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Earn Double Miles on Alaska Transcon Flights Through End of 2019

Brendan Dorsey
Articles
Brendan Dorsey is an Associate News Editor at TPG who covers nearly everything for TPG including aviation, credit cards, points, miles, ride-hailing services and more. He previously worked for TIME.
April 01, 2019
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5 min read
Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900ER photographed in April 2016 by Chad Slattery.
Earn Double Miles on Alaska Transcon Flights Through End of 2019
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Alaska Airlines has just announced a fantastic new promotion that can get its flyers big sums of miles through the end of the year. Starting Monday, Alaska Mileage Plan members can earn double miles on select nonstop flights between the East and West Coast.

All you have to do is register for the promotion here before taking your first flight. It appears that even if you've already purchased a flight on an eligible route but register before departure, you'll still earn double miles. There's no limit to the amount of miles you can earn, any fare class is eligible, and the promo applies on all flights through the end of 2019. Note that the promotion only applies to redeemable miles, and doesn't count towards elite status.

What makes this promotion so enticing is that Alaska, unlike most other US carriers, still offers awards based on distance flown and not based on the cost of the ticket. For instance, you'd normally earn 5,172 miles on a round-trip flight between New York (JFK ) and San Francisco (SFO). But with this promotion, you'll end up with 10,344 miles — and that's not including any elite bonus. Those 10,344 miles are worth $186 according to TPG's valuations!

You can pretty consistently get Alaska transcon fares for less than $250 round-trip, meaning the value of the miles you'd be earning is close to the actual price of the ticket!

Alaska miles are worth more than any other airline's mileage currency according to TPG's valuations because of their great redemption value with Alaska's many partners. You can fly from the US to Asia in Cathay Pacific Business Class for 50,000 miles one-way or Cathay's incredible first class for 70,000 miles one-way. Want to fly to South America in LATAM's greatly improved new business class? That'll run you just 45,000 Alaska miles. Japan on your bucket list? Flying to the country in Japan Airlines' Business or First costs just 60,000 or 70,000 miles, respectively.

You can earn double miles when departing on many of the airlines' transcon routes. The promotion is eligible on West Coast departures between:

  • Los Angeles (LAX) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)
  • San Diego (SAN) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Newark (EWR), or Orlando (MCO)
  • San Francisco (SFO) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Orlando (MCO), Philadelphia (PHL), Raleigh (RDU), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)
  • San Jose (SJC) and New York (JFK) or Newark (EWR)

Eligible on East Coast departures between:

  • New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), or San Jose (SJC)
  • Newark (EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), or San Jose (SJC)
  • Baltimore (BWI) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Boston (BOS) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Orlando (MCO) and San Diego (SAN) or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Philadelphia (PHL) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Raleigh (RDU) and San Francisco (SFO)
  • Washington-Dulles (IAD) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Washington-Reagan (DCA) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)

This deal could make going for Alaska elite status even more attractive. On many transcon routes you'll need to complete just four round-trip flights to earn Alaska MVP status since it requires 20,000 miles flown in a calendar year. However, Alaska has a separate "Coast to Elite" challenge where you can earn MVP status with just two round-trip transcon flights completed before May 31, 2019. Many of the same routes that are apart of Double miles promo overlap with the status challenge, meaning this deal is potentially stackable. Just make sure to check this post to see if routes you're interested in overlap.

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If you want to earn even more Alaska miles in the process, you can get 3x miles on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases with the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card. New cardholders will earn 40,000 bonus miles and Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ from $121 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $22) after you make $2,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.

Don't have an Alaska card? Make sure you're purchasing tickets with a card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases.

For the latest travel news, deals and points and miles tips please subscribe to The Points Guy daily email newsletter.

Updated on 11/3/21.

Featured image by Alaska Airlines
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.