremier

I enjoy using the 30K saver business/first award between Mexico and the US because you can mix AA & AS flights and get a free stopover, all in J or F. Since the switch to lower mileage awards, I have been taking advantage of some 5K one-ways such as RDM-PDX(stopover)-SEA-FAT and PDX-SEA-FCA.

Bretmd

I booked Qantas J SEA - SFO - SYD - CHC for 55k; booked 6 months out. Managed to get two tickets on the same flight in J.

Qantas F AKL - SYD (Stopover) - LAX - SEA for 70k; booked 4 months out.

I tend to go for J/F redemptions on partner airlines; there are some great values out there and it doesn't always require booking at 331 days.

ctporter

I've used my miles to send 10 people in coach plus my DH and me in FC- SEA EWR SEA, a Sister and her DH SEA TPA SEA, and a niece and baby TPA SEA all in coach. I've also used miles for my DH and m SEA FFL SEA in FC.

I once used my miles to fly TUC SEA when my original AA routing was canceled and AA could only fly me back home the next day. My corp agency could not get me on the AS flight that was going to leave in 45 mins (for some reason she kept saying there were not seats, which I knew was not true), so I called AS gold line and did it myself using miles. Never did get anything from AA, but it was worth it to get home that day.

jinglish

I've redeemed miles twice so far: SIN-HKG (stopover)-LAX-PDX in CX J/AS F a couple of months ago and a SEA-MDE/BOG-SEA trip in AS and AA Y next February. For me, redemptions are a matter of value--40k round-trips to Europe in AA Y in the off-season sound like a good deal, but if you wait for a flash sale you can probably find a revenue fare at the same time of year for $500 or less. However, it's the same number of miles to get to South America during the shoulder season, and I don't think I've ever seen a round-trip fare from PDX or SEA to EZE for less than $1500. So I'm going to book ~330 days out and nab an AA award whenever I finally decide to visit Buenos Aires.

Another thing I like about redemptions is that they don't have the same fare restrictions you find with revenue fares on legacy carriers--i.e., DL wants three times as much for a one-way PDX-AMS as a round trip. Since I like to go on some all-over-the-place trips, I'm likely going to end up booking a one-way in AA Y award to somewhere like Munich and then getting a paid ticket home from, say, HAM on FI or KRK on DE.

TProphet

For the most part, I book itineraries in economy class at saver levels that would otherwise be expensive (such as to Alaska), and I take full advantage of stopovers to fit visit multiple cities in one itinerary.

For example, one year I visited Barrow with a stopover in Anchorage. Most of my trip was in southcentral Alaska, but the overnight in Barrow was something that would otherwise have been very expensive. I also visited Adak, a place that costs more to visit than Turkmenistan (literally).

I also book international itineraries. For example, a trip to Costa Rica last week (itself an expensive destination) with multiple layovers along the way. Or the trip I'm taking in 3 weeks to Barcelona, booked at saver, off-peak levels on a nice smooth partner award with American. Both of these trips are in coach but deliver very good value per mile.

The conventional wisdom to only book premium cabins on international partners is more than a little overblown in my mind. Yes, first class on Cathay Pacific is very nice. I flew it in October. Business class on JAL is also great if you can get Sky Suites. And an economy class award to Phoenix over Thanksgiving (booked at saver levels!) saved me a fortune and I got to enjoy the holiday with my family. There is value on both domestic and international flights, and in premium cabins and the main cabin. I look for both.

Hoosier1710

I live in Juneau and have lots of family in Fairbanks, so my partner and I book a lot of the 7.5k mileage flights up for Fairbanks. As others have posted, I also use miles on pretty much any other intra-Alaska travel, as those flights tend to be very expensive. Then I usually look for decent international J awards, though they're increasingly difficult to come by. I've got one in Cathay Pacific F from HKG to JFK for December, and also spent 27.5 k for an intra-Asia flight on Cathay F (from Seoul to HKG and on to Singapore). Anything in J to Europe is really, really tough, unfortunately.

AKCuisine

Everyone has their own "personal travel calculus" for assessing the value and utility of their airline miles. For me, most of my redemptions over the years have been for first class international travel on Alaska's partners, including Emirates, Qantas, and Cathay.

Recent:
In the 2000's (under old AS award charts and well before the implementation of horrendous BA surcharges):
Upcoming Ticketed Trips:
Sadly, my health hasn't been the best, so I may not be able to keep my plans for this year's trip to Australia ...

For what it's worth, my miles are earned "BIS" on Alaska Air metal or from ticket purchases with the BA card that I've had for many, many years. That card's sole use is for AS tickets - *no* "manufactured" spend! The AS BA card does not get used for anything but AS ticket purchases - I have other cards that I prefer to use for day-to-day purchases and to earn hotel points.

anc-ord772

I have an old AS account that I was able to reactivate in 2015 with ~3,800 miles in the account. Since then I've redeemed for the following:

2016 | (x2) EK F LAX-DXB-NRT @ 200K miles (Booked 1 yr out)
2017 | (x1) VX F LAX-SFO-IAD @ 25K miles (Booked a few weeks out)

I would love to try CX/JL in a premium cabin. I'm not against using miles for domestic awards, however given the flexibility of AS miles I try to maximize the redemption.

98103

My last three redemptions were:
SEA-KEF-CDG/AMS-KEF(stopover)-SEA in FI Y for my youngest nephew and I this coming July. His HS graduation trip.
SEA-DFW-SCL-DFW-SEA in Y for a January warming trip to Chile.
SEA-LAX-ICN-BNE-ICN-SEA IN J for the next-to-youngest nephew for his graduation trip back in 2015. He got J because he didn't dawdle in telling me where he wanted to go, unlike his younger brother.

I don't recall the last time I used miles for a domestic trip. (I think that long weekend to ADK way back when).

jimmygottfredson

+1. That 90K OW was great. Wife and I did MLE-CMB / CMB-DUB-LAX earlier this year. Fantastic trip. Sri Lanka is a gem.

tcraig

Like others, I like to use them for international J class when it is good value. But recently, we used 15k for 3 one-ways SEA-SFO. Have also combined miles (for one person) with BofA $99 fare to get 3 of us to a place like Hawaii when flights weren't the cheapest. Also occasionally I'll send family with miles while I pay as I get the bonuses and am the status holder in the family. Ultimately, if I can get over 2c per mile, I'll seriously consider using the miles regardless of the flight. I figure they're not going to become more valuable in the future, although my biggest problem now is earning miles on international partners with earning at 25% or 50%. Maybe, in that sense, miles ARE becoming more valuable.

Rich Boykin

Used 100k last month to fly the wife and I from SEA to Shanghai on Hainan in J and it was worth every mile/penny. Hainan J is a very solid product - soft and hard. The seats were not as expansive / private as SQ J (777) on our flight back from Tokyo, but they were very comfortable and the soft product / service was actually better on Hainan than on SQ.

OO-SLC-CR9

I've bought a couple one-ways (SLC-SEA for 7.5k and SLC-SAN for 12.5k) for rapidly approaching dates where money was a bit tight (paid for OW on the returns on both).

Dieuwer

Madness.
I won't redeem unless I get > 2.5 cpm.

rankourabu

It used to be just EK F

Within the last year, its been CX F, JL F, CX J, KL J, AA Y, DL Y and FJ Y (HNL-APW)