TPG readers and staff members alike are huge fans of the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program — even those on the East Coast who never actually fly with the carrier. Even though we’ve seen the depreciation of Mileage Plan miles in past years, the program’s oneworld and non-alliance partners still have sweet spots. You can redeem miles for the most sought-after premium award seats on Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and many more.
Although Alaska Airlines miles aren’t as easy to earn as other programs, there are plenty of ways to stock up on Mileage Plan miles without ever stepping foot on a plane.
You can redeem them for great rewards, including savings of up to 50% on award redemptions to popular destinations in the airline’s Global Gateway promotions.
Are you unfamiliar with earning Mileage Plan miles? We’ll show you how to earn Alaska miles to put your next award trip within reach.
How to Earn Alaska Miles by Flying
The most direct way to earn Alaska miles is to fly Alaska Airlines or one of its partner airlines. Alaska is one of the few airlines that still issues miles based on the distance flown, not how much money you spend on the ticket. That being said, many factors determine how many miles you’ll earn on a given ticket.
Earn miles by flying on Alaska Airlines
When traveling on an Alaska-operated flight, you’ll earn Alaska miles based on the distance you fly. Unfortunately, Alaskan The basic economy product earns only 30% of miles flown.
Meanwhile, tickets booked in higher fare classes earn bonus miles. Here’s an earning chart for Alaska-operated and marketed flights to determine how many miles you’ll earn on your next trip:
To find out the distance of your flight, we recommend using Great Circle Mapper. For example, a one-way ticket booked in a C-Class first-class cabin from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) will earn 3,003 miles. These fares earn 100% base miles (1,716 miles flown) and 75% class-of-service bonus (1,287 miles).
Elite status bonus
In addition, Alaska Airlines elite status holders will receive additional bonuses on their Alaska-operated tickets. Here’s how many Bonus Mileage Plan miles each MVP status tier earns on these flights through 2024:
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- Alaska MVP: 50% bonus
- MVP Gold: 100% bonus
- MVP Gold 75K: 125% bonus
- MVP Gold 100K: 150% bonus
From January 1, 2025, bonus miles will be awarded as follows:
- Alaska MVP: 25% bonus
- MVP Gold: 50% bonus
- MVP Gold 75K: 100% bonus
- MVP Gold 100K: 150% bonus
This bonus applies only to 100% base miles flown, not any class-of-service bonuses for higher fare classes.
Related: What Is Alaska Airlines Elite Status?
Earn by flying with partners
When flying a partner airline booked on Alaska Airlines ticket stock (a codeshare flight operated by the partner but booked with an Alaska flight number), you will earn 100% base miles except in Basic Economy (fare code X). Rewards 30%. However, how you earn Alaska miles changes slightly when you book a partner flight on the partner’s ticket stock and add your mileage plan number.
When you do this, the exact number will vary depending on the airline, status tier and booking class. Generally speaking, you won’t earn 100% of the miles for each fare class, although flights booked in higher fare classes will still earn more.
To check how many miles you’ll earn on your partner’s ticket, go ahead Alaska Airlines Partner PageFind the partner you are flying with and check the chart for your booking class, as each chart will be slightly different.
Here is the earnings chart of British Airways:
Alaska Airlines is a member of the OneWorld Alliance, and you can earn miles on all OneWorld airlines, including:
- American Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Fiji Airways (OneWorld Connect Partner)
- Finer
- Iberia
- Japan Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Air Maroc
- Royal Jordanian Airlines
- SriLankan Airlines
Additionally, the airline has a plethora of unaffiliated partners to earn miles with, including:
- Aer Lingus
- Air Tahiti Nui
- Condor
- Al El Israel Airlines
- Hainan Airlines
- Icelander
- Korean Air (SkyTeam)
- LATAM Airlines
- Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance)
- Starlux Airlines
- Aleutian Airways
- Bahamas
- Cape Air
- Contour Airlines
- Canmore Air
- Mokulele Airlines
- Southern Airways Express
Each partner has its own earning chart and applicable flights. Check out Individual partner pages To avoid any unexpected earnings discrepancy.
Related: How to Redeem Miles with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Earn Alaska miles with a credit card
The easiest way to earn a large chunk of Mileage Plan miles is without flying Alaska Airlines credit card issued by Bank of America.
There is an option Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card, which carries a $95 annual fee. Currently, new cardholders can buy one Alaska Airlines ticket and get one for just $23 ($0 fares) plus taxes and fees, plus 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 or more on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
If you have a small business, you might be able to choose Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card. The card has a $70 annual fee for the company and $25 per card. As a limited-time welcome offer, earn 50,000 bonus miles and Alaska’s famous companion fare ($99 fare plus $23 in taxes and fees) after you make purchases of $3,000 or more within the first 90 days of opening your account.
Note that these cards offer a free checked bag for you and up to six other guests on the same reservation when you pay for your flight with the card and include discounts on inflight purchases and lounge passes.
