Alaska Mileage Plan has announced a new MVP Gold 75K tier to its elite program. To qualify, members need to fly 75,000 miles on Alaska/Horizon or 90,000 miles on Alaska/Horizon and qualifying partners or 90 segments on Alaska/Horizon and qualifying partners.

MVP Gold 75K benefits include: top priority on the first class waitlist when flying on qualifying fares; ability to upgrade five days prior to departure when you purchase a non-qualifying fare; opportunity to nominate a friend or family member to MVP status; 50,000 bonus miles upon reaching the MVP Gold 75K Level; complimentary DigEplayer when flying in the main cabin, dedicated MVP Gold 75K customer care and reservations phone lines and discounted Board Room membership plus four complimentary day passes.

And, as you would expect, MVP Gold 75K members will also receive all the benefits of a MVP Gold membership including 100 percent bonus flight miles on Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Air France and LAN, four guest upgrades annually, waivers on Mileage Plan service charges and change fees and more. Visit http://insideflyerus.wpengine.com/link/?2197 to learn more.

Bottom line: The most frequent flyers often complain when a program does not add an additional tier to an elite program so for these members, this news is a welcome addition to the program. For others, however, who do not expect to make it to MVP Gold 75K, the news might not be so welcome. As one Mileage Plan member lamented on FlyerTalk, “I have noticed a huge drop in my upgrade frequency in the last year already so I have to think that this is going to make it even worse.”