18 Best Ways To Earn Lots of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles
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Alaska Airlines began offering flights from Anchorage, Alaska in 1932. Today, the airline offers flights to over 115 destinations across U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Costa Rica and has partnered with the Oneworld alliance and many other airlines operating all over the world.
Luckily for you, there are some great ways to earn lots of miles with Alaska’s Mileage Plan program from flights on Alaska Airlines or its partners to credit cards and shopping.
Table of contents
Table of Contents
Sign up for an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Account
The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program allows you to earn miles without signing up for an affiliated credit card. To earn points, you simply need to create an account.
The Mileage Plan account number you receive upon signing up will be used almost every time you want to earn miles. Make sure you keep this number within reach when you utilize the earning tactics below.
Earn Alaska Miles With Credit Cards
There are 2 paths to earning Alaska miles with credit cards. One involves 2 cards that earn Alaska miles directly, while the other 2 cards earn points that can be transferred to your Alaska account.
You might think earning Alaska miles directly is the best way to go, but stick with us — you might be surprised.
1. Bank of America Alaska Co-Branded Credit Cards
While it is possible to earn points without signing up for its co-branded credit cards, the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card and Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Credit Card from Bank of America allow you to earn substantial miles simply for signing up for a card and using it on everyday purchases.
| ALASKA CREDIT CARD | BENEFITS & INFO |
|---|---|
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card |
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| The Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Credit Card |
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Both of these cards earn 3x miles per dollar on purchases with Alaska Airlines and 1x mile per dollar on all other purchases.
Hot Tip: If you want to apply for either of these cards, visit our article on credit cards and credit scores explained to learn more about getting approved!
2. Refer a Friend for Bonus Miles
The Alaska Signature card occasionally offers 5,000 bonus miles for each referral you provide that is approved. All you have to do is get a friend or family member to sign up using the link you sent to them.
There isn’t a limit on how many times you can receive this referral bonus, so this is a great way to boost your Mileage Plan miles when these referral bonuses are offered.
3. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards
You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points and transfer those to Alaska Airlines at a transfer rate of 3:1. Plus, for every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer, you’ll receive an extra 5,000 Alaska Airlines miles bonus.
Recommended Marriott Bonvoy Cards
| Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card - Earn 100,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Get automatic silver elite status each account anniversary year; and a free night award (valued up to 35,000 points) every year after account anniversary. Plus, earn up to 17X points per $1 at over 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, and 2X points per $1 on all other purchases. Annual Fee is $95. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card - Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. Earn up to 14X points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, earn 2X on other travel purchases, then 1x on all other purchases. A solid card for Marriott loyalists looking for a no-annual-fee card offering Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card - Earn 125,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Plus, earn up to $200 in Statement Credits for eligible purchases at U.S. Restaurants within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Expires 5/12/2021. Earn 6x per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels plus 3x at U.S. restaurants and flights booked directly with airlines. Annual Fee is $450. Terms Apply. For rates and fees of the Bonvoy Brilliant card, click here. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card - For a limited time, earn 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 of eligible purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Plus, earn up to $150 back in statement credits on eligible purchases made on your new Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 5/12/21. This is a solid card for business owners who will get complimentary Marriott Bonvoy silver elite status. Annual fee is $125. Terms Apply. For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card, click here. |
4. Transfer Points From Diners Club International
Points transfer from Diners Club International credit cards at a 10,000 to 11,825 transfer ratio.
As of the time of writing this article, Diners Club International is not accepting new consumer credit card applicants. We’re hopeful that this will change in the future.
Earn Miles Through Shopping & Dining
We all spend plenty of money on shopping and dining out, so why not get some Mileage Plan miles in return for it?
5. Mileage Plan Shopping
Regardless of whether you sign up for the Alaska Signature card, as a Mileage Plan Account member, you have access to the Mileage Plan Shopping portal.
Through the shopping portal, you can earn miles on purchases regardless of which credit card you use.
Alaska Airlines has partnered with over 850 stores to offer a mileage bonus for each purchase made through the portal. All of the stores can be viewed on the portal website, but here are some of the top stores:
To earn Mileage Plan miles for your purchases:
- Go to Mileage Plan Shopping
- Sign up or sign in to your account with your Mileage Plan number
- Search for and select a product or store offer
- A new browser window should open and look something like this:
- Shop around on the store’s website
- Make sure you are still logged into the portal when you head to checkout
Pay close attention during the holidays as the Mileage Plan Shopping portal often offers bonus miles on top of the miles you would normally earn.
