What is Airline Status?
Airline Status is one of the best ways to elevate your in-flight experiences. Airline Status benefits can include free checked bags, lounge access, priority boarding, and even free seat upgrades up to first class. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss the different airlines and their unique ways to obtain status.
American Airlines
American Airlines’ rewards program is called AAdvantage and below are listed requirements for status.
| Status tier | Loyalty points needed to earn |
|---|---|
| AAdvantage Gold | 30,000. |
| AAdvantage Platinum | 75,000. |
| AAdvantage Platinum Pro | 125,000. |
| AAdvantage Executive Platinum | 200,000. |
United Airlines
United Airlines uses two metrics to determine elite status in its MileagePlus program; Premier Qualifying Flights, which are flights flown, and Premier Qualifying Points, or money spent.
| Premier Silver | Premier Gold | Premier Platinum | Premier 1K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 PQF and 2,000 PQP. | 12 PQF and 4,000 PQP. | 18 PQF and 6,000 PQP. | 26 PQF and 9,000 PQP. | |
| 2,500 PQP. | 5,000 PQP. | 7,500 PQP. | 12,000 PQP. |
Delta Airlines
Delta uses the SkyMiles rewards program and calls it members Meddalion members. You can earn status through qualification trips and spending, below is the list.
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | Diamond |
| $3,000. | $6,000. | $9,000 | $15,000. |
| 25,000. | 50,000. | 75,000. | 125,000. |
Conclusions
We can see that all the airlines mentioned have a system of spending or qualifying trips to earn status. An exception that stands out is United, which while following the regular rules apply, United offers multiple credit cards that can get a good chunk of the qualifying status out for you. While this does not grant status right away it should be important to remember when deciding which airline you want to focus on for building status.
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