I have been a United Airlines fan for about three years now and I currently have Premier Gold status with them. It’s not much but I only do about 60,000 miles of flying a year. That’s nothing compared to the other frequent fliers out there and truth be told, I’m not a huge money maker for United. So it would only make sense for United to get rid of leaches like me to focus on the big business travelers that actually keep them in the black.
By devaluing their award redemption chart and implementing a Premier Qualifying Dollars requirement, people like me (who do cheap mileage runs) will have a harder time obtaining elite status. And by not having elite status, I no longer earn bonus miles on paid revenue flights. And by not earning bonus miles on paid revenue flights, it takes me a whole lot longer to earn enough miles to redeem for those precious premium cabin seats on that newly devalued awards chart. And by me not redeeming my miles for those precious premium cabin seats, United saves a whole lot of money. It’s a vicious cycle.
Alas, as much as I have enjoyed the benefits of the United Mileage Plus program, I knew this day would come sooner or later. And for me, that day will come on January 31, 2015 when my Premier Gold status will expire. Getting the “butt in seat” miles to re-qualify will be no problem. It’s that darn PQD requirement that I can’t get around. There’s just no way I can justify spending $5,000 on flights to maintain a mid-tier status. And there’s definitely no way I’m going to put $25,000 of my spending on a United branded Chase credit card just to have the PQD waived.
As such, I was left with no other option but to switch my loyalty to another airline (or stay with United status-less). But where could I go? Delta? No thanks. American? Maybe. They have already implemented an unannounced devaluation to their award chart, eliminated the oneworld Explorer award and made other unfavorable changes to their program. What’s to prevent them from making further changes down the line and I’ll be back in the same boat again?
But then there’s Alaska Airlines, the little airline that often gets overlooked by many. Or as I refer to them, “the little airline that could.” And ever since Delta has been bullying them around, it makes me want to support them even more.
I’ve always liked Alaska Airlines. They’re a no frills airline but they get the job done. Living in Southern California, they are great for flights up and down the west coast. But that’s about it. There’s no convenient option to fly Alaska Airlines to New York, Chicago or Miami.
Luckily, Alaska Airlines partners with Delta and American domestically and other airlines such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and others internationally. So mileage earned on those other airlines can be credited to your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account. And the best part, elite status on Alaska Airlines also grants you certain perks and benefits on Delta and American flights as well such as priority boarding, complimentary upgrades and preferred seating.
So I bit the bullet and decided to switch my travel to Alaska Airlines. I contacted Alaska Airlines and requested a status match. I requested the status match on March 29, 2014 for my United Premier Gold and received confirmation that my status match was approved for Alaska Airlines MVP Gold on April 3, 2014. That was a lot quicker than the 2-4 week estimate they originally gave me. I also appreciated the fact that it was a straight status match and not a status challenge where I would have had to complete so many miles of traveling before getting to keep my new status.
Alaska Airlines has three tiers to their elite status program.
Let’s look at what elite status on Alaska Airlines gets you.
MVP members receive:
- 50% mileage bonus on flights miles.
- Immediate complimentary upgrades to first class on Alaska Airlines flights on Y, S or B class fares.
- Complimentary upgrades to first class on Alaska Airlines flights for you AND one companion upgradable 48 hours in advance on all other fares.
- Complimentary upgrades on Delta Air Lines.
- First two bags checked free.
- Priority boarding and preferred seating.
- 50% discount on American Airlines Main Cabin Extra seats.
- Priority check-in for Alaska and American Airlines.
- Discounted Board Room membership and fees.
MVP Gold members receive:
- 100% mileage bonus on flight miles.
- Immediate complimentary upgrades to first class on Alaska Airlines flights on Y, S, B, M and H class fares.
- Complimentary upgrades to first class on Alaska Airlines flights for you AND one companion upgradable 72 hours in advance on all other fares.
- Complimentary upgrades on Delta Air Lines.
- First two bags checked free.
- Priority boarding and preferred seating.
- Main Cabin Extra seats on American Airlines flights.
- Priority check-in for Alaska and American Airlines.
- Discounted Board Room membership and waived initiation fees.
- NO FEES for call center ticketing, ticket change/cancellation or Left on Board Items Returned. This is a great benefit! You can book a flight and cancel it at any time. Your money just gets credited to your Mileage Plan account for use at a later time. This applies to revenue and award flights.
- Free same day flight changes for all travelers on the same reservation. You can change to any flight that same day as long as there is a coach seat for sale even if it is in a higher fare class. However, you must keep your original routing (including connections).
- Express security lines at select airports.
- Complimentary premium beverage when traveling in the main cabin.
- Four MVP Gold Guest upgrade certificates.
Now those benefits are great and all but what about award redemptions? I mean, isn’t that the reason why we’re in this game to begin with? Absolutely.
Well, for a small airline, Alaska Airlines sure does partner with some big names. Alaska Mileage Plan miles can be used to redeem flights on Air France, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Qantas just to name a few. And the best part, Alaska Airlines allows one way bookings with a free stopover on their award redemptions on certain airlines. For example, you can fly first class from the US to Australia with a free stopover in Hong Kong for 80,000 miles one way on Cathay Pacific. That’s a great deal for two 10+ hour flights on Cathay’s award winning first class.
As you can see, Alaska Airlines is not a bad option if you’re looking to make the move from one of the other carriers. I just made the move to them and I’m already enjoying the benefits.
Prior to me having MVP Gold status, I had booked a flight to Hawaii for my friend and I. Without any status, I simply found the cheapest flight and picked whatever seats were available. But now that my MVP Gold status kicked in, I went in and requested upgrades to all four segments of my trip and selected preferred seats such as the exit rows. Three of the legs are waitlisted for first class and one of them already cleared to first class.
Something tells me I made a pretty good choice by switching to Alaska Airlines. If you want to join me in the Alaska Airlines bandwagon, all you have to do is send an email to elite.flyer@alaskaair.com
NOTE: If you do a status match now, it will only last until December 31, 2014. If you wait until November 1, 2014 to request a status match, then your elite status will be valid until December 31, 2015.
Make sure to include a scanned copy of your current elite status card (front and back), a mileage statement showing your current elite status and your driver’s license or passport for identification.
Unfortunately, Alaska Airlines will only match up to their mid-tier status, MVP Gold.
*Update: Rumor on the streets is that Alaska Airlines will match current Delta Platinum and Diamond members to their highest status, MVP Gold 75K. I have not been able to confirm this yet but it does make sense due to their current turf war with Delta in Seattle. If anyone can confirm this, please let me know in the comments section below. Thanks!*
