Flights to and from California, along with intra-California flights, earn a 50% bonus towards elite status on Alaska Airlines in October and November. Registration isn’t required.
- Alaska (and Horizon and Alaska-coded SkyWest) flights only, no other partner flights
- Up to 10,000 bonus qualifying miles
- Bonus doesn’t count towards earning threshold benefits like 50,000 miles for MVP Gold 75K and American Airlines systemwide upgrades.
Southwest Airlines is also running an elite qualifying promotion suggesting that status-earning is behind this year, which isn’t surprising since 2022 started out with the Omicron surge and business travel hasn’t fully returned.
American Airlines doesn’t need to do as much to goose status, with its new ‘almost everything counts’ towards status Loyalty Points changes, and Delta added award travel counting towards status as a permanent feature of its program (though neither move rules out bonus qualifying promotions in the future).
Alaska’s focus on California makes sense as well, travel remains relatively depressed in California compared to most of the country. Recovery there lagged travel’s surge for much of the year, outside of leisure destinations, and Alaska’s strength is greatest in the Bay Area.
So if you’re flying to, from, or within California your flights the next two months will count 50% more towards elite status with Alaska Airlines.
Alaska will soon be jacking up their award rates and destroying their FF program. They are a lost cause.
Thanks for the update – does 50% bonus on Alaska Airlines apply to reward flights or only flights purchased with cash?