Alaska Airlines Offering 5,000 Bonus Miles to New California Mileage Plan Members

California residents rejoice! Another airline is fighting for your business with a California-only offer. Now through December 31, 2017, Alaska Airlines is offering 5,000 miles to California residents that sign up for Mileage Plan and complete a flight on Alaska or Virgin America between the enrollment date and June 30, 2018.

While this offer is nowhere near as exciting as getting a Southwest Companion Pass after one purchase, it’s still free miles. Based on TPG’s current valuations, 5,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles are worth $95. And, there are quite a few dates where you can get a flight between two California cities for under $80 round-trip, or a round-trip to Las Vegas (LAS) for $79. Plus this bonus only requires a one-way ticket, which you can score for under $40 if you only need a one-way flight.

As Alaska points out in the promotion, 5,000 miles is enough for a one-way award flight between San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX). However, with cash tickets so cheap and considering Alaska’s incredibly valuable partners, you probably won’t want to spend the 5,000-mile bonus on one of those short-haul flights.

If you’re unfamiliar with Alaska’s Mileage Plan, here’s a quick rundown: In an era where all other major US airlines have switched to a revenue-based earning system, Alaska still lets you earn miles based on how far you fly instead of how much you spend on the ticket. And in addition to its awesome partners, Alaska’s program has a reasonable distance-based redemption chart for flights on Alaska itself.

To top it all off, Alaska Airlines is one of the best overall operations in the country, having taken first place in The Points Guy’s Best and Worst Airlines report this year.

Featured image by Alaska Airlines.

from The Points Guy