The Different Tiers Of Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan Program

Elite status with an airline program is how you gain benefits and preferential treatment when flying. With Mileage Plan, elite status is earned solely from frequent flying, and benefits apply on Alaska Airlines flights, as well as all oneworld partner airlines. Upgrades are a big part of the program, but alliance membership has brought much more.

Mileage Plan elite status levels

There are four levels within Mileage Plan, earned with increasing flying (measured using “elite qualifying miles”). The top level was just added in 2022 and is designed to reward the most frequent flyers, mainly with a higher chance of upgrades.

These levels are:

• MVP. Earned after 20,000 elite qualifying miles.
• MVP Gold. Earned after 40,000 elite qualifying miles.
• MVP Gold 75K. Earned after 75,000 elite qualifying miles.
• MVP Gold 100K. Earned after 100,000 elite qualifying miles.

Now that Alaska Airlines is part of the oneworld alliance, these elite levels give a corresponding status within the alliance. MVP gives oneworld Ruby; MVP Gold gives oneworld Sapphire; MVP 75K, and MVP 100K give oneworld Emerald.

Benefits with Alaska Airlines

Each of the four elite levels brings increasing benefits with Alaska Airlines.

MVP level benefits include:

• Free upgrades to first class (processed 24 hours before departure).
• Free upgrades to premium class at time of booking (only for tickets in higher booking classes Y, B, or H).
• Mileage bonus of 50% on Alaska Airlines and most partner airlines.
• Priority check in and boarding.
• Two free checked bags.
• Free preferred seat selection.
• Discount on Alaska annual lounge membership of $100.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

MVP Gold adds benefits including:

• Free upgrades to first class (processed 72 hours prior to departure).
• Free upgrades to premium class at time of booking (for tickets in booking classes Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, or N).
• Companion complimentary upgrades to premium class and first class (for passengers on the same booking).
• Four one-way guest upgrade certificates (valid for passengers not traveling with you, for tickets in booking classes Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, or N).
• Complimentary same day flight change.
• Mileage bonus of 100% on Alaska Airlines and most partner airlines.
• A complimentary beverage in main cabin.

MVP Gold 75K adds:

• A bonus of 50,000 miles upon qualification.
• Free upgrades to first class (processed 120 hours prior to departure).
• Free upgrades to premium class at time of booking (for tickets in all booking classes except X)
• One international upgrade certificate each year for an American Airlines flights (one-way, one cabin upgrade for any published fare class).
• Mileage bonus of 125% on Alaska Airlines and most partner airlines.
• Three free checked bags on all flights.
• Four Alaska lounge passes.
• Gift Mileage Plan MVP status to one person.

MVP Gold 100K adds:

• Highest priority on free upgrades to first class.
• Two international upgrade certificates each year for American Airlines.
• Mileage bonus of 150% on Alaska Airlines and most partner airline.
• A complimentary beverage and snack in main cabin.
• From January 2023, MVP Gold 100K will add an additional benefit of a 100K Choice. You can choose one of 50,000 bonus miles, Lounge membership, the ability to gift MVP Gold, or complimentary onboard WiFi.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

Benefits with oneworld airlines and other partners

Now that Alaska Airlines has joined the oneworld alliance, elite status offers benefits on all alliance member airlines. This includes American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, and SriLankan Airlines.

This status brings benefits, including:

• Lounge access when flying any oneworld airline. Sapphire status gives business class lounge access, and Emerald status gives first class lounge access.
• Use of business class or first class check-in.
• Additional luggage allowance.
• Priority luggage handling.
• Free seat reservation. This varies by airline and may include exit row seating for Emerald members.

How to earn status

Elite status with Mileage Plan is awarded purely based on the level of flying within each calendar year. Many other US programs (including those of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines) now include a revenue requirement along with (or instead of) a travel requirement. With these programs, you cannot earn elite status unless you meet a minimum amount of spending with the airline (or possibly on associated credit cards). This is not the case with Mileage Plan.

Status is earned based on elite qualifying miles. These are the same as the base miles earned from flying, with Alaska Airlines, all oneworld airlines, and other Mileage Plan partner airlines. This includes the class of service bonus, but not any elite status bonus. For Alaska Airlines flights, this will be at least 100% of the miles flown. For partner airlines, it can drop to 25% for the lowest fare classes.

These rates are all published in tables on the Mileage Plan website. An example for British Airways is shown below.

Image: Alaska Airlines

Alternatively, you can qualify based on the total number of qualifying flight segments flown. These segments can be on Alaska Airlines or any partner airline (basically, any flight which qualifies to earn base miles will be a qualifying segment).

In addition, there is a minimum number of segments that must be flown on Alaska Airlines flights to qualify for status. This is an important criteria to be aware of, and prevents anyone who can’t / doesn’t fly Alaska Airlines from earning status (they can still earn and redeem miles, however).

Photo: Vincenzo Pace / Simple Flying

The full requirements are:

• MVP. Earned after 20,000 elite qualifying miles OR 30 eligible segments. In addition, 2 eligible segments must be flown on Alaska Airlines.
• MVP Gold. Earned after 40,000 elite qualifying miles OR 60 eligible segments. In addition, 6 eligible segments must be flown on Alaska Airlines.
• MVP Gold 75K. Earned after 75,000 elite qualifying miles OR 90 eligible segments. In addition, 12 eligible segments must be flown on Alaska Airlines.
• MVP Gold 100K. Earned after 100,000 elite qualifying miles OR 140 eligible segments. In addition, 24 eligible segments must be flown on Alaska Airlines.

Do you have elite status with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, or are you working towards it? What are the main benefits you see in the program? Feel free to discuss this, and compare with other airline programs, in the comments.