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Guides
How to book free stopovers with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Kyle Olsen is the former points and miles reporter at TPG. He specializes in maximizing points and miles, elite status and credit cards so readers travel more comfortably and at a lower cost.
February 18, 2023 • 7 min read
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Quick summary
Alaska Mileage Plan allows travelers to add a stopover on a one-way award ticket, letting you visit an extra city at no additional mileage cost.
Recent changes to the program include dynamic pricing for partner-operated awards, which may require more miles for some routes.
Stopovers are generally only permitted at partner airline hub cities and are not available within international regions (such as intra-Europe or intra-Asia).
Booking a stopover involves using the multi-city search tool on Alaska's website and following specific routing rules.
What to consider
You can only combine Alaska Airlines with one partner airline on a single award itinerary.
Not all partner flights or award space may be available for booking through the program, so availability should be checked in advance.
Stopovers are typically allowed only at partner hubs and not for travel entirely within international regions.
What you'll miss from the article
Step-by-step guidance on booking stopovers and tips for maximizing value from Alaska Mileage Plan redemptions.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Even though you might have to redeem more Alaska miles for some partner-operated awards now, Mileage Plan still stands out with its unique stopover program. You can even book a stopover on a one-way award.
Today, we'll take a quick look at the rules surrounding Alaska Mileage Plan stopovers and how to book a Mileage Plan stopover using Alaska's website.
Alaska Mileage Plan stopover rules
You can book American Airlines Flagship First using Alaska miles when there's award space. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY
A stopover is a connection at an airport that's longer than the typically allowed time between connecting flights. Let's say you're flying from Seattle to Singapore. A stopover would allow you to stop for a few days (or longer) in a city where you make a connection. So, for example, a stopover could let you visit Tokyo on your way to Singapore.
Here are a few rules for you to keep in mind when planning a stopover with the Alaska Mileage Plan program:
You can fly a maximum of one partner and Alaska Airlines. Using the example above, if you fly Japan Airlines from Seattle to Tokyo, you'd have to fly Japan Airlines again from Tokyo to Singapore even if another partner airline has award space.
Not all partner flights may be bookable. Don't assume that all award availability is bookable through Alaska Mileage Plan. Do an award search on the Alaska Mileage Plan site to see if your desired dates and routing are available.
Stopovers aren't available within international regions. You can't add a stopover if you book an award within an international region, such as intra-Asia or Intra-Europe.
International stopovers should usually be at partner hubs. On international awards, your stopover will usually need to be at the hub city of a partner airline. So when flying on Qantas or Iberia, look for a stopover in Sydney or Madrid instead of Melbourne or Barcelona.
You can arrive and depart from different airports when the airline serves multiple airports in one city. Here's an example of this in London and Tokyo.
1 of 2
Arriving and departing in different airports. ALASKAAIR.COM
2 of 2
Using two airports in the same city. ALASKAAIR.COM
You can book award flights on most of these partners online. But let's assume you want to book a Finnair-operated award with a stopover in Helsinki.
First, go to Alaska's website, and select "all search options."
Begin the stopover process on Alaska's website. ALASKAAIR.COM
Enter your city pairs, the number of travelers and the date on the next page. Select "multi-city" and "use miles." You can leave the returning flight fields blank if you only want to book a one-way flight.
Booking your flight. ALASKAAIR.COM
After selecting "find flights," you'll (hopefully) see some options. In this case, I could choose a morning or afternoon flight for the final leg to Rome.
Choosing a flight to Rome. ALASKAAIR.COM
If the stopover time is unclear, select "details."
Details for the stopover time. ALASKAAIR.COM
From there, it's as simple as adding the flight to your cart and following the on-screen prompts to finalize your award ticket.
If you have flexibility in your travel dates or cities, consider searching for each segment separately before crafting your multi-city itinerary.
We recommend finding availability on your longest flight first. Then, piece together how to get to that departure gateway. In some cases, you may find it best to book a separately-ticketed positioning flight on another airline.
Finally, remember there's little benefit in booking a round-trip award instead of two one-way awards. You could even redeem Alaska miles one way and use a different currency the other way.
Alaska Mileage Plan is one of the few programs to still reward miles based on the distance you fly on Alaska-marketed and operated flights.
But I've earned most of my Alaska miles by crediting partner Oneworld tickets to Mileage Plan. As a whole, Alaska Mileage Plan gives you more miles for Oneworld tickets than if you credited your ticket to American or British Airways.
On the credit card front, Alaska isn't a transfer partner of any of the major credit card transferable currencies. You can, however, transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Alaska Mileage Plan at a 3:1 ratio, with 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points you transfer.
If you don't need to earn Alaska miles immediately, you could add the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card or Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card to your wallet. Both cards offer sizeable sign-up bonuses and let you earn Alaska miles on purchases you make with your card.
Finally, Alaska occasionally offers bonuses and discounts for buying miles. Keep an eye on our current buy points and miles offers page to catch the next sale.
Booking a stopover on an Alaska award ticket can let you visit an extra destination. You can also use an Alaska Mileage Plan stopover to break up an otherwise long trip between the U.S. and Europe or Asia.
Plus, adding in a stopover can make finding award space easier. After all, if you add in a stopover, you're no longer restricted to finding connecting flight options that depart shortly after your inbound flight.
Additional reporting by Ethan Steinberg.
Updated as of 4/18/2024.
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By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
