Best Ways to Travel to Alaska On Points

With a plethora of national parks and a stunning natural wilderness, Alaska is a dream for nature enthusiasts and hikers alike. And if you have an angler in the family, Alaska offers world-class salmon fishing.

There are lots of ways you can get yourself to Alaska with airline miles and credit card points. Alaska offers three major airports: Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) and Juneau International Airport (JNU).

Let’s look at the best ways to get to Alaska and back on points and miles.

Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards

There’s nothing more fitting than visiting The Last Frontier on its flag carrier, Alaska Airlines.

Alaska Airlines operates nonstop flights nationwide to Alaska, from the East and West Coast as well as from Hawaii.

Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards (formerly Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan) is also one of the few frequent flyer rewards programs that still uses an award chart to price its own award flights. However, the award chart states that awards are “starting at” the given price, meaning that they can often be higher in reality.

Nevertheless, Alaska Airlines’ award chart still gives you an idea of the saver award level, enabling you to decide how valuable it is to redeem your points.

For award flights within the contiguous United States, Canada, Alaska and Hawaii, the following saver award rates apply:

For example, a flight from Portland (PDX), Oregon, to Anchorage (ANC) falls into the 1,401-2,100 miles category, meaning that it should cost 10,000 miles in economy and 25,000 in first class. However, if you do an award search on Alaska’s website, prices will typically be higher.

As you can see from above, the same flight from Portland to Anchorage is priced at 20,000 miles in economy and 40,000 miles in first class. One way you can save on miles is to have flexibility with your travel dates. You can use “Calendar View” to search for the lowest award fares by month, enabling you to find fares closer to the saver award level.

In this case, you could find flights for as low as 12,500 miles—much closer to the saver award level.

From the Midwest, you can find nonstop flights operated by Alaska Airlines to Anchorage. For instance, you could fly from Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) for around 20,000 miles in economy class one way.

Likewise, you can find flights from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) for 12,500 miles in economy class, with a connection in Seattle (SEA).

From the East Coast, you might be able to score yourself flights for 12,500 miles one way in economy when flying with Alaska and American Airlines, with a connection in Seattle. However, award pricing varies widely for this route, so you’ll need to have flexibility and book early to secure the lower rates.

You can also fly nonstop from New York (JFK) to Anchorage on a seasonally-operated route during summer, but you won’t find many award seats for less than 40,000 miles in economy—far more than the saver award level.

For a flight that lasts almost eight hours, these award rates aren’t exorbitant. However, there are cheaper ways you can get to Alaska on points.

How To Earn Alaska Airlines Miles

Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards miles aren’t the easiest to earn, due to a lack of transfer partners.

Bilt is the only credit card issuer you can transfer points from to Alaska, at a 1:1 ratio.

You can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

If you want to earn more miles with Alaska and fly frequently enough with them to justify it, you could benefit from opening the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® Card.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada Aeroplan offers valuable opportunities for lucrative points redemptions when booking award flights with United Airlines to Anchorage.

Both Air Canada and United Airlines are members of the Star Alliance, allowing you to book award flights with one using the rewards currency of the other. This comes in handy as United offers a range of nonstop flights from across the U.S. to Alaska, while Air Canada Aeroplan offers a lucrative distance-based partner award chart.

This enables you to avoid United’s dynamic award pricing during periods of peak travel.

Air Canada Aeroplan uses the following award chart for partner bookings:

Flights from the West coast to Alaska fall into the 1,501-2,750 miles category, while most other flights, such as from the East Coast and Midwest, fall into the > 2,751 miles category.

That means you could fly from San Francisco to Anchorage for just 12,500 miles in economy or 25,000 miles in first, one way. In comparison, booking this flight through United directly could cost you 31,100 miles in economy or 80,000 miles in first.

Alternatively, you could fly from Chicago-O’Hare to Anchorage for 22,500 miles in economy or 35,000 miles in first, one way. If you booked the same route through United directly, you could end up paying 40,000 miles for an economy fare and up to 100,000 miles for a first-class fare, one way.

