Originally Posted by
nevillek
Sorry, I'm new to this, but regarding awarding tickets to whoever I want, can I award a ticket with 50% miles and 50% cash if I don't have enough miles for the whole ticket?
Generally no. A very few airlines offer miles/points & pay $ instead of all cash, but value tends to be poor.
Originally Posted by
nevillek
BA, Cathay, Emirates do fly. I'll look into them. But would they give me 100% of miles travelled in Alaska's mileage program based on distance, etc.? Or would it be the same as UA and give me barely anything? What's really the advantage of Alaska over UA's program?
Have a look here
http://www.wheretocredit.com/alaska-airlines (but may not be accurate). An increasing number of low cost flights do not earn 100% miles/points/avios of the distance travelled.
Anyway miles between ffp are not equal. You do not get an award from AAA to BBB for M miles with every ffp. Some require, say 1.50xM (150%). And more so with those ffp that charge a surcharge on some or all awards.
FFP's are not equal