Christine ran her own business developing and managing insurance and financial services. This stoked a passion for points and miles and she now has over 2 dozen credit cards and creates in-depth, deta...
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury
With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...
& Kellie Jez
Kellie’s professional experience has led her to a deep passion for compliance, data reporting, and process improvement. Kellie’s learned the ins and outs of the points and miles world and leads UP’s c...
15 comments
Flieslikeabanana
October 01, 2018
I applied for the status match from Delta Gold at Oct 1 1:27am Pacific Time and got an email saying it would only be valid until the end of the year if approved. Have they changed their rules ?😭
Christine Krzyszton
October 01, 2018
Thanks for your question. It is ultimately up to Alaska Airlines as to how long they grant status but since it is late in the year, I would certainly ask them if it is possible to extend status. If you have Alaska flights booked for 2019 I would relay that fact to them as well. As mentioned in the article, you “may” be granted status through the following year. To my knowledge they have not changed the program, they’re just discretionary in granting status.
Weedsport
October 08, 2018
This is an awesome article. We applied today Oct. 8th and received confirmation they are reviewing. It also noted that if approved it would expire December 31, 2019. As a United Million mile flyer I look forward to being approved, as we have several trips booked to Fairbanks, which United does not serve.
Christine Krzyszton
October 08, 2018
Wow, that’s great. Thank you for reading and taking the time to report your experience. Here’s hoping your approval comes through quickly and you enjoy the rewards of having Alaska elite status during your trips.
Stephen
January 27, 2019
Does Alaska offer a status challenge, or do they only status match?
Christine Krzyszton
January 27, 2019
Hi Stephen. Alaska Airlines offers a status match only. During the time period in which you have granted status you could qualify for Elite status by flying the appropriate level of miles. However it is not a requirement.
James Larounis
January 29, 2019
Hi Stephen. Alaska only offers a status match, whereby you need status on another airline first, and they’ll match you to the appropriate tier on their end. I recommend matching for status after October, that way it is good for the remainder of the year, AND the following year. It’s an easy way to extend status with little effort. 🙂
Rob
January 13, 2020
Not any more, now you have 4 months to complete a specific # of miles to keep it for the rest of the year.
Christine Krzyszton
January 14, 2020
Hi Rob. Did you happen to receive a status match that had a 4-month qualification period or have other insight? This would be a great data point as the Alaska Airlines site is still showing 3 months in their current terms and conditions. “In order to keep your status after the initial three-month period, you’ll need to fly on flights marketed by Alaska Airlines and operated by Alaska Airlines, Horizon or SkyWest during that initial three-month period”. Thank you so much.
Simon
April 20, 2021
Looks like this has changed and now you only get status for 90 days and have to qualify in that period.
Christine Krzyszton
April 20, 2021
Hi Simon. Yes, we are in the process of updating all of our status-match articles. We’ll have this one updated shortly. In the meantime, here is the link to the new Alaska status match: https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/status-match
joanna
September 02, 2022
What happens if I status match to Gold 75K, but I only fly 10000 miles in the next 90 days. Do I get demoted to Gold or do I get no status at all?
Christine Krzyszton
September 02, 2022
Hi Johanna. When your status match is granted, it is for a specific elite tier and you will have that status for 90 days. During that period, you must meet the requirements stated in your confirmation email or the status expires at the end of the 90-day period. To my knowledge, there is no downgrade to another, lower, tier.
VINCE
July 08, 2023
This was my question as well. I received a different response from a rep via Twitter DM.
Me: I am AA Plat Pro, which matches to Gold 75K. I will not make it to 20 k miles flown, but will get at least 10K. Will I keep a match to MVP Gold in that case, or is it ‘all or nothing’?
Nadine: yes the status would be based on the miles you complete within the 90 days. For example, if you only fly 5000, you would achieve MVP, fly 10000, achieve MVP Gold, etc
Christine Krzyszton
July 09, 2023
Hi Vince. That’s good information which is not included in the terms and conditions for the status match. Thanks for sharing. You might want to ask for a statement in writing to supplement the original confirmation email. Please let us know the outcome once you’ve completed the challenge.
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