How to Earn Alaska Airlines Miles

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan offers some of the best value in the skies. While other programs devalue their miles and switch to revenue-based earning models, Alaska has upheld the value of its program. In 2021, Alaska joined the Oneworld airline alliance, greatly expanding options for flyers to use Mileage Plan miles to travel the globe.

So how can you earn Alaska miles? In this article we explain nine ways to do so.

Note: This article covers how to earn redeemable Alaska miles only. For information on how to earn elite-qualifying miles, check out our MVP elite status program guide.

This one isn’t rocket science. If you take a flight on Alaska Airlines and credit it to your Mileage Plan account, you’ll earn miles based on distance.

For most discounted economy fares, including the cheapest “saver fares,” you’ll earn 100% of miles flown. Refundable fares (those in fare classes M or B) earn a 25% bonus on flown miles, and the highest economy fare classes (Y or S) earn a 50% bonus. First class fares earn a 75% bonus.

MVP elite status members earn an additional bonus on top of the base mileage (not including the fare class bonuses above). This bonus is 50% for MVP members, 100% for MVP Gold and 125% for MVP Gold 75K.

Check out the calculator below to see how these bonuses work.

Note: The minimum mileage earned for any segment is 500 miles. So even if you take only a short 100-mile hop, you’re guaranteed to earn 500 miles.

» Learn more: Your guide to the Alaska Airlines award chart

Alaska has partnerships with 23 airlines, 13 of which are Oneworld alliance members. You can earn miles by traveling on these partner airlines and crediting the flight to your Alaska Mileage Plan account.

Just like Alaska-operated flights, you’ll earn miles based on the distance flown. However, most discounted economy tickets will earn less than 100% of miles flown. In fact, for deeply discounted economy fares, you’ll earn only 25% of flown miles on most partners.

On the flip side, premium cabin travel (first and business class) can be especially valuable on partner airlines. The bonus miles earned for premium fares differ by partner, but many offer double miles or more.

Check Alaska’s partner page for a full breakdown.

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

Alaska has only one co-branded personal credit card, the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card. We consistently rate it one of the best travel credit cards thanks to its companion fare and relatively low annual fee ($95), but it’s also a good way to earn extra Alaska miles.

The card has a welcome offer: Get 70,000 bonus miles plus Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ from $122 ($99 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.

In addition, you earn 3 miles for every $1 spent with Alaska Airlines, including airfare and in-flight purchases like food, and 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, cable, streaming services and local transit including ride share purchases. It also earns 1 mile per dollar spent on everything else.

The Alaska shopping portal includes rotating offers to earn bonus miles when using the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card at participating retailers. These offers range from underwhelming to highly valuable and are worth checking periodically or before making a major purchase.

It takes a lot of spending on this card to earn award flights given that they start at 5,000 miles, but the card still offers a good way to supplement miles earned from flying.

» Learn more: Is the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card worth its annual fee?

File this under the “only when desperate” category of rewards transfers. Marriott lets you transfer Bonvoy rewards points to Alaska at a 3:1 ratio, meaning 3 Bonvoy points become 1 Alaska mile. We value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cent and Alaska miles at 1.2 cents, so mathematically, this is not a good use of Marriott points.

That said, if you’re trying to clear out a few remaining Bonvoy points, or are reaching for a specific Alaska redemption and need just a few more miles, keep this transfer partnership in mind.

Credit cards that earn Marriott Bonvoy points

Marriott has three personal cards and one business credit card:

• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (annual fee: $650): Earn 95,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases on the Card within the first 3 months. Terms Apply.

• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card (annual fee: $95): Earn 3 Free Night Awards (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card!

• Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card (annual fee: $0): Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

• Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (annual fee: $125): Welcome Offer: Earn 75,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

» Learn more: Which Marriott Bonvoy credit card should I choose?

Shopping portals offer a nifty, if sometimes cumbersome, way to earn extra rewards points and miles. The Alaska shopping portal lets you earn extra Alaska miles when you shop at certain retailers (on top of whatever rewards you receive from the credit card you use to pay).

Most offers let you earn 1 or 2 Alaska miles per dollar spent. Since we value these miles at 1.2 cents each, this adds a small cherry on top of your earnings — but doesn’t provide tons of value unless you use the shopping portal to shop online often.

Additionally, Alaska often rotates through various promotional offers, such as the 4x miles per dollar spent at GNC pictured above, which can provide plenty of bang for your rewards buck.

Sign in through your Mileage Plan account to see the current offers.

The Alaska dining rewards program lets you earn extra redeemable miles when eating at specific restaurants. That might sound a lot like the shopping portal described above, but it’s slightly different.

To take advantage of this program, you’ll connect a credit card to your Alaska dining account. Then, when you dine at a participating restaurant and pay with that card, you’ll automatically earn the bonus miles.

» Learn more: The best dining rewards programs out there

Keep in mind that the attached credit card doesn't need to be an Alaska co-branded card (even if the website makes it look otherwise). Also, it’s usually easier to “set and forget” this kind of promotion, rather than determine where you’ll eat based on the few extra miles you might earn. Every once in a while you’ll dine at a participating restaurant and — voila — miles will appear in your account.

Visit Alaska's website for details on how to earn miles with these partners.

Hotel partners

Alaska allows you to earn miles for qualifying stays with the following hotels.

Car rental partners

You can also earn Mileage Plan miles with Alaska’s car rental partners.

Note: The following car rental partners offer discounts on base rates with use of a promo code:

• Avis: Up to 35% off base rates using AWD# K197800.

• Budget: Up to 30% off base rates using BCD# U072200.

• Hertz: Unspecified savings using Mileage Plan discount code CDP 321739.

Everyday shopping partners

In addition to earning miles by traveling, you could earn Mileage Plan miles by completing everyday activities like buying flowers and wine. Here’s a list of Alaska’s shopping partners:

Note: The following merchants require promo codes to earn miles on spending:

• 1-800-Flowers.com: AKA3.

• Teleflora: BAAAL10.

Those lucky few who fly enough to earn Alaska’s top elite tier automatically receive 50,000 extra miles. That’s on top of the 125% bonus earned by Gold 75K members, making it one of the more valuable airline elite statuses.

Note that the 50,000-mile bonus doesn't kick in for those who receive status matching from another airline; you have to put in the miles to earn these miles.

Alaska has made it easier for customers to achieve status for 2022 by offering a 50% bonus on all elite-qualifying miles earned through Dec. 31, 2021. So, if you’re thinking of going for Gold 75K, taking advantage of the 50% bonus could help you get there faster.

You can always buy Alaska miles directly through Points.com, but this is usually not a good idea. The value of those miles rarely exceeds the cost, even when Alaska runs exciting-sounding promotions like 50% bonus miles.

NerdWallet values Alaska miles at 1.2 cents each.

There are a few cases when buying miles directly makes sense:

• You need only a few more miles to make an award reservation.

• You have a specific premium cabin redemption in mind.

• Alaska runs a promotion that knocks the cost per mile well below our estimated value.

Alaska offers plenty of ways to earn Mileage Plan miles. Signing up for the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card and earning the welcome offer is the fastest way to boost your Mileage Plan balance. If you fly often with Alaska or its partners, crediting your flights to Alaska’s rewards program would also help accelerate your earnings.

If you don’t have any trips planned, you can earn Alaska miles through the shopping portal or dining program.