Is It Worth Trying to Earn Airline Elite Status Through Credit Card Expenditures?
Traditionally, elite status was a perk reserved for frequent flyers. Even if you racked up miles with an airline credit card, you still wouldn’t achieve elite status, leaving you as just a regular member of the frequent flyer program.
However, the landscape has shifted, and now many airlines provide a way to attain elite status via spending on their co-branded credit cards. This leads to the key question: is pursuing elite status through credit card spending a worthwhile endeavor?
To answer this, you must evaluate both the spending required and the benefits that come with the elite status programs of various airlines.
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines, based in Denver and known for its ultra-low-cost model, was among the first to offer elite status through credit card spending.
1. Achieving Elite Status with Frontier Credit Cards
The Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®, issued by Barclays, awards one elite status Qualifying Mile for every dollar spent on purchases, along with one Qualifying Mile for every dollar spent on Frontier flights. For the year 2024, you can achieve Elite Silver status with 10,000 miles, Elite Gold with 20,000 miles, and Elite Platinum with 50,000 miles. The highest tier, Elite Diamond, is available to those who accumulate 100,000 Qualifying Miles.
2. Evaluating the Value of Frontier Elite Status
Frontier’s business strategy focuses on providing extremely low fares, with additional fees for services like seat assignments and carry-on bags. Elite status can help you bypass many of these extra charges. However, since Frontier does not offer international flights or first-class seating, the benefits of their elite status are more limited compared to those of traditional airlines.
Elite Silver grants you standard seat selection at booking, priority customer care, and priority boarding. Elite Gold adds benefits such as a free carry-on bag and premium seat selection at check-in. Elite Platinum includes a free checked bag, premium seating at booking, a waiver for in-cabin pet fees, and the ability to gift Silver status to someone else. The top-tier Elite Diamond status offers refundable tickets and a second checked bag.
Delta Airlines
Delta Airlines faced widespread criticism this fall for making it significantly more difficult for travelers to achieve elite status. Despite easing some of these restrictions by allowing status accrual through credit card use, attaining Medallion status in the SkyMiles® program remains more challenging than before.
1. Earning Elite Status with Delta Credit Cards
Delta now awards one Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQD) for every $20 spent using a Delta SkyMiles® Platinum or Platinum Business Card® from American Express®. For those with Delta SkyMiles Reserve or Reserve Business cards, one MQD is earned for every $10 spent. Additional MQDs can be accrued through hotel and car rental bookings via Delta, as well as flights with Delta and its partners.
The thresholds for achieving elite status are as follows: Silver status at 5,000 MQDs, Gold at 10,000 MQDs, Platinum at 15,000 MQDs, and Diamond at 28,000 MQDs. Consequently, spending $50,000 on a top-tier SkyMiles Reserve card is necessary to reach Silver Medallion status, while spending $100,000 on a SkyMiles Platinum card is required for the same status.
2. Value of Delta Elite Status
Each tier of Delta’s elite status provides increasing benefits such as more fee waivers and enhanced access to Comfort+ seats with extra legroom. Additionally, higher status levels improve the chances of first-class upgrades, though these upgrades have become less frequent.
United Airlines
1. Earning Elite Status with United Credit Cards
Contrary to Delta, United Airlines did not increase the requirements for its MileagePlus® Premier® elite status program for 2024. The program awards 25 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for every $500 spent on their credit cards, equating to 1 PQP per $20 spent, which is an improvement from previous rates.
The criteria for United’s elite status are:
• Premier Silver: 12 Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) and 4,000 PQP or 5,000 PQP
• Premier Gold: 24 PQF and 8,000 PQP or 10,000 PQP
• Premier Platinum; 36 PQF and 12,000 PQP or 15,000 PQP
• Premier 1K: 54 PQF and 18,000 PQP or 24,000 PQP
2. Value of United Elite Status
Similar to Delta, United offers a detailed breakdown of benefits for each elite status level. Higher status tiers provide additional fee waivers, better access to Economy Plus seats with extra legroom, and a higher likelihood of receiving first-class upgrades.
American Airlines
1. Achieving Elite Status via Credit Cards
American Airlines provides one Loyalty Point for each dollar spent using its various credit cards, which are issued by Barclays and Citi®. To qualify for elite status in their AAdvantage® program, the required points are:
• Gold: 40,000 points
• Platinum: 75,000 points
• Platinum Pro: 125,000 points
• Executive Platinum: 200,000 points
2. Benefits of Elite Status
Similar to the loyalty programs of Delta and United, the AAdvantage program of American Airlines grants members with higher status levels additional benefits such as fee waivers and access to seats with extra legroom. Additionally, there is a greater chance of being upgraded to first class.
JetBlue
1. Earning JetBlue Mosaic Elite Status via Credit Cards
JetBlue utilizes a “tile” system to determine status levels:
• Mosaic 1: 50 tiles
• Mosaic 2: 100 tiles
• Mosaic 3: 150 tiles
• Mosaic 4: 250 tiles
For every $100 spent on JetBlue-related purchases, including vacation packages, you earn one tile. Additionally, you earn one tile for every $1,000 spent on JetBlue credit cards, issued by Barclays. Thus, achieving Mosaic 1 status requires either $5,000 spent on JetBlue purchases or $50,000 spent on their credit cards.
2. Value of JetBlue Mosaic Elite Status
Holding this status grants privileges such as priority boarding, complimentary checked bags, and upgrades to Even More Space seats that offer additional legroom. Higher status levels can also provide certificates for upgrades to premium Mint class and BLADE helicopter transfers from Manhattan to JFK or Newark airports.
Conclusion
Numerous airlines now allow earning elite status, partially or fully, through credit card expenditures. By understanding the necessary spending thresholds and evaluating the benefits of the status achieved, you can determine if pursuing this strategy is advantageous for you.
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