When spending with a personal or business card, you will earn the following miles:
- 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases
- 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, EV charging stations, cable, streaming services and local transportation (including rideshare) purchases
- 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
Transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Alaska
Even if you don’t have an Alaska Airlines credit card in your wallet, it’s still possible to generate miles by transferring points to it. Marriott Bonvoy at 3:1 ratio. You’ll also earn a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points transferred.
You can open a card like the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card or Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card And move those points to Alaska to book award flights.
Earn Business Rewards with EasyBiz
Alaska Airlines has a business rewards program called EasyBiz. This program rewards businesses for employee travel based on ticket price. The rewards earned with EasyBiz are in addition to the employee’s mileage earnings, so both parties win.
Businesses earn 1 Alaska mile for every dollar spent on employee airfare. You can also access features like 24-hour reservation holds, travel management tools and ticket reports. Tools like these help your business better manage employee travel and get more value from what you’re already spending.
You can register in EasyBiz Alaska’s website. After doing this, you will receive an EasyBiz number that you, your employees or your travel agent can associate with Alaska bookings.
Earn Alaska miles with travel partners
You can also earn Alaska miles with other travel partners. This allows you to earn Alaska miles on other aspects of your trip, such as hotels and rental cars.
Book hotels with Alaska partners
You can earn bonus mileage through plan miles Bookings with Alaska Airlines hotels and rental cars with eligible mileage plan partners powered by RocketMiles. If you go this route, you won’t be able to earn hotel or car rental points on your booking. In other words, you will need to decide which point currency you value most.
Additionally, when you can earn Alaska miles instead of hotel points Book with a handful of hotel groups At the following rates:
Hotel | earning rate |
---|---|
Best Western | Earn 250 miles per stay |
Prerogatives of choice | Earn 250 miles per stay |
Coast Hotels | Earn 500 miles per stay |
IHG One Rewards | Earn up to 2 miles per dollar spent or up to 500 miles per stay |
Marriott Bonvoy | Earn 2 miles per $1 on all qualifying charges or 1 mile per $1 spent on room rates, depending on hotel |
RELATED: 10 Ways You Can Earn Airline Miles Without Credit Cards
Rent a car and earn Alaska Miles
You can also earn Alaska Miles when booking a car rental through Alaska Airlines Car Rental. The number of miles you earn depends on how much you spend on fares. You will not earn rental car points on this booking; Prices may differ from direct booking.
You can also book directly with rental car companies and earn Alaska miles instead of rental car points at the following rates:
A rental car company | earning rate |
---|---|
The Alamo | 50 miles per day |
Avis | Up to 1,250 miles per rental |
Budget | Up to 1,250 miles per rental |
dollar | 150 miles on rentals of three days or more through December 31, 2024 |
Hertz | 50 miles per day on rentals of one to four days or 500 miles per day on rentals of five or more days |
National | 50 miles per day in the US and Canada only |
Parsimony | 150 miles on rentals of three days or more |
Related: How to Never Pay Full Price for a Rental Car
Earn Alaska miles with other partners
Additionally, you can earn Alaska miles for everyday purchases like dining, online shopping, and hotel stays through Alaska Mileage Plan partners.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Shopping
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Shopping is a great way to earn bonus Alaska miles on your online purchases in addition to the miles you already earn with your credit card. Sign up for that Mileage Plan Shopping Account and find your merchant on the portal before purchasing.
Please note that each participating merchant offers a different number of miles per dollar spent and their rates fluctuate frequently. Use a shopping portal aggregator like Cashback Monitor to compare earning potential across different sites.
Mileage Plan Shopping offers promotions for spending a certain amount over time or buying products from a specific merchant — keep an eye out for promotions.
Related: Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Shopping Portal: Earn miles on your online purchases
Mileage plan dining
Do you eat out a lot? Make sure you are a Mileage Plan Dining member. The program is free to join. Sign up, link a credit card and earn extra Alaska miles when dining at participating restaurants. These miles are in addition to the rewards you already earn with your card, so be sure to use one of the best credit cards for dining.
The number of points you earn on purchases depends on your Mileage Plan Dining Elite status. There are currently three status levels: Basic, Select Member and VIP. You become a preferred member by signing up for email alerts. Once you have dined 11 times in 12 months you will be upgraded to VIP status.
Preferred members earn 3 miles per dollar, while VIP members earn 5 miles per dollar. On the other hand, if you don’t sign up for email alerts, you’ll remain a basic member and earn 1 mile per $2 spent.
Related: Maximizing restaurant spending with dining rewards programs
Buy Alaska miles
Another way to earn Alaska miles is to buy them directly. However, buying miles without a promotion usually provides a poor value proposition.
But Alaska often runs promotions for buying miles with bonuses of up to 50%. With the 50% bonus, your effective purchase price is 1.97 cents each, and while that’s slightly higher than TPG’s July 2024 Valuations (which peg Mileage Plan miles at 1.5 cents each), can still unlock some great value.
Related: Buy bonus points and miles with this promotion
Bottom line
The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is one of the most sought after miles in the miles and points game. even though While earning Alaska miles is usually harder than earning other airline miles, the methods above can increase your account balance and get you closer to your next award ticket.