Nowadays it’s quite rare to see frequent flyer programs actually offer promotions that incentivize flying. A vast majority of promotions nowadays seem to be for non-flying activities.

Personally I’d pose the question if someone should be running a loyalty program if they don’t think they’re capable of offering promotions that move the needle for members. Or at a minimum, should they be running a program if they don’t think it’s worth differentiating a loyalty program from competitors?

That’s why I’m really excited about the promotion that Alaska just launched. I love Alaska Mileage Plan to begin with, since they’re the only major US frequent flyer program to still offer at least one airline mile per mile flown on Alaska (so they don’t have a revenue based program).

Alaska Mileage Plan is offering double miles on select transcontinental routes between April 1 and December 31, 2019. Nine months is a long time to run a promotion, so kudos to Alaska for that.

Registration is required prior to your first eligible flight, and there’s no limit to how many bonus miles you can earn. Double miles will be awarded within 4-6 weeks of completion of eligible travel. The double miles are based on the base miles you earn, and the bonus miles don’t count towards elite status.

Now let’s take a look at the nonstop city pairs that qualify for the promotion.

West Coast departures between:

  • Los Angeles (LAX) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)
  • San Diego (SAN) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Newark (EWR), or Orlando (MCO)
  • San Francisco (SFO) and Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Orlando (MCO), Philadelphia (PHL), Raleigh (RDU), Washington-Dulles (IAD), or Washington-Reagan (DCA)
  • San Jose (SJC) and New York (JFK) or Newark (EWR)

East Coast departures between:

  • New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), or San Jose (SJC)
  • Newark (EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), or San Jose (SJC)
  • Baltimore (BWI) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Boston (BOS) and Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Orlando (MCO) and San Diego (SAN) or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Philadelphia (PHL) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Raleigh (RDU) and San Francisco (SFO)
  • Washington-Dulles (IAD) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
  • Washington-Reagan (DCA) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)

This isn’t even the only promotion Alaska is offering. Through May 31, 2019, Alaska is also offering their “Coast To Elite” promotion, offering fast tracked status when taking certain transcontinental flights.

The airline really seems to be putting emphasis into their coast to coast routes.

Bottom line

This is an extremely generous promotion from Alaska Airlines. For example, MVP Gold 75K members earn a 125% bonus on travel, and also earn a further 50,000 bonus miles when they requalify. So an MVP Gold 75K member would be earning a minimum of 325% redeemable miles for travel on the above routes, not accounting for the 50,000 mile bonus at the end of the year.

To crunch some basic numbers, a roundtrip transcon flight is often around 5,000 miles, so an MVP Gold 75K member could be earning 16,250 miles, which I value at ~$300. That’s often the same price as a ticket.

VERY nice promotion, Alaska!

Looking for other ways to rack up Alaska miles?

Check out the best-ever bonus on the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Credit Card, or the latest promotion for buying Alaska miles at a discount!

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