I have a deep, dark secret: I lost my MVP Gold status with Alaska Airlines this year. Even commuting between Seattle and San Francisco all summer didn’t help me. I’ve been traveling less for school and all my longhaul flights were with miles. I considered an end-of-year mileage run, but the options didn’t look very attractive. I started the new year as a lesser MVP member.
Fortunately Alaska Airlines is reaching out to some people to make it easier to get their status back! I got an email this morning offering to restore my MVP Gold elite status after (1) registering and (2) flying 10,000 miles between January 18 and April 15, 2018. Only flights on Alaska Airline and Virgin America will qualify, so no partners. That’s still good enough for me. I even have my first flight of the year already booked for tomorrow! (Update: There is a similar offer for earning back MVP Gold 75K status with 20,000 miles.)
I expect to earn MVP Gold this year anyway. With an upcoming flight in Emirates first class from Los Angeles to Milan via Dubai, I expect to earn almost 34,000 qualifying miles in one go. But it would be nice to lock in status sooner for benefits on Alaska Airlines including more Gold Guest Upgrades, complimentary upgrades, and free flight changes.
The other benefit to getting my status back is that this same Emirates flight will then earn more award miles. My current MVP elite bonus is only 50%. That’s higher than most airlines give to their silver tier members, but not as good as the 100% bonus that MVP Gold members receive. My wife, who did earn her Gold status, will get roughly 11,000 more award miles than I will on our Emirates flight together.
In other words, flying 10,000 miles right now will lead to an extra 11,000 award miles later down the road. I consider it a pretty good value. If you’ve gotten similar offers for MVP or MVP Gold 75K elite status, please share in the comments and I can add them to the post.
Terms & Conditions
Only Mileage Plan™ members who receive this offer directly from Alaska Airlines via email are qualified to participate. Qualified members who fly 10,000 miles between January 18, 2018, and April 15, 2018, will be granted Mileage Plan MVP® Gold status through December 31, 2018. Registration is required prior to your first qualifying flight. Mileage for all segments accrued toward this promotion must be earned on eligible flights operated by Alaska Airlines (flight numbers 1-999, 2000-2999, 3450-3499), or on flights operated by Virgin America and marketed by Alaska Airlines or Virgin America (flight numbers 0001 – 1999), and credited to your Mileage Plan account by May 15, 2018. Award or free travel is not valid for this offer. Class of Service or Elite Bonuses do not count toward qualification for the promotion. MVP® Gold status will take effect 10-14 days after your last qualifying flight and will be valid through December 31, 2018. Please allow six to eight weeks to receive your new card. Offer is subject to change and all terms and conditions of the Mileage Plan program apply.
