I have never cared about elite status, not even a little bit. Would an upgrade be nice? Sure, but I don’t travel enough to have high enough status to think that I’d ever actually get one. And I’m not tall, so I really don’t care much about extra legroom either. Living in Southern California, there are different airlines that are better for different routes. It has never made sense to chase elite status on just one.
And it still doesn’t.
But, I decided that it might be something interesting to write about. With some upcoming trips on Alaska and Hawaiian, I decided I’d look into the possibility. In the end, I decided to sacrifice sanity and chase the dragon. Will I succeed? I have no idea. Will it change anything in my behavior next year once I have status? Meh, I dunno. But come along with me on this journey of madness.
On Alaska, you need 20,000 elite qualifying miles (EQMs) in a year to get to the lowest level of elite status, MVP. Or I could do 40,000 and try for Gold on partner American instead. It is absolutely maddening that you can get similar benefits on two partner airlines — both get you oneworld Ruby status — and have the numbers be so far apart.
There is a reason for this, of course. On Alaska, it’s because you earn miles based on how much you actually fly. Right now, I have 10 flights booked on Alaska/Hawaiian. Seven of those are under 500 miles, so they will earn 500 miles each. The last three are 2615, 954, and 630 miles each. That means I will earn 7,699 miles by flying… or 38.5% of the total I need. If I don’t have enough flights by the end of the year, I can use the credit card. You get 1 EQM per $3 spent, so if I spend $36,903 and don’t fly another mile, I get status.
On American, it’s totally different. You earn based on what you pay for American-marketed flights, but you get a percentage of miles flown for Alaska-marketed flights. I have a mix of both, because I burned some old AA credits to book these Alaska flights. Are we having fun yet? Here’s what the lengthy calculation process told me:
- Flight 1 – 477 (Q class on AS – 50% of flown)
- Flight 2 – 176 (N class on AS – 50% of flown)
- Flight 3 – 479 (5x fare on AA marketed/operated by AS)
- Flight 4 – 642 (5x fare on AA marketed/operated by AS)
- Flight 5 – 967 (5x fare on AA marketed/operated by AS)
- Flight 6 – 200 (V class on AS – 50% of flown)
- Flight 7 – 0 (R class on HA – award ticket)
- Flight 8 – 654 (K class on HA – 25% of flown)
- Flight 9 – 176 (N class on AS – 50% of flown)
- Flight 10 – 176 (N class on AS – 50% of flown)
That gets me a pitiful 3,947 miles. But American gives you one point per dollar spent on the credit card, so I’d need to spend $36,053 to get to 40,000 EQMs which is shockingly close to what I’d need to do on Alaska.
So what did I choose? I chose Alaska. I’m flying on Alaska metal so it makes sense to be in that airline’s program. More importantly, if I do fly more, then it’s likely those flights will get me closer to the goal than with American. Also, I just generally like the program better, and I’ll take the $99 companion pass that comes with the credit card.
The only problem here is that I have already made bad decisions in pursuit of status, and it makes no sense at all. I’ve opted to go from LAX or Orange County instead of Long Beach on multiple flights. I chose Alaska when another airline might have had a better time. I have no idea why I’m doing this.
On top of all this, I get absolutely no benefit during the chase itself. Sure, Alaska will do a status match if you have status on another airline. I don’t. I’ve only had status once when I did a challenge on American 20 years ago. I rolled that into a match on US Airways the next year which is where I got the only elite upgrade I’ve ever received… on a 40 minute flight from Vegas to LA. But as far as I know, there is no “challenge” opportunity at Alaska or most airlines. So I have to slog through decisions that might not make much sense in the short term in order to eventually get a future benefit.
The funny thing is… with my flying pattner, it’s not really even worth it to make the right decision. For example, coming back from San Francisco on a flight coming up, I could pay $60 on Frontier at the time I want or I could pay more than double to fly Alaska on a flight 45 minutes later. If I choose Alaska, I get 500 more miles toward elite status. Big deal. I’m better off just spending $1,500 on a credit card.
It is, of course, a different story if you fly far in a premium cabin. Then the miles add up. But for now, I will still try to hit elite status with Alaska this year, and then I can go back to normal again. We’ll see if it happens.
Edited to fix Alaska EQM earning from 3 EQMs per $1 spent to the correct 1 EQM per $3 spent
47 comments on “For the First Time Ever, I’m Chasing Elite Status… and I Already Regret It”
CF – stop the madness… you already recognise it yourself. If you are going to spend US$36,000 on a credit card, then just get one which gives 2% cashback which means a saving of US$720. Add in the monetary savings from buying air tickets where you choose based solely on price and schedule… and you will see even more cash stay in your bank account. That’s at least US$720 in cash which you can spend ANYWHERE. Like having a large summer party at your home for family and friends – rather more memorable than an occasional upgrade on a 2 hour flight.
You studied marketing during your MBA.. you know how all these schemes work and how the main beneficiaries of these schemes are either corporate road warriors or the airlines themselves.
Also remember the information you provide to the airline is far more valuable to them than what they give to you in return. That is why I won’t sign up for rewards cards at grocery stores as the few dollars you save is less than the value of the data they will have on you & therefore they can micro target you with annoying ads.
Just use (local area code) 867-5309. Works literally everywhere.
