Mileage Redemption Question for Alaska Award Segment (part of LATAM itinerary)
Saw some good redemption deals for SFO-LAX-Brazil for 25,000 each way, but in both directions, the connections in LAX are 12+ hours between Alaska and LATAM segments (same issue on the way home).
From what I can tell, for the SFO-LAX and LAX-SFO feeder segments to/from LATAM, it looks like the 25,000 award level maps to SFO-LAX Alaska award flights that would normally cost 6,000 on their own (and 6,000 for LAX-SFO on the way home).
However, Alaska has numerous earlier and later flights from SFO-LAX and from LAX-SFO with much better connection times available on AS metal for 9,000 for Main on the same dates.
Question: Can I book the SFO-LAX-Brazil roundtrip itinerary online and then call Res to "pay up" the 3,000 mile difference each way?
I guess I could also just SDC it the day of as MVP Gold, but it would be nice to have it confirmed in advance for just 6,000 more miles. THANKS!!