Originally Posted by
mtofell
I like Alaska's program because it's mileage based rather than dollars spent. But I am kind of a rookie traveler compared to many on here so take me with a grain of salt. I'm an oddball in that Covid meant me traveling 20X more than the 1-2 flights per year that I previously did. Most flights are west coast to Hawaii and once I made MVP status I started getting some good perks. Now that I'm MVP Gold I get somewhat frequent upgrades to first class. Always at least to premium. So, I'm pretty happy with Alaska but don't have much to compare to.
It probably helps that you're PDX based and not SEA based. You get better upgrade chances if you're at a minor hub or well served outstation than at a captive/fortress hub. I've done great with upgrades on AS out of (and back to) LAX, even before making it all the way to MVPG. People flying out of SEA complain of huge waitlists while I rarely see more than a few on the waitlist except at the holidays, and even then it's a dozen or so, not half the plane.