Alaska / Hawaiian’s Atmos Rewards Communities are now officially live. Members can choose one of 6 Communities to join, and can switch once per year. The two most noteworthy ones are Families on the Go and Global Locals.

Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and Horizon Air’s Families on the Go is very useful for families with children: when you redeem Atmos Points for award tickets for children age 12 and under, you can get 20% of the points back after the trip is completed. Alaska, Hawaiian, and partner award tickets are all eligible. You only need to have joined this Community at the time of actual travel; you do not have to be enrolled when you book the ticket. Points are usually returned within 24 hours after the flight is completed. A single reservation can cover up to 7 children, and there is no restriction that it can only be used once.

Separately, if you choose Global Locals, transfers from Bilt or Marriott to Atmos can now also earn Status Points: for every 25 Atmos Points transferred in, you can earn 1 Status Point. Bilt transfers to Atmos are still 1:1, so transferring 10,000 Bilt Points can additionally earn 400 Status Points, and transferring 100,000 would earn 4,000 Status Points. At the moment, I have not seen a cap. Global Locals also provides an extra 10% Status Points on international itineraries, and both cash tickets and Atmos award tickets are eligible. However, one account can only choose one Community, so for families with children, I think the 20% rebate from Families on the Go is usually more practical. People who transfer large amounts from Bilt to Atmos, or who frequently fly international routes, may want to consider Global Locals.

The Alaska Airlines mileage program offers excellent elite-status benefits, strong mileage earning on flights, and high value when redeeming miles. Alaska Airlines has recently devalued some mileage redemptions, but the mileage program still has many things to like. In this post, we will introduce the various aspects of the program, including the best ways to earn miles, how to earn elite status, and how to use miles.

About Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The airline has hubs in Anchorage, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. It is a West Coast–focused airline, with routes covering California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii. Its international network covers western Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica. Compared with other major U.S. airlines, Alaska Airlines lacks a truly nationwide network. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines all have far greater capacity and network coverage than Alaska Airlines. Alaska Airlines has more than 120 destinations and about 1,300 flights per day.

While the three largest U.S. airlines have all adopted dynamic award pricing, where mileage costs are tied to ticket prices, Alaska Airlines and its partners still have fixed award charts based only on distance and region. We can still find many very good redemptions there. We will go into the details below.

In 2021, Alaska Airlines joined oneworld, which greatly expanded the use cases for its miles by allowing redemptions on alliance flights. Examples include American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, and more.

In addition to oneworld airlines, Alaska Airlines also has other partners, including Aer Lingus, Hainan Airlines, Condor, Icelandair, Singapore Airlines, LATAM, Korean Air, Starlux, and Ravn Alaska. You could say it basically covers destinations around the world.

Earning Miles

You can earn Alaska miles by flying paid tickets on Alaska Airlines or its partners. But in reality, there are also other ways to earn without flying, including Alaska Airlines co-branded credit cards such as the Alaska Airlines Visa, transferring hotel points, converting Bilt Rewards points, renting cars, using shopping portals, and more. Below, we will introduce the three main sources of miles.

Earning from Flights

Alaska Airlines is one of the few programs that still awards redeemable miles based on flight distance. American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines all earn based on ticket price. For example, flying from Los Angeles to Seattle earns 954 miles. That is the flight distance between Los Angeles International Airport and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Alaska Airlines awards at least 500 miles per segment, so even short-haul flights earn at least 500 miles. In addition, elite members or premium cabins receive extra bonuses.

Partner flights can earn 25% to 200% or more of the flight distance as redeemable award miles. The earning rate depends on the partner airline, fare class, and flight number. Alaska Airlines has 13 oneworld alliance partners and 11 non-alliance partners whose flights can credit miles to Alaska.

Credit Cards

Alaska partners with BofA to offer personal and business credit cards, and a premium version will also be launched in the future.

The personal card is still quite worth applying for, and the welcome bonus is very good.

Apply now

Full review

BofA Atmos Rewards Ascent Credit Card

One companion fare each year; free checked bags; one free museum day every month!

