That is a pretty good deal, we paid approx $1100 RT for this trip we are on as well as the one in April we will be going on, and at that rate I don't mind just banking miles but if I was able to get for 15k that is getting over $0.036 per mile and that would have been worth it. I had been saving up AA miles for an Ethiad or Qatar First Class but with Alaska joining up with AA I can use my AS miles which we have plenty.

Just a thought, Alaska and AA are getting back into a partnership starting around March and if you earn points on Alaska they are values at 1.8 per Points Guy and AA are at 1.4, so better off earning on Alaska and if you have status at the top levels (I am 75k with AS) you will get benefits on both airlines.