The title is a blatant rip-off of the Chevy Chase “Vegas Vacation” movie, but I do love a good alliterative title every now and then.

I was helping my dad find flights from Orange County, CA (SNA) to Vancouver, BC (YVR) sometime in July for our annual family vacation.  Between myself, my mom, and my dad, we have thousands of United Airline miles, American Airline miles, and British Airways Avios.

By using a combination of AA.com and AlaskaAir.com, I was able to find 4 award seats on the same flight.  Since the flights are on Alaska Airlines, I went to AlaskaAir,com first to search for the award seats.  You don’t need to have any Alaska Airline miles to search for award seats.

After finding a flight with 4 award seats, I went to AA.com and found the same flight for 12,500 American Airline miles per person one way.

My brother’s American Airlines account had exactly 25,000 American Airline miles (through several careful mile transfers and exchanges).  I used his account to get 2 award seats and my dad got the other 2 award seats from his account.  The total price came to 25,000 American Airline miles plus $10 in taxes/fees for 2 award seats.  I used my Citi American Airlines credit card to earn a few more American Airline miles.

Current retail price is $380.08 total for 2 passengers.  $380.08 – $10.00 = $370.08 / 25,000 AA miles = 1.48 cents per mile.  Not the greatest redemption rate in the world, but we like to earn and burn miles.  It’s the memories you remember more than the cents per mile.

By redeeming miles for 2 award seats, we forgo the 1,110 American Airline miles we would have earned on this flight.  Here is a Great Circle Mapper view of our flight path and corresponding distances flown.

If you try to book award seats within 21 days of flying, you will have to pay a (ridiculous) $75 Close-In Booking Fee (unless you have elite status with American Airlines).

When you book on AA.com, you need to get an Alaska Airlines reservation number.  The easiest way is to call Alaska Airline’s Reservation Department at 1-800-ALASKAAIR (1-800-252-7522).  Other contact numbers can be found here.

After verifying some information over the phone, the representative gave me both of the Alaska Airlines reservation numbers.  I was able to add those reservations to my Alaska Airlines account by clicking on My Trips and Add a Flight Reservation.

At this point, I was able to select my seats.

My next Vancouver Vacation post will show my return flight on Delta / WestJet.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.