  • Welcome bonus: 70,000 Alaska miles + 1 companion ticket (spend $2,500 within 90 days)
  • Rewards: 3x on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines purchases; 2x on gas, EV charging, streaming, and public transit; 1x on all other purchases
  • Redemption: Redeemable for award flights on the airline and its partner airlines
  • Annual fee: $95
  • Apply now>>

In addition, Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines are in the process of merging. Hawaiian Airlines miles can be transferred to Alaska at a 1:1 ratio, and these two cards will soon become unavailable, so you may want to consider applying for the welcome bonuses.

Besides the welcome bonus, spending on the credit cards can also slowly earn miles. Because Alaska Airlines miles are relatively valuable, these cards can still be used for everyday spending, especially purchases with Alaska itself. That said, compared with a 70,000-point welcome bonus, earning through spending is indeed a bit slow.

Transferring Points

At the moment, very few bank programs can transfer to Alaska miles. Only Bilt Rewards can transfer at 1:1. In addition, Marriott Bonvoy still transfers at 3:1, plus a 5,000-mile bonus when transferring 20,000 points. Since Alaska miles are relatively valuable, transferring from Marriott Bonvoy is still acceptable. The transfer ratios from other hotel programs are extremely poor and generally not worth considering.

If you need to pay rent, a mortgage, or HOA dues, opening a Bilt Rewards card to earn points can be an excellent option.

Apply now

Full review

Bilt Rewards Credit Card

Earn points on rent payments, with a very large list of transfer partners!

  • Welcome bonus: Updated
  • Rewards: 5x at partner restaurants and Lyft; 3x at other restaurants; 2x on travel; 1x on rent payments (up to 100k points)
  • Redemption: Transfer 1:1 to many airline miles and hotel loyalty programs; redeem at 1.25c/p for travel purchases through Bilt Travel
  • Annual fee: $0
  • Apply now>>

Using Alaska Miles

Because Alaska Airlines still keeps award charts, there is a bit more to cover here.

Award Charts

Alaska’s own flights (including Hawaiian Airlines) and partner awards both determine the required number of miles based on distance and region.

Here is the chart for Alaska’s own flights:

The partner award charts have all been changed to distance-based charts. The mileage requirements differ by region, as shown below (chart source: AwardWallet). Although Alaska claims that the required miles for business class and economy class have decreased compared with before, this only applies to certain nonstop flights! For itineraries requiring a connection, after the change, the distance is calculated separately for each segment, and the required miles can increase significantly! In addition, after the change, long-haul awards require many more miles.

I am including the chart and link here to give everyone a general sense of the pricing. You can use GCmap to check the distance between two airports, then plug that into the chart below to find out how many miles are needed. For example, enter SNA-ORD and the result is 1,726 miles, which falls into the one-way band starting at 12,500/25,000 miles.

A quick search confirms that this is indeed the mileage price.

[2025.10 Update] Alaska changed the award chart for its own North America flights (all segments operated by Alaska). It is now purely distance-based, without sub-regions. Alaska added a new lowest redemption band starting at 4,500 miles and increased the redemption levels for medium- and longer-distance flights. Overall, this is a slight devaluation.

  • Short-haul Seattle (SEA) to Sacramento (SMF): under the old chart, this started at 5,000 miles; now it starts at 4,500 miles. So this is a positive change.
  • Medium- and longer-distance awards have gone up quite a bit. Previously, the highest distance band on the award chart was 2,101 miles and started at 12,500 miles. Now Alaska has added a 3,500-mile band, and it starts at 20,000 miles. For example, MSP-SEA-HNL used to cost 15,000 miles; now it requires 20,000 miles.
  • Portland (PDX) to Cancun (CUN): awards to the Caribbean have also increased a lot. This itinerary used to require only 10,000 miles; under the current chart, it requires 20,000 miles.
  • Fortunately, the partner award chart that we mainly use has not changed.

Searching and Booking Awards

The easiest and best way to search for award tickets on Alaska Airlines and its partners is directly on Alaska’s website. Award tickets on Alaska’s own flights and most partner airlines will show up there. You can search for one-way, round-trip, or multi-city awards. You do not need to log in to search for awards.

