Many travel loyalty programs offer the ability to earn lifetime elite status. Ordinarily elite status has to be earned on an annual basis, so it sure is nice to be able to not worry about requalifying for status anymore.
I’ve written in the past about lifetime hotel elite status, including with Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt. Now I’m taking a look at the lifetime status tiers offered by major airlines in the United States.
In this post I wanted to take a look at Alaska Mileage Plan lifetime status. While Alaska Airlines isn’t as global as the “big three” US carriers, the airline is in the oneworld alliance, and also has a lucrative loyalty program.
Separately I’ve written about American AAdvantage lifetime status, Delta SkyMiles lifetime status, and United MileagePlus lifetime status, so now let’s cover Alaska Mileage Plan lifetime status, especially given the recent improvements to the program.
In this post:
How to earn Alaska Mileage Plan lifetime status
Alaska Mileage Plan’s million miler program is rewarding, though earning lifetime status can be challenging. That’s because only “butt-in-seat” revenue miles on Alaska Airlines count toward lifetime status, so this requires a lot of commitment and loyalty. Alaska Airlines has two lifetime status thresholds, so let’s go over the details of those.
Lifetime Alaska MVP Gold status (one million miler)
Those who earn one million miler status with Alaska Airlines receive MVP Gold status for life, and will also receive status for a companion. MVP Gold is one of Alaska’s mid-tier elite status thresholds, so that’s pretty valuable, especially since it also offers oneworld Sapphire status. Note that million milers receive upgrade priority over those in the same elite tier and fare class who aren’t million milers.
In addition to the status, you’ll be able to select a one-time gift from a custom catalog, which will be emailed to you upon earning the status.
Lifetime Alaska MVP Gold 75K status (two million miler)
Those who earn two million miler status with Alaska Airlines receive MVP Gold 75K status for life, and will also receive status for a companion. This is Alaska’s second highest elite tier, after MVP Gold 100K status. Alaska MVP Gold 75K status comes with oneworld Emerald status, which is my favorite alliance elite tier. Note that million milers receive upgrade priority over those in the same elite tier and fare class who aren’t million milers.
Alaska’s million miler elite qualifying miles boost
Alaska Airlines also gives million milers a status boost of elite qualifying miles every year. Those who earn one million miler status receive 20,000 bonus elite qualifying miles annually, while those who earn two million miler status receive 40,000 bonus elite qualifying miles annually. This can hugely come in handy if you’re trying to achieve an elite tier that’s higher than that of your lifetime status.
Alaska’s million miler companion benefit
Alaska Airlines million milers are able to share status with someone in their household. They can share the higher of their lifetime elite status, or their earned status in a particular year. In other words, if you earned MVP Gold 100K status in a particular year, you could share that with a companion. The companion benefit can be requested at this link, and will automatically renew every January.
Alaska Mileage Plan lifetime status FAQs
While the above covers the basics of Alaska’s million miler program, let me answer some of the questions people may have about the program.
What counts toward Alaska million miler status?
Only paid, “butt-in-seat” miles on Alaska Airlines count toward million miler status. Flights on partner airlines, class of service bonuses, award flights, etc., all don’t count toward lifetime status.
Can you earn lifetime Alaska status with credit card spending?
Nope, you can earn lifetime status exclusively through how many miles you fly on Alaska Airlines. Spending on Alaska’s co-branded credit cards doesn’t count toward lifetime status.
How can you track your Alaska million miler status progress?
When you log into your Mileage Plan account just scroll down, and you’ll see a section that shows your lifetime Alaska miles, which would be the miles that count toward million miler status.
Do Alaska million miler miles expire?
Miles toward million miler status will continue to accrue over the lifetime of your account. Unlike elite qualifying miles, they don’t reset each calendar year.
Also keep in mind that miles toward million miler status are completely separate from redeemable miles, as you can’t use million miler miles toward anything. It’s simply a tally of how many total miles you’ve flown on Alaska Airlines over the years.
Can you earn lifetime MVP Gold 100K status?
While Alaska Airlines introduced a new top-tier MVP Gold 100K status as of 2022, there’s no way to earn lifetime MVP Gold 100K status. That could certainly be added in the future, but isn’t available yet.
What are the benefits of Alaska MVP Gold & MVP Gold 75K status?
What are the benefits of Alaska Airlines elite status? Some of the most popular benefits of Alaska MVP Gold status include:
- Complimentary upgrades to first class up to 72 hours before departure, including for companions
- Complimentary upgrades to Premium Class up to 72 hours before departure, including for companions
- Priority check-in, boarding, and security
- Two complimentary checked bags
- A 100% mileage bonus
- oneworld Sapphire status
Some of the most popular benefits of Alaska MVP Gold 75K status include:
- Complimentary upgrades to first class up to 120 hours before departure, including for companions
- Complimentary upgrades to Premium Class at time of booking, including for companions
- Priority check-in, boarding, and security
- Three complimentary checked bags
- A 125% mileage bonus
- A one-way American Airlines international upgrade certificate
- oneworld Emerald status
Bottom line
Alaska Airlines offers a lifetime status program, whereby you can receive MVP Gold status for flying one million miles on Alaska, and MVP Gold 75K status for flying two million miles on Alaska. You can even nominate a companion in your household to receive the same status, which is awesome. The Mileage Plan lifetime status program is both rewarding and difficult to earn, given that the only metric for qualifying is miles flown on Alaska.
Are any OMAAT readers Alaska Airlines million mile flyers?
I did most of my DL 1.5 MM as BIS as I started when FF programs first started in the early 1980’s. Marginal benefit for many years as a Silver. Slightly more when I get bumper to gold in February. Delta is definitely what have you done for me lately. Too bad DL doesn’t really value loyalty. But that’s not new. Good for the AS flyers!
I’m in the Alaska 100K MVP Facebook group, no member there reports over 2.5M miles. Alaska is likely waiting to publish lifetime 100K when the first flyer actually reaches the 3M mile threshold
2.5M, Respect!!!
Flying millions on AS is much harder than on other airlines.
That's like almost 2500 trips up and down the coast.
Yes. Dual household 100k MM - still in the back of the plane 30% of the time.