Beginning next year, the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program will offer perks for milestones that members achieve between elite status levels.
The carrier will also increase the ways in which flyers can accrue miles for elite status.
Perks include bonus miles, free meals, free WiFi, lounge access, getting elevated Mileage Plan status for a single trip, access to exclusive events and being able to roll over Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) to the following year.
Similar to other airline loyalty programs, Mileage Plan lets members earn EQMs when they fly Alaska and its partners and through purchases on Alaska co-branded credit cards. Unlike the other U.S. airlines, miles for flying are credited based upon distance flown, not the amount spent, though flyers receive mileage bonuses for premium seat purchases.
Mileage Plan members achieve entry level elite status -- called MVP -- with 20,000 EQMs. They reach MVP Gold with 40,000 EQMs. The top status levels are MVP Gold 75k and MVP Gold 100K.
The new perks program will feature milestones at the 30,000, 55,000, 85,000, 150,000, 200,000 and 250,000 EQM thresholds. The milestones offering is similar to programs that have been put in place in recent years by JetBlue and American.
Alaska is making other changes for Mileage Plan in 2025, ahead of the launch of a new loyalty program that will be shared by Alaska and Hawaiian airlines. Alaska Air Group acquired Hawaiian last month.
Among other significant changes, Mileage Plan members will earn EQMs for flights on partner airlines that were purchased with miles. Alaska will also increase the number of EQMs that can be earned annually via credit card expenditures. It will award EQMs for expenditures with non-airline partners, including hotels, cruise lines, rental car companies and rideshares. And it will enable Mileage Plan redemptions on multi-airline partner itineraries.
Alaska will also increase the number of EQMs that Mileage Plan members earn for partner bookings made through Alaska.
In an analysis of the changes, Matthew Klint, author of the Live and Let's Fly blog, noted that Alaska will also decrease the number of EQMs earned for partner bookings made outside of a direct Alaska channel.
Still, Klint said the changes are positive overall.
"There are winners and losers, but the losses are modest and many will see today's news as a net gain (I do too)," he wrote. "I am impressed that Alaska Airlines continues to offer a compelling loyalty program and hope that it will be a blueprint for other carriers rather than an outlier."