Sorry, I don't have an answer to this good question but I have another one. In another article similar to this a couple of months ago, it was stated that John Doe had his expedite charge for award tickets waived because he was an MVP Gold. As a gold myself, this was news to me as have not seen it written anywhere else, certainly not in the "manual". I saved the article in case I ever needed to quote it someday but would be interested if anyone here could confirm it.
I called Alaska's frequent flyer desk when I saw this article and they do offer MVP Gold for life when you reach 1 million miles. I was told it was actual flight miles on Alaska or one of their partners that also qualify you for MVP/MVP Gold i.e. Horizon, Northwest and American. I asked if they could tell me how many miles I had and they were not able to. They pull a report a few times a year and once you hit 900,000 miles, they send you a letter telling you you're close! Hope this helps. Hey, this is my first post!
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