How to earn miles with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program

TPG readers and staff members 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 devaluations of Mileage Plan miles in previous years, there are still sweet spots within the program's Oneworld and nonalliance partners. You can redeem miles for some of the most sought-after premium award seats on airlines like Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and many more.

Although Alaska Airlines miles haven't traditionally been as easy to earn as those of other programs, with the recent Hawaiian Airlines acquisition news, there's an interesting new way to convert American Express Membership Rewards points to Alaska's Mileage Plan.

You can redeem Mileage Plan miles for great rewards, including saving up to 50% on award redemptions to popular destinations using the airline's Global Getaway promotion.

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 straightforward 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 flight distance, not how much money you spend on the ticket. That being said, several 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, Alaska's basic economy "Saver fare" product earns just 30% of the miles flown.

Meanwhile, tickets booked in higher fare classes earn bonus miles. Here's the earning chart for Alaska-operated and -marketed flights to determine how many miles you'll earn on your next trip (while there are two tables depending on whether your travel is in 2024 or 2025, the earning rates on Alaska Airlines flights are the same):

To figure out your flight distance, we recommend using Great Circle Mapper. For example, a one-way ticket from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) booked in a C-class first-class cabin would earn 3,003 miles. These fares earn 100% of base miles (1,716 miles flown) and a 75% class-of-service bonus (1,287 miles).

Elite status bonus

Additionally, those with Alaska Airlines elite status will earn 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 Jan. 1, 2025, the 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

These bonuses only apply to the 100% base miles flown, not any class-of-service bonuses for higher fare classes.

Related: What is Alaska Airlines elite status worth?

Earn by flying with partners

When flying a partner airline booked on Alaska Airlines ticket stock (a codeshare flight operated by a partner but booked with an Alaska flight number), you'll earn 100% of the base miles flown except for basic economy (fare code X), which awards 30%. However, how you earn Alaska miles varies 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 based on the airline, status tier and booking class. Generally speaking, you won't earn 100% of the miles flown for every fare class, though flights booked in higher fare classes will still earn more.

For travel in 2024, each partner has a different earning rate. To check how many miles you'll earn on your partner ticket, head to Alaska Airlines' partner page, find the partner you're flying and check the chart for your booking class, as each chart will be slightly different.

Here's the British Airways earning chart for travel in 2024:

Starting in January, Mileage Plan is simplifying how frequent flyers earn miles when traveling on partners. The number of miles you earn will depend on whether the flight is booked through Alaska's website or a partner's website and your fare class.

Note that Starlux Airlines flights booked via a partner site are not eligible to earn Mileage Plan elite-qualifying miles.

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)
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian Airlines
• SriLankan Airlines

Further, the airline has a plethora of nonalliance partners with which to earn miles, including:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Tahiti Nui
• Condor
• El Al Israel Airlines
• Hainan Airlines
• Icelandair
• Korean Air (SkyTeam)
• LATAM Airlines
• Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance)
• Starlux Airlines
• Aleutian Airways
• Bahamasair
• Cape Air
• Contour Airlines
• Kenmore Air
• Mokulele Airlines
• Southern Airways Express

Related: How to redeem miles with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Earn Alaska miles with credit cards

One of the easiest ways to earn a large chunk of Mileage Plan miles without flying is through Alaska Airlines co-branded credit cards issued by Bank of America.

One option is the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card, which carries a $95 annual fee. New cardholders can earn 60,000 bonus miles plus Alaska's Famous Companion Fare ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) after making $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.

If you have a small business, you might prefer the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card. This card has a $70 annual fee for the company and $25 per card. As a limited-time welcome offer, receive 50,000 bonus miles and Alaska's Famous Companion Fare ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) after making $3,000 or more purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.

Note that these cards both 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 either the 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 station, cable, streaming services and local transit (including ride share) purchases
• 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases

Additionally, starting on Jan. 1, 2025, if you hold the Alaska personal or business credit card, you will earn 1 elite qualifying mile for every $3 spent (up to 30,000 EQMs each year).

Alaska Airlines transfer partners

Transfer Bilt Points to Alaska Mileage Plan

In March 2024, Bilt Rewards added Alaska Mileage Plan as a transfer partner. Therefore, you can transfer Bilt Points to Alaska at a 1:1 rate. Plus, Alaska Airlines cardholders earn 3 miles per dollar spent (on up to $50,000 annually) when paying rent through Bilt using their Alaska Airlines Visa credit card.

