The battle for Seattle is heating up and Alaska Airlines is taking no time to respond to Delta’s west coast flight invasion. Earlier this week, Delta announced that frequent flyers could earn double redeemable miles for one year on flights between Seattle and Vegas, San Fran, and LA. In response, Alaska is offering an even sweeter promotion for Alaska Airline Mileage Plan members. Mileage Plan members can earn DOUBLE redeemable miles & elite qualifying miles on ALL flights from Seattle and the Bay Area including: Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, and Santa Rosa; along with all Alaska Airline flights between Seattle and Los Angeles and Vegas.
The Alaska Airline promotion is ongoing, now through May 31, 2014, and ALL mileage plan members who register will earn 2x miles on all flights mentioned above and will also earn 2x elite status miles when flying up and down the west coast on Alaska metal. Also, don’t forget that MVP (Alaska’s lowest elite status) starts at only 20,000 miles, so this promotion is a GREAT way to add elite qualifying miles to your bank if you are going for Alaska Airline elite status.
Sample of mileage earn per route:
| Seattle-Los Angeles | 1,908 miles roundtrip | 3,816 with double miles |
| Seattle-Las Vegas | 1,732 miles roundtrip | 3,464 with double miles |
| Seattle-San Jose | 1,392 miles roundtrip | 2,784 with double miles |
| Seattle-San Francisco | 1,356 miles roundtrip | 2,712 with double miles |
| Seattle-Oakland | 1,342 miles roundtrip | 2,684 with double miles |
| Seattle-Santa Rosa | 1,236 miles roundtrip | 2,472 with double miles |
This promotion is VERY similar to the Delta promotion that is running now through October 31, 2014, but unlike Delta, Alaska has upped the ante and is offering double elite qualifying miles. In addition, Delta promotion requires that flights are purchased by 12/31/2013, whereas Alaska requires purchase to be made between now and May 31, 2013 (the last day of the promotion). I did a side by side comparison of the two promotions, and as you can see, Alaska’s promotion is MUCH better
| Alaska | Delta | |
| Double Redeemable Miles | Yes | Yes |
| Double Elite Qualifying Miles | Yes | NO |
| Eligible Routes to/from Seattle | San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Santa Rosa, Los Angeles, Las Vegas | San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas |
| Promotional Period | 10/22/13-5/31/2014 | 10/18/2013-10/31/2014 |
| Purchase Flights By | 5/31/2014 | 12/31/2013 |
| Travel By | 5/31/2014 | 12/31/2013 |
Therefore, if you’re traveling up and down the west coast expect to see great LOW fares and tons of mile promotions as Alaska and Delta go head to head.