6. Mileage Plan Dining
Many airlines participate in a dining program to help customers earn extra miles on eating out at participating restaurants. Mileage Plan Dining has over 10,000 participating restaurants, bars, and clubs.
Signing up is free and you don’t have to use an Alaska-branded card to enroll.
To earn miles with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Dining:
- Go to Mileage Plan Dining
- Use the Add a card link on the right side to add any credit card or multiple cards you want to use out at restaurants (any card will do, not just an Alaska-branded card)
- Search for restaurants near you using the search engine at the top
- Start using your registered credit card(s) at participating restaurants
Usually, you will earn up to 5x points per $1 you spend at participating restaurants, bars, and clubs. First-time members have the chance to earn up to 1,000 extra miles.
These extra miles are given if you spend $30 or more at a participating restaurant within 30 days of joining the program and review your experience within 30 days after dining.
Find this new member bonus offer and other bonus offers under the Earn more section.
Hot Tip: You can only link a credit card to 1 dining portal at a time, so choose the one that is best for you. Remember that you’ll earn points on your credit card in addition to miles from the dining program.
7. Other Retail Purchases
There are other ways to earn even more Mileage Plan miles on everyday spending including the following partnering retail offers:
| Retail Company | Bonus Miles |
| 1-800-FLOWERS.COM | 20 miles per $1 spent (use code AKA3) |
| CARRS/Safeway | 100 miles per $300 spent using Safeway Club card* |
| GCI | 1 mile per $1 spent on phone, internet, and TV in Alaska |
| Rover | 3 miles per $1 spent on your first booking, 1 mile per $1 after |
| Teleflora | 10 miles per $1 spent (use code BAAAL10) |
| Vinesse | 2,250 miles upon initial sign up, as well as 5 miles per $1 spent (use code ALASKA) |
Make purchases through the links provided to earn the additional miles.
*Only available for stores located in Alaska and on qualified purchases. For the Safeway supermarket deal, you will need to register your card or sign in to enroll. Once in your Safeway Club card account, navigate to the My Account Loyalty Partners page and enter your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan number.
Earn Alaska Miles Through Travel
With all of the interesting ways to earn Mileage Plan miles, it’s easy to forget that you can earn them when traveling.
8. Airfare & Alaska Airlines Partners
As we mentioned above, the Alaska Signature card and Alaska Airlines Business card earn 3x miles per $1 on Alaska Airlines tickets.
You will also earn bonus Mileage Plan miles flying with any of the following Oneworld partners or other partner airlines when you attach your Mileage Plan number to your booking:
For the most part, your mileage earnings will be anywhere from 25% to 500% of the miles flown depending on the partner and fare class you’re flying in.
Hot Tip: Here’s more information about crediting your miles to a partner airline.
9. Airfare Class Bonuses
Alaska Airlines offers a class of service/premium cabin bonus.
This means that you’ll earn 10% to 100% more miles depending on if you’re flying in first, business, and certain economy classes on Alaska Airlines and some partner airlines.
The percent bonus on actual miles flown with partnering airlines varies greatly.
The following is the bonus breakdown when flying in certain seats on Alaska Airlines:
Alaska Airlines Economy Class Cabin
- Earn actual flight miles flown in M, L, V, S, N, Q, O, G, or X class
- Earn actual flight miles flown in H or K class plus 25% Bonus Miles
- Earn actual flight miles flown in Y or B class plus 50% Bonus Miles
Alaska Airlines First Class Cabin
- Earn actual flight miles flown in D or I class plus 50% Bonus Miles
- Earn actual flight miles flown in C class plus 75% Bonus Miles
- Earn actual flight miles flown in J class plus 100% Bonus Miles
Visit the Bonus Miles section to see more about this bonus.
10. Elite Status Bonuses
Mileage Plan has an elite qualifying program called “Most Valued Passenger” or MVP. Reach MVP levels by flying often on Alaska Airlines or partnering airlines.
Here is a table outlining what you need to do to qualify for each MVP level:
| Annual Qualification Period January 1 to December 31 | MVP | MVP Gold | MVP Gold 75K |
| Miles on Alaska and Qualifying Partner Airlines | 20,000 | 40,000 | 75,000 |
| Segments on Alaska and Qualifying Partner Airlines | 30 | 60 | 90 |
| Minimum Number of Segments Flown on Alaska to Earn/Retain Status | 2 | 4 | 6 |
You’ll earn more miles each time you fly once you reach a given status. Earn 50% bonus Mileage Plan miles as MVP, 100% bonus as MVP Gold, and 125% bonus as MVP Gold 75K.
Those who fly enough to reach MVP Gold 75K status will also receive 50,000 Bonus Miles upon qualification!
