How To Spend Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles

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 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 still other options, though at a comparably lesser 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).

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

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.

Using miles for partner airline flights

This is where some of the best value is to be found and where the power of Mileage Plan lies. 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.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

Starting price levels are published for tickets that travel to or from the US, including Alaska (as well as Canada), but not for other international awards. The table below shows the starting prices for international routes (with all partners) from the US and Canada.

Image: Alaska Airlines

In reality, and as of mid-2023, there has been little change to the miles required. Experience shows that when available, most routes will price at the same rate as previously charged in the fixed tables. This, of course, could change, and Mileage Plan suggests that it will.

Image: Alaska Airlines

As an example, the table below shows the previous, no longer active, table for flights from North America to Europe – rates offered are still very similar to this.

Image: Alaska Airlines

There are still 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.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

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.

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 comments.