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Here's how to earn an extra 5,000 bonus miles and save on your next Alaska flight

Ariana Arghandewal
Articles
Ariana Arghandewal has been writing about points and miles for almost a decade. She previously served as editor at FlyerTalk, Frugal Travel Guy and NerdWallet while running her own travel blog, PointChaser.
Nov. 27, 2020
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3 min read
Grand Hyatt SFO, SFO International, Alaska Airlines, Seattle Air
Here's how to earn an extra 5,000 bonus miles and save on your next Alaska flight
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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Here’s something we haven’t seen in a while: Alaska Airlines is offering a new member bonus. Not for signing up for a credit card – for joining the Mileage Plan program and completing a flight. Here are the details:

  1. Join the Alaska Mileage Plan program by Dec. 31, 2020
  2. Fly round-trip before Feb. 28, 2021 and earn 2,500 miles
  3. Take a second round-trip flight and earn another 2,500 miles

This offer is valid on Alaska Airlines-operated flights only. Codeshare and partner flights are excluded.

While 5,000 Alaska miles may not seem like much, it’s actually enough for a one-way domestic award flight under 700 miles. The welcome bonus is in addition to the miles you’ll earn from your actual flight. For example, if you’re flying from Chicago to Washington, D.C. you’ll earn about 1,200 miles in addition to the 2,500-mile new member bonus.

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Stacking the bonus

This offer can be even more lucrative if you stack it right. For example, you can earn 5x points on your airfare (when booked direct or via Amextravel.com; earn 5x points on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar starting Jan. 1, 2021 ) by using a card like The Platinum Card® from American Express or the Citi Prestige® Card. You can also opt to earn a 12% discount on airfare instead by buying an Alaska Airlines gift card from Costco. The $500 gift cards are currently on sale for $449.99.

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The information for the Citi Prestige card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

You’ll save 10% on the gift card and receive another 2% in rewards (1% when you buy, plus 1% as you pay) by using the Citi® Double Cash Card. Convert those cash back rewards to Citi ThankYou points and you’ll bump the value of your rewards from $9 to $15.30.

Related: How to earn miles with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program

Bottom line

If you’re not currently an Alaska Mileage Plan member and have travel coming up with the airline, signing up for this promotion is a no-brainer. You'll earn bonus miles on top of normal earnings and get you closer to your next Alaska award. Stacked with the Costco promotion and the right credit card, you can maximize your savings further.

Featured image by (Photo by Clint Henderson/The Points Guy)
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.