Despite its name, Alaska Airlines is based in Seattle, Washington. The airline has made a name for itself over the years, opening hubs in Anchorage (ANC) and a handful of major West Coast cities, joining the Oneworld alliance in 2021 and acquiring Virgin America and Hawaiian Airlines.
But what really sets the airline apart is its loyalty program. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is one of the best out there, with unique airline partners and excellent redemption rates. You can even add free stopovers on some one-way award tickets.
Because of this, it’s a program worth knowing even if you don’t live on the West Coast. Here’s everything you need to know about earning and redeeming Alaska Mileage Plan miles and the airline’s elite status program.
Alaska Airlines launched its Mileage Plan loyalty program in 1981 when the carrier was a much smaller regional carrier. Fast forward to today, and the airline is larger and its loyalty program is a fan favorite, even for those who rarely fly Alaska Airlines.
This is in large part because Mileage Plan has several interesting partnerships. You can use Alaska miles to book flights on Alaska and its Oneworld partners, like American Airlines, British Airways, Japan Airlines and others. Plus, it maintains non-alliance partnerships with Aer Lingus, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines and many others.
The program has continued to offer a fixed award chart for partner redemptions and distance-based status and mileage earnings. This is in stark contrast to other domestic programs like Delta SkyMiles and United MileagePlus, which price awards dynamically and award miles based on the cost of a ticket.
Since Alaska Airlines is an Oneworld member, you can earn and redeem miles on all Oneworld airlines. Elite status members also get reciprocal benefits when flying on other Oneworld airlines. Benefits depend on your status tier but include lounge access and free checked bags.
Alaska Airlines’ Oneworld partners include:
Meanwhile, its non-alliance partners include:
This massive network of partners means you can earn and redeem Alaska miles worldwide. This is especially important given Alaska Airlines largely operates domestic flights, with a limited international presence that’s largely focused on Canada and Central America.
Alaska Airlines has four status tiers that have varying benefits. You earn status based on how much you fly with Alaska and its partners over a calendar year. You’ll earn elite qualifying miles (EQM) based on the distance and cabin class you fly, with most Alaska flights earning at least 1 EQM per mile flown.
You can also earn EQMs with the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card. If you have one this card, you’ll earn one EQM for every $3 spent on qualified purchases, up to 30,000 EQMs per year. You can also earn 1,000 EQM for every 3,000 EQM you earn with non-airline partners, like Lyft and Alaska’s shopping portal.
New for 2025, Alaska Airlines award tickets — operated by either Alaska or one of its partners — earn EQM based on distance flown. This is a great way to pad your elite status metrics while seeing the world.
Here’s a look at how many EQMs you need to earn each status tier:
At the high end, you can get benefits like complimentary upgrades on Alaska and American Airlines, bonus miles on paid flights and free food and drinks in Main Cabin. Get an in-depth look at Alaska elite benefits in our full guide to Alaska elite status.
On your way to higher elite status tiers, you’ll earn selectable rewards when you meet certain EQM milestones. These range from bonus miles to confirmable upgrade certificates and can be an incentive to fly Alaska instead of another airline.
Here’s a look at Alaska milestone awards. You can pick one per milestone.
These benefits can provide incremental value toward future trips. While picking Alaska miles is likely the best value, you might consider lounge passes or upgrade certificates if you can use them on an upcoming trip.
Each Alaska Airlines status tier has a corresponding Oneworld status tier, which gives you benefits on other Oneworld airlines. You can use these benefits on other carriers by adding your Alaska frequent flyer number to your ticket.
Alaska MVP elites are eligible for Oneworld Ruby status, which includes:
MVP Gold elites receive Oneworld Sapphire benefits:
Finally, MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K get the following Oneworld Emerald benefits:
From flying to credit cards, you have a variety of ways to earn Alaska miles — in fact, you don’t even need to get on a plane to earn them. Here’s a look at some of our favorite ways to earn Alaska miles.
