The Guide to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

For people who fly from the West Coast, Alaska Airlines checks all the boxes: It serves complimentary in-flight Stumptown coffee, has a highly valuable co-branded credit card, has 30+ airline partners and is a member of the Oneworld alliance. This Seattle-based airline also has hubs in Anchorage, Alaska, and Portland, Oregon.

The airline's broad network of partners, award sweet spots and lucrative credit card offers are some of the compelling reasons to get familiar with Mileage Plan, the airline's frequent flyer program.

There are a ton of ways to earn Alaska miles, which can be redeemed for flights on Alaska or its partner airlines. NerdWallet values Alaska Airlines miles at 1.3 cents each, but with strategic redemptions, you can easily get more out of these rewards.

If you fly a lot with Alaska, you can qualify for elite status after flying enough in a calendar year. Elite status comes with free upgrades and other benefits, including some benefits that you’re also entitled to when flying on other Oneworld carriers.

Alaska miles don’t expire, but if you go two years without any activity in your rewards account, your account may be locked. If this happens, you can call Alaska to verify your identity. Your account will be reactivated, and your miles will still be there.

» Learn more: Do Alaska miles expire?

Earning Alaska Airlines miles when you fly

Eligible flights on Alaska Airlines or other qualifying partner airlines earn 1 base Mileage Plan mile per actual mile flown. For example, flying 1,000 miles earns 1,000 base miles. Eligible flights shorter than 500 miles earn 500 miles. To get these miles, you must provide your Mileage Plan number when booking flights.

You also can earn bonus miles depending on the class of service purchased and your loyalty status. Class-of-service bonuses count toward elite status; loyalty status bonuses don't. Using the example above, for a flight of 1,000 miles, you would earn an extra 250 miles if you’re an MVP member, 500 extra miles if you’re an MVP Gold and so on.

To find out how many miles you'd earn on a given flight, use our easy three-step calculator below. For more information about elite status, skip ahead.

Earning Alaska Airlines miles with a credit card

Alaska offers two credit cards: one personal card and a business card.

Our favorite option is the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card, as it is a good option for those who plan on flying with Alaska or its partners. The card has the following welcome offer: Get 50,000 bonus miles plus buy one ticket, get one for just the taxes and fees ($0 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) with this offer. To qualify, make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.

A standout benefit of the card is the Companion Fare, which you can earn each card anniversary year. That means you can cover a travel companion’s ticket starting at $122 ($99 plus taxes and fees from $23). Cardholders must spend a minimum of $6,000 annually on the card to be eligible for the Companion Fare.

The card, which has an annual fee of $95, also comes with solid ongoing rewards for those who frequently fly on Alaska:

• Earn 3 miles per dollar spent directly on Alaska Airlines purchases.

• Earn 2 miles per dollar spent on eligible gas, EV charging station, cable, streaming services and local transit (including rideshare) purchases.

• Earn 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.

Miles earned with a co-branded credit card count toward elite status, too. You’ll earn 1 elite-qualifying miles for every $3 spent on your card, up to 30,000 per year.

» Skip ahead to other Alaska Airlines credit cards

Other ways to earn Alaska Airlines miles

Additional easy ways to accrue even more Mileage Plan miles include:

Alaska Mileage Plan Shopping portal

Earn extra miles through select merchants when you shop through the Mileage Plan Shopping portal.

Seasonal promotions

These limited-time offers help you earn more miles after meeting the spending requirements. Different merchants can be featured, but some popular offers include those for car rentals and wine.

Buying miles

Alaska sells miles, but they cost upward of 2 cents apiece. That often means they’re not worth the cost, unless you’re getting a truly extraordinary redemption value.

Generally, buying miles should be your last resort as there are very few instances in which a miles purchase is a good idea. With the exception of some targeted offers, purchased miles don’t count toward elite status.

So you've earned a ton of Alaska miles. But what's the best way to redeem them?

The secret to getting amazing value out of Alaska miles is when booking international premium cabin travel.

Alaska’s powerful combination of Oneworld and other international airline partners makes it easy to get outstanding value out of each mile. Many of its partner airlines also offer posh first class accommodations for a relative bargain when paying in miles, compared with what it would cost in cash.

Alaska sets award ticket fares according to class of service and the length of your trip in miles. Refundable tickets cost more than nonrefundable tickets. For flights within the contiguous U.S. and Alaska, award tickets start at 5,000 miles each way.

Good redemption options

Because the award price of a flight depends on the region you're flying to and from, you get more for each mile when using rewards on otherwise expensive trips. That often means booking international travel with an Alaska partner. Finding available award seats isn't always easy, but if you can snag one, it can be well worth the effort.

Some of the especially valuable possibilities include:

Bad redemption options

On certain routes, redeeming Alaska miles just isn't the best option. In particular, here are some redemption options that aren't all that great.

Alaska Mileage Plan members earn Alaska MVP elite status either by flying on Alaska and its partners or through status matching.

Status tiers

There are four tiers in Alaska’s Mileage Plan elite status program:

• MVP.

• MVP Gold.

• MVP Gold 75K.

• MVP Gold 100K.

The higher your status, the more benefits you unlock. (More on these below).

Overall, Alaska's elite status is quite generous and relatively easy to attain because of the airline's distance-based earning system. It also offers "elite leave" for new parents, who often have to put traveling on hold as they care for a newborn.

