Alaska Airlines Adds New Choice Benefits for Top MVP 100K Tier

Alaska Airlines has added some new benefits for its top tier MVP Gold 100K members, a status that was newly introduced into the Mileage Plan program late last year. MVP Gold 100K is Alaska Airlines’ highest elite status tier, and it comes with a host of benefits to make travel better.

How To Earn MVP Gold 100K

To earn Alaska MVP Gold 100K is no easy feat — you need to fly at least 100,000 miles a year on Alaska or partner airlines or fly 140 segments, with at least 24 of those flights being on an actual Alaska Airlines plane. You can compare this to the next down tier of MVP 75K where you only need to fly 75,000 miles or 90 segments, with 12 flights being on Alaska. Clearly, this top-tier status is meant to match similar requirements that have been published by American, United, and Delta.

Hot Tip: Learn how to get Alaska Airlines elite status (and is it worth it?) in our detailed guide.

The Benefits of MVP Gold 100K

Right now, there are several benefits to the MVP Gold 100K program that distinguishes it from the lower MVP Gold 75K tier:

• 100K elites get both a free snack and drink when flying in the Main Cabin, while 75K elites only receive a free beverage of their choice
• For bonus miles, 100K elites get to earn 150% on flights, while 75Ks only earn 125%
• Upgrades are processed first for 100K elites, before 75Ks
• Probably the most valuable benefit, 100K elites get 2 systemwide upgrade certificates to use on partner American Airlines

New Choice Benefits for MVP Gold 100K

Alaska MVP Gold 100K elites will now get to choose 1 of these 4 new Choice Benefit perks once they achieve status each year:

• 50,000 Bonus Miles — As this is in addition to the 50,000 miles you earn when you achieve MVP Gold 75K status, this would be a total of 100,000 bonus miles earned each year, which can be used for a round-trip business class flight to Europe, for example.
• Complimentary Wi-Fi on All Alaska Airlines-operated Flights — Alaska Wi-Fi is $8 per flight, or $50 for a monthly pass (where you don’t benefit unless you take 6 flights or more a month), so you need to consistently value using Wi-Fi on most flights for this perk to make sense for you.
• Gifting MVP Gold Status to 1 Person — Depending on if you have someone to give the status to, this benefit may not be as valuable for you.
• Alaska Lounge Membership — Membership for the Alaska Lounge is valued at a minimum of $350 (as this is the base price for membership for an elite member).

Final Thoughts

These new Choice Benefit perks can be really valuable, and certainly make the jump from MVP Gold 75K to MVP Gold 100K seem worth it. If you’re an Alaska Airlines loyalist and fly the necessary 100,000 miles per year, you can look forward to some cool new benefits.