Alaska Airlines Announces Big Changes to Mileage Plan for 2025

With the merger of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, we figured changes were in store for Alaska’s Mileage Plan loyalty program. Now, the airline has confirmed that Mileage Plan will be the sole program for both airlines after the merger is complete. It has also confirmed some positive and negative changes for 2025.

Positives include milestone benefits, earning EQMs on award tickets and non-travel activities, as well as opportunities for big bonuses on partner flights. Negatives include restrictions on how those partner flights are booked to get the best earnings, reductions in mileage bonuses for elites, and changes to earning lounge passes.

Here’s what travelers need to know about these Mileage Plan changes for next year.

New Benefit: Alaska Airlines Milestone Moments

The path to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan elite status requires earning elite qualifying miles (EQMs). Starting in 2025, you’ll earn Milestone Moments — award choices available at various levels, starting at just 10,000 EQMs.

Options include bonus miles, lounge access, elite status for a day on an upcoming trip, rollover EQMs for the next status year, and “access to exclusive events and unique experiences,” though details on this last option are unknown.

“We’re on a multi-year journey to make the industry’s most generous loyalty program even more rewarding. In 2025, Mileage Plan members will have access to all-new, more frequent perks along with expanded ways to earn elite status, including on award travel. As we invest in a single loyalty platform with Hawaiian Airlines, there is even more to come later in the year.”

Brett Catlin, vice president of loyalty, alliances and sales at Alaska Airlines

Milestone choices will be available at 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 55,000, 85,000, 150,000, 200,000, and 250,000 EQMs. Those don’t exactly correspond to the EQM requirements for Alaska’s elite status tiers, which come at 20k, 40k, 75k, and 100k EQM amounts. That means you can earn Milestone Moments even if you don’t hit the next status tier.

Here are the awards you’ll be able to choose:

Hot Tip:

Learn about the pros, cons, similarities, and differences between Alaska MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K status in our detailed comparison.

New Ways To Earn EQMs

Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will provide more ways to earn EQMs, and many of these don’t require flying. Starting on January 1, 2025, you can earn EQMs with these activities:

• Award Travel Redemptions: Earn EQMs based on the distance flown. For example, if you fly from Seattle to Tokyo-Narita, you’ll earn 9,538 EQMs — equal to the flight distance of 9,538 miles.
• Credit Card Spending: Earn 1 EQM for every $3 spent on your Alaska Airlines co-branded Visa card. There’s a maximum of 30,000 EQMs from this option, and no enrollment for EQM earning is required.
• Travel Partners: You’ll earn 1,000 EQMs for every 3,000 miles earned from Alaska’s non-airline partners.
• Rollover EQMs: This is a milestone choice that’s new for 2025. After 85,000 EQMs, you can choose to roll over 10,000 EQMs to the following year for a jump start on status.

Changes to Upgrades for Elite Members

Seat upgrades for Alaska’s elites will follow a different order of priority in 2025, including those traveling with companions. Priority will be given based on long-term loyalty using the following ranking:

• Million Milers will rank highest among those with the same status tier. For example, a Million Miler who currently has MVP Gold 75K status will have priority over other MVP Gold 75K members.
• Guests of elite travelers will be eligible for upgrades, so long as they’re traveling on the same reservation.
• Members using upgrade certificates will be the first to know. That will take priority over those hoping for space-available upgrades based on status.

Changes to Earning and Redeeming With Partners

Starting next year, the miles you earn with partner airlines on paid flights will look different. And so will redemptions, as Alaska finally rolls out multi-carrier award tickets.

Earning on Partner Flights

When flying paid flights with partners, you’ll continue to earn 100% of the miles flown, so long as you’re not flying in basic economy. You’ll also earn Alaska miles with a bonus for flying in premium cabins:

• 150% bonus in premium economy
• 250% bonus in business class
• Up to 350% bonus in first class

However, those numbers require you to book the flight through Alaska’s website or app. If you book through the partner’s own website, your maximum earnings will be 150% (first class), 125% (business), 100% (premium economy), 50% (economy), or 25% (basic economy). That’s a big difference.

