Get a Status Match on Alaska Airlines

First of all, credit for this post goes to Ben from One Mile at a Time (post here) for alerting me and others to Alaska Airlines new promotion to match another airline’s status to Alaska’s even up to their highest level – MVP Gold75K.  Despite the clunky title, this status is very worthwhile as it almost guarantees you an upgrade on one of the best airlines out there.  And if you have to sit in coach?  Then you get a free drink and a Digiplayer entertainment device.

I will be about 4,000 short of getting MVP Gold this year and my wife has just made her last mileage run to ensure that she gets 75k for the first time (for either of us).  I kind of had my doubts that they would give me 75K since I have been MVP Gold for so long and I figured this was really a gambit to attract high level flyers from other airlines.  But why not?  If they said no it would just be the waste of a few electrons.  So I inquired and told them that I was a United 1K and interested in the MVP Gold 75K status.  They wrote back and said to include my drivers license and United statement.  I still had my doubts, but do have an impressive United statement that shows I am 1K and a million miler with almost a million miles in my RDM account.

Well, just a few days later, I received this email:

So there you go!  You never know unless you try (a good philosophy in life) and I encourage you to try as well.  Others have been required to fly one or more round trips, but they simply gave it to me.  Maybe that million miles on United impressed them or that I have over 400,000 on Alaska convinced them that I am already a good customer.  Who knows?

Be warned that they say this is a once in a lifetime thing.  So don’t do it unless you think you will actually fly at least a few flights on Alaska.  Alaska is a great airline with the best service and people in the business.  Sure they don’t fly international (that’s why I am also a UA 1K), but they have great domestic service based in Seattle, not Alaska, and can’t be beat for redeeming miles to Hawaii.  If you are a Delta or American flyer, both of those airline’s miles will credit to Alaska as EQM!  Their program has the widest variety of international and domestic partners including British Airways, KLM, Cathay Pacific, Air France, Korean, and the only airline where you can redeem for an Emirates flight (or get EQM for a paid flight).  Check out Alaska’s program here.

The wife is going to be mad that I beat her to 75K….