I decided on somewhat of a whim to bust out 15 or so mileage runs from January to February between PDX to JFK to hit Gold 75K for the first time (I was just Gold before). I thought about doing it last November when I was close to 75K, but figured it would be better to wait until this year so that I retain the status for about 22 months vs 13 months. My friends and family think it's ridiculous that I would even do that, let alone waste time and money to do it.

My justification to them for doing it was that I would get about 250,000 air miles earned for my account, that I would often be towards the top of the waitlist for first class upgrades for myself and a companion (and get automatic upgrades on Premium for all ticket class types), I can gift someone the MVP status, and I can do same day changes (which would allow me to buy the cheapest flight somewhere, and then change the flight to better times that would have cost at least twice as much or more otherwise, but I guess I already had that with Gold anyways).

Is there any reasoning you guys have used or maybe something I forgot that you would have told people for why you think it would be worth it to do mileage runs to get to Gold 75K, or is it truly not actually worth it in your opinion?



****As a side note, I purchased the tickets all at once with back to back flights during a flash sale and I used 10k miles to lower the price, so each ticket was around $112-$125 for each round trip flight. This was also during the time when flights between PDX and JFK received double miles, so instead of earning the 10k miles for a round trip flight I received 15k per round trip flight (hence about 250,000 earned).

I also have an Alaska lounge membership, so I can sit in there in Portland between flights. I thought I could do it at JFK as well with the Admirals Club, however, it is in a separate terminal so TSA will not let me go through the checkpoint and American Airlines says they no longer have an agreement with Alaska for the boardroom and will not issue a gate pass to go through the checkpoint.

I'd also say that I got a first class upgrade about 1/3 of time time, mainly because there seemed to be many more Gold 75K members who were higher on the waitlist than me for the upgrade.

If/when your family and friends start traveling with you, my guess is that they will come to appreciate the fringe perks (your ability to upgrade a companion, better seat selection, early boarding, free bags, etc.) and hopefully whoever you're planning to gift MVP status to is cheering you on

I’m just now wrapping up graduate school and will hopefully be looking for a job that requires lots of travel (as I know this is something I’ll be able to do while younger, but will probably play too much of a toll on my body while older). So I’m kind of hoping this will pan out in the future with maintaining status, and I may be able to use the status as a negotiating/bargaining chip with an employer (especially wth no fee flight changes and refunds for non-refundable flights for Alaska credit).

- Ben

I assume you intend to stay in the Portland area, or at least PNW, after finishing your degree? Otherwise you’ll find that the AS network is not very compelling in any other location. Even in CA it would be tough for most business travelers.

The PNW would be where I’m hoping to stay. Many of my friends say they hate the rain and atmosphere, but that’s the one thing I love about living up here.

I’m in school full-time, so I asked my professors if it would be alright to do video conference into classes while I’m on the ground, and if I could stay connected in chat forums while in the air. I’m pretty much just writing papers and doing a bunch of research for a few different projects. So if anything, it’s actually keeping me more focused to get more on top of school work rather than being distracted going out and about at home. I also brought a small blow up backpacking pad to sleep on if I get too tired in between flights and want to just lay down.

- Ben