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. There is no longer a requirement to meet a minimum number of flights or segments.

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.

In 2024, you can earn elite qualifying miles through the Alaska Airlines co-branded credit cards. You’ll get 4,000 EQM for every $10,000 spent (with a maximum of 20,000 EQM earned) on the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature^® credit card or Alaska Airlines Visa^® Business credit card.

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 2024, your status would be valid through December 2025.

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 start 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 Signature card can help you earn Alaska Airlines elite status and it’s a great way to earn lots of Alaska Airlines miles. It comes with perks, including free checked bags and a yearly Companion Fare.

Small business owners may want to check out the Alaska Airlines Business card.

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:

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.

American Airlines Benefits

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

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. 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.