Quick Overview

  • Bilt Rewards is the exclusive major credit card transfer partner for Alaska Airlines, offering 1:1 transfers of Bilt points to Alaska miles.
  • Temporarily, you can also earn Alaska miles using American Express Membership Rewards by transferring AMEX points to HawaiianMiles, which can then be converted into Alaska miles—take advantage of this while it lasts.
  • Alaska miles can also be earned through co-branded hotel credit cards from programs like Marriott Bonvoy and IHG One Rewards.
  • Overall, there are currently over 25 partner credit cards available for earning Alaska miles through intro bonuses and everyday spending.

This page outlines the earning rates in Alaska miles for all major credit card transfer partners and includes a calculator to help you determine which partner cards will earn you the most miles based on your spending.

Loading...

Alaska Airlines credit card transfer partners

Loading...

Bilt Rewards credit cards

Bilt offers one credit card in their program called the Bilt Mastercard®. Bilt Rewards points earned with the card can be transferred directly to your Alaska MileagePlan account at a 1:1 ratio meaning that every 1,000 Bilt Rewards points you transfer will give you 1,000 Alaska miles.

The best thing about Bilt Rewards is that you can use the program to earn points on rent with no fee. This is something that you cannot do with other credit cards and rewards programs, so there is a lot of potential for earning a large sum of points depending on your rent cost.

On top of using the Bilt Mastercard to earn up to 3X points on your purchases, you can also easily earn bonus points spending around your neighborhood with participating retailers. Even if you don't sweep up the Mastercard (which I highly recommend), the program is free to sign up for so I suggest looking into it if you want an easy way to earn additional Alaska miles!

Here is the credit card that Bilt offers:

Loading...

Hawaiian Airlines credit cards

Miles earned with Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines can be moved back and forth between both loyalty programs thanks to the merger. Every 1,000 Hawaiian miles you convert will give you 1,000 Alaska miles.

This opens up the ability to use Hawaiian's own co-branded credit cards as well as Hawaiian's credit card transfer partners to earn Alaska miles.

Here are the credit cards that Hawaiian Airlines offers:

Loading...

AMEX Membership Rewards credit cards

American Express Membership Rewards is not a direct transfer partner of Alaska Airlines, but you can transfer points to Alaska using Hawaiian Airlines. 1,000 AMEX points can be converted into 1,000 Hawaiian Miles which can then be converted into 1,000 Alaska miles.

As long as the ability to move miles freely between Hawaiian and Alaska stays a thing, the Membership Rewards program is hands-down the best choice for earning miles with Alaska. If you frequently fly Alaska or you're trying to build your miles, I strongly recommend taking advantage of this while it lasts.

Here are the Membership Rewards credit cards you can use to earn Alaska miles:

Loading...

Marriott Bonvoy credit cards

There are a whopping six co-branded Marriott credit cards that you can use to earn Alaska Miles. Marriott Bonvoy Points earned with these cards can be transferred to Alaska at a 3:1 ratio meaning that every 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points will give you 1,000 Alaska Miles.

On top of that, you'll also earn a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000-block of Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer. So transferring 60,000 points will give you 25,000 Alaska miles which is a great deal.

Here are the credit cards you can use to earn Marriott Bonvoy points transferable to Alaska Airlines:

Loading...

Choice Hotels credit cards

Choice Hotels points can be transferred to Alaska Airlines at a 5:1 rate. Every 5,000 Alaska miles you convert will give you 1,000 Alaska miles.

If you frequent Choice hotels and use their credit cards to pay for your stay, it's not hard to earn a decent amount of Choice Hotel points. They also offer lots of point promos that can help you earn points faster.

Here are the credit cards Choice Hotels offers:

Loading...

IHG One Rewards credit cards

IHG One Rewards points can be transferred to Alaska Airlines at a 5:1 ratio meaning that every 5,000 IHG One Rewards points you convert will give you 1,000 Alaska miles. IHG's credit cards can earn you up to 10X points per $1 spent at IHG brand hotels which would be equivalent to 2X Alaska miles. While that is a solid rate, you'll still get better value using these points for free stays at IHG brand hotels.

Here are the credit cards IHG One Rewards offers:

Loading...

