[Expired] Alaska Offering 50% Bonus Elite Qualifying Miles for Flights To/From California

Update: The offer mentioned below has expired and is no longer available.

Lately, Alaska Airlines has been focused on dominating in the California market, directly competing with United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, both of which have launched new flights, both intra-California and to other states.

Alaska is now offering 50% bonus elite qualifying miles (EQM) on flights to or from California for Mileage Plan members. Let’s learn more!

Elite Qualifying Miles

As a reminder, in order to earn Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan status, you need to earn elite qualifying miles. These essentially take into account the class of service of the flight you’re on and the mileage distance of the flight. Earning a 50% bonus on the elite qualifying miles you earn allows you to accelerate earning towards status faster.

Elite qualifying miles range from 200% of the miles flown for a full fare first class ticket all the way down to 100% of a regular economy class ticket. For this offer, you’d add in a 50% bonus on top of the elite qualifying miles you’re already earning.

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

Terms of the Offer

• This promotion is valid only on Alaska Airlines marketed and operated flights. You can travel either on an Alaska mainline flight or one of its 2 subsidiaries (Horizon and SkyWest).
• You do not have to register to take part in this promotion, so you simply need to credit the flights to your Alaska account.
• This offer is valid for flights between October 1 and November 10, 2022. You only have 40 days to earn, and your flight needs to simply take place between those dates, regardless of when it was booked.
• You can earn a maximum of 10,000 bonus elite qualifying miles under this promotion, so there’s little opportunity for mileage running or working toward a much higher-tier status.
• To earn the bonus, your flight simply needs to touch the state of California. For example, Washington, D.C. (DCA) to Los Angeles (LAX) counts, as well as San Diego (SAN) to Santa Barbara (SBA).
• Unfortunately, the bonus miles you earn under this promotion do not count towards earned MVP Gold 75K or MVP Gold 100K benefits. For example, you will not be able to earn American Airlines systemwide upgrade coupons that you’d normally get for achieving MVP 100K status.
• The bonus miles you earn under this promotion will post with your flight when the base miles post, so you should see everything add to your account very quickly.
• No matter whether you fly economy class or first class, you can still benefit from this offer.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking to achieve Alaska Airlines status, or boost up to the next tier, flying to California can give you a head start. This offer is primarily targeted to bolster Alaska’s presence in California, but no matter where you live, you can take advantage of this promotion so long as you have a flight to or from California.