You can directly view award availability for all mileage tickets.

Sometimes, Cathay Pacific and LATAM award tickets do not show up in the search results, and you need to call Alaska Airlines customer service to issue the ticket. You can use British Airways to search for the award space, then call Alaska to book.

Award Ticket Fees

Alaska Airlines no longer charges fees on paid tickets or award tickets. Except for discounted fares, after booking you are only guaranteed free cancellation within 24 hours. However, there are still some other related fees to know about:

  • Change and cancellation fees: $0. However, Saver fares cannot be canceled or changed.
  • Partner award booking fee: $25 ($12.50 one-way), nonrefundable if canceled.
  • Phone booking fee: $15

In addition, Alaska Airlines does not impose extra charges on award tickets for its own flights. However, other airlines may add substantial surcharges. For example, award tickets on Hainan Airlines and British Airways have high taxes and fees (for instance, taxes and fees on a British Airways business class award ticket can be over $800). Some award tickets have more reasonable taxes and fees, such as Cathay Pacific (around $70), while other award tickets do not have extra charges and only include airport and government taxes.

Best Uses of Alaska Miles

Partner Business Class

Business class flights to Europe and some Japan Airlines flights can offer good redemption value. Here are some of the best options for redeeming Alaska miles (one-way prices):

  • Northeastern U.S. to Europe: For example, American Airlines business class from Boston (BOS) to London (LHR) requires 45,000 Alaska miles.
  • U.S. to Europe + one stopover: Finnair business class from New York (JFK) to Tallinn (TLL), with a stop in Helsinki (HEL), costs 55,000 Alaska miles.
  • Condor business class from Minneapolis (MSP) to Split (SPU), with a stop in Frankfurt (FRA), requires 55,000 Alaska miles.
  • Japan Airlines business class: Japan Airlines business class from Seattle (SEA) or Vancouver (YVR) to Tokyo (HND/NRT) requires 60,000 Alaska miles. If needed, you can also add one stopover for free.
  • Qatar Airways business class: Qatar Airways Qsuite from New York (JFK) to Male (MLE) via Doha (Dosh) costs 85,000 Alaska miles.
  • U.S. West Coast to Hawaii: Only 10,000 miles
  • Short-haul flights within the U.S.: Alaska’s own flights are priced by distance, with flights under 700 miles starting as low as 5,000 miles.
  • Ultra-long-haul Singapore Airlines: New York to Singapore in business class for 85,000 miles

Free One-Way Stopover

Alaska Airlines also has a very travel-friendly benefit: you can add one free stopover even on a one-way award. For example, suppose you want to travel from New York to Chicago and Los Angeles, spending 5 days in each city. Normally, you would need to book that as two separate tickets, meaning two separate award tickets. But if you use a stopover and make Chicago the stopover point for five days, you only need to pay the miles required for the New York-Los Angeles award. If you book a round trip, you can even have two stopovers.

However, Alaska Airlines stopovers have two restrictions: the itinerary needs to be operated by a single airline, and the stopover point needs to be that airline’s hub.

  • In the example below, spending three days in Helsinki costs the same number of miles as simply connecting there.

When booking, choose multi-city and book it as A-B, then B-C a few days later, and that should work.

Elite Status

In 2024, Alaska changed its elite status qualification requirements. EQM will become the only qualification metric, and you can earn milestone rewards as you hit each mileage milestone along the way.

This EQM is directly tied to the distance flown. Alaska-operated flights earn at 100%, with the exception of Saver fares, which earn at 30%. Partner airlines depend on the fare class.

In addition, Alaska's credit cards, partners, and even award tickets can earn miles! It really creates a snowball effect. If your spending is high enough, you may be able to earn elite status through credit card spending alone, without flying.

Alaska also offers status matching and fast-track options through certain companies.

Summary

Alaska Airlines is still fairly old-school: miles are earned based on flight distance, and there is still a rough award chart you can use as a reference for award tickets. The main downside is that earning opportunities are relatively limited. If you really like their miles and program, getting a cobranded card and putting your spend on it can also earn EQM, which is pretty nice.

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