That said, booking United flights through Air Canada Aeroplan isn’t always cheaper. If you can find a Saver Award fare with United, then you’re often better off booking that directly.

For example, a Saver Award fare from Chicago-O’Hare to Anchorage would be just 15,000 miles in economy one way, compared to 22,500 miles when booked through Air Canada.

Similarly, a Saver Award fare from New York-La Guardia (LGA) to Anchorage can be as cheap as 15,000 miles in economy.

However, if you can’t find any Saver Award availability, you could run into prices as high as 40,000 miles in economy one way from Newark to Anchorage.

In such a case, booking through Air Canada Aeroplan would save you more miles.
Therefore, make sure to compare the price of booking directly with United with that of booking via Air Canada Aeroplan. You’ll likely get the best value by booking United flights through Aeropaln during peak travel seasons. Otherwise, try and secure yourself Saver Award fares directly with United.

How To Earn Air Canada Aeroplan Miles

Air Canada Aeroplan miles are some of the easiest frequent flyer miles you can earn.

You can transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Capital One Miles and Bilt Points to Aeroplan miles at a 1:1 ratio.

You can also transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

Delta SkyMiles

Delta Air Lines offers flights to Anchorage, with the majority of flights connecting through Seattle (SEA), Salt Lake City (SLC) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP).

While Delta was one of the first airlines to scrap their award charts in favor of dynamic pricing, you can still occasionally find competitive award fares.

For a basic economy flight from Seattle to Anchorage, you can find fares starting at around 16,000 miles one way.

If you want to fly nonstop from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Anchorage, a basic economy fare will cost you around 19,500 miles one way.

And from Salt Lake City (SLC) to Anchorage, a nonstop economy award fare will cost you around 20,500 miles, one way.

The key to booking Delta award fares is having flexibility with your dates so you can score the lowest rates. While there aren’t many sweet spots left in Delta’s SkyMiles program, you can still save yourself from paying cash on a booking.

You can also compare award flights booked directly through Delta with those booked via Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Both airlines are members of the SkyTeam alliance, enabling you to book an award flight with one using the rewards currency of the other. Virgin uses a distance-based partner award chart, which could save you money if you’re booking Delta award flights during peak travel seasons.

How To Earn Delta SkyMiles

You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Delta SkyMiles at a 1:1 ratio.

You can also transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points to Delta at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

Additionally, Delta offers four personal and three business credit cards, co-issued by American Express, making it easy to accrue miles on your everyday spending.

American Airlines AAdvantage

Like Delta, American Airlines prices its award fares using dynamic pricing rather than an award chart. However, American Airlines has a published saver award chart, allowing you to gauge the minimum number of miles you can expect to pay for an award flight.

For one-way flights originating in the U.S. and landing in Alaska, the following minimum award rates apply:

• 20,000 miles for economy
• 40,000 miles for premium economy
• 60,000 miles for business

However, you can often find award rates below these minimum saver award levels.

You can fly nonstop from Dallas-Fort Worth and Portland to Anchorage with American Airlines.

Typically, you’ll only need one additional stop if you’re based outside of Portland or Dallas.

For instance, to fly from Atlanta (ATL) to Anchorage, you’ll pay as little as 15,000 miles with a connection in Portland (PDX) for an economy fare and 30,000 miles each way for a first-class fare.

American Airlines—as a Oneworld alliance member—has an extensive partner network, making it easy to find award availability and connections.

How To Earn American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

American Airlines doesn’t have any credit card transfer partners. However, it offers a wide range of co-branded credit cards issued by Citi and Barclaycard, making it easy to earn AAdvantage miles on your everyday spending.

Marriott Bonvoy points also transfer at a 3:1 ratio to American Airlines AAdvantage miles, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve got the urge to escape city life and hit the national parks and wilderness, points and miles can help you get there. You’ve got a wide range of options as to how you can redeem your points, whether it’s directly with Alaska, Delta, United or American Airlines, or via a partner award booking, such as through Aeroplan.

If you want to learn how to leverage your everyday spending to earn you thousands of points for travel, check out our free 10xTravel course.