Alaska Miles will have the best value when redeemed towards award flights with Alaska Airlines, oneworld partners, and other airline partners. Miles can also be redeemed for hotels, magazine subscriptions, and be donated to non-profits.
How much are Alaska miles worth?
The Point Calculator values Alaska Miles at 1.5 cent each when used towards award flights with Alaska and their airline partners. Miles can also be used for hotel bookings and magazine subscriptions.
Alaska miles value
| Redemption option | Redemption value in cents |
|---|---|
| Redeeming miles for award flights | 1.5 |
| Redeeming miles for hotel stays | 0.8 |
Redeeming Alaska miles for flights
Alaska's miles are worth around 1.5 cents each when redeemed for award travel with Alaska airlines and their airline partners. This is easily the best use of Alaska Miles.
Alaska gives you the ability to pay with all miles or use the Money & Miles option. You can also upgrade your seat to first class using miles. You can check out Alaska's Award Chart for a full list of flight redemptions.
Using Alaska miles to book hotel stays
Alaska Miles can also be used to reserve hotels through the Alaska Airlines Hotels portal which is powered by Rocketmiles. Redeeming Alaska Miles for hotels will drastically reduces the value to about 0.8 cents per mile.
When redeeming for hotels, 10,000 miles will get you about $80 off a hotel reservation. That same 10,000 Mileage Plan miles could be worth $150 to $200+ in airfare which is about double the value when compared to hotel redemptions.
Using Alaska miles for magazines
Alaska Miles can be redeemed for magazines using the MagsforMiles site. This option allows you to get several issues of a magazine for a set amount of Alaska miles. The value of these redemptions will range and usually be fairly high since magazines do not cost that much.
Transfer Alaska miles to other members
Alaska Miles can be transferred to other Alaska Mileage Plan members. Transferring Alaska Miles will cost you $10 per 1,000 miles which is not "bad" but it's the $25 processing fee per transaction that makes it costly.
This means a transfer of 1,000 miles will cost you $10 plus a $25 fee for a total of $35. You can buy 1,000 Alaska Miles for $29.56 at the standard rate so you'll want to make sure that you transfer at least 2,000 miles to make it "worth" it.
Why would you transfer miles?
Transferring miles is the cheaper option over buying and gifting miles. If you know another Mileage Plan member willing to part with some (or all) of their hard earned Alaska Miles or you want to transfer your miles to another member, this is a decent path to take.
To make this worth it, you will need to transfer at least 2,000 miles. Buying or gifting 2,000 miles would cost $59.13 whereas transferring 2,000 miles would only cost you $45. Do not transfer 1,000 miles as it will cost you more than buying or gifting 1,000 miles.
How to transfer Alaska miles to other members
In order to be eligible to transfer Alaska Miles, you'll need to have at least 1,000 miles in your Mileage Plan account. You will need to know the Alaska Mileage Plan account number and name of the person you're transferring the miles to.
- Head to Alaska's Share/Transfer Miles page.
- Log into your Alaska Mileage Plan account.
- Enter how many miles you want to transfer and the info of the person you're buying them for.
- Enter your payment information.
- Review the details and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
- Click Pay Now.
Donate Alaska miles
If you don't plan on redeeming your Alaska Miles and you don't want to pay the cost to share/transfer them, you can donate them to over 10 different programs.
How to donate Alaska miles
Donating miles to any of the above originations can be done in very few steps. Do note that you'll need at least 1,000 miles in your Mileage Plan account in order to donate.
- Head to Alaska's Donate Miles page.
- Select the organization you wish to donate to.
- Enter how many miles you want to donate.
- Click Send.
Miles will be deducted from your account and sent to the organization you selected.
Convert Alaska miles to dollars
Use the Alaska Miles Value Calculator to determine the average cash value of your Alaska Miles. This will help give you an idea of how much your miles are worth.
| Redemption | Estimated Value |
|---|---|
| Award Flights | $0 |
| Hotels | $0 |
Credit cards that earn Alaska miles
The easiest way to learn lots of Alaska miles is by using Alaska Airlines credit cards. There are two co-branded credit cards offered by Bank of America.
| Credit Card | Benefits |
|---|---|
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card
|
|
Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card
|
|
Alaska Airlines is not a direct transfer partner of any major U.S. credit card rewards program, but there are still credit cards that offer rewards in which you can use to book travel with Alaska airlines. Here's a few of our favorites.
Capital One miles
Capital One Venture Miles and Spark Miles can be redeemed for any kind of travel at a value of 1 cent per mile. This means you can use Venture Rewards and Spark Rewards credit cards to pay for your Alaska Airlines travel and then apply those miles to wipe away the charges. The miles can also be used for hotels, car rentals, tolls, parking, and much more.
Here are the credit cards that earn Capital One miles:
| Credit Card | Highlights |
|---|---|
Best Premium Card For Unlimited Miles
|
|
Best For Unlimited 2X Miles
|
|
Best For No Annual Fee
|
|
Best Business Card For Unlimited 2X Miles
|
|
Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business Card
Best For 1.5X Miles At No Annual Fee
|
|