This year, Alaska simplified how you earn for both Alaska flights and partner flights. Flights still earn based on distance, but partner flights are now more streamlined across partner airlines.
When flying Alaska Airlines, you’ll earn miles and EQM based on the following chart:
Meanwhile, when you book a partner flight and credit it to Alaska, you’ll earn based on the following. This is for partner flights booked via the partner’s website, not through Alaska’s website.
Alaska has two cobranded credit cards, one personal card and one small business card. The Alaska Airlines® Visa® Card includes free checked bags and priority boarding. Plus, you can earn a companion certificate by spending $6,000 per year on the card. This lets you take a companion with you on an Alaska flight for just the cost of taxes and fees, up to $121.
You can transfer Bilt Rewards points to Alaska at a 1:1 rate. You can earn Bilt Rewards points when you pay your rent with Bilt, spend on the Bilt Mastercard or leverage its neighborhood partners.
Alaska Airlines operates a shopping portal that you can use to earn miles when you shop online. Just find your merchant of choice on the portal and click the “shop now” button before you make a purchase. The number of miles you’ll earn depends on the merchant and how much you spend.
You can also use the Alaska Airlines dining portal to earn points when you eat out. Just link your credit cards to the portal, and you’ll earn bonus miles when you dine at participating restaurants. The Alaska miles you earn through the dining program stack with the rewards you earn with your credit card.
There are other ways to redeem Alaska miles, too. For example, you can link your Alaska account to Lyft and earn miles on every ride, book hotels through Alaska’s hotel portal and buy flowers with 1-800-Flowers. Check Alaska’s full list of non-airline partners for more info.
Thanks to Alaska’s huge list of airline partners, there’s no shortage of great ways to redeem your Alaska miles. Here’s a look at some of your options.
Generally, the best way to redeem Alaska miles is for flights on Alaska and its partner airlines. The airline has largely stuck to a distance-based award chart, though Alaska flights and flights operated by some partner airlines have a starting price but could be priced higher.
Alaska flights are priced as follows:
Meanwhile, partner flights are split up by region. There are three regional award charts, one for the Americas, one for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and one for Asia Pacific. Each are distance-based — you can find them on Alaska’s website.You can find some great deals on both transatlantic and transpacific flights with Mileage Plan. For example, flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Dublin Airport (DUB) fall in the 1,501 to 3,500 mileage band, which costs 22,500 miles in economy and 45,000 miles in business class.Likewise, some flights from the West Coast to Japan fall into the 3,001 to 5,000 mileage band, which costs 30,000 miles in economy and 50,000 in business class. This includes flights like Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) and Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) to Tokyo.
Another one of our favorite redemptions is for short-haul flights within the US on American Airlines. Flights 700 miles or less within the Americas cost just 4,500 miles in economy or 9,000 in business class, which includes major commuter routes like Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA).And if you’re flying abroad, you can add a free stopover on a one-way Alaska award ticket. For example, you can fly from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN) with a stopover in Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT) for the same cost as a direct ticket.
This is just the tip of the iceberg — there are plenty of great ways to redeem Alaska miles. Study its list of partners, look through its various award charts and run your own searches to find your next big redemption. You can search for most Alaska Airlines awards online.
You can redeem miles for hotels and rental cars on Alaska’s website, but note that it’s rarely a good deal when compared to booking flights with miles. For example, a one-night stay at Hotel Riu in Chicago costs $156 per night on a random date in January after taxes and fees.Meanwhile, the same night costs 17,395 miles, which gives you just under 0.9 cents per mile.
This number is consistent across the other test searches we’ve run, so unless you really need to book a stay with Alaska miles, consider saving them for a future flight instead.
Alaska miles do not expire so long as your account is open and in good standing.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is one of the most lucrative airline loyalty programs out there. They have an excellent list of airline partners and fixed award charts with great redemption rates. So even if you don’t live near an Alaska hub airport, it’s worth collecting these miles for partner flights around the world.
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