Some legacy systems, banking portals, and enterprise tools restrict passwords to letters and numbers only. An alphanumeric password with 16 characters and mixed case still provides ~95 bits of entropy — far stronger than most requirements demand. Length compensates for the smaller character set.
At 16 characters with uppercase, lowercase, and digits, the password has ~95 bits of entropy. That's comparable to a 14-character password with symbols added. The key is maintaining sufficient length — don't compromise on length just because symbols aren't needed.
Alphanumeric passwords are easier to type on mobile keyboards and voice dictation systems. They also avoid ambiguity when reading passwords over the phone or from a printed list.