Dxbsafari

Awesome. I have been seeking for this kind of info

Duhh

Thanks guys!

Tall Paul

Excited to becoming back to AS (I’ve been maintaining MVP status by flights) after being a road warrior on UA (Corp policy) for the past 5 years. They did match my UA 1k status to Gold 75 but I’ve been averaging over 140k so I didn’t think it was in question.

Like others my status shows good for all 2020 - haven’t seen the letter yet. As I’m moving into retirement I’m looking forward to a break so I might not meet the numbers (initially). Traveling/Wanderlust is a disease that I don’t plan on curing - I just plan to fly to locations I pick!

ermintrude

I was going to match (challenge) to AS from UA 1K this month however it's more convenient for me to do it in Jan - is there any difference ?
Cheers

ermintrude

Just Requested a Status Match from UA 1K

I expect I will only fly on Alaska for 12K miles during the 3 month challenge period (I'm assuming I'll match to top tier).

Assuming I fly 12K miles, will I drop to gold for the rest of the year or not meeting the 20K miles challenge go to no status? Not quite sure how this status challenge works.

Cheers

eponymous_coward

Quote:

Originally Posted by h4xdaplanet

Just got the confirmation email from AS after matching on Oct 1. They just confirmed to me that if you match to their highest tier and don't meet those requirements, you will not fall down to the tier that you did meet (e.g. if you match to 75k and only fly to 10k, they won't give you Gold)

ermintrude

That's a bummer!

I'll see if I can match to the lower tier

Talked with the status match team - they said they couldn't do anything now but as soon as I get a response to contact them back and ask for Gold and they should accommodate..... let's see

Avi Freedman

Hi, all.

I am on a 75k match from AA PP and was also just wondering about whether class of service binuses count for the 20k req.

Is there a consensus based on AS agent feedback or someone who's been through the challenge on earned vs flown (if CoS counts).

On the + side, they notified me of acceptance in early Dec but said I have until 3/31 to qualify (but only have status until end of 2020, which is not a surprise based on program description).

Thanks!

ACBLtd

I emailed customer care specifically asking about I fares and class of service bonus and was told they will not count toward the challenge requirement.

i agree with the poster who suggests this is a strategic miscalculation on their part.

Do we have confirmation that the 500-mile minimum will count toward the challenge requirement?

NoLaGent

It does.

scubadu

I mean no offense, but given that Alaska is pretty firm on one status match per lifetime, did you not have a solid plan in place before shooting this one bullet?

I never request a status match on anything (air, hotel, etc.) unless I've already laid the plan to achieve it.

Regards

ACBLtd

I think some of us were caught by surprise by the change from match to challenge.

For me, I decided last year I was unwilling to try to scrape together 15K EQD to keep AA EXP. The benefits have reduced in value year after year, and AA has simply become no picnic.

So I made the decision this year to enjoy one last year of EXP, and I went somewhat free agent. Flew a bunch of weird carriers just to try them out. I was preparing to match over on 1Oct.

Everyone knows what happened. The match became a challenge. I was in such a rush to leave AA behind that I applied for it anyway. Fortunately, the AS folks couldn’t read my screenshot! So my clock did not start. In the time since, I’ve learned that COS bonus won’t count toward 20k, that there is no guarantee of a “soft challenge landing” to gold if I miss, and that I can’t choose the start/end dates of my challenge.

For me, and many I suspect, the window is narrow: we want to match from a status we only hold until the end of January.

i have some big travel in a 90-day window, but some of it is international. I always qualified with AA using a lot of partners. If I knew exactly what my challenge period would be, now that I know precisely what the rules are, then yes, I would have done it the way you suggest. I would have made absolutely certain to have the flights for 20k before applying for the challenge.

i submit it’s not as easy as you might think, and that it’s not irresponsible to apply for a challenge and then figure out how to satisfy it. Yes, you only get to do it once.

I’m looking forward to being a 75K and hope I can keep up the flying to keep it.

haopy new year to all!

ermintrude

In the end I HUACA and a supervisor said they would match me to gold. My original plan was to match not challenge. I think they made the switch to challenge the day before I was going to match.

digressing...UA gutting their program allowed me to be a free agent a long time ago and I'm owed a whole bunch of UA GS miles from a family member anyway so I'm not overly concerned for US domestic flights....I was thinking about status matching to SW A list as well but not flying enough within USA and cant get excited about it anyway. Jet blue (I've been mosaic a few times) was another possibility....

Currently on the fence regarding where to place my US domestic and international airline loyalties....

olouie

I will easily surpass the 20k required to get 75k status but after doing that much flying on AS I am unlikely to be a big convert. The route network just isn’t that great and continues to get cuts. The hard product isn’t competitive for transcon and even shorter routes are very hit or miss. Mix that all with no notice mileage devaluation and it’s not and inviting combo.

The sweet spot is really MVP gold with free changes. I’ll keep that with some normal flying that would have gone to United to Delta,

dabeags

Does Alaska do Status Challenges? I matched to 75K when I moved to Seattle last year, but due to a bit different work schedule and a new baby, I only re-qualified for MVP. I do however already have about 25-30k in trips booked for the first few months of 2020, and will easily re-qualify as 75K for the year. Would much rather spend those miles up front then in the back of the bus.