New Alaska Airlines 2023 Status Challenge for California Residents

The airline market in California is hot. Although no airlines have official hubs in the Golden State, basically every airline does big business there, including Southwest, United, American, Delta, and Alaska. In another move to make some headway for itself, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has just announced a status challenge for California residents. With this challenge, you’ll be able to earn either MVP or MVP Gold elite status through the end of 2023. Let’s take a look at the details.

Table of Contents

Status Challenge Details
Is It Worth It?
Final Thoughts

Status Challenge Details

Note that this challenge is only available to residents of California, so if you’re elsewhere you’re out of luck. But if you’re one of the nearly 40 million people who reside within the state, you have the opportunity to earn Alaska Airlines elite status in just a few flights.

Here are the specifics:

You must register for the promotion
Fly from January 1, 2023, to March 31, 2023
Take 2 round-trips for MVP status
Take 4 round-trips for MVP Gold status
Flights must be paid travel; award flights don’t qualify

The promotion is valid only for the following nonstop routes:

Los Angeles (LAX): Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Newark (EWR), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)
San Diego (SAN): Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), or Orlando (MCO)
San Francisco (SFO): Boston (BOS), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Orlando (MCO), Tampa (TPA), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)

Is It Worth It?

Alaska’s Mileage Plan has been on a tear with its elite status over the last couple of years, granting matches, extensions, and challenges like no one’s business. Still, Alaska’s elite status remains highly valuable — and even more so now that it’s a full-fledged member of Oneworld.

Here are the benefits you can expect as an MVP or MVP Gold elite member:

Alaska Airlines Elite Benefit	MVP	MVP Gold
Oneworld Alliance Status	Oneworld Ruby	Oneworld Sapphire
Elite Miles Bonus	50%	100%
First Class Upgrades at Time of Booking	Y, B fares	Y, B, H, K fares
Premium Class Upgrades at the Time of Booking	Y, B, H fares	Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N fares
First and Premium Class Upgrades on Non-qualifying Fares on Alaska Airlines	48 hours before departure	72 hours before departure
Free Checked Bags	2	2
Discounted Membership for Alaska Lounges	$50 off	$100 off
Companion Upgrades to Premium and First Class		Yes
First Class Guest Upgrades		Yes
Complimentary Premium Beverage in Main Cabin		Yes
Standby and Waitlist for Full Flights		Yes
Complimentary Same-day Flight Changes		Yes

A quick look at Google Flights shows us that you can take a flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Boston (BOS) for just $198 round-trip:

Cash rate SFO BOS — Image Credit: Google

That means it’ll cost you just under $400 to earn MVP status or $800 for MVP Gold. There’s no world in which you’d otherwise receive statuses like that for so little buy-in. In short: yes, if you qualify for this offer, it is definitely worth it.

Hot Tip: Have another airline’s elite status and want to match over? Check out our detailed guide on how to status match with Alaska Airlines!

Final Thoughts

Alaska has just launched a new status challenge for Californians to earn either MVP or MVP Gold elite status with its program. With such cheap flights, there’s no reason not to sign up — so what are you waiting for?