Elite bonuses are applied to base mileage earned only. Elite bonus flight miles do not count toward future elite status qualification. Members granted complimentary status, including status matched from another program, are not eligible for these bonus miles.
Bonus award miles, award miles and any other miles earned through non-flight activity do not count toward or qualify for Premier status unless expressly stated otherwise. Taxes and fees related to award travel are the responsibility of the member.
Award travel does not earn miles, with the exception of Money & Miles awards, which earn at 100% of flown miles.
Elite Qualifying Miles, or EQMs, are based on a percentage of the actual miles flown and can vary based on airline and booking code (Basic Economy is excluded). The good news is that you'll earn a minimum of 500 EQMs on each flight (flights under 500 miles will earn 500 EQMs).
Earning elite status on Alaska Airlines is simple. All you need to do is fly at least 20,000 eligible miles or 30 segments in addition to at least 2 flights marketed and operated by Alaska Airlines within a calendar year.
MVP Gold members will earn twice as many miles on Alaska flights and with the program's elite-qualifying airline partners. By flying 48,000 miles in a year, that'll give you an additional 48,000 Alaska miles, worth $864.
Do my miles expire? Mileage Plan miles do not expire, and may be left in your account as long as the Mileage Plan program exists. However, if there is no activity (earning miles or using miles) on your account for 2 years, the account will expire and your miles will be deleted.
Unless you transfer your points or have another credit card earning points in the program, you're probably going to lose them. Policies vary by bank, but if you're closing the only card you have open in a given rewards program, you'll probably lose your rewards.
Here are some of the ways you can keep your AAdvantage miles from expiring:
- Use a Co-Branded Credit Card.
- Shop.
- Grab a Bite to Eat.
- Fly.
- Drive.
- Stay.
- Book an American Airlines Vacation or Cruise Package.
- Donate.
You can use your Alaska miles to purchase an award ticket for someone else. Just fill in their name and details in the Passenger Information section when booking.
If you're interested in converting your wallet funds, head to the conversion page on Alaska's website and log in to your account. Transfers process at a rate of 1 cent per point, so 1 cent = 1 mile. You can convert Alaska funds to miles in increments of 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of your total wallet balance.
Unfortunately, the answer is no. You cannot transfer miles between frequent flyer programs and retain their value. You can't transfer miles between Alaska Mileage Plan and American AAdvantage, but you can use Alaska miles to book on American.
Under the SkyMiles Mileage Expiration policy, miles do not expire. Delta reserves the right to deactivate or close an account under the following circumstances: Fraudulent activity occurs. A Member requests an account closure.
AAdvantage miles expire after 18 months of no activity, meaning that a user hasn't earned or redeemed miles in this timeframe. Shopping through the AAdvantage shopping portal or earning miles with Bask Bank also keeps your miles from expiring.
Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus miles, and JetBlue TrueBlue points do not expire.
Here are the main ways to earn miles toward elite status:
- Fly with Alaska Airlines or one of its partners. The simplest way to rack up elite-qualifying miles is to fly with Alaska Airlines or one of its 16 elite-qualifying partner airlines.
- Ask for a status match offer.
Premium Class seats feature 4 inches of additional legroom, early boarding and complimentary cocktails, hand selected wine, and beer (where beverage service is normally served). We offer unlimited complimentary upgrades to Premium Class as a benefit of Mileage Planâ„¢ elite status.
A first class upgrade can be yours at the point of purchase for 15,000 Mileage Plan miles. Upgrade an existing reservation with miles. Use 15,000 Mileage Plan miles to upgrade an existing reservation by calling Alaska Airlines. Securing a guest upgrade code.
2. Buying & Gifting Status. With some American-based airlines you can earn elite miles with the purchase and use of a credit card (like Delta and United) and with others (US Airways) you can buy status out-right for a set price. You can also be gifted status from an airline directly.
With West Coast hubs in
Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Anchorage, Alaska; San Francisco and Los Angeles; Alaska calls Seattle home. Alaska Air Group offers more flights to more destinations from the West Coast than any other airline.
Alaska Air Group.
| City (airport code) | Served since |
|---|
| Columbus (CMH) | 2019 |
According to the British Airways Executive Club terms: Your Avios stay with you as long as you collect, spend, purchase or share at least one Avios every 36 months — any longer and your Avios will expire and be removed, so remember to take action before those three years are up.
To keep your miles from expiring, you needed some form of earning or redeeming activity, such as spending on a Hawaiian Airlines co-branded credit card or transferring points from the American Express Membership Rewards program.
On average, 40,000 miles are worth about $400. But it can vary widely. For example, 40,000 AAdvantage miles are worth roughly $456 in American Airlines airfare. With United, 40k miles get you $416 in flights.
Miles and points expiration terms by airline
| Airline | When points expire |
|---|
| Alaska Airlines | 2 years from last account activity |
| American Airlines | 18 months from the date of your most recent activity |
| Delta | Miles never expire |
| Frontier Airlines | 180 days or 6 months from last account activity |
Yes, miles in the Air France/KLM Flying Blue program expire if you have no qualifying flight or credit card activity on your account for a period of 24 months.
Is it worth buying Alaska Miles? Generally, no. Unless you have a specific redemption in mind that will net more value per mile than average, it's better to have cash than Alaska miles (or any airline miles). Even when Alaska runs promotional sales on purchased miles, it's still usually not worth it.
Flying Blue miles earned from actual flying can only be extended beyond 24 months by taking an eligible flight (and crediting it to Flying Blue), or by being an elite member, or making a purchase with your Air France / KLM Flying Blue credit card.
In This Post
- Earning Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles.
- Pick your partner carefully.
- Don't expect to book all partner flights.
- Utilize one-way redemptions.
- Don't miss a free stopover.
