FINALLY! A lot of people, myself included, have been patiently waiting for when Alaska would let us book Starlux flights with Alaska miles and that day is finally here! There’s a TON of availability and the prices are very good for most of the routes. The LAX<>TPE route is also comparable to the other rates in our best redemptions list. Let’s take a look!
Cost Per Route to Book Starlux
Starlux is still expanding their network so their current route offerings are not very extensive. The only current US route is the LAX<>TPE one and Starlux only flies within Asia from their Taipei hub. Here are all of the current Starlux routes and their costs.
Taipei to US Chart
| Route | Economy Cost | Premium Economy Cost | Business Class Cost |
| Los Angeles (LAX) <> Taipei (TPE) | 20,000 | 40,000 | 60,000 |
Taipei to East Asia Chart
| Route | Economy Cost | Premium Economy Cost | Business Class Cost |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Tokyo (NRT) | 15,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Fukuoka (FUK) | 7,500 | N/A | 15,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Sapporo (CTS) | 25,000 | N/A | 50,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Osaka (KIX) | 7,500 | N/A | 15,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Okinawa (OKA) | 7,500 | N/A | 15,000 or 37,500 |
Taipei To Southeast Asia Chart
| Route | Economy Cost | Premium Economy Cost | Business Class Cost |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Manila (MNL) | 7,500 | N/A | 15,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Cebu (CEB) | 7,500 | N/A | 15,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Macau (MFM) | 7,500 | N/A | 15,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Hanoi (HAN) | 7,500 | N/A | 15,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Da Nang (DAD) | 7,500 | N/A | 15,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) | 7,500 | N/A | 15,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Bangkok (BKK) | 25,000 | N/A | 50,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Penang (PEN) | 25,000 | N/A | 50,000 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Kuala Lumpur (KUL) | 32,000 or 50,000 | N/A | 72,500 |
| Taipei (TPE) <> Singapore (SIN) | 25,000 or 32,500 | 32,500 | 50,000 |
Starlux Sweet Spots
The obvious best redemption here is the LAX<>TPE route. That’s 10+ hours in business class for only 60k miles! The other really great redemption is for Los Angeles to any of the cities in Southeast Asia for 85k miles in business!
Except for Sapporo, all of the Japanese cities are very reasonably priced at 15k miles. The really popular Southeast Asia cities like Bangkok and Singapore are not worth it at 50,000 miles. The better redemptions are for the Vietnam or the Philippines at just 15,000 miles.
Initial Observations on Starlux Redemptions
The Pricing Is Inconsistent
For a lot of the routes, there’s a ton of variability in pricing. Some days will be significantly cheaper than others despite flying the same route. Just look at the pricing for the Los Angeles to Bangkok route.
Pricing Doesn’t Make Sense Sometimes
There are certain days and routes where premium economy costs the same or less than economy lol… I assume this is because it’s a new partnership and with the LAX<>TPE route temporary special pricing, things got messed up.
Adding A Connection In the US Is Expensive
Since the only airport in the US that Starlux flies to is LAX, an itinerary containing any other US city must layover in Los Angeles before continuing on to Taipei. The pricing for these itineraries is pretty outrageous ranging from 140k to 350k miles! At that point, it’s cheaper to just buy your own ticket to LAX and then redeem Alaska miles for LAX -> Asia on Starlux.
Conclusion
Starlux finally being bookable with Alaska miles is super exciting. Their promotional pricing is super competitive and definitely worth looking into. Hopefully you’re able to snag some seats to Asia and enjoy Starlux! Let me know what itineraries you were able to book!
