Updated 2020-12-13 By
Robert Flowers III
The Point Calculator values Alaska Airlines Miles at about 1.5 cents each when redeemed for award travel with Alaska Airlines and their partners. All-in-all, you can redeem your miles towards:
- Award flights with Alaska and other airline partners
- Free nights at hotels
- Magazines
- Transfers to other Alaska MileagePlan members
Alaska Miles Cash Value
The Alaska Airlines Miles Calculator will calculate the average dollar value of your miles for each option listed in the redemption chart below. Alaska MileagePlan Miles are mainly used to book flights, but you can also use them to reserve hotels as well as purchase magazines. This calculator will give you a better idea of how much each mile is worth. You can enter any amount of MileagePlan miles in the field below.
Alaska Award Flights
Alaska's miles are worth around 1.5 cents each when redeemed for airfare. 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.
Use the Alaska Airlines Award Chart to find great deals to destinations worldwide.
In addition to redeeming Alaska Airlines miles on award flights with Alaska Airlines, miles can also be used for award travel on several other airlines. Listed below are those airline as well as where award travel with each airline can take you. You can click on an airline (where applicable) to learn more about their frequent flyer program.
| Airline Partner | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Europe |
| American Airlines | Worldwide |
| British Airways | Europe, Africa, Middle East & India |
| Cathay Pacific | Continental U.S., Canada, Asia, Africa, Middle East & India, Australia, New Zealand |
| Condor | Africa, Europe, Middle East |
| Emirates | Asia, Europe, Africa, Middle East & India |
| Fiji | Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, Caribbean |
| Finnair | Europe, Middle East, India / South Asia, Asia |
| Hainan | Asia |
| Icelandair | Iceland |
| Japan Airlines | Asia |
| Korean Air | Asia, Middle East, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific |
| LATAM | South America |
| PenAir | Intra-Alaska, Continental U.S. |
| Qantas | Australia, New Zealand |
| Ravn Alaska | Instra-Alaska |
| Singapore Airlines | Asia |
Free Hotel Nights
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.
The portal shows you the different options you have when redeeming.
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.
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
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.
Reasons To 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.
Buying/Gifting 1,000 miles is cheaper than transferring 1,000 miles.
How To Transfer Alaska Miles
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. Those programs are:
- Alaska Airlines Disaster Relief Pool
- Alaska Airlines Miles for Youth
- Angel Flight West
- Dream Foundation
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Foundation
- Hero Miles
- Make-A-Wish Foundation
- Medical Teams International
- National Forest Foundation
- The Nature Conservancy
- Seattle Children’s Hospital
- United Negro College Fund
Alaska Miles can be donated to support important causes.
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.
Summary
You don't have many options when it comes to redeeming Alaska Miles. If you're going to be earning these miles, you'll want to use them for award flights on Alaska and partner airlines to get the best value.
