Alaska Airlines Fare Classes: What You Need to Know

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members earn miles and elite-qualifying status based on the Alaska fare class for their flight. Knowing the Alaska fare classes for your flights is a great way to maximize miles earned, as well as secure upgrades if you’re an Alaska elite status member.

Alaska has two cabins on its flights: economy class (which Alaska calls its Main Cabin) and first class. While Alaska does offer Premium Class, which comes with 4 inches of additional legroom than regular Main Cabin seats, among other features, Premium Class is considered to be part of Alaska’s Main Cabin.

When you book a flight on Alaska, your ticket will have a single-letter fare class, which will vary based on the cabin you’re booking, cost and other factors like whether you’re booking a Saver fare or fully refundable ticket.

There are 17 fare classes on Alaska:

• 13 fare classes in economy class (Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N, Q, O, G and X). 

• Four fare classes in first class (J, C, D and I).

» Learn more: The guide to Alaska Airlines first class

Your Alaska fare class — along with the distance that you’re flying — affects the amount of total miles you’ll earn for your Alaska flights, as well as the elite-qualifying miles you’ll earn toward status, as outlined in the chart below:

Earning on Alaska Airlines flights

As an example, let’s say you’re looking to book a one-way flight on Alaska between Los Angeles (LAX) and Honolulu (HNL), which has a flight distance of 2,551 miles, and you do not have elite status with Alaska. Below is how many total Alaska miles you’ll earn and how many elite-qualifying miles you’ll earn toward status based on this flight for a few sample fare classes:

• X fare class (Saver fare, economy class). You’ll earn 765 Alaska miles and elite-qualifying miles toward Alaska elite status.

• V fare class (economy class). You’ll earn 2,551 Alaska miles and elite-qualifying miles toward Alaska elite status.

• J fare class (first class). You’ll earn 5,102 Alaska miles and elite-qualifying miles toward Alaska elite status.

As you can see, the fare class that you book can drastically change the number of Alaska miles and elite-qualifying miles you’ll earn for your flight.

» Learn more: The guide to Alaska Airlines basic economy: Saver fares

If you have status with Alaska, you’ll want to pay special attention to which fare class you’re flying to take full advantage of your elite status benefits.

Additional miles earned

Alaska passengers who have elite status with the airline will earn additional Alaska miles (though note that status will not affect the amount of elite-qualifying miles earned for a flight). The amount of additional miles earned depends on the status you have with Alaska and will be changing in 2025 based on the below chart:

Below are the mileage and elite-qualifying miles earned on the LAX to HNL flight for a passenger with MVP Gold status flying in 2024:

• X fare class (Saver fare, economy class). You’ll earn 3,316 Alaska miles and 765 elite-qualifying miles toward Alaska elite status.

• V fare class (economy class). You’ll earn 5,102 Alaska miles and 2,551 elite-qualifying miles toward Alaska elite status.

• J fare class (first class). You’ll earn 7,653 Alaska miles and 5,102 elite-qualifying miles toward Alaska elite status.

Flight benefits

Additionally, Alaska elite members can receive first class and Premium Class upgrades based on the fare class purchased, as outlined in the chart below:

Given that certain fare classes entitle you to upgrades at the time of booking depending on your Alaska elite status, it’s important to know which Alaska fare class you’d be purchasing before paying for your flight.

» Learn more: Alaska Airlines upgrades: What to know

There are a few ways to find your Alaska fare class. First, if you go through the booking portal to book a ticket, before booking, you’ll see which fare class you’ll be purchasing. Below is the LAX to HNL flight, which shows the Main Cabin would book into the “V” fare class (outlined in blue):

While Alaska doesn’t currently give you the option to search flights by a specific fare class (for instance, you can’t search to find “H” fare), you do have the ability to search for specific fare classes that would entitle you to an upgrade by following the steps below:

First, go to “Book a flight” and then under “Upgrade type,” select the type of upgrade you’re looking for based on fare class. (In the example below, we’re looking for an upgrade based on MVP Gold status.)

Once you select the upgrade type, click “Find Flights” and your options will include fare classes that will include a Premium Class or first class upgrade, if available.

By selecting “First Upgrade” above, you’re prompted to purchase a “K” class ticket, which, as an MVP Gold member, gets you a first class upgrade at booking.

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