Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - Alaska Airlines - a hybrid?

Hello,

Can someone fill me in on how Alaska miles work/can be redeemed? Alaska isn't part of any alliance, but yet they have agreements with certain carriers, seems they are a hybrid of sorts?

I've browsed these forums but don't see a definitive "How to" thread.

I've used Alaska miles to get to Hawaii, but only on their website and for flights only on Alaska.

Yes! Alaska is a hybrid! More so, it is wild card since it has partnership with pretty much an airline from every airline alliance: delta, American, and they now the independent Emirate!!

http://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/partners/partner-overview.aspx?lid=nav:mileagePlan-partners

Lots of choices.

It seems their mileage rates are based on their own standards?

For example, I"m flying soon from North America to Europe and back for 60k RT on Delta/KLM, but according to:

http://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/using-miles/award-chart-europe.aspx

It looks like you 65K miles for a coach RT ticket o AF/KLM, but below for Delta it says 60k. But does that mean you can only fly Delta metal for 60k, as in you can't connect through Delta's sky team partners for 60k?

What is the best way to put together an award to Europe on Alaska? Is EF a good source? I notice you can get to Europe RT on AA through Alaska for 40k during Oct - May! That is a crazy good deal!

60K on Delta means 60K on Delta and Alaska-operated flights. It does not imply one can use Alaska miles on Delta's full range of SkyTeam (and other SkyMiles) partners.

The awards can be redeemed on one carrier only, except for Air France / KLM -- you can fly one way on AF and the other direction on KLM.

What is the best way to put together an award to Europe on Alaska? Is EF a good source? I notice you can get to Europe RT on AA through Alaska for 40k during Oct - May! That is a crazy good deal!

Just keep in mind that you may have a very difficult time finding coach seats to/from Seattle to one of AA's gateway cities to Europe. It's a screaming good deal if you can find it. But since about a year ago, finding it has gotten much, much harder on AA.