Summary

• Mileage redemption rates for Alaska Airlines flights are now dynamic and have specific starting amounts based on cabin and flight length.
• Partner awards with airlines, including all oneworld partners, offer great value but have also moved to dynamic pricing since 2023.
• Mileage Plan miles can also be used for upgrades on Alaska Airlines, booking hotels, or trading for discounts on cash flights.

Redeeming your miles is the fun part of any frequent flyer program. With good value earning and redeeming with transparent rates and targets, this can be even more so with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. Using miles for flight is the most obvious (with Alaska Airlines and its many partners). If you really can't find a way to use miles for travel, there are other options, though offering less value.

Using miles for Alaska Airlines flights

Mileage redemption rates for Alaska Airlines flights are now variable and can change based on demand. They are not necessarily directly linked to the underlying price of the flight, but you would expect them to increase as the ticket price increases.

It is no longer the case that shorter flights will always require less mileage, although they often do. Instead, Mileage Plan offers a starting minimum for all Alaska Airlines flights based on cabin and flight length. The key is that there are no longer maximum amounts for awards (removed at the start of 2023).

The starting amounts are:

• For flights up to 700 miles: 5,000 miles for main cabin, 15,000 miles for first class.
• For flights between 701 and 1400 miles: 7,500 miles for main cabin, 25,000 miles for first class.
• For flights between 1401 and 2100 miles: 10,000 miles for main cabin, 25,000 miles for first class.
• For flights over 2101 miles: 12,500 miles for main cabin, 30,000 miles for first class.
• For flights to/from Hawaii: 15,000 miles for main cabin, 40,000 miles for first class.
• For flights to/from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean: 10,000 miles for main cabin, 30,000 miles for first class.

Love learning about points and miles? Read more of our loyalty news and guides here.

Using miles for partner airline flights

As Alaska Airlines is a member of the oneworld alliance, flights can be booked on all oneworld partner airlines. Other airline partners for award booking include:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Tahiti Nui
• El Al Israel Airlines
• Hainan Airlines
• Icelandair
• Korean Air
• LATAM
• Ravn Alaska
• Singapore Airlines
• STARLUX Airlines

Partner awards are where some of the best value is to be found in Mileage Plan. Since 2023, these awards have also moved to dynamic pricing. Before 2023, Mileage Plan published fixed route-based tables for all airlines. These would define a fixed amount of miles required for flights with one airline based on zone and cabin class (airlines could not be mixed, and one stopover was permitted). This has now been changed, and pricing is variable.

Starting price levels are published for all partners based on region. This is a major change from March 2024. Before then, prices were only set for routes to or from the US. Now, starting prices for all routes have been published, split by zone/region. The pricing is the same for flights to or from the US and the zone, within the zone, and from some other zones.

All awards allow one free international stopover. This is unusual amongst loyalty programs and can create some great value opportunities.

The Americas region. Includes all flights within North America, the Caribbean Islands, Central America, and South America.

Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Includes flights from US to EMEA and flights within EMEA.

Asia-Pacific. Includes flights from US to Asia, within Asia, and between Asia and EMEA,

As with Alaska Airlines rates, these are just starting levels. In theory, the rates offered could go much higher than this, but experience at the moment shows they tend not to (this can, of course, change). Partner awards are generally based on availability released by partner airlines, not on the underlying ticket price.

As an example, the search below is for JFK to LHR. The minimums on this route would be 22.5k miles in economy and 30k miles in premium economy. This search (for flights several months in the future) shows flights available at both of these rates, plus flights charging more (30k in economy).

There are some great value options here, especially in premium cabins. Mileage Plan offers many chances to fly with some leading airlines for some of the best redemption rates compared to other airlines' programs.

For some ideas of the best options, see our guide to the Perks of Mileage Plan.

Using miles for upgrades

Using miles for upgrades with Mileage Plan is less useful than with many other airline programs. Miles can only be used to upgrade on Alaska Airlines flights.

These are good value at just 15,000 miles, but first class award space must be available, and the original ticket must be booked in higher fare classes (Y, B, H, K, or M).

Other uses of miles

Use for flight awards, especially with the great value possible on some international partners, is the best use of miles. But there are other possibilities if you need them, including:

Booking hotels. Mileage Plan has its own partnered hotel booking portal, with access to over 400,000 hotels globally. Rates vary, and you should always compare against available cash prices to ensure you are happy with the value received.

Trade miles for a discount on flights. Miles can also be used at a fixed rate to discount Alaska Airlines flights cash tickets. 10,000 miles will buy a 50% discount for up to $100, and 20,000 will buy one for up to $200. These apply to one-way or roundtrip tickets.

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With many partner airlines and good value rates, collecting Mileage Plan miles for award tickets is popular. Do you do this, or are you considering starting? Feel free to discuss your uses and the program, in general, further in the comment section.

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  Alaska Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  AS/ASA

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Anchorage International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Portland International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1932

  Alliance:

  oneworld

  CEO:

  Ben Minicucci

  Country:

  United States

  Region:

  North America