BTMFF: Solid Starlux Business Flight Availability This Fall for 75,000 Miles

If you’ve been looking for lie-flat seating to take you from Asia to the West Coast of the US this fall, then you’re in luck! Earlier this morning, I was searching for fares on seats.aero and stumbled upon a block of Starlux business class availability this fall. As of the time of this writing, there’s saver fare availability for the Taipei, Taiwan (TPE) - Los Angeles, CA (LAX) Starlux route on select days in September, October, November, and January, bookable through Alaska’s Airlines Mileage Plan. A handful of dates also show availability on Starlux’s Taipei, Taiwan (TPE) - Seattle, WA (SEA) route.

This is moving fast, so if you’re reading this, you may want to consider grabbing a fare and figuring out the rest later. Let’s jump into it! 

Starlux Business Class Bookable through Alaska Mileage Plan

Starlux, a five-year-old Taiwanese carrier that burst onto the scene with buzzy premium cabin offerings, recently released more award availability to one of its airline partners, Alaska Airlines. For $75,000 (and $45.61 in taxes and fees) in Mileage Plan miles, you can enjoy Starlux’s premium lie-flat seating, food, and service for ~12 hours onboard new Airbus A350-900s. 

For almost all days, there’s one seat available, but 1) if you search diligently, you might get lucky and find a day with two open seats, 2) some days have two flights (so if you and your traveling partner are flexible, you might be able to make it work).

Here’s what I’m seeing as of now:

I crosschecked Alaska’s site, and the proof is in the pudding. 

If you've been looking for a way back from Asia to conclude a trip, or are hoping to kick off some North American adventures in style this could be quite a deal.

As you can see above, cash rates will typically run you ~$3000, so redeeming points now will grab you a flight worth approximately ½ of an Outkast. 

If you’re short on Alaska Mileage Plan miles, remember HawaiianMiles transfer to Alaska at a 1:1 ratio, and you can boost your HawaiianMiles balance by transferring in American Express Membership Rewards. 

Lastly, in case you’re wondering, the availability of routes TO Taipei FROM the US on Starlux over that same period isn’t great. I’m seeing three days - one seat on each day. You might have better luck on China Air though!

Ok, you’ve been briefed!

Conclusion 

If you move fast, you can experience Starlux’s business class product this fall, flying from TPE-LAX or possibly TPE-Seat.

BTW, it stands for Book That M*** Flight!