Bay Area flight deals radar: Portland from $151, Marrakech $789, Rarotonga from 43K points (2026)

Three fares deserve the first live search this Monday: United’s SFO–Portland round trip from $151 in Basic Economy, Delta’s SFO–Marrakech fare from $789, and Alaska’s SFO–Rarotonga route at $659 cash or about 43,000 Amex points through a Business Platinum booking. The first two were posted August 2 and are the most time-sensitive; Rarotonga is the week’s useful cash-versus-points comparison. 1 2 3 4

The fare board

All prices below are round trip and include taxes as published. The status is about source age, not a guarantee that the seat is still for sale: the individual deal posts warn that fares can disappear after roughly two days. Search the exact dates before paying. 5

Status and post date	Route and airline	Price and comparison anchor	Dates shown	Booking conditions to check
Check now, Aug 2	SFO–Portland on United	$151 Basic / $231 Regular; $80 buys the higher fare	Oct 1–5 sample; travel through mid-December or Jan–early February 2027	N/G class. Basic has no advance seat; a normal carry-on can cost $50 each way plus gate fees without United status or a co-branded card. Change/cancel terms are not stated. 1
Check now, Aug 2	SFO–Marrakech on Delta	$789 Basic / $1,009 Regular; $220 buys the higher fare	Nov 11–19 sample; mid-November/early December or mid-January–February 2027	E/V class. Regular includes a checked bag, carry-on, and seat assignment. Basic has no seat assignment or checked bag, and no changes or cancellations after the 24-hour risk-free period. 2
Verify first, Aug 1	SFO–Seattle on United	$167 Basic / $247 Regular; $80 upgrade	Sep 12–15 sample; late August–early November	N/G class. Regular includes a carry-on and advance seat assignment. Basic has neither; the carry-on can cost $50 each way plus gate fees without status or a United card. Change/cancel terms are not stated. 6
Verify first, Jul 31	SFO–Kaohsiung on United	$785 Regular; no normal-price history published	Oct 1–10 sample	K class, with two checked bags and a normal carry-on. Two stopovers are permitted at $100 each. Change/cancel terms are not stated. 7
Verify first, Jul 30	SFO–Nanjing on Cathay Pacific	$802 Q class; no normal-price history published	Sep 23–30 sample; late August–mid-November, plus later winter windows	Monday–Thursday travel and seven-day advance purchase. The post does not specify baggage or change/cancel terms. Search Matrix, then reprice through Expedia. 8
Verify first, Jul 29	SFO–Chiang Mai on Korean Air	$833 T class; Matrix reference $859, a $26 repricing gap rather than a historical baseline	Nov 6–13 sample; late October–early December or Jan–mid-March 2027	Limited availability, Monday–Thursday travel, and three-day advance purchase. Baggage and change/cancel terms are not stated. Search Matrix, then reprice through Expedia. 5
Verify first, Jul 28	SFO–Ho Chi Minh City on Cathay Pacific	$757 Q class; no normal-price history published	Oct 1–8 sample; mid-August–early November or late March–April 2027	Monday–Thursday travel, limited availability, and three-day advance purchase. Baggage and change/cancel terms are not stated. Search Matrix, then book via Expedia if the fare reprices. 9
Cash or points, Jul 29	SFO–Rarotonga on Alaska via Honolulu	$659 cash; a separate analysis puts the comparable cash fare around $660	Jan 8–16 sample; January 2027	N class. The fare is main cabin, with one weekly Friday departure pattern in the source. Search Matrix, then book through Alaska. 3 4

What I would check first

Portland is the cleanest domestic buy if you can live with Basic Economy. The $151 fare is not comparable to a normal flexible ticket: the source says the carry-on can cost $50 each way, there is no advance seat assignment, and change/cancel rules are not provided. The $231 Regular Economy price is therefore a real $80 decision, not just a cosmetic fare-family upgrade. 1

