Alaska Airlines has launched an interesting new promotion that offers MVP status in the Mileage Plan program when taking just one round trip flight from the continental US to Sydney, Australia or Auckland, New Zealand.
The Deal
- Earn MVP status when flying round trip from the continental US to Sydney or Auckland.
- Direct link to offer.
Key Terms
- Receive Mileage Plan MVP Status by booking and completing one round trip between the continental United States (including AK, not including HI) and Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) or Sydney, Australia (SYD) by December 31, 2025.
- Flights must be booked on www.alaskaair.com or www.hawaiianairlines.com using your Mileage Plan number.
- All segments of the trip must be booked at the same time.
- All segments must be operated by Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Horizon or SkyWest; flights operated by other codeshare partners are not eligible for this offer.
- Flights must originate and end in the same city within the United States (excluding Hawaii).
- Award tickets and Saver Fares are not eligible for this promotion.
- All segments of the trip must be completed by December 31, 2025.
- All guests for whom a Mileage Plan number is provided in the qualifying reservation are eligible to receive Mileage Plan MVP Status.
- Guests who complete travel by December 31, 2025 will earn MVP status through December 31, 2026.
- MVP Status will be reflected in Mileage Plans account of guests who provide their Mileage Plan numbers at the time of booking, on or prior to the 15th of the month following the month in which travel is completed.
- Guests who already hold or will have already attained Mileage Plan MVP or higher status for the applicable year will not receive a higher status through this promotion.
- Guests who receive MVP Status through this promotion will not receive any additional Elite-Qualifying Miles.
Quick Thoughts
This isn’t necessarily the cheapest way to earn MVP status, but outside of status matching then it is one of the easiest seeing as all you have to do is take one round trip flight.
There are several important things to take into account though. For starters, travel has to be completed by December 31 of this year and it has to be flights on Alaska, Hawaiian, Horizon or SkyWest metal – flights on partners such as American Airlines aren’t eligible. The cheapest flights I could find ended up being just under $1,000, but that was to Auckland on a nonstop flight on American, so that wouldn’t work for this promo.
Also note that your trip has to start and end in the same US city, but Hawaii is excluded as an originating point; flights can have a layover in Honolulu along the way though.
In terms of pricing, the cheapest eligible round trip flights I found were from Los Angeles to Sydney as many dates over the course of the year can be found in the $1,050-$1,100 range. Premium economy is running at ~$3,500, while round trip business class can be had for ~$5,800.
It’s a shame that the terms state that the flights have to be booked on the Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines websites if that is indeed enforced. Otherwise, someone with an American Express Business Platinum card and Alaska Airlines selected as their designated airline for the airline fee credit could book through Amex Travel for a net cost of ~68,250 Membership Rewards by taking advantage of the card’s 35% rebate.
If you plan on booking on the Hawaiian Airlines website, click through from a shopping portal to earn ~1.5% cashback. You can find the current rates here.
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LAX-SYD-LAX (one of the shorter flights in the offer) would accrue 15,000 EQMS, 75% of getting to MVP status. Seems like many options would get you there without the promotion.