Why Alaska Airlines is My #1 Frequent Flyer Program
Topic of the Week: Why I’m All-In on Alaska
Alaska Airlines has been dropping new routes left and right: new direct flights from Seattle to London and Iceland—joining their growing international lineup with routes to Tokyo, Seoul, and Rome.
Normally, I’m way too lazy to care about airline route maps, much less blog about them. But I’ve been going all-in on Alaska’s Mileage Plan (soon to be “Atmos”?) because, in my lazy opinion, it’s the best frequent flyer program in the U.S. These new routes—and the redemption opportunities that come with them—make it even better.
Here’s why Alaska is now at the center of my points and miles strategy—and why it might deserve a spot in yours.
The miles are easy to earn
There are tons of opportunities to collect Alaska miles via credit cards. Both Alaska and Hawaiian have credit cards that offer big welcome bonuses for a quick injection. And the lineup of mile-earning cards offers bonus points across a range of categories:
3x on dining: Bilt Mastercard or Alaska premium card
3x on foreign purchases: Alaska premium card
3x on rent: Alaska card via Bilt (3% fee)
3x on Alaska and Hawaiian flights: co-branded cards
2x on flights, hotels, car rentals, and Bilt travel portal: Bilt card
2x on gas, dining, and groceries: Hawaiian card
2x on gas, EV charging, local transit, rideshare, cable, and select streaming: Alaska card.
1x on rent: Bilt card (no fee, points on mortgages coming soon)
1x on base spending on all of these cards
Alaska’s distance-based rewards system also provides opportunities to earn a lot of miles for cheaper long-distance flights, as well as the ability to earn miles with lots of partners (albeit at varying rates). Alaska also has both a shopping and a dining portal, and some direct partners.
The miles are easy to use
Alaska still has an award chart, meaning that pricing is solid and fairly predictable–I have never had difficulty getting an award flight at a great rate as long as the trip is a few months out. The best deals will depend on your location. Out of SFO, Europe is a bit pricier, but roundtrips are consistently available to East Asia for 75k miles round-trip, South America and Europe are available for less. Importantly, the Alaska website is very user-friendly. The interface is easy to read, and will display multiple days of availability so you can see which dates might have cheaper award space.
But Alaska doesn’t just have predictable value, it also has amazing “Global Getaway” sales. If you’re a bit patient and flexible, you can snag incredible deals like 50k miles round-trip to Tbilisi, 40k to Uzbekistan, or 50k to Oman.
Status is easy to earn
It’s not just that you can easily earn points and convert them into flights–those flights can also deliver you status. That basic status has benefits like upgrades on Alaska and American Airlines, as well as minor benefits with Oneworld partners. Elite status starts at 20,000 “Elite Qualifying Miles.” You earn EQM’s from, among other things, miles traveled on award flights. One round-trip award from the West Coast to Asia earns ~10,000 EQMs—getting you halfway there on a (nearly) free flight! You could make up the rest with another, or a mix of flights with Alaska or partners, qualifying credit card spend (including rent paid via Bilt), or spending with Alaska partners.
I have only taken one flight on Alaska in 2025 and only got a free premium seat, but I got first-class upgrades on three of my four AA and Alaska flights last year. Time will tell how valuable status is if more people start investing in the Alaska program.
Devaluation protection
Frequent Flyer points and miles are famous for devaluations–enough that last year the Department of Transportation announced an investigation into the practice. When the DOT approved the Alaska-Hawaiian merger, they extracted a commitment to “ preserve the value of rewards miles against devaluation.” While that may be far from ironclad, it makes me feel much better about the reliability of Alaska miles compared to other airline currencies. No other U.S. airline currently has a public commitment to protecting miles from devaluation. Plus, the ability to earn Alaska miles via Bilt–which offers the best overall points in the industry–means that you can still hedge your bets by earning primarily through transferable points.
Want in? You can get rewarded
Planning or considering a flight on Alaska Airlines soon and not a Mileage Plan member? You can sign up now and get a $50 discount code for your next flight if you are a California or Hawaii resident, or a $25 code if you are a resident of another state (except Alaska, which apparently misses out). The link will be good for 28 days, for travel within 90 days (full terms in the links). I certainly wouldn’t recommend flying just to save $25, but if you’re making plans, this could be a great time to join the best airline rewards program out there.
