How to earn Alaska Airlines Miles
As of August 31, 2023, the relationship between MBNA and Alaska Airlines® is ending and the MBNA credit cards are being cancelled.
But you can still earn Alaska Airlines miles with a credit card. MBNA is finalizing plans to allow you to redeem MBNA Rewards Points for Alaska Airlines Miles on a one-to-one basis with the MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard®.
What’s changing?
- Earn MBNA Rewards Points with a new card, which will eventually be able to be redeemed for Alaska Airlines Miles.
- You can earn five (5) points per dollar spent on eligible restaurant, grocery, digital media, membership, and household utility purchases.
- The Annual Fee will be $120 for the primary cardholder, and $50 for one Authorized User (if you have one).
- The discounted companion fare will not be available, unfortunately.
Are there any updated benefits?
- Birthday Bonus – Earn an additional 10% of the points you earned in the 12 months preceding the Primary Cardholder’s birthday month, to a maximum of 15K points.
- New insurance benefits – Great benefits like mobile device insurance, travel medical insurance, and flight and trip delay insurance.
The Bottom Line: While this change has caused some uproar from Alaska Airlines loyalists, the updated benefits may result in higher earnings rates for some customers with a new World Elite card. While no timeline has been set, we hope to see the Points to Miles redemption option available soon.
- 20,000 bonus points†† (approximately $165 in cash back value) after you make $2,000 or more in eligible purchases within the first 90 days of your account opening.
- 10,000 bonus points††(approximately $80 in cash back value) once enrolled for paperless e-statements within the first 90 days of account opening
- Earn 5 points‡ for every $1 spent on eligible restaurant, grocery, digital media, membership, and household utility purchases until $50,000 is spent annually in the applicable category. 1 point‡ for every $1 on all other eligible purchases
- Full credit card details
Premium Mileage Plan Benefits
Reach over 900+ destinations worldwide using Alaska Airlines and any of their 14 airline partners including Delta, American Airlines, Qantas, Emirates, Air France and British Airways.
Redeeming miles for travel is the fun part, and the Alaska Airlines loyalty program has you covered from Acapulco to Zhengzhou. Award travel starts at just 5,000 miles. Don’t have enough miles to cover a full trip? No problem, you can combine miles and money to book your travel. And since your miles can be redeemed for flights within the partner network, even the most remote destinations are within reach.
Example Mile costs for various flight awards:
| Region | Economy (starting from) | First (starting from) |
|---|---|---|
| Continental US & Canada less than 700 miles | 5,000 | 15,000 |
| Contiguous US, Alaska and Canada: Between 701 and 1,400 miles | 7,500 | 25,000 |
| Contiguous US, Alaska and Canada: Between 1,401 and 2,100 miles | 10,000 | 15,000 |
| Contiguous US, Alaska and Canada: Longer than 2,101 miles | 12,500 | 30,000 |
| Hawaii | 15,000 | 40,000 |
| Mexico, Central America and Caribbean | 10,000 | 30,000 |