(Photo by Clint Henderson/The Points Guy) The airline worded the new status tier in a way that makes us believe that mileage-based qualification will stick around for years to come. This is refreshing as airlines — namely United — move to revenue-based mileage qualification. The airline states that this tier will be awarded to “members who fly 100,000 miles per year.” We can assume that this means physical miles, which is great news for those worried about Alaska moving to a system like United’s Premier Qualifying Points, which awards status based on how much a member spends on a flight. That said, I think we will see an Alaska segment requirement when the new tier is announced. This will encourage members to actually fly on Alaska instead of earning all qualifying miles on partner flights — namely, on its Oneworld partner American Airlines.