Summary
- Use Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles for premium cabins on oneworld airlines for better value.
- Consider rates: U.S. to Europe: BA /American – 30,000, 35,000, 45,000, 55,000, 72,500 miles, depending on the total flight distance.
- Mileage Plan offers stopovers for international bookings at the airline hub location.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is a comprehensive and good-value airline loyalty program. It offers much more than just the core opportunities to earn and spend miles on flights with Alaska Airlines, especially since the airline joined the oneworld alliance.
Some of the best value uses of miles with Mileage Plan (and other loyalty programs) are for premium cabin award bookings. This includes premium economy class, which is available for only a small increase in the miles required over economy class. This often gives better value relative to cash fares.
Mileage Plan allows bookings of award tickets with all oneworld airlines plus several additional partners. Most of these offer premium economy class – some on more routes than others.
Booking American Airlines premium economy
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
miles can be used to book flights on any
oneworld member airline (just as they can be earned from cash tickets with any member airline). One of the best options for Mileage Plan members in the US for premium economy is American Airlines
. American was the first US legacy carrier to start offering the cabin, and it is now widely available. The cabin is now offered on both the Boeing 777 and 787 on all long-haul international flights.

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All award flights with Mileage Plan are priced dynamically. Since 2023, partner awards have also moved to dynamic pricing. Fixed starting rates are published depending on flight zone and total distance, but mileage rates can increase above this. At the moment, it appears that most direct flights with partner airlines price in line with these starting rates (if there is availability), but this could change.

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How To Spend Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan uses dynamic award pricing but still offers some good value partner awards.
For example, for routes with American Airlines from the US to Europe, the starting prices for premium economy would be as follows. Connecting flights with the same airline would also be permitted:
Total distance (miles) |
Miles required for premium economy |
---|---|
1,501 to 3,500 miles |
30,000 |
3,501 to 5,000 miles |
35,000 |
5,001 to 7,000 miles |
45,000 |
7,001 to 10,000 miles |
55,000 |
Over 10,000 miles |
72,500 |
To see the value – consider the same starting prices for economy class. In most cases, this is just around 30% more for premium economy. To go up from premium economy to business class is normally more than a 50% increase.
Total distance (miles) |
Miles required for economy |
---|---|
1,501 to 3,500 miles |
22,500 |
3,501 to 5,000 miles |
27,500 |
5,001 to 7,000 miles |
35,000 |
7,001 to 10,000 miles |
42,500 |
Over 10,000 miles |
55,000 |
Photo: Ritu Manoj Jethani | Shutterstock
The rates for routes from the US to Asia with American Airlines would be similar – as follows:
Total distance (miles) |
Miles required for premium economy |
---|---|
1,501 to 3,000 miles |
32,500 |
3,001 to 5,000 miles |
40,000 |
5,001 to 7,000 miles |
50,000 |
7,001 to 10,000 miles |
55,000 |
Over 10,000 miles |
85,000 |
Some example searches show rates available at these minimum levels for searches a couple of months in advance:
Booking British Airways premium economy
British Airways
is another great option for using Mileage Plan to book premium economy. The airline offers the cabin on all long-haul flights with widebody aircraft. This includes many routes to and from the US, as well as all British Airways flights from London to other destinations.
The rates from US to Europe are priced using the same US charts with Mileage Plan as American Airlines – as follows:
Total distance (miles) |
Miles required for premium economy |
---|---|
1,501 to 3,500 miles |
30,000 |
3,501 to 5,000 miles |
35,000 |
5,001 to 7,000 miles |
45,000 |
7,001 to 10,000 miles |
55,000 |
Over 10,000 miles |
72,500 |
Photo: Alaska Airlines
Other oneworld airlines with premium economy
Premium economy is now offered by many oneworld airlines, with differing available between aircraft and routes.
For US to Asia flights, Japan Airlines
and Cathay Pacific
both have good products and wide availability. These would price the same as American Airlines, using the Asia chart:
Total distance (miles) |
Miles required for premium economy |
---|---|
1,501 to 3,000 miles |
32,500 |
3,001 to 5,000 miles |
40,000 |
5,001 to 7,000 miles |
50,000 |
7,001 to 10,000 miles |
55,000 |
Over 10,000 miles |
85,000 |
Japan Airlines is especially notable here for those looking for the best premium economy offering. It offers the most spacious premium economy seats in the sky – with up to 42 inches of legroom.

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There are good options with Japan Airlines – both for international and domestic flights
Other airlines operating in different regions also have a good premium economy offering. These can all be booked using Mileage Plan:
Photo: Alaska Airlines
Note that many member airlines do not offer a premium economy cabin – including:
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Jordanian
- Malaysian Airlines

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Non-oneworld airlines with premium economy
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has several other airline partners in addition to oneworld members. 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
Of these, perhaps the most notable for premium economy award booking is Singapore Airlines. This is a highly rated cabin, often rated among the best in the sky. It is offered on the Airbus A350-900, Airbus A380, and Boeing 777-300ER.
Icelandair, Air Tahiti Nui, El Al Israel Airlines, and Hainan Airlines all offer premium economy to some extent as well.

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These partners can all be booked online, and at the same rate as other alliance partners.
Photo: Christian Heinz | Shutterstock
Remember that Mileage Plan allows a stopover
All awards with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan allow one free international stopover, which is unusual among loyalty programs and can create great value opportunities.
The basic limitations and rules for this are as follows:
- One stopover is permitted each way on an international booking
- This must be at the airline hub location (for example, London Heathrow for a booking with British Airways).
- Partner airlines cannot be combined in the same booking.
- Additional taxes may be required.

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