As someone who moved from SEA to ANC last year, I can tell you that you almost have to be Gold to get upgraded on the popular flights to SEA. (I'm assuming you'll be flying through SEA to LAX sometimes since there's only one non-stop a day.) We haven't had good luck on early morning or evening flights, but pretty good luck on mid-morning weekday flights. No luck ANC-ORD or return since those flights are always full.

I'm a newbie here so I don't have any tricks to offer. I do second Chugach's advice to book ahead as much as possible to get on the waiting list. It seems that if you have status here, you're Gold so timing is everything. I'm just glad my BF made MVPG last month so we're good for next year.