After earning Alaska MVP Gold status last year, this is how we aim to keep status!
We did the hard part last year – we flew a bunch of flights with Alaska, American, and Emirates to earn the minimum 40,000 miles to be the first Latin@ couple (maybe?) to earn Alaska MVP Gold status. Why is earning MVP Gold status important? Bueno, here is a list of the benefits we gain:
- OneWorld Sapphire Status
- 100% award/elite miles bonus
- Two free checked bags
- Premium beverage in Main Cabin
- Companion upgrades to premium and first class
- Complimentary same-day flight changes
- $100 discount on lounge membership
- For a full list of benefits, visit www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/membership-benefits
Now that we have it, how have we enjoyed our MVP Gold/Sapphire status? The most obvious benefit has been the seats upgrades from regular economy to Main Cabin Extra on our American Airlines flights. The seats are more comfortable and have more leg space! We have also enjoyed the priority boarding we receive, which gets us to our seats faster and grab an overhead bin space. When we flew to Panama City, Panama, we were granted access to the Club Lounge at Miami International Airport.
Now, how are we going to keep MVP Gold Status? So far, we have only flown on American Airlines a couple of times, specifically: MIA-PTY, MIA-DCA, DCA-TAP, TAP-DCA. Since we are flying with a partner airline, we have only gained about 2,000 miles from these flights. But the 4 flight segments do count towards the 6 flights segments we need to re-earn MVP Gold status. We already have 1 round-trip flight to take from DCA-SEA that we will earn miles from. We do have two segments booked with Alaska miles, so unfortunately those flights will not earn us miles. We also have a pending flight to Seattle and maybe somewhere else for the holidays that we have to book later this year. More than likely, we will have to do either a transcontinental mileage run (osea take flights to earn the miles) from DCA to the West Coast USA or taking a business class flight (paying economy and upgrading with miles) with an international partner. Stay tuned!
As to why we want to re-earn status, it’s simple. Apart from the benefits we earn, we don’t want to lose a status level that we earned through our flying (and dollars)! There’s a “compound interest” you earn from consistently keeping your status – you earn award and elite miles faster, you fly more comfortably to/from your destinations, and the cultural recognition that we receive from being an “Elite” member means our cultura is represented and requires attention from the loyalty programs we frequent. We will continue to earn Alaska loyalty status, and we hope that our relationship between LatinosWithPassports and Alaska continues to grow. More importantly, we hope that Alaska Airlines (and the entire travel & leisure industry as a whole) continues to grow its commitment to serving BIPOC travelers throughout the entire process of travel.
Vamos viajando. The world needs to see us!
Latinos With Passports 