Sweet Spot: Using Alaska Airlines Miles for American Airlines

Booking domestic flights or even flights to the Caribbean or Mexico with miles is usually not the best value. I’m seeing more and more airlines charge dynamic pricing where the cost of the ticket correlates to the number of miles needed. However, there is one sweet spot that I find myself using over and over again: Alaska Airlines miles for travel on American.

Booking American Airlines with Alaska Miles

I live in Charleston, SC so we don’t have a ton of international flights. We only have nonstops to Toronto and Bermuda! When we book a trip with points and miles the cost to leave from Charleston is usually outrageous. In all my years booking flights with points and miles I’ve maybe only booked 3 trips that either originated or returned to CHS. All others are booked out of another major international airport. So that means taking a positioning flight somewhere on the East Coast to catch my cheap long haul business class flight.

If I can’t find a cheap cash ticket, I’ll obviously book with miles. This is where Alaska Airlines miles come into play.

American Airlines can have good award pricing with their own miles but more and more they are penalizing you for taking a nonstop flight and only makes their cheaper options available if you take a connection.

Here is a screenshot of a flight from Charleston, SC to Washington, DC. This can be booked with American Airlines miles for 5,000 miles in coach or 15,000 miles in first class.

American Airlines CHS-DCA

Or you can head over to Alaska Airlines and book the exact same flight for cheaper! Alaska is only charging 4,500 miles in coach or 9,000 miles in first class. Granted the fees are higher ($18.10 vs. $5.60) on Alaska but I would rather pay an extra $12.50 to save 6,000 miles.

American Airlines CHS-DCA Booked through Alaska Airlines

The same holds true on international flights as well. From Charleston to London with a stop in Charlotte, American is charging 62,500 miles.

American Airlines CHS-LHR

But if you were to book the same exact flight through Alaska Airlines you’d only pay 45,000 miles!

American Airlines CHS-LHR Booked through Alaska Airlines

Not only is it cheaper to book through Alaska Airlines but Alaska Mileage Plan Miles can be easier to get.

How to Get Alaska Miles

The easiest way to earn Alaska miles quickly is through the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card where you can earn 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days. You’ll also earn miles by flying with them and spending on their credit cards.

You can also transfer Bilt points to Alaska at a 1:1 ratio.

The next option is through Hawaiian Airlines. Yep, you read that right! Back in December 2023, Alaska announced plans to acquire Hawaiian Airlines. Just a year later in December 2024 it became possible to transfer miles between Alaska and Hawaiian.

I’m sure not too many people are sitting on a stash of Hawaiian Airlines miles but they’re easier to get than you think. You can earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 in the first 90 days with the Hawaiian Airlines credit card. This card is issued by Barclays and it is known that Bank of America will be the sole issuer of the combined Alaska and Hawaiian credit card. What is not known is when the Hawaiian card will stop accepting new applications. It is likely that it will be in the next few months.

Roundabout Way to Get Alaska Miles

I’ve been a huge fan of Alaska’s Mileage Plan for years. If you don’t want to open up a new credit card or two, or you already have both the Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines cards, there is still another way to earn Alaska miles. American Express is the only major bank where you can transfer your points 1:1 to Hawaiian Airlines. After you transfer your points to Hawaiian, you can then transfer those new Hawaiian miles right on over to Alaska.

Transfer HawaiianMiles to Alaska Mileage Plan

The great thing about this is American Express transfers to Hawaiian are instant and the transfer from Hawaiian to Alaska are also instant. While it is a slight pain to make two separate transfers, its super easy and extremely fast.

One thing to note is as of June 30th, 2025 you will no longer be able to transfer American Express points to Hawaiian which will effectively end this roundabout transfer.

American Express Transfers to Hawaiian are Ending on June 30th, 2025

Wrapping Up

Alaska Mileage Plan miles is one of my favorite ways to book American Airlines flights for less than what American charges. There are a number of ways to earn Alaska miles through their credit cards, transferring your American Express points to Hawaiian then to Alaska, or earning the sign up bonus on the Hawaiian credit card then transferring them to Alaska.