(Extended Again) Earn 50% More Elite Qualifying Miles With Alaska Mileage Plan

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At the beginning of March last year, Alaska Airlines was the first airline to introduce any kind of incentive with regards to elite status earning when it announced that it would reward flyers with 50% more elite qualifying miles on travel taken through 11 April 2020. Since then, the qualification period was extended to cover flights taken by the end of May 2020 and then extended once again to cover all flights taken by 31 December 2020. Now this promotion has been extended for the third time.

Alaska Mileage Plan Status Earning Requirements

Alaska Mileage Plan has three distinct elite status levels and for 2021 the requirements have been tweaked as Alaska prepares to join the oneworld Alliance at the end of March.

If you want to know what benefits are offered at each level take a look at this Alaska Mileage Plan page.

Earn Bonus Elite Qualifying Miles

The extended promotion couldn’t be simpler:

1. Registration is not required.
2. Travel on any Alaska Airlines flight through 30 June 2021.
3. Earn 50% more elite-qualifying miles on all eligible flights.
4. Eligible flights booked before this promotion was announced will earn the bonus elite qualifying miles.

The bonus elite miles are only offered for flights that are booked through Alaska Airlines and flown by Alaska Airlines or Horizon Airlines. Flights taken on partner airlines will not earn the 50% bonus elite qualifying miles (even if booked through Alaska).

Quick Thoughts

Alaska Airlines has already extended all elite statuses by 12 months but this is very good news for flyers looking to improve the status they have or those looking to requalify for elite status for 2022.

As Alaska Mileage Plan doesn’t have minimum spending criteria and as its elite qualifying miles are based on the distance a passenger travels (and not the price paid for a fare), this promotion probably offers one of the easiest and cost-effective ways of earning valuable oneworld Sapphire Status (MVP Gold) or more importantly, my favorite alliance status – oneworld Emerald (MVP Gold 75k).

With Alaska Airlines being primarily a domestic US airline (and one that mostly operates on the West Coast), it’s not particularly easy to book long-distance flights on the airline, but with oneworld Sapphire Status available with just 20,000 miles of Economy Class flying between now and the end of June (less if you’re flying in First), the good old fashioned coast-to-coast status run will probably start looking very attractive to some.

Note: With the Seattle Seahawks having made it into the playoffs and with their next game set to be at home, we should see at least one more fare sale (offering discounts of up to 40%) courtesy of Alaska’s Touchdown & Takeoff promotion.

Bottom Line

Alaska Airlines is now offering 50% more elite-qualifying miles on all flights operated and marketed by Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air through the end of June 2021. With significant parts of the West Coast under strict stay-at-home orders, this may not be a promotion that many will be able to use effectively for a while but it will certainly look very tempting when conditions improve.