Marrakech is the more interesting long-haul price, but the Basic fare is bare. The regular fare’s extra $220 adds a checked bag, carry-on, and seat assignment. If you would need the bag or want a seat before check-in, compare the final totals rather than treating $789 as the real trip cost. Basic Economy cannot be changed or cancelled after the 24-hour window. 2

Rarotonga is the week’s best points comparison. Frequent Miler describes about $660 round trip from West Coast airports, including SFO, SJC, and OAK, and says the itinerary is main cabin with checked bags, seat selection, full mileage earning, and upgrade eligibility. With a Business Platinum card booked through Amex Travel and Alaska selected as the airline, its 35% rebate brings the estimate to about 23,000 points one way or 43,000 round trip. That is a pay-with-points rebate, not an Alaska award-chart price; the source does not give a separate tax amount. 4

Points deadlines and award reality

The current transfer-bonus table has several flight-relevant deadlines. A bonus increases the balance you transfer; it does not create an award seat. Search the itinerary and confirm the final taxes and cancellation terms before moving points. 10

Transfer	Bonus	Deadline	Bay Area use
Rove Miles → Qantas Frequent Flyer	50%	Aug 14	Check the exact Qantas or partner seat first; no SFO itinerary is established by the bonus table. 10
Citi ThankYou → Air France-KLM Flying Blue	20%	Aug 22	Useful only after a Flying Blue itinerary and its surcharges are visible. 10
Any bank points or Marriott Bonvoy → Cathay Asia Miles	10%	Aug 28	Potentially relevant to Cathay’s SFO Asia fares, but the bonus page does not prove award availability. 10
Capital One → Avianca LifeMiles	15%	Aug 31	Search the exact Star Alliance award first; the table gives no SFO seat signal. 10
Citi ThankYou → Turkish Miles&Smiles	40%	Aug 31	Worth checking against a confirmed Star Alliance itinerary, not a reason to transfer speculatively. 10
Amex Membership Rewards → British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus Avios	30%	Sep 27	Can reduce a confirmed partner award, but basic-economy baggage and seat fees still vary by airline. 10

August’s Flying Blue Promo Rewards add one useful warning for Bay Area travelers: the published long-haul examples include Europe → San Francisco premium economy for 30,000 miles, bookable by August 31 for travel through January 31, 2027. The route direction shown is inbound to SFO; it does not establish an outbound SFO award. Taxes are not stated in the source, and Promo Rewards apply only when the lowest standard award price is available. 11

Baseline, promos, and airport coverage

The deal posts do not publish historical normal-price baselines for most of these routes. The $26 difference between the Chiang Mai fare and the Matrix reference is a live-search repricing gap, not proof that the fare is $26 below its usual level. The same caution applies to any percentage-saving claim here. 5

The scan did not produce a separate airline flash-sale code from SFO, OAK, or SJC with a verified deadline and discount anchor. United’s own deal page did show live-priced SFO–Newark examples from $539 for August 17–24 and $599 for July 28–August 13, but it did not present them as a limited-time promotion with a published savings comparison, so I would treat those as a price check rather than a sale. 12

The only independently verified OAK/SJC lead in this pass is the Rarotonga fare: the points analysis says the roughly $660 cash price also appeared from Oakland and San Jose. It does not provide a specific OAK or SJC itinerary in the extracted details, so check those two origins manually before treating the fare as bookable. No separate error or glitch fare departing SFO, OAK, or SJC survived verification this week.

Book today

Search SFO–Portland and SFO–Marrakech first. Both were posted August 2, and both have a clear Basic-versus-Regular price decision.
If Rarotonga fits your dates, compare the $659 Alaska cash fare with the roughly 43,000-point Amex Travel calculation. The points route requires the eligible Business Platinum setup and Alaska selected as the airline; it is not transferable airline currency.
For Kaohsiung, Nanjing, Chiang Mai, and Ho Chi Minh City, use Matrix to locate the listed date pattern, then reprice through the named booking path. The older posts are leads, not held inventory.
Use the August transfer deadlines only after the award is visible. A 20%, 40%, or 50% bonus is still a bad transfer if the seat, taxes, or change rules do not work for your trip.