11. Air Cargo & Shipments
If you have something to ship, Alaska Airlines has the biggest passenger airline cargo operation on the U.S. West Coast. All packages — small (16 ounces) up to large (ULD) — can be shipped on board Alaska Airlines flights.
You’ll earn extra miles when you use Alaska Airlines for your shipments. Simply book at the Alaska Air Cargo website and use your Alaska Signature card when you make your purchase.
You will earn 3x miles per $1 spent on your cargo shipment using your card.
12. Car Rentals & Other Transportation
Rent a car with a partnering car rental company and you will also earn mileage bonuses:
| Car Rental | Bonus Miles Offer |
| Alamo | 50 per day |
| Avis | 50 per day (up to 4 days); 500 per rental over 5 days |
| Budget | 50 per day; 500 per rental over 5 days |
| Dollar | 50 per day; 150 per day on all rentals of 3 or more days |
| Hertz | 50 per day (up to 4 days); 500 per rental over 5 days |
| National | 50 per day |
| Thrifty | 50 per day; 150 per day on all rentals of 3 or more days |
Be sure to check the Mileage Plan Deals section of the Alaska Airlines website. The partnering car rental companies occasionally have promotions in which you can earn even more miles per rental.
13. Hotel Partner Offers
The Mileage Plan has multiple hotel partners with which you can earn additional miles for your stay or per night booking.
Check out the bonus miles you could earn for your stay at one of the participating hotels:
| Hotel | Bonus Miles |
| Best Western | 250 per stay |
| Choice Hotels | 250 per stay |
| Coast Hotels | 500 per stay |
| IHG Hotels & Resorts | See below |
| Marriott Bonvoy | See below |
| Rocketmiles | 3,000 miles for the first booking, plus 500 to 10,000 per night |
| Westmark Hotels | 2 miles per $1 on stay; 1 mile per $1 on food and beverage |
There are also a couple of hotel rewards programs through which you will earn Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles.
If you are a member of IHG Rewards, you will earn:
- 2 miles per $1 spent at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean and at all Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, and Holiday Inn Express hotels worldwide
- 1 mile per $1 spent at Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites
- 500 miles per stay at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts outside of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean and at all InterContinental Alliance Resorts
As a part of Marriott Bonvoy, you will earn:
- 2 miles per $1 spent on all qualifying charges at JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, EDITION, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton, Marriott Vacation Club, Delta Hotels by Marriott, Le Meridien, Westin, Autograph Collection Hotels, Design Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, Tribute Portfolio, and Gaylord Hotels.
- 1 mile per $1 spent on room rate only at Courtyard by Marriott, Four Points by Sheraton, SpringHill Suites, Protea Hotels, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Aloft Hotels, Moxy Hotels, Marriott Executive Apartments, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, and Element by Westin.
Hot Tip: Be sure to choose “Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan” as the program for which you would like to earn miles when you making reservations and checking in at the hotel.
14. Hotel Partner Credit Cards
Some hotel points can be transferred to your Alaska Mileage Plan account to earn more miles, but this should be avoided if at all possible because of the terrible transfer rate.
Save your hotel points for when you need hotel award stays.
| CREDIT CARD | CARD INFO |
|---|---|
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card Learn More (at Amex's secure site) |
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Hilton Honors American Express Card Apply Now (at Amex's secure site) |
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15. Cruise Line Partners
If you have always wanted to go on a cruise to Alaska, look no further. You can earn bonus miles by booking through Alaska Airlines partner Cruises Only (“America’s Largest Cruise Agency”).
The number of miles you’ll earn depends on how long your cruise is—here’s how many points you can earn:
| Length of Cruise | Miles Earned |
| 1 to 5 nights | 1,500 |
| 6 to 8 nights | 3,000 |
| 9 to 12 nights | 5,000 |
| 13 nights or longer | 10,000 |
Earning miles through your booking is simple. Visit ak.cruisesonly.com, search for a cruise, and enter your Mileage Plan number at checkout.
Specialty Earnings for Mileage Plan Miles
There are several other interesting ways to earn Mileage Plan miles from surveys to credit card partners to buying miles.
16. Refinance Your Student Loans (or Take Out a Personal Loan)
Alaska Airlines and finance company SoFi recently partnered to give new SoFi customers Mileage Plan miles when refinancing a student loan or taking out a new personal loan.
Currently, you can earn 1 Mileage Plan mile per $2 borrowed when refinancing a student loan or taking out a new personal loan through SoFi. Just note that there’s a 50,000-mile cap on mileage earning for both student loan refinances and new personal loans.
