As its response to the great Delta Air Lines SkyMiles program debacle that was officially announced on Thursday, December 14, 2023, Alaska Airlines offers an elite status match to disgruntled Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Medallion members in a move to lure some customers away.
Alaska Airlines Offers Elite Status Match To Disgruntled Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Medallion Members
Once your request is received by Alaska Airlines, your elite status will be matched according to the table below.
| If your SkyMiles status expires… | …and you are… | Delta Silver Medallion | Delta Gold Medallion | Delta Platinum Medallion | Delta Diamond Medallion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2023 or December 31, 2024 | Not an Alaska Airlines Visa cardholder by December 31, 2023 | MVP for 90 days with a status match challenge | MVP Gold for 90 days with a status match challenge | MVP Gold 75K for 90 days with a status match challenge | MVP Gold 75K for 90 days with a status match challenge |
| December 31, 2023 | An Alaska Airlines Visa cardholder by December 31, 2023 | MVP through 2024 | MVP Gold through 2024 | MVP Gold 75K through 2024 | MVP Gold 75K through 2024 |
| December 31, 2024 | An Alaska Airlines Visa cardholder by December 31, 2023 | MVP Gold through 2024 | MVP Gold 75K through 2024 | MVP Gold 100K through 2024 | MVP Gold 100K through 2024 |
Simply:
- Submit proof of your elite status by Tuesday, October 31, 2023. Your account overview page — which shows your current status and 2024 elite status progress — is the best form of proof. Use the:
- Special form for SkyMiles Medallion status match requests.
- Form here for elite status match requests from other airline membership programs.
- You will be matched to elite status with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan for the remainder of 2023 based on the aforementioned table.
- You have two options to extend your elite status through 2024:
- Have an open Alaska Airlines Visa card by Sunday, December 31, 2023.
- Complete an elite status challenge within 90 days.
Unlike the membership programs of other airlines, elite status with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program is still earned by how many miles you fly as a passenger aboard airplanes in a year and not by how much money you spend in a year.
Select Terms and Conditions
A member may only receive one status match for the lifetime of their account. An elite status match is only offered to members who have achieved elite status through actual flight miles or segments. Status granted based on credit card activity, transferred points, or any other promotional offer is not eligible for an elite status match. Gold Guest Upgrades, Lounge Day Passes, and MVP Gold 75K MVP nominations will be available after the member has met the flight requirement during the initial 90-day period for the respective elite status. Members who receive MVP Gold 75K status as part of this offer are not eligible for the 50,000 bonus miles or American Airlines System-Wide Upgrades associated with qualifying for MVP Gold 75K status. Please allow up to four weeks for verification and approval of your status match request. You will receive a welcome email once the status match is approved. This offer is valid only for legal residents of the United States and Canada.
In order to keep your status after the initial 90-day period, you will need to fly the designated number of miles or more on flights marketed by Alaska Airlines and operated by Alaska Airlines, Horizon or SkyWest during that initial 90-day period. Codeshare flights operated by other airlines, flights on Alaska Global Partners, award travel, and bonus miles do not count toward keeping your status. In order to keep MVP status, you must fly 5,000 miles; in order to keep MVP Gold status, you must fly 10,000 miles; and in order to keep MVP Gold 75K status, you must fly 20,000 miles.
Members approved for an elite status match via the aforementioned offer that have an open Alaska Airlines Visa credit card by Sunday, December 31, 2023 will have their matched elite status extended for the 2024 program year — from Monday, January 1, 2024 through Tuesday, December 31, 2024. Cardholders with a matched status end date of Tuesday, December 31, 2024, will also be awarded one tier higher than their matched status for the 2024 program year. For example, if you are awarded a status match to MVP Gold via the above offer, and your equivalent Delta Gold Medallion status has an end date of Tuesday, December 31, 2024, and you have an open Alaska Airlines Visa credit card as of Sunday, December 31, 2023, you’ll be upgraded to MVP Gold 75K status starting Monday, January 1, 2024 through Tuesday, December 31, 2024, as long as you continue to hold an open Alaska Airlines Visa card through Tuesday, December 31, 2024. For new accounts, please allow up to three weeks after card approval for your status to be upgraded to the next tier. Members who receive MVP Gold 75K status as part of this offer are not eligible for the 50,000 bonus miles or American Airlines System-Wide Upgrades associated with qualifying for MVP Gold 75K status. Members who receive MVP Gold 100K status as part of this offer are not eligible for the Choice Benefits or American Airlines System-Wide Upgrades associated with qualifying for MVP Gold 100K status.
This offer is subject to change without notice.
Other terms and conditions — including those of the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan membership program — apply.
Final Boarding Call
Keep in mind the first line of the terms and conditions: “A member may only receive one status match for the lifetime of their account.” If you do not need to match your elite status now but believe that you might want to match it later, you may want to wait on this offer.
The second line of the terms and conditions states that “An elite status match is only offered to members who have achieved elite status through actual flight miles or segments.” I may be mistaken; but I interpret that as excluding Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Medallion members who have earned lifetime — excuse me; I mean annual complimentary — Medallion status.
Although Alaska Airlines officially announced a new route between Atlanta and San Diego only yesterday, Monday, September 25, 2023, this may not be enough to convince members of the Delta Air Lines SkyMiles membership program to switch to the Mileage Plan membership program for elite status, as most itineraries with Alaska Airlines will require at least one stop or layover.
Still, I applaud the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan membership program for at least responding in a competitive way to the changes to the Delta Air Lines SkyMiles membership program. Often, the commercial aviation environment acts as though none of the airlines are competing with one another — and constantly and consistently reminds their customers as such…
All photographs ©2018 and ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
