How To Get Alaska Airlines Elite Status (And Is It Worth It?)

Who doesn’t love airline elite status? Getting perks like free checked baggage, upgrades, and lounge access can be helpful, but sometimes the path to elite status is unclear.

At Upgraded Points, we’ve covered ways to earn elite status with lots of popular airlines, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines. Today, it’s Alaska Airlines’ turn.

In this post, we’ll show you everything you need to know about how to get Alaska Airlines elite status, including the minimum requirements, tiers of elite status, the benefits of each level of status, and the all-important question — is it even worth trying to get Alaska Airlines elite status?

How To Earn Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Elite Status

Earning elite status in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program is relatively straightforward compared to many other airline elite status programs out there.

The earning period runs on a calendar year, from January 1 to December 31. You keep your status for the remainder of the year in which you earn it, as well as the following calendar year.

To earn elite status, you’ll need to meet the minimum number of elite qualifying miles or the minimum number of eligible segments. In addition, you’ll also need to meet a minimum number of flights marketed and operated by Alaska Airlines, which varies based on your elite status tier.

Elite qualifying miles are earned by flying on Alaska Airlines and its qualifying partners with a minimum of 500 miles earned per flight. Award tickets don’t earn elite qualifying miles, and miles earned through the Alaska Airlines co-branded credit cards don’t count toward elite status.

	MVP	MVP Gold	MVP Gold 75K	MVP Gold 100K
Eligible miles earned on Alaska Airlines plus Oneworld and global partners	20,000	40,000	75,000	100,000
Eligible segments flown on Alaska Airlines, Oneworld Alliance partners, and global partners	30	60	90	140
Minimum number of flights marketed and operated by Alaska Airlines	2	6	12	24

Once you earn elite status with Alaska Airlines, it will be valid through the following calendar year. For example, if you earned Alaska Airlines MVP status in October 2023, your status would be valid through December 2024.

After flying 1,000,000 miles on Alaska Airlines, you’ll be a Million Miler and have MVP Gold status for life.

Status Match to Alaska Airlines

Mileage Plan also has a great status match program. If you have elite status with another airline, you can apply for a status match to Alaska Airlines.

You can match to MVP status from the following statuses:

You can match to MVP Gold status from the following statuses:

You can match to MVP Gold 75K status from the following statuses:

Once you apply for a status match, you’ll have 90 days to fly a certain number of miles to keep your status.

• To keep MVP status, fly 5,000 miles on Alaska
• To keep MVP Gold status, fly 10,000 miles on Alaska
• To keep MVP Gold 75K status, fly 20,000 miles on Alaska

Once you fly the required miles on Alaska, your elite benefits will be extended based on when you started your status match challenge.

If you started by the end of June, your benefits will be extended to the end of that calendar year. If you started your challenge between July and December, your benefits will be extended through the following calendar year.

Bottom Line:

You can status match to Alaska Airlines from a number of other airline statuses. After status matching, you’ll have 90 days to fly a specified number of miles to keep your benefits. To maximize the time you can take advantage of your matched status, start your status match challenge between July and December so your benefits will be extended to the end of the following calendar year.

Alaska Airlines Credit Cards

The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature^® credit card doesn’t help out when it comes to earning status. It does, however, offer a great way to earn lots more Alaska Airlines miles as well as great perks including free checked bags, and a yearly Companion Fare.

Small business owners may want to check out the Alaska Airlines Visa^® Business Credit Card.

Bottom Line:

Unfortunately, there’s no way to fast-track to Alaska Airlines elite status with co-branded credit cards.

Alaska Airlines Elite Status Benefits

Alaska Airlines elite members have access to select benefits, regardless of elite level:

• Priority check-in and boarding
• Free checked bags (2 for MVP and MVP Gold and 3 for MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K)
• Preferred seating
• Express security screening at select airports
• Dedicated reservation phone line
• Priority call routing in call centers
• Elite Leave for new parents, allowing you to keep elite status for an additional year during pregnancy or parental leave

In addition, elite members have the following benefits:

Alaska Airlines Elite Benefit	MVP	MVP Gold	MVP Gold 75K	MVP Gold 100K
Oneworld Alliance Status	Oneworld Ruby	Oneworld Sapphire	Oneworld Emerald	Oneworld Emerald
Elite Miles Bonus	50%	100%	125%	150%
First Class Upgrades at the Time of Booking	Y, B fares	Y, B, H, K fares	Y, B, H, K, M fares	Y, B, H, K, M fares
Premium Class Upgrades at the Time of Booking	Y, B, H fares	Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N fares	Any fare except Saver fares	Any fare except Saver fares
First and Premium Class Upgrades on Non-Qualifying Fares on Alaska Airlines, Except Saver Fares	48 hours before departure	72 hours before departure	120 hours before departure	120 hours before departure, with the highest waitlist opportunity
First and Premium Class Upgrade Eligibility on Saver Fares	Within 2 hours of departure	Within 2 hours of departure	Within 2 hours of departure	Within 2 hours of departure
Free Checked Bags	2	2	3	3
Discounted Membership for Alaska Lounges	$50 off	$100 off	$150 off	$150 off
Discounted CLEAR Membership and Annual Bonus Miles	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Companion Upgrades to Premium and First Class		Yes	Yes	Yes
First Class Guest Upgrades (Max 4 per Year)		Yes	Yes	Yes
Complimentary Premium Beverage or Chocolate in Main Cabin		Yes	Yes	Yes + snack or meal
Standby and Waitlist for Full Flights		Yes	Yes	Yes
Complimentary Same-Day Flight Changes		Yes	Yes	Yes
50,000 Bonus Miles Upon Qualification			Yes
4 Alaska Lounge Day Passes			Yes	Yes
International Upgrade Certificate on American Airlines			1 one-way	2 one-way
100K Choice Benefit				Yes

