Flying to Croatia using Alaska miles

You don't mention where you are coming from (or how many seats you need, or what time of year you want to go -- all of which would be critical factors).

That said, the problem you will have is the same problem that everyone has who wants to use Alaska miles to fly to Europe: Alaska miles are just not very good for that (they're good for other things, but for flights to Europe, they tend to leave you disappointed). Same problem for using American Airlines miles.

Alaska doesn't fly to Europe (despite me asking them to please buy some 787s and start going over the pole...they haven't listened yet). They do have partners who do, but their dirty little secret is that nearly all their partner options to Europe put you on British Airways, which is an airline that sticks it to anyone using miles, by charging extremely high fees (on top of all the miles you will pay). The fees that British Airways heaps on are so high, I don't think it's ever a good use of your miles (at least it's not for me; others may disagree).

Your best chance for beating that disappointment while still using your Alaska miles is to see if you can grab a routing on Aer Lingus (via Dublin), instead of British Airways (via London). Most available flights on Aer LIngus will strand you in DUB overnight, unfortunately, but maybe a short jet-lagged night in Dublin would be OK for you. Book far in advance to have your best chance at a non-painful flight (or any flight).

I love Chester, but IME his frequent flyer miles are best used for other places (mostly Hawaii and Mexico). They're not so good for getting to/from Europe.

There are lots of other good ways to get to Croatia. United miles (flying on United) worked well for me; grab a nonstop to Frankfurt if you can (United and their partners' biggest hub in Europe), then a short connecting hop to Dubrovnik with regular flights on Croatia Airlines (another United partner); can do all that on one ticket.

Good luck.

I would use the strategy of flying to a major city in Europe using the frequent flier miles and then flying onto Croatia with a separate paid ticket. Example: Fly to Rome on Alaska/American airlines. Give long layover and fly Vueling Airlines to Dubrovnik. This is a discount Spanish Carrier.

There are some risks involved with separate tickets, but it will allow you to use Alaska miles for most of the trip.

The problem is not "Croatia." The problem is crossing the Atlantic ocean on a jet owned by British Airways. It doesn't matter what the European destination is. Getting to Rome (or pretty much anyplace else in Europe) using Alaska airlines points will put you on British Airways over the pond (unless you can find an Aer LIngus flight). Most of the time, the exact same problem exists if trying to book with American Airlines.

To be fair, American Airlines does fly it's own planes to Europe, but it's famously stingy about releasing award space on its own planes, preferring instead to push those who want to redeem award miles onto their partner – guess who? – British Airways, who happily loads on large "fees" for the privilege of using your miles on their flights (British Airways is notorious for this practice, which can add many hundreds of dollars to your flights -- that's on top of all the miles you pay). British Airways in one of the few major airlines to do this.

If you can find award space on a flight to Europe that's actually operated by American Airlines, then yes, you can beat this hit to your wallet (check the fees carefully before clicking to book the flight -- if the fees are pocket change, you're good; if the fees are hundreds of dollars...you're looking at a British Airways flight).

Yes, connecting for a short-haul flight to/from Croatia is trivial (do take note of the risks of missing your connection, though, and plan adequate time to avoid that). You're going to have to connect to something once you land in Europe anyway, since you won't find a nonstop from North America to Croatia.

Use points from a different alliance (eg United, or Delta) and this isn't an issue -- they won't push you to British Airways. But OP was specifically asking about using Alaska points. If they are limited to those, then as I indicated, they need to try for a flight on Aer Lingus, if they can find one (but be prepared for some gotchas). A flight on an American Airlines plane would work as well, if you can find one.

thank you for all of this information, very helpful. And yes, I left out that it would be leaving from Seattle. Good thoughts on British Air and Aer Lingus which we just flew using miles to Rome which worked out well. Really appreciate the replies.

I don’t have the same strong feelings against British Airways that Dave does. I guess it is good to hear different perspectives. My experience is that the class of service greatly impacts those extra fees.

When I suggested the Alaska/American combination to Rome, it was because it was listed as a choice on the Alaska website.

I took Vueling from Dubrovnik to Rome recently and was quite pleased. Another option might be to fly to Frankfurt or Munich and then regional carrier to Croatia.

Condor flies SEA-FRA so you could use miles to get that far, then purchase a separate ticket to get to Croatia. If I did this I'd spend a night in or near Frankfurt at both ends of the trip so as to not be concerned about the timing of that connecting flight. Another caveat with Condor is that they charge for advance seat assignments in economy (but not premium economy).

I love Alaska Airlines, but using their miles to get to Europe is usually not the best value.

If the price is anywhere near competitive my first choice would be Turkish Air. I fly to Europe a few times a year on Turkish Air.
Flew them to Zagreb last year. Always good.

Condor is indeed another potential option to beat the punishing fees imposed by British Airways when using your Alaska miles to get to Europe (examples of those fees: BA dumps extra fees of at least $257 on you for a coach seat, at least $907 for business class – and that's each way, per person, and of course that's on top of the miles you have to pay, serious price gouging IMHO). Versus just $30 in fees on Aer Lingus – quite a contrast.

Check carefully (and book far in advance) to avoid multiple, miserable overnight layovers on most of the flights offered though. Or save your Alaska miles for a better use later, and get to Croatia another way.

We just did this - returned home two days ago. It was our first time using Alaska miles (for our return trip only). We flew on Condor out of Split to Frankfurt, had an overnight layover in Frankfurt and then home to Seattle. Everything went really well. We did have to pay for seats, but checked baggage was free. Condor was great - we left about an hour late out of Frankfurt but other than that, very timely. If you do fly out of Frankfurt, I'd recommend giving yourself plenty of time at the airport - there seemed to be more checkpoints than normal and lots of lines. We had 4 hours so were never stressed.