Small rant.

My wife and I travel mostly for pleasure.. but we do travel often. We always seem get to Alaska MVP but never higher (many destinations do not make sense on Alaska or their partners). This year I decided we should get gold or maybe even 75k, so we may actually get a 1st class upgrade for free.. I do not recall the last time I got one as MVP.

Anyway, I wanted to do some calculations on how many times we would need to fly and how far to best optimize us getting gold or even 75k. I looked at my last years trips and I noticed that when we went to NYC in October we earned:
Base 2,433 Bonus 3,042 total 5,475 each way - and those counted towards this years MVP.

That was first class.

So, I searched for decent fares PDX-NYC in coach (premium class) and we took a trip there. In my miles log for alaska it shows:
Base 2,433 Bonus 1,217 total 3,650 each way.

So, at 3650 miles, we need to go 5.5 round trips. So, I booked two more flights to NY (which have not happened yet). In the meantime, I was looking at my account and I noticed that the YTD miles towards even MVP (I am mvp now but have not earned back MVP this year) is WAY less than what it should be. I called Alaska and they said that is because bonus miles only count towards status in first class. Not only does that suck, but I wonder why people keep telling me how much faster they earn status with each tier. If I fly coach as gold, it seems I would still only get base miles unless I am in first.

Next, I saw this past weekend that Quantas had a deal from PDX to Sydney that was decent, and Alaska is running a "double miles" with Quantas. So, I signed up for that, but luckily before I bought the tickets I saw the fine print that the double miles does not count towards status.

So, what the heck? Am I doing something wrong or what? I was talking to a friend that is 75k and she told me that she got upgrades to first sometimes as gold, but almost always as 75k.. Is it even worth it for me to try and get gold or 75k?

Thank you guys for listening