For people who fly from the West Coast, Alaska Airlines checks all the boxes: It serves complimentary in-flight Starbucks, has a highly valuable co-branded credit card, has 20+ 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 airline 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.

Alaska Airlines frequent flyer login

To start earning and redeeming miles with Alaska Airlines, you’ll first need to sign up for a Mileage Plan frequent flyer account and login. Signing up for the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is free and fairly simple. To enroll, go to Alaska’s website and click “sign up” from the menu at the top.

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How much are Alaska Airlines miles worth?

Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values Alaska Airlines miles at 1.4 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. Read more about how we arrived at these figures.

This is a baseline value for Alaska miles, based on real-world data collected from hundreds of economy routes, not a maximized value. Generally speaking, aim for award redemptions that offer 1.4 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/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/fees, the math would be as follows:

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

Historical Alaska mile values

Alaska miles have become increasingly more valuable over the past three years.

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Alaska Airlines vs. competitors: How it stacks up in 2023

For the fourth year in a row, Alaska Airlines came in No. 1 out of all the airlines evaluated in our most recent analysis of the best airline rewards programs. Alaska notched above-average marks in almost every category, notably high rewards (mile) value, plus best-in-class pet policies.

Alaska’s program was the most valuable across many categories:

Second in rewards (mile) value.

Tied for second place when looking closer at the best basic economy tickets.

Third in operations.

First in elite status benefits.

Second in terms of total fees.

Fourth in in-flight experience.

First place in most pet-friendly airlines.

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How to earn Alaska Airlines miles

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 1.4 cents each as a baseline, 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

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.

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 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 500 miles if you’re an MVP member, 1,000 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

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Alaska Airlines offers three credit cards: Two personal cards and a business card.

Our favorite option is the Alaska Airlines Visa® 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 60,000 bonus miles plus Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ ($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.

A great benefit of the card is the Companion Fare, which is provided on each anniversary year. That means you can cover a travel companion’s ticket starting at $121 ($99 plus taxes and fees from $22). Note that, as of Jan. 18, 2023, new 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 Airlines:

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 ride share) purchases.

Earn 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.

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

» Skip ahead to Alaska Airlines credit cards

Other ways to earn Alaska Airlines miles

Some additional easy ways to accrue even more Mileage Plan miles include:

Alaska Airlines credit card referral bonuses

You can earn 5,000 bonus miles for each friend or family member approved for an Alaska Airlines consumer credit card (not the business credit card).

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, wine and more.

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. 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.

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How to use Alaska Airlines miles

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

The worst-kept 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.