100K Choice Benefit

Upon earning MVP Gold 100K status, members can choose 1 of 5 100K Choice Benefits:

• 50,000 bonus miles
• Alaska Lounge+ membership
• Gift of MVP Gold status
• Complimentary Wi-Fi every time you fly
• Complimentary CLEAR^® Plus membership

Hot Tip:

Having elite status helps you get first class upgrades on Alaska Airlines.

Oneworld and Global Partner Benefits

In addition to benefits on Alaska Airlines, elite members get benefits from Oneworld Alliance partners and global partners. Benefits include priority check-in, access to preferred or pre-reserved seating, and Priority on waitlists and when on standby, among others.

There are additional perks involved for those with higher elite status including priority boarding, access to Oneworld business class lounges, access to Oneworld Alaska lounges, extra baggage allowance, and priority baggage handling.

Oneworld Alliance Partners

Global Partners

Alaska Airlines elite members have access to the following Oneworld Alliance benefits.

Oneworld Benefit	MVP	MVP Gold	MVP Gold 75K	MVP Gold 100K
Oneworld Elite Status	Oneworld Ruby	Oneworld Sapphire	Oneworld Emerald	Oneworld Emerald
Earn and Redeem Miles on Oneworld Partner Flights	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Elite Bonus Miles on Eligible Oneworld Flights	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Priority Check-in	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Preferred or Pre-Reserved Seating	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Waitlist and Standby Priority	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Priority Boarding		Yes	Yes	Yes
Oneworld Business Class Lounge Access		Yes	Yes	Yes
Extra Baggage Allowance and Priority Handling		Yes	Yes	Yes
Oneworld First Class Lounge Access			Yes	Yes
Fast Track at Security			Yes	Yes

American Airlines Benefits

Alaska Airlines elite members have access to the following benefits on American Airlines:

American Airlines Benefits	Platinum	MVP Gold	MVP Gold 75K	MVP Gold 100K
Access to Main Cabin Extra Seating	24 hours ahead	At the time of booking	At the time of booking	At the time of booking
Complimentary Checked Bags	1	2	3	3
Complimentary Domestic Upgrades	Starting at 24 hours	Starting at 48 hours	Starting at 72 hours	Starting at 72 hours
Complimentary Same-Day Flight Changes			Yes	Yes
International Upgrade Certificates			1 one-way	2 one-way

Other Partner Airlines Benefits

MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K, and MVP Gold 100K members plus 1 guest will have access to the following partner lounges:

• Select Hainan Airlines lounges
• Select Icelandair lounges

Is Alaska Airlines Elite Status Worth It?

Whether or not Alaska Airlines elite status is worth it or not depends on how you use the program. Let’s take a look at a few of the benefits of Alaska’s elite status to see what they’re actually worth for an average traveler.

Free Checked Baggage

Alaska Airlines elite members get a minimum of 2 free checked bags per flight. Alaska’s checked baggage fees are increasing to $35 for the first bag and $45 for the second. This means that if you fly 6 times per year round-trip and check 2 bags each time, having elite status would save you $960!

If you don’t have Alaska Airlines elite status but would still like to avoid paying baggage fees, you can consider Alaska Airlines co-branded credit cards. Both of these cards come with a free checked bag for you and up to 6 guests on the same reservation.

Premium Class Upgrades

Alaska Airlines elite members can upgrade to Premium Class at the time of booking, depending on which fares you book. Premium Class comes with roomier seats, complimentary beer and wine, plus priority boarding. Premium Class upgrades start at $15 per flight, so if you fly 6 round trips per year, you’ll save $180.

Elite Miles Bonus

As an Alaska Airlines elite member, you’ll earn 50% to 150% in bonus miles. If you’re an MVP member who flies 20,000 miles per year, that’s a bonus of 10,000 miles.

According to our most recent valuations, Alaska miles are worth ~1.8 cents each. That means your bonus of 10,000 miles is worth about $180. If you’re an MVP Gold 100K member who flies 100,000 miles, your 150% bonus will give you an extra 150,000 miles with a value of about $2,700!

Bottom Line:

Being able to earn bonus Alaska miles is a great perk of having elite status with Alaska Airlines.

Final Thoughts

Alaska’s MVP elite status program is a great way to improve your flying experience. Thankfully, getting Alaska Airlines elite status is relatively straightforward.

Each calendar year, you’ll need to fly at least 20,000 eligible miles or 30 segments in addition to at least 2 flights marketed and operated by Alaska Airlines. As you get higher elite status, the requirements to earn the status also go up.

Best of all, you can enjoy the benefits of Alaska Airlines elite status on their many Oneworld partner airlines as well.