Transfer HawaiianMiles to Alaska Mileage Plan

Since the merger of Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines, you can also transfer miles between Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines at a 1:1 rate.

Therefore, if you're in the market for a new credit card and a way to earn additional Alaska miles without opening an Alaska credit card, you can consider opening a Hawaiian Airlines cobranded credit card.

Hawaiian Airlines cards are currently offering the following welcome bonuses:

• Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®: Earn 70,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 90 days.
• Hawaiian Airlines® Business Mastercard®: Earn 50,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.

The information for the Hawaiian Mastercard and Hawaiian Business Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

If you don't have any HawaiianMiles, remember that the program is currently a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, meaning that you could earn a generous welcome bonus from an Amex rewards card and transfer those points to HawaiianMiles, and then transfer them to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. However, it has been reported that this transfer option may become obsolete in 2025.

Related: Transfer Hawaiian miles (and by extension, Amex points) to Alaska Airlines

Transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Alaska

Even if you don't have any Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines credit cards in your wallet, it's still possible to generate miles by transferring points from Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1 ratio. You'll also earn a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points transferred.

If you want to transfer your points to book an award flight, make sure you check/find availability before making any point transfers, as transfers are irreversible.

Earn business rewards with EasyBiz

Alaska Airlines has a business rewards program called EasyBiz. This program rewards businesses for employee travel based on the price of a ticket. 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 base airfare. You can also access features like 24-hour reservation holds, travel management tools and ticket reports. Tools like this help your business better manage employee travel and get more value from the money you're already spending.

You can enroll in EasyBiz on Alaska's website. After doing this, you'll receive an EasyBiz number that you, your employees or your travel agent can attach to Alaska bookings.

Note that according to Alaska's website, "new EasyBiz enrollments are currently unavailable as we make system updates."

Earn Alaska miles with travel partners

You can also earn Alaska miles with other travel partners. This lets you earn Alaska miles on other aspects of your trip, like hotels and rental cars.

Book hotels with Alaska partners

You can earn bonus Mileage Plan miles by booking with Alaska Airlines Hotels. If you go this route, you may not earn hotel points on your booking. In other words, you'll need to decide which rewards currency you value most.

Further, you can earn Alaska miles instead of hotel points when you book with a handful of hotel groups at the following rates:

Related: 10 ways you could be earning airline miles other than credit cards

Rent a car and earn Alaska miles

You can also earn Alaska miles when booking car rentals through Alaska Airlines Car Rental. The miles you'll earn depend on how much you spend on a rental. You won't earn rental car points on these bookings; prices may differ from booking directly.

You can also book directly with rental car companies and earn Alaska miles instead of rental car points at the following rates:

Related: How to never pay full price for a rental car

Earn Alaska miles with other partners

Additionally, you can earn Alaska miles through several Alaska Mileage Plan partners for everyday purchases like dining out and even shopping online.

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 a 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 various sites.

Mileage Plan Shopping periodically offers promotions for spending a set amount of money 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 dine out a lot? Make sure you're 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 make sure to use one of the best credit cards for dining out.

The number of points you earn on purchases depends on your Mileage Plan Dining membership status. There are currently three status tiers: basic, select member and VIP. You become a select member by signing up for email alerts. You'll be upgraded to VIP status once you dine 11 times in 12 months.

Select 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 will remain a basic member and earn 1 mile per $2 spent.

If you're not already signed up for Alaska's dining plan, you can earn 500 bonus Alaska miles after your first purchase. To qualify for this offer, you must spend $30 or more at a participating restaurant and review it on the Mileage Plan Dining website.

Related: Maximizing restaurant spending with dining rewards programs

Buy Alaska miles

Another way to earn Alaska miles is to purchase them outright. However, buying miles without a promotion typically offers a poor value proposition.

But Alaska frequently runs promotions for buying miles with bonuses of up to 50%. With up to a 50% bonus, your effective purchase price is 1.97 cents apiece, and while that is above TPG's October 2024 valuations (which pegged Mileage Plan miles at 1.45 cents each), it can still unlock some great value.

Related: Buy bonus points and miles with these promotions

Bottom line

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles are among the most sought-after in the points and miles game. Even though earning Alaska miles can be generally harder to earn if you don't often fly with the carrier, the transfer partner options and Alaska's acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines have opened up new avenues for frequent flyers to beef up their account balances.