Alaska Airlines now offers Mileage Plan earning, redeeming on hotel stays through Expedia partnership

20.08.2024 - 17:00 / thepointsguy.com

Alaska Airlines is the latest U.S. airline to launch a travel portal allowing frequent flyer members to book nonflight purchases — everything from hotel rooms and rental properties to car rentals and activities.

That comes after the Seattle-based carrier announced a new partnership earlier this year with online booking giant Expedia Group.

Through the Alaska Vacations portal unveiled this spring, you can book a combination of flights, car rentals and/or lodging — and earn Mileage Plan miles in the process.

Alaska on Tuesday revealed additional enhancements to the partnership, including redeeming and earning Mileage Plan miles on an extension of the platform called "Stays by Alaska Vacations."

The new booking portal allows Mileage Plan members to tap into more than 900,000 properties in Expedia's inventory, with the options to earn Alaska miles for the booking or redeem miles for a stay.

As part of the setup, Alaska cobranded credit cardholders can earn bonus miles on bookings and get access to better redemption rates, the company noted.

Related: Which credit card should you use for Alaska Airlines flights?

"Stays by Alaska Vacations combines convenience and affordability by giving our guests access to Expedia Group's vast inventory and unlocking special savings while earning status on an award-winning airline," Courtney Lansing, Alaska managing director of business development and products, said in a statement Tuesday.

Here's what the Stays by Alaska Vacations portal looks like when you arrive on the home page.

Just like with any booking site, you can put in a city, airport or other landmark for your location, and then plug in other trip details like your travel dates.

Let's say I want to book an October long weekend in Rome.

The portal will display options from Expedia's inventory. From the outset, I see cash prices — and, in blue, how many Mileage Plan miles I'll earn for the stay.

Hoping to redeem miles instead? On the left, there's a menu option you can easily toggle over to "redeem miles."

Then award pricing will pop up for each property.

Of course, you'll always want to consider the value of your points and miles before a redemption.

Mileage Plan members earn 1 mile per dollar on all Stays by Alaska Vacations bookings.

Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card cardholders earn an additional 3 miles per dollar on eligible prepaid stays. Cardholders also get "preferred" redemption rates on award bookings.

Related: Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card review: Earn hard-to-get miles with a valuable welcome offer

It's a similar story for broader Alaska Vacations bookings: one mile per dollar on vacation packages (or 3 miles per dollar for credit cardholders). And that's on top of normal