Heads up! You can earn Alaska Air elite status with card spend for a limited time! It’s a great status to have, especially for since Alaska Airlines is now part of Oneworld. Hawaii people could even benefit from this, though whether it’s worth it to pursue status with this promo is another story.
The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card is my favorite airline credit card. Even with its now higher annual fee, the card remains one of the best values. Personally, I think it’s the best airline credit card for Hawaii residents unless you can justify the much higher annual fee of the Delta Platinum card. Anyhow, you can earn Alaska Air elite status with card spend alone for a limited time. But it’ll cost you.
Earn Alaska Air Elite Status with Card Spend
Yesterday, I got an email from Alaska Airlines informing me of their promotion, which allows you to earn Alaska Air elite status with card spend. Naturally, you need to have an Alaska Air Visa Signature, you must use the card, and you must register for the promotion. The specifics include the following:
- Register here by June 30, 2023
- Earn 2,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) for every $10,000 you spend
- Make your purchase between May 1 and November 30
- All purchases from the month in which you register will qualify – for example, if you register on May 15, all purchases from May 1 qualify.
- It can take up to eight to twelve weeks for your EQMs to post
Yep, you have to spend A LOT of money to earn status this way. Alaska’s base elite level, MVP, requires 20,000 EQMs to attain. That means, to attain MVP just with card spend, you need to spend a whopping $100,000 on your Alaska Air Visa Signature over the next seven months. Not quite worth the effort, in my opinion. However, if you’re coming up short on EQMs, then it may be worth it to earn Alaska Air elite status with card spend.
Alaska Air Status Recap
Alaska Mileage Plan has four different status levels.
- MVP – 20,000 miles or 30 segments, though two flights must take place on Alaska Air metal
- Earn 50% bonus miles on flights
- First class upgrades at booking for Y or B fares
- Premium Class upgrades at booking for Y, B, or H fares
- Free first or Premium Class upgrades on non-qualifying fares 48 hours prior to departure
- Priority check-in
- Two free checked bags
- Preferred seating
- Express security access at select airports
- Alaska Lounge Membership Discount
- Priority call center routing
- Elite Leave for new parents
- MVP Gold – 40,00 miles or 60 segments, though six flights must take place on Alaska Air metal
- Same as above, except for the following:
- 100% bonus miles
- First class upgrades at booking on Y, B, H, or K fares
- Premium Class upgrades at booking on Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S or N fares
- Free first or Premium Class upgrades on non-qualifying fares 72 hours prior to departure
- Companion Upgrade for First and Premium Class
- Four First class upgrades per year
- Complimentary premium beverage or chocolate in Main Cabin
- Standby and waitlist for full flights
- Complimentary same-day flight changes
- Same as above, except for the following:
- MVP Gold 75 – 75,000 miles or 90 segments, though twelve of those flights must take place on Alaska Air metal
- Same as MVP and MVP Gold, except for the following:
- 125% bonus miles
- 50,000 bonus miles upon qualification
- First class upgrades at booking on Y, B, H, K or Mfares
- Premium Class upgrades at booking on all fares except for Saver
- Free first or Premium Class upgrades on non-qualifying fares 120 hours prior to departure
- One-way international upgrade certificates on American Airlines
- Three free checked bags
- Four Alaska Lounge day passes (max. 4 per year)
- Same as MVP and MVP Gold, except for the following:
- MVP Gold 100 – 100,000 miles or 140 segments, though 24 of those flights must take place on Alaska Air metal
- Same as MVP, MVP Gold, and MVP Gold 75, except for the following:
- 150% bonus miles
- 100k Choice Benefit
- Free first or Premium Class upgrades on non-qualifying fares 120 hours prior to departure with the highest priority
- Two-way international upgrade certificates on American Airlines
- Complimentary snack or meal in Main Cabin
- Same as MVP, MVP Gold, and MVP Gold 75, except for the following:
Of course, you don’t have to fly Alaska to enjoy elite benefits, which is why I think some will try to earn Alaska Air elite status with card spend. That’s because Alaska Mileage Plan status also gives you Oneworld status as follows:
- MVP = Ruby
- MVP Gold = Sapphire
- MVP Gold 75 & 100 = Emerald
Oneworld Sapphire status grants you access to Business class lounges, extra baggage allowance, priority baggage handling, Business class check-in, priority boarding, and access to preferred seats on all Oneworld Airlines. Emerald is even better, as it bumps access up to First class lounges and check-in.
As a reminder, aside from Alaska and American Air, Oneworld member airlines include:
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Finnair
- Iberia
- Japan Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar
- Royal Air Maroc
- Royal Jordanian
- SriLankan Airways
- Fiji Airways
- Oman Air
Earn Alaska Air Elite Status with Card Spend, Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many reasons to hold status with Alaska. However, I don’t think it’s a good idea to earn Alaska Air elite status with card spend alone. It’ll cost you far less to earn miles with flights. After all, you only need to fly about four flights between Hawaii and the West Coast to hit 20,000 miles.