This option can make sense if you’re already considering refinancing a student loan or taking out a new personal loan. However, always make sure to shop around for the best interest rate before settling on SoFi.
17. Fill Out Surveys for Mileage Plan Miles
Earning bonus miles is easy even without spending lots of money or owning one of the Alaska Airlines credit cards. Simply sign up for a free account with Mileage Plan partners e-Rewards and the Opinion Terminal to start earning immediately.
Filling out surveys with e-Rewards will take a few minutes of your time, though surveys from the Opinion Terminal are often rather long (15+ minutes). Do this a few times a week and the miles you earn from them will add up faster than you realize!
This can help you top off your account when you’re a few miles short of a free flight.
| Company | Per Survey Currency or Miles | Bonus Rapid Rewards Points |
| The Opinion Terminal | Variable per survey offer | 400 miles when completing the first survey |
The e-Rewards currency is racked up by filling out online surveys. Some of the surveys are more interesting than others and some are longer than others.
All of them will earn you a set amount of e-Rewards currency which will be posted as soon as you complete the survey.
You have to first enroll your Mileage Plan account with e-Rewards to be able to transfer e-Rewards currency into Mileage Plan miles. There is no public registration directly with e-Rewards. Instead, you’ll need to be invited through Mileage Plan to participate.
18. Buy Alaska Airlines Miles
If you’re planning on redeeming miles for a certain value, you can calculate the cost to see if buying Mileage Plan miles is worth it.
Rarely is buying miles worth it. Leave it for topping off an account when you don’t have time to earn the last few miles for your next award flight.
For those without Alaska elite status, you are now limited to purchasing 150,000 miles per calendar year. Elite status holders can continue to buy miles without limit. Keep an eye out for any promotional sales!
Final Thoughts
The above strategies for earning Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles will help you earn tons of miles.
Whether through the credit card sign-up bonuses or the many partnering airlines with which you can fly, your options for earning miles are endless!
As soon as you start applying the strategies above, you’ll be rolling in tons of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles. Then, when you’re itching for a vacation, you can begin researching ways to use them!
The information regarding the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card, Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Credit Card, and Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Card, click here.
Rocketmiles.com for hotel reservations. Often some high bonuses. Upcoming hotel reservation with a Marriott will net 11k AS miles.
Rocketmiles charge you a big fee (equivalent to cost of the free miles they give you) which is not broken down in detail and which includes in the tax amount.
Just need clarification – the above indicates that Delta is a partner w/Alaska Airlines yet Alaska’s website does not list Delta?
Hi Judith!
Alaska and Delta ended its partnership. I’ve updated the article to reflect that. Thanks for letting us know.
Buying Starpoints can be a less expensive way to get Alaskan miles. It remains to be seen if the combined program with Marriott will be an easy way to get Alaskan miles. My suspicion is that Marriott, being the cheapo organization they are, will eventually end the transfer program.
Alaska has some flights with partners that can only be booked as awards and not available for cash. That is another scenario where buying miles or transferring can make slight sense
Hey Danin,
You bring up a great point. Check out our guide for the best ways to redeem Alaska Airlines miles:
https://upgradedpoints.com/how-to-redeem-alaska-mileage-plan-miles/
Does purchasing Alaska airmiles move you closer to Elite status, or are elite miles only miles ‘flown’ that year?
Hi John. Unfortunately purchasing miles does not move you closer to elite status. You would be purchasing only redeemable miles. And yes, elite qualifying miles are flown miles.
I flew on Alaska Air on 4 July 2019 and read in the flight magazine that Alaska Air has an agreement with a company to award frequent flyer miles for walking. That is, so many steps equals a flyer mile. Could you please tell me the name of the program that offers Alaska Air miles for walking?
Thank you.
Hi Paul. This was a challenge but I found a copy of the Alaska Airlines in-flight magazine online and scanned through the pages. On page 142 you’ll find the offer from Semler Heart. Here’s a link to the online publication for July. https://www.paradigmcg.com/digitaleditions/abm-0719/
Hi there. I’d like to know if buying miles is considered activity and extends the life of miles in my account for another 24 months?
Thanks!!
Hi Sonny. Yes, purchasing Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles will be considered activity and keep your account active.
Do segments flown on an award ticket count toward elite status? (I know the miles flown wont count.)
Hi Mary. Just as the miles flown on award tickets do not count toward elite status, neither do the number of segments flown on an award ticket.
With the lack of a transfer partner, i.e. a bank, earning a lot of Alaska miles will take either forever or cost you a lot of money. Compare that to ways to earn united, American or even delta miles (the worst of all three) and you’ll see how tough it is to earn Alaska miles.