How to earn status in one day

Good morning and happy Monday from chilly Toronto! 🥶

I’ve got some fun things in store for you all today, so let’s dive in:

• 🏃🏼‍♂️ Mike on the Move: How I earned elite status on January 1

• ✈️ Earn double Southwest points (today only)

• 🏝 How to book a cheap trip to Thailand

🏃🏼‍♂️ Mike on the Move: How I earned elite status on January 1

I’m enjoying a few weeks in one place here in Toronto, so I’m actually not on the move… But thankfully, I’ve already earned top-tier elite status for this year.

In fact, I had already earned status on January 1st of this year… 😏

Specifically, I now have Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75k status. 🙌

Here’s why I decided to go “all in” with Alaska this year:

As a Oneworld airline, Alaska status also gives me perks when flying the airlines I fly most often, like Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, and Japan Airlines.

But how did I get there so freaking fast??

Well, Alaska is unique in that you can earn status in two cool ways:

• Earning EQMs based on distance flown

• Earning EQMs on award flights

On the first point, flights earn significantly more EQMs (elite qualifying miles) when you book flights through Alaska, including with partner airlines.

Mileage Earning for partner flights booked through Alaska’s site

So, the real “sweet spot” for earning Alaska status is long-distance flights that are disproportionately cheap.

On January 1st, I flew from Jakarta to New York in Qatar’s business class, then onward to Toronto on American Airlines.

And, as you might be expecting, I booked this all through Alaska…

I found what I suspect was a mistake fare booking a round-trip from Jakarta to New York and back to Jakarta in Qatar Qsuites.

In fact, it was SO cheap that I tried to book the same round trip a couple more times for later in the year but got errors each time I tried to do so…

Anyway, the FIRST round-trip did go through, which I was psyched about.

At a distance of 10,986 miles one way, I earned 27,465 EQMs right on the first day of the year (and, you know, got to spend a full day in Qsuites).

But since this was a round-trip, I’ll earn ANOTHER 27,465 EQMs when I go back to Jakarta in a couple of weeks.

With the two American Airlines flights between New York and Toronto, this will already put me at 55,000 EQMs for the year, meaning I unlock the following:

• 10,000 EQM milestone

• MVP Status at 20,000 EQMs

• 30,000 EQM milestone

• MVP Gold status at 40,000 EQMs

• 55,000 EQM milestone

Each milestone gives me perks like bonus miles, upgrade certificates, and more.

But more importantly, MVP Gold already gives me Oneworld airline perks like business-class lounge access, priority check-in, priority boarding, and bonus miles on all flights.

But wait… at the beginning of this section, I told you I have Alaska MVP Gold 75k status, which requires 75,000 EQMs… I even showed you a screenshot of my account with that status.

So what gives?

Well, that’s where the fun part comes in… 😏

A couple of weeks before my first flight, I applied for the Alaska Airlines status match (which you can also do right now).

Since my Air Canada 75k status is expiring this month, I wanted to get some last-minute bang for my buck.

I successfully matched to Alaska MVP Gold 75k status for three months!

And here’s why I did it…

One of the perks of 75k status is 100% bonus miles on flights (not bonus EQMS, but redeemable Alaska miles).

So, on this Qatar round-trip that I booked, I’m earning 250% miles from booking through Alaska PLUS 100% more from having status.

In total, this round-trip is earning me 79,000 Alaska miles… which is a LOT.

In fact, I used these miles to book ANOTHER ROUND-TRIP FROM JAKARTA TO TORONTO, which can be booked for just 42,500 miles each way.

Of course, I’m about 6,000 miles short of being able to book it…

But since the 10k, 30k, and 55k milestones give me 8,250 bonus miles, I have more than enough to book this round-trip without transferring any points.

So in the end, my return on spend is nearly two years of status, another free round-trip, and… oh yeah… the exact flights I needed to fly anyway!!

But I’m not done yet…

Starting this year, award flights booked with Alaska miles will earn one EQM per mile flown, regardless of whether you fly economy or business.

So… that next round-trip that I booked with miles (earned from my first round trip) will earn me another 22,000 EQMs, which puts me at…

75,000 EQMs, which extends my MVP Gold 75k status all the way through the end of 2026.

Boom. One round-trip flight has earned me TWO years of top-tier elite status, a bunch of bonus miles, and an entire other round-trip between North America and Asia (and various upgrade certificates, Wi-Fi passes, and more on Alaska itself).

🫳🎤

Since I’ll reach 75,000 EQMs before my status match expires, I will have MVP Gold 75k status from January 1st, 2025, through December 31st, 2026.

FROM ONE TRIP.

So here are the two key takeaways:

Alaska has an AWESOME program that rewards you for distance flown rather than money spent. You can earn status without ever spending a dollar or flying on Alaska itself.

If you apply for Alaska’s status match, you can enjoy a few months of status and earn some extra perks and miles while you work toward extending that status.

✈️ Earn double Southwest points (today only)

Okay, let’s move on to something a little more simple.

Southwest dropped a little surprise on us this weekend with a new and simple (but potentially valuable) promotion.

Specifically, you can earn double points on all flights. Period.

Here are the few details:

• You must register for the offer by TODAY

• You must book your flights by TODAY

• Valid for travel through May 21st, 2025

First of all, this is a great chance for anyone who has already booked Southwest flights to cancel them for free and rebook them (assuming the price hasn’t changed) to cash in on this offer.

But how valuable is getting double points?

Well, let’s take this round-trip flight from Detroit to Nashville, which clocks in at $156 each way, or $312 round trip.

Normally, this would earn you 1,566 Southwest points. With this promo, you’ll earn a bit over 3,000.

So yeah… nothing to write home about.

But what if you’re traveling on a more expensive ticket? Or booking a Business Select fare? Or traveling with a family?

That’s where things start to add up…

This flight from Chicago to Maui, for example, clocks in at $352 and earns 1,801 points.

If you book this as a round-trip and with a family of four, you’d normally earn 14,408 points.

With the promo, however, you’d earn 28,816 points total, which is certainly a nice bonus to get on your trip.

So here’s the bottom line:

If you just have one cheap flight coming up, I wouldn’t go out of your way to book today just for this promo.

But if you have a bunch of trips booked, travel with multiple people, or book expensive tickets, the bonus points could be meaningful!

🏝 How to book a cheap trip to Thailand

Getting a little tired of the cold, harsh, North American winter? I’ve only been here for a week and I’m already feeling the burn.

If you’re in the same boat, check out this week’s YouTube video, where the Daily Drop team will take you on an adventure through Thailand, showing you how to book your own Southeast Asian adventure for pennies on the dollar.

That’s all for today, my friends! I hope you enjoyed some nitty gritty loyalty talk today, along with some inspiration for your next getaway.

Until tomorrow,

52°22'35.4"N 52°15'17.4"W