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Alaska Airlines extends Elite Status
Alaska Airlines has had quite a year. We learned they will join One World, they’ve since accelerated their AA partnership , and now they have gone customer friendly and have committed to extending your elite through 12/31/21. I’m a fan of Alaska Airlines and have taken full advantage of their uber lucrative partner earn rates. I was quite pleased to receive an email yesterday detailing Alaska Airlines’ plans to tell their loyalists, ” We got you.” Even those that were status matching. Let’s take a look
Elite Status Extension Details
- Whatever your current status is….extended until 12/31/21
This means that whatever your current status is, you’ll have it to enjoy after Alaska Airlines is welcomed into One World. That is great news for those with Gold and above as it’ll mean lounge access even when traveling on economy tickets internationally.
- Future MVP and MVP Gold members are going to have incentivized EQM earning opportunities to help boost status for 2021
This is an interesting proposition. Personally, I’d rather see a requirement reduction, and maybe that’s in the works, but in either situation, it appears earning thresholds may be easier than they currently are for loyalists via bonus EQMs or the like.
- MVPG75 will have additional opportunities to hit status and claim that bonus 50k
This is by far the best perk of MVPG75. I’ve held it and Gold and my upgrade ratio was virtually the same. Having that status in 2021 will be fantastic since it should equate to One World Emerald and grant access to first class lounges internationally.
- Elite miles rollover to 2021
However many EQMs you’ve earned between 1/1/20 and 4/30/2020 will rollover for the same period in 2021. That is pretty fantastic and gives members a head start towards 2022 status
- Status match is achieved and extended to 12/31/2020
Wow…if you were lucky enough to status match during that timeframe, congrats, you have status for over 20 months without flying a single Alaska miles potentially.
- Companion Certs are extended until 11/26/2021
You can make these purchases up through 12/31/2020 – so if you have a companion certificate this news gives you a little more time to book.
Overall
I think this is a very generous offer for Alaska to roll out. Not only do you get to extend your status, but even those in the midst of a match will keep status through 2021, and your first quarter EQMs will rollover and match for 2021. This is pretty fantastic. I would also think that their current mega partner award rates would hold since travel should be incentivized for the remainder of the year, and who knows, maybe they can keep some of their ex-One World partners for longer. I’m eager to see how they adjust earning for MVPs and MVPGs so that they can hit status quicker and whether EQMs may be integrated into their credit card earning, or how they apply a multiplier to flying. Personally, I’d rather see earning stay the same but have tier thresholds drop by a significant percentage, but that probably just benefits people like me who fly on partners more than Alaska metal. We shall see how that rolls out, but this announcement is in line with Alaska’s reputation for being customer friendly.
Check out BA First Class…an Alaska partner
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.