Ugh - I'm MVP Gold (for this year), and this still discourages me now to book on alaska fares (often the same route is cheaper on jetblue or delta etc, specially when booked far-out). The reason is that my spouse is not mvp gold, and even if i'm getting the free change waiver, my spouse isn't.
The 60-day free changes were literally the best thing alaska airlines had going for itself.