Best Western credit cards

Best Western Rewards points can be transferred to Alaska Airlines at 5:1 ratio. Every 5,000 Best Western Rewards points you convert will give you 1,000 Alaska miles. It's possible to earn a decent amount of Best Western points on stays when combined with their credit cards, but not enough that make them worth transferring to Alaska Airlines.

Here are the credit cards Best Western offers:

Loading...

Alaska Airlines credit cards

If you're loyal to Alaska Airlines, you should consider picking up one of their co-branded credit cards. They earn a solid amount of Alaska miles on every purchase and offer several benefits including free checked bags, priority boarding, and more.

Here are the credit card Alaska Airlines offer:

Loading...

What's the best credit card for Alaska miles?

Input your monthly and yearly spend amounts into our credit card finder tool to find out which credit cards will earn you the most Alaska miles and best return per $1 spent.

Results will include all co-branded Alaska Airlines credit cards and all Alaska credit card transfer partners. Results will show up to the top 20 cards.

Want More Customization?

This calculator uses our valuations, the intro bonuses we have in the database, and includes the maximum (calculable) bonuses for each card. If you want to have control over these options and much more, check out this tool:

Rewards Credit Card Directory & Calculator: Alaska Miles

Currency Codes

Any currencies you add to the tool will be selectable when entering spend into the Spend Categories section of the calculator.

Do note that any foreign currencies selected will automatically be converted to the card's default currency when calculating rewards.

Currency Controls

Currencies

Sections of the calculator allows you to choose a currency. You will be able to choose from the options below. If you want more options, add them!

Currency Conversions

This site's currency rates update once per hour. If you have a different exchange rate in mind for any of the added currencies, you can change the rate here.

Calculator Options

Year 1 or Year 2+?

Year 1 - Calculate how much you will earn in your first year of being a cardmember. Includes Intro Bonuses (if toggled on) and will use the free or reduced first year annual fees for any cards that have them.

Year 2+ - Calculate how much the card will be worth the 2nd year and onward. Automatically turns off intro bonuses and will ignore first year free/reduced annual fees.

Include Intro Bonuses?

If set to yes, intro bonuses will be included for a card's calculation ONLY IF you have met the monthly spend criteria based on what's entered into the tool.

Note: We do not have intro bonuses for all credit cards (mainly partners and popular credit cards), and we cannot calculate intro bonuses for some cards due to the complexity of some spend requirements.

Authorized Users

Some banks charge an additional fee to add family, friends, or employees to the credit card account. If you plan on adding authorized users to your credit card(s), you can enter that amount here.

Note: Some credit cards have a cap on how many authorized users you can add. While we do keep track of the fee structures, we do not keep track of caps. So be sure to check the rates and fees before applying.

#
Max of 100.
Calculate Foreign Transaction Fees?

Many cards will charge you a foreign transaction fee when making purchases in a foreign currency. This is typically between 2.5% and 3% for most credit cards.

If set to yes, we will calculate the estimated fee for any spend entered into the calculator that is considered foreign. This amount will appear in the calculations as well.

Note: We do not have the foreign transaction fee rates for all credit cards.

Monthly/Yearly Spending

Add Categories
Search for categories and click 'Add Category' to add selected categories to the calculator.
When On, only shows currently selected categories.
When On, shows the descriptions for each of the categories.
Loading...
Selected Categories
Results Will Appear Here

No Results. This is usually due to:

  • There's no good card options based on the spend entered.
  • The calculator is having a brain-fart and is not calculating rewards properly.

Enter different values or try again later.

Results

Listed below are the results based on what you entered into the tool above. These estimates are to help guide you towards making the best decision when it comes to picking up a rewards credit card.

You can click on "Show Calculations" to see a breakdown of how the rewards were calculated, click on the card itself to learn more/apply through our partners (big thanks if you do!), or click on any of the other links to learn more about the card and it's rewards.

Do note that some of the calculations are rounded so it is possible that the estimated values may be off by a point or two when added up.

Remember that this particular tool uses our point/mile valuations, the intro bonuses we have in the database, and includes the maximum (calculable) bonuses for each card. If you want to have control over these options and much more, slide over to the Rewards Credit Card Directory & Calculator.

These calculations should be used for illustrative purposes only.