Quick Points of the Week ⚡
Major news 🚨
Barclays’ Hawaiian card sticking around. AwardWallet reports that the Hawaiian Mastercard will remain intact for “several years” despite the merger with Alaska, which has its own card issuer. No details yet as to how it might change when Hawaiian’s loyalty program integrates with Alaska’s in October. The card currently offers some solid bonus offers (I recently pounded on an 85k-mile offer), but doesn’t have much ongoing value if you don’t fly Hawaiian. I’m excited to see if the value proposition improves post-integration.
Special offers ✨
5k Aeroplan points if you have a Sapphire Reserve. If you have a CSR, you can get a Flight Reward Certificate good for 5k points toward your next redemption just for having the card. I don’t see a ton of value in Aeroplan, but this discount at least makes a one-way redemption a lot more palatable. The certificate is good for a year, which means you can hold out for a good deal for a while. Chase has had two 20% transfer bonuses to Air Canada in the past year, so stacking one of those with this offer could make an Aeroplan redemption a great use of your Chase points in the right circumstances.
New products 🆕
Booking.com has a new credit card. The card has no fee and 5-6% back on travel booked via the site. Quick review: it’s not worth your time unless you’re spending outrageous amounts at Booking.com.
Devaluations 📉
AA flights might be harder to book with miles. Or not. Frequent Miler isn’t convinced.
Air Canada is switching to revenue-based status. A bummer if you’re a loyalist.
Last chance ⏳
Sapphire bonus. Chase’s amazing post-refresh welcome offer on the Sapphire Reserve is “ending soon.” In my experience, Chase offers are usually “ending soon” for a while, but this offer is so good it may be well worth pouncing on while it lasts.
Fun 👻
Choice sports experiences. Choice has some interesting VIP experiences at NASCAR and college football events. I’m too lazy to figure out what these are “worth,” but they might be cool opportunities, especially if you’re flush with Citi points, which transfer to Choice at a 1:2 ratio.
Sign-up bonus of the Week 🎯
Amex’s Marriott Bonvoy co-branded cards have elevated welcome offers, and they match the best-ever offers on these cards. Although the bonuses are huge, only certain people will want to consider these cards. Let’s take a look:
Marriott.com
The $250-fee Bevy is offering 155,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months, while the $650-fee Brilliant is offering 185,000 points after spending $6,000 in the same period. These offers will easily net you a week or more in a hotel in Europe or Japan, and could come pretty close in some US markets. They could also get you a night or two in a premium luxury property.
Given Amex’s bonus rules, you’ll probably ultimately get more points by starting with the Bevy and upgrading later. But here’s the thing–the Bevy is a dreadful card. The Brilliant is better, but really only suitable to high-spend consumer, Marriott loyalists, and folks who already have the better cards on the market and want an injection of points.
Both cards have terrible earning rates on spending. The Bevy only offers a 1,000-point per (paid!) stay bonus and Gold status to offset that big fee–many ~$100-fee cards at least offer a free night. The Brilliant offers a $300 dining credit, a free night up to 85,000 points, priority pass, and Bonvoy Platinum Elite status. It also comes with 25 elite night credits. If you make it to 75, you can unlock Titanium status, which comes with even better perks and basic United Airlines elite status.
So if you’re spending a lot of time in Marriott properties or are willing to pay a bit for premium perks when you do, the Brilliant might make some sense. And if you want to maximize your Bonvoy points, you might want to start with the Bevy and upgrade later, although I personally would just skip the Bevy altogether.
Other great current bonuses
100k + $500 on the Chase Sapphire Reserve (our take)
80k on the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select (our take)
100k on the Citi Strata Elite in-branch (our take)
175k points on the Hilton Aspire (our review)
75k miles on the Chase Sapphire Preferred (our hot take 🔥)
100k miles + 3k PQP’s on the United Quest (our take)
Up to 100k on the Amex Gold (including via referral link) (our take)
Up to 175k points on the Amex Platinum
100k points on Southwest Credit Cards (our take)
Enjoy the weekend! 🦥
Come join us in the Alaska cult.
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