Redeeming Miles for Multi-Carrier Awards

In positive news, you’ll finally be able to redeem Alaska miles for multi-carrier awards. Presently, if you book an award ticket that has a flight on British Airways, you can connect to that flight with an Alaska Airlines flight but can’t get there on an American Airlines flight, for example. It’s “Alaska +1,” as the saying goes.

That rule is going away. The function will start with multi-carrier awards to Europe and then will expand over the course of 2025.

Redeeming for Experiences and Discounted Awards

Moreover, Alaska will start offering redemptions to use your miles for Extras — an exclusive program where you can redeem miles for experiences and events. The value on these will be subjective, and details remain unknown.

Lastly, Mileage Plan is promising additional Global Getaways for discounted award redemptions in 2025. These will continue to occur seasonally.

Hot Tip:

Learn about the best ways to redeem Alaska miles for maximum value in our in-depth guide.

Negative Changes to Mileage Plan for 2025

Alaska’s press release highlights the myriad of positives, but that doesn’t tell the full story. Let’s look at the negatives.

Removal of Mileage Bonus for MVP Gold 75K Members

There was previously a 50,000-mile bonus for those who achieved MVP Gold 75K status, but that will disappear in 2025.

Negative Lounge Changes

Alaska’s elite members currently get a $100 discount on an Alaska Lounge membership. That benefit will end on January 31, 2025. Now, you’ll have to choose this perk as a Milestone Moment — meaning it will still be available, but you’ll have to choose this instead of another benefit.

Moreover, day passes for lounge benefits won’t be awarded at MVP Gold 75K status. You presently get 4 of these and can gift them to others. The gift of these awards will go away in 2025.

Reduced Mileage Earnings for Elites

The elite bonus you receive on Alaska Airlines flights will reduce after January 1, 2025, unless you hold the top status tier. This is likely to make flyers unhappy.

MVP elites will drop from a 50% bonus to 25%, and MVP Gold members will drop from 100% to 50%. MVP Gold 75K members will drop from 125% to 100%, while MVP Gold 100K members won’t see a change. They’ll still earn a 150% bonus on flights.

Reduction of Checked Baggage Benefit

All of Alaska’s elites currently get 2 free checked bags when flying with Alaska Airlines, while MVP Gold 75K and 100K members get 3. Those same numbers apply to Oneworld elites, with 2 bags for Ruby and Sapphire members and 3 bags for Emerald elites.

Those numbers will drop in 2026 if you only have Alaska’s lowest status tier (MVP), giving you just 1 free checked bag. That’s not a huge change for most travelers, but it’s worth noting.

What Does This Mean for You?

The ability to book multi-carrier award tickets will be welcome news. And Million Milers will be happy to move to the front of the line for upgrades.

However, the real changes include Milestone Moments, earnings on partner flights, and new options for accruing EQMs.

The Milestone Moments echo the recent Hyatt-American Airlines updates and the way airlines like American and Delta offer choice benefits to elites. Having these options is good news for most people, though there’s a negative caveat: The lounge benefit many people got automatically now requires a choice, meaning you can’t choose other perks if you want lounge passes.

The earning rates on partner flights present a mixed bag. You’ll be able to earn significantly higher amounts of bonus miles if you book a partner flight through Alaska’s sales channels. Will those prices match what the other airline is offering on its own website? Time will tell whether this works out in your favor.

Lastly, the new options for earning EQMs through travel partners, credit card spending, and award flights will be welcome news for those chasing Mileage Plan status. Most people aren’t flying paid Alaska Airlines flights every day, so you’ll have additional paths to elite status. Though many elites will see reduced bonuses on Alaska flights, at least the airline didn’t change the EQM requirements for earning status in 2025.

Final Thoughts

Alaska Airlines is shaking up the Mileage Plan program for 2025. There’s a lot to digest. You’ll finally be able to book multi-carrier award tickets, and you’ll have options for earning EQMs in new ways. You’ll also earn milestone perks along the way.

However, lounge perks are going away, now requiring a benefit choice at the expense of other options, and elite bonuses are reducing for many members. There’s also the interesting bonus miles on partner flights, which you can earn a lot of … provided you book those partner flights through Alaska Airlines.