To avoid seeing their elite status go to waste, new parents who show proof of pregnancy or parental leave can receive an extra year of elite status. If you're an elite member welcoming a new baby, this valuable benefit is definitely worth applying for.

Once you earn MVP Gold, you’re able to access Oneworld business class lounges. If you attain MVP Gold 75K, the Oneworld first class lounges are available to you.

Oneworld elite status

Because Alaska is part of Oneworld, Alaska elites receive reciprocal Oneworld status, which offers benefits when flying on Oneworld partner airlines (see below). Oneworld has three status tiers: Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. As the tiers increase, you receive all the perks of the preceding level and some additional benefits.

Here’s how those benefits shake out when flying on Oneworld airlines:

• Alaska MVP elites = Oneworld Ruby status: This tier provides some seat selection benefits, preferred seating and priority check-in.

• Alaska MVP Gold elites = Oneworld Sapphire status: The biggest perk of this level is access to business class lounges. In addition, you’ll also get priority boarding.

• Alaska MVP Gold 75K and 100K elites = Oneworld Emerald status: This tier offers access to first class lounges, expedited security and extra baggage allowance.

» Learn more: Guide to Oneworld elite status

Alaska Airlines elite benefits

Here are the top perks of holding Alaska Airlines elite status:

How to get Alaska elite status

Elite-qualifying miles include:

• Miles earned by flying on Alaska Airlines, Oneworld and partner airlines, when you book with your Mileage Plan number.

• Bonuses earned from class of service.

• Award flights on Alaska or its partners.

• Miles earned on co-branded credit cards.

• Miles earned with non-airline partners.

Elite-qualifying miles do not include:

• Bonuses earned from loyalty status.

The requirements are listed in the table below. You can log in to your Alaska Airlines online portal to see how close you are to earning these statuses.

You earn elite status with your activity in a calendar year; your status becomes active about one to two weeks after you earn it and is good through the end of the next calendar year.

Thanks to Alaska Airlines’ membership in Oneworld and its extensive network of Alaska Airlines partners, you can book award travel all over the world through Alaska, both online through alaskaair.com or by phone.

Redeeming your miles this way can be a brilliant move. The cash prices of certain international tickets can be quite high compared with the award prices. On such redemptions, you’ll get more value out of your miles.

You can also earn Alaska miles when you use your Mileage Plan number to book travel on partner airlines when paying for tickets in cash, though in some cases, you won't earn bonuses for class of service when you do this. Alaska's partners are listed in the table below.

When you're booking with cash through alaskaair.com, you'll see only domestic routes and a handful of international routes online. But when you're paying with miles, you'll be able to book trips to several other regions as well.

Alaska Airlines' credit cards are issued by Bank of America®. The cards offered include:

Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values Alaska Airlines miles at 1.3 cents each.

To determine the value of miles, we compared cash prices and award redemptions for economy round-trip routes across several destinations and dates. We divided the cost of the cash ticket by the cost of the award ticket to determine a “cent per mile” value for each flight, then averaged this value across several flights and dates. Read more about how we arrived at these figures.

This value for Alaska miles is based on real-world data collected from hundreds of economy routes, but it is not a maximized value. Generally speaking, aim for award redemptions that offer 1.3 cents or more in value from your Mileage Plan miles.

To find out the value of your own Alaska miles, use our Alaska miles-to-dollars calculator.

To determine the value of your miles for specific flights, divide the cash value of the ticket (less any applicable taxes and fees if you redeem miles) by the number of miles required for the flight. So if the ticket would cost either $100, or 15,000 miles + $10 in taxes and fees, the math would be as follows:

($100 – $10) / 15,000 = 0.006, or 0.6 cent per mile.

The Alaska fare classes are (in order from finest to most basic):

• First class.

• Premium class.

• Economy main cabin.

• Basic economy.

The boarding process on Alaska is fairly standard. Your ticket type and your Mileage Plan membership level will determine your assigned boarding group.

Alaska bag fees

On Alaska, you are allowed a carry-on bag for free, regardless of the type of fare you’re ticketed in.

The standard fee for checked bags on Alaska is $35 for your first bag, $45 for a second and $150 for a third.

But you can avoid fees by holding certain Alaska-branded credit cards, holding certain levels of elite status, sitting in higher fare class seats and if you're active-duty military personnel.

If you need to cancel an Alaska flight, terms vary by the type of airfare you bought. Non-Saver fares purchased directly through Alaska Airlines can be changed or rebooked online through the Manage Reservation page.

For all fare types besides Saver, you can change or cancel your flight with certain restrictions, but for nonrefundable tickets, you won’t get your money back — just a credit toward future travel. Saver fares are eligible for a credit of 50% when canceled between 24 hours after booking and 14 days before departure.

To receive a refund for an Alaska Airlines reservation, you must have a refundable ticket issued by Alaska Airlines, unless you request a refund within 24 hours of booking.

» Learn more: What to know about Alaska flight delay compensation

In addition to offering a solid loyalty program, Alaska offers several sweet spots when flying on partner airlines. Due to Alaska’s membership in Oneworld, the airline’s reach is even further, which means that Mileage Plan members have even more opportunities to earn and redeem miles.

Photo courtesy of Alaska Airlines.