Jerry emailed to remind me that Alaska Airlines is offering an elite status challenge to people living in California and certain east coast states to encourage them to take advantage of their transcon route network. Booking either two or four round-trip flights (a total of four or eight individual flights) is enough to earn MVP or MVP Gold elite status. That normally requires flying 20,000 or 40,000 miles, respectively. Learn more about the benefits of Mileage Plan status; I’ve personally been MVP Gold for several years.
You must register before your first qualifying flight, and all travel must occur between March 6 and May 31, 2019. That still leaves a fair amount of time to complete your travel in the next two months. Eligible customers must be residents of California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or District of Columbia. Likewise, only certain flights between these states are eligible:
West Coast departures between:
- Los Angeles (LAX) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)
- San Diego (SAN) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Newark (EWR), or Orlando (MCO)
- San Francisco (SFO) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Orlando (MCO), Philadelphia (PHL), Raleigh (RDU), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)
- San Jose (SJC) and New York (JFK) or Newark (EWR)
East Coast departures between:
- New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), or San Jose (SJC)
- Newark (EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), or San Jose (SJC)
- Baltimore (BWI) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), or San Francisco (SFO)
- Boston (BOS) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), or San Francisco (SFO)
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
- Orlando (MCO) and San Diego (SAN), or San Francisco (SFO)
- Philadelphia (PHL) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
- Raleigh (RDU) and San Francisco (SFO)
- Washington-Dulles (IAD) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
- Washington-Reagan (DCA) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
This deal can be stacked with another offer that Alaska just published on Monday, letting you earn double award miles through the end of 2019 on many transcon flights to/from California. In both cases, Alaska seems not to be targeting its typically loyal customers in Oregon, Alaska, or Washington.
Keep in mind that the status challenge does not offer extra elite qualifying miles. You will still need to fly at least 75,000 miles to earn MVP Gold 75K status. It just relaxes the threshold to earn MVP or MVP Gold your first year, assuming you meet the requirements before the end of the challenge period.
