Did you know your airline elite status gives you perks on other airlines, too? | CNN Underscored (2024)

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It isn’t easy for most travelers to earn airline elite status with their usual travel habits. It takes dedicated and deliberate effort to rack up whatever units your favorite airline uses to measure loyalty. Most travelers don’t haphazardly stumble into elite status.

But did you know that you can leverage your hard-earned elite status with other airlines, too? You don’t have to fly the same carrier to enjoy the TLC benefits. That’s because each airline’s status (usually) earns you a corresponding “alliance” status which can be used with airlines that partner with your preferred airline.

Let’s look at the alliance-wide benefits you’ll get from earning elite status with American Airlines, Delta and United. Plus, we’ll show you how to leverage airline credit cards to earn elite status even faster.

American Airlines AAdvantage

Japan Airlines is one of American Airlines' partners through the Oneworld alliance.

There are four levels of elite status within American Airlines AAdvantage. You’ll earn status based on the number of Loyalty Points you earn. Here’s what you must earn each year to achieve elite status:

You can earn Loyalty Points by flying on American Airlines and its partners. Plus, you can also Loyalty Points through non-flight activities like online shopping, dining out and hotel stays.

Additionally, American Airlines credit cards earn 1 Loyalty Point per dollar spent. Some cards — like the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® — offer boosts after you earn a set number of Loyalty Points per year, further accelerating your progress.

With this card, you can earn up to 20,000 bonus Loyalty Points per year in addition to Loyalty Points earned on everyday spending. You’ll earn 10,000 when you earn 50,000 Loyalty Points in a status year and another 10,000 when you earn 90,000 Loyalty Points.

Unlike other airlines on this list, American’s status qualification year resets on Feb. 28. So if you earn status on July 1, 2024, you’ll enjoy it through Feb. 28, 2026. However, your Loyalty Point balance will reset on Feb. 28, 2025, and start the clock for re-qualification.

Oneworld benefits from American Airlines elite status

The following elite status benefits can be used when flying Oneworld partner airlines such as Alaska Airlines, Japan Airlines, Qatar, British Airways and others.

AAdvantage Gold status = Oneworld Ruby status:

AAdvantage Platinum status = Oneworld Sapphire:

AAdvantage Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum = Oneworld Emerald:

Delta SkyMiles

KLM is a partner of Delta Air Lines through the SkyTeam alliance.

Delta Air Lines offers four elite status tiers. It measures status with a currency called Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs). The annual requirement to earn Delta elite status is as follows:

You can accrue MQDs by flying Delta or its partners. You can also earn them from holding (and spending on) eligible Delta credit cards. For example, both the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card earn $1 MQD for every $10 you spend. Plus, both cards include an automatic $2,500 MQD boost each year.

Additionally, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card earn $1 MQM per $20 spend on the card. Like the Reserve cards, these also include a $2,500 MQD boost.

You’ll earn one $2,500 MQD boost per card type you have open, so if you open all four cards, you’ll earn enough MQDs to get Gold Medallion status without stepping foot on a plane.

SkyTeam benefits from Delta elite status

The following benefits can be used when flying SkyTeam partner airlines such as Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air and more.

SkyMiles Silver Medallion status = SkyTeam Elite:

SkyMiles Gold, Platinum and Diamond Medallion status = SkyTeam Elite Plus

United MileagePlus

Lufthansa is a partner of United Airlines through the Star Alliance.

To earn United Airlines elite status, you must earn both Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs) and Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) in the United MileagePlus program.

Here are the yearly requirements to achieve status with United:

You’ll earn PQFs by flying on United and PQPs based on the amount of money (or miles) you spend with United. It’s also possible to fast-track your elite status journey with a qualifying United credit card. For example, the United Club℠ Infinite Card earns 25 PQPs for every $500 spent (capped at 10,000 PQPs annually).

Star Alliance benefits from United elite status

United Airlines Premier Gold, Platinum and 1K customers can access the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge on eligible Star Alliance flights, including departing domestic United itineraries.

The following benefits can be used when flying Star Alliance partner airlines such as Avianca, ANA, SWISS, Air Canada and more.

MileagePlus Premier Silver status = Star Alliance Silver:

MileagePlus Premier Gold, Platinum and 1K® — Star Alliance Gold

Bottom line

Thanks to the comprehensive partnerships between the most popular carriers worldwide, you can enjoy benefits like airport lounge access, priority check-in and extra baggage — even when flying an airline you’ve never flown.

Earning elite status with airlines American, Delta and United is much easier with cobranded travel credit cards that can get you most (or all) of the way to the finish line without ever stepping on a plane.

Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cardsCNN Underscored Moneychose as thebest travel credit cardscurrently available.