Originally Posted by
Adlerdriver
From a paying customer's point of view - AS is the "everyone gets a trophy" airline.
Their definition of "elite" frequent flyer pretty much guarantees that anyone who lives in AK and makes even occasional trips to the lower 48 is going to achieve that status.
Not sure that's true really. There's nothing about living in Alaska that makes it easier to reach MVP status. Alaska does have "Club 49" for Alaska residents but about the only benefit of that is baggage fees are waived plus some other minor discounts on tickets and air freight. You still have to fly 20,000 miles to reach the level where you get to board ahead of other coach passengers, which is not all that different that other airlines loyalty programs.