Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan: Your Complete Guide

For people who fly from the West Coast, Alaska Airlines checks all the boxes: It serves complimentary in-flight Starbucks, has an insanely valuable co-branded credit card, and gets you where you need to go. This Seattle-based airline also has hubs in Anchorage, Alaska, and Portland, Oregon.

If you often fly on Alaska, the airline's broad network of airline partners and lucrative credit card offers make it worth participating in Mileage Plan, the airline's frequent flyer program. It's also an excellent program for those looking to book ambitious international flights with miles.

» Learn More: Travel loyalty program reviews

Before you can start earning miles with Alaska, you’ll need to sign up for a Mileage Plan frequent flyer account. It’s free to join, and you can register here.

Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values Alaska Airlines miles at 1.1 cents each.

To determine the value of reward miles, we compared cash prices and reward redemptions for economy roundtrip routes across several destinations and dates. We divided the cost of the cash ticket by the cost of the reward ticket to determine a “cent per mile” value for each flight, then averaged this value across several flights and dates.

To find out the value of your own Alaska miles, use the calculator on this page.

» Learn more: Reviews of airline rewards programs

Alaska came in first place out of nine airlines in our most recent analysis on the best airline loyalty programs.

Here's a closer look at how Mileage Plan competed across categories to earn this rank:

• First in rewards (mile) value.

• First in elite status benefits.

• Second best in terms of total fees.

• Alaska offers the second best basic economy ticket.

• Fifth in onboard entertainment.

• First in most pet-friendly airlines.

Alaska Airlines' loyalty program pays out in miles, which can be redeemed for flights on Alaska or its partner airlines. NerdWallet values Alaska Airlines miles at 1.1 cents

each, on average, but with strategic redemptions, you can easily get more out of these rewards.

Signing up for the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is free. From there, you can qualify for elite status after flying enough in a calendar year. Elite status comes with free upgrades and other benefits.

If you go two years without any activity in your awards account, your account may be closed, and you can lose your miles. If this happens, you can reclaim the rewards within up to one year for a fee.

» Learn more: The guide to Priority Pass lounges at PDX

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 would earn 1,000 base miles. Eligible flights shorter than 500 miles will earn 500 miles. To get these miles, you must provide your Mileage Plan number when booking flights.

This distance-based earning system is rare among U.S. airlines today, most of which award frequent flyer miles based on dollars spent. Generally, Alaska's rules make it far easier to rack up miles and reach elite status faster — especially if you frequently take long-haul flights.

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

» Learn more: How to earn miles with Alaska Airlines

Earning Alaska Airlines miles with a credit card

Alaska Airlines has a great co-branded credit card in the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card. For starters, it offers an incredibly generous Companion Fare every anniversary year. That means you can cover a travel partner's ticket starting at $121 ($99 plus taxes and fees from $22). The card, which has an annual fee of $75, also comes with solid ongoing rewards for those who frequently fly on Alaska Airlines:

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

• Earn 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases

Note: If you apply for the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card, but qualify for a credit limit of less than $5,000, you'll receive the Alaska Airlines Platinum Plus® credit card instead. This comes with fewer benefits and rewards, but also carries a lower annual fee.

Miles earned with a co-branded credit card don't count toward elite status, Alaska Airlines confirmed in an email.

Other ways to earn Alaska Airlines miles

If you're looking to earn even more miles, Alaska Airlines offers:

• Referral bonuses: 5,000 bonus miles for each friend or family member approved for an Alaska Airlines consumer credit card (not the business credit card).

• 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.

Buying miles

Alaska sells miles, but they cost upward of 2 cents apiece. That often means that they’re not worth the cost, unless you’re getting a truly extraordinary redemption value. With the exception of some targeted offers, purchased miles don’t count toward elite status.

The secret to getting amazing value out of Alaska miles? Think international. 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 Airlines sets award ticket fares according to class of service and the length of your trip in miles. Refundable tickets are more costly than nonrefundable tickets. For flights within the contiguous U.S. and Alaska, award tickets start at 5,000 miles each way. You can see how much your award ticket might cost for your particular trip by using Alaska Airlines' award chart tool.

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 Airlines 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 Airlines miles just isn't the best option. In particular, here are some redemption options that aren't all that great.

If you frequently fly with Alaska Airlines and its partners, you may qualify for elite status. This gets you access to a cornucopia of goodies, whether you fly with Alaska Airlines or other eligible partners.

Elite status tiers

American Airlines' elite status comes in three levels:

• MVP.

• MVP Gold.

• MVP Gold 75K.

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.

The loyalty program's biggest drawback: Elite members don't get free lounge access, as they would in many other programs. However, they can purchase discounted lounge access.

Oneworld elite status

Starting March 31, 2021, Alaska elites receive reciprocal Oneworld status, which offers benefits when flying on Oneworld partner airlines (see below). Here’s how those benefits shake out:

• Alaska MVP elites receive Oneworld Ruby status: This offers some seat selection benefits when flying with Oneworld airlines.

• Alaska MVP Gold elites receive Oneworld Sapphire status: This offers seat selection benefits, business class lounge access, priority boarding and baggage allowance when flying with Oneworld airlines.

• Alaska MVP Gold 75k elites receive Oneworld Emerald status: This offers seat selection benefits, first and business class lounge access, priority boarding, expedited security, and baggage allowance when flying with Oneworld airlines.

» Learn more: Guide to Alaska Airlines Baggage and Other Fees

Alaska MVP benefits

Loyal flyers on Alaska Airlines and its affiliates and partners can snag free upgrades and other perks:

How to earn elite status with Alaska Airlines

You can earn Alaska Airlines elite status by collecting a certain amount of elite-qualifying miles or flying a certain number of segments within a calendar year. On its website, Alaska defines segments as travel on “flights with the same flight number between an origin and final destination, regardless of intermediate stops.”

Elite-qualifying miles include:

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

• Bonuses earned from class of service

Elite-qualifying miles do not include:

• Bonuses earned from loyalty status

• Miles earned on co-branded credit cards

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.

» Learn more: Alaska Airlines MVP elite status program: The complete guide

Because of Alaska Airlines’ extensive network of partners, you can book award travel all over the world through Alaska Airlines, both online through alaskaair.com or by phone.

Redeeming your miles this way can be a brilliant move. Typically, 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.

Alaska has joined the Oneworld Alliance. This means you can start earning and redeeming miles on all OneWorld airline partners in addition to Alaska’s existing and separate partnerships.

You can also earn more Alaska Airlines 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 Airlines' partners are listed in the table below, with information about which benefits are available and how you can book award travel.

When you're booking with cash through alaskaair.com, you'll only see 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.

» Learn more: Guide to Alaska Airlines partners: Earning, redeeming, elite perks

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

Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card

• 3 miles per $1 spent directly on Alaska

• 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases

• Annual fee: $75

» Learn more: Why the Alaska Airlines credit card is great for frugal West Coast travelers

Alaska Airlines Platinum Plus® credit card

You'll get this card if you apply for the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card, but qualify for a limit below $5,000

• 2 miles per $1 spent directly on Alaska

• 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases

• Annual fee: $50

Alaska Airlines Visa® Business credit card

• 3 miles per $1 spent directly on Alaska

• 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases

• Annual fee: $0 and $75 per card, or $50 and $25 per card, depending on billing type selected

» Learn more: Is the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card right for me?

Photo courtesy of Alaska Airlines.

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