I thought that code only worked when buying Tu-tone paint?
Well, the username checks out.
I use that number everywhere!
Always works. And, yes I saw Tommy Tutone in concert once….long story…
Sean: punch in local area code then 867-5309 at the local market/gas station/drug store for the rewards program. Works 99% of the time.
Thanks everyone, I’ll try that!
Anon – Well, right, I’m not doing this because it makes any sense. It just seemed like something I could write about regularly. I do imagine that in the end the conclusion will be — just get a cash back card. But if I can show that and help some readers make a better decision, I’m happy to do it.
I look forward to reading your blog posts saying “Yeah, I got screwed over again” :-)
I suppose that with Lufthansa taking over ITA Airways, that “what a TV news channel talks about on a quiet day when not much happened” fail-safe topic might run dry… you definitely need something as a back-up
I think you underestimate the chaos an Italian labour force can bring to even a German-managed airline. There may be fewer stories about ITA’s finances, but there will still be tales to tell.
I don’t read the status/FF/credit card blogs, and I’m glad that this blog doesn’t cover those topics too much, but this is an interesting and very self-aware post.
What you said about letting status and FF programs alter your thinking and purchasing habits is EXACTLY why I (as a mostly VFR flier who averages 8-12 flight segments per year, usually spread across several different airlines) don’t bother to participate in FF programs; even if doing so could (eventually, theoretically…) get some some form of benefit, it’s not worth the hassle for me personally.
In terms of non-road warriors (those flying < 10 or 12 segments per year, especially those not based at an airport dominated by only one airline) using credit card rewards to earn trips and get status, I'd argue that the majority of those people (excluding those who are willing to spend the time & effort to really plan things and play the game) would be better off with a 2% or even 1% cashback rewards credit card.
That said, I completely understand how & why some people can get more value from points used for airline tickets & hotel stays as opposed to cashback, especially from a psychology point of view, and certainly from an economic point of view for those who are willing to spend the effort & time to optimize their rewards. Ultimately, though, I think much of the appeal for many who use travel rewards credit cards is the anticipation & aspirational aspect of those credit cards (watching the points add up and waiting for/planning for/thinking of a big trip to use the points on).
You can always hope an airline will randomly gift you status for six months!
That’s what happened to me last Summer and Fall from Delta, during a travel period when I was needing to fly a lot. Delta ended up getting more revenue from me on a few flights – half were economy tickets I was flying for work, and work has a book Main Cabin/not basic economy policy lucikly – because purchasing regular ecnoomy tickets for the perks of free exit rows (I’m 6 foot tall) and the possibilty of an upgrade was too tempting to pass up (I’m normally a basic economy ticket purchaser).
I got one upgrade to First Class on a 40 minute flight from DTW to SBN, stuck in an asile seat on a CRJ-900 that despirately needed its padding replaced. I’m a window seat guy and felt like I might have been more comfortable with two seats to myself in the back. The pre-departure ginger ale (no inflight service) after jogging through the Detriot airport was a little nice.
CF,
Ed killed it for me on Delta. I don’t give a rat’s ass anymore.
I happen to live near ORD, and for a number of reasons I was flying, and still mostly fly on AA. Some years back I purchased one of those ridiculously priced Citi credit cards, that beings an Admirals Club membership. Why? I figured that I flew about 10 – 12 times a year, and each time i flew (almost always with my wife) we would drop a minimum of $30 on coffee, donuts, etc. at the airport. 10 round trip flights X $30 is a no brainer – the Citi card is worth it for the free coffee / refreshments.
So, now I’m a user of this overly priced CC – so what else does it bring me? Last year we did all of our grocery shopping using the card, and guess what – that got me to platinum! And, we did get a few upgrades which was nice! Meantime, we are still accumulating miles which we will probably use towards a European trip……
I don’t disagree with CF! But, I’ve got myself in another trap that is equally hard to get out of!
That’s exactly their plan!
Back in the day when I travelled internationally for work, I held Diamond status on Delta (still do) and Executive Platinum on American for several years. People often think of status as it relates to seat choice, but that’s the wrong connection. Now a-days, seats are strictly a commodity, sliced and diced as many ways as possible. Pay for whatever seat you want — in fact, Delta has been so successful at upsells that there are rarely any status upgrades. Maybe some status will help with those annoying <$10 "seat assignment purchases," but that's about all. What I found was that top status mattered when it came to disruptions. There's nothing worse than being stuck anywhere while trying to get home. Delta and American would bend over backwards to re-accommodate me in whatever way got me home the quickest. If you're going for status, if feasible go for the top tier (which I recognize can be fairly difficult and expensive)– otherwise skip the effort and enjoy your "General" membership.
That accommodation during IRROPS is so important. Of course, Cranky Concierge can also help during those situations. :-)
I was lucky enough to qualify for United’s Million Miler status (lifetime Premier Gold) before everything went spending based. It took me just over 20 years of flying 50,000 miles/year, mostly on inexpensive fares out of my own pocket. I only had three years where I traveled a lot for work.
Chasing airline status only makes sense if you normally travel enough to earn it or at least get very close. Otherwise the benefit is pretty minimal if you aren’t actually traveling.
I had status for 2 years on United, and later for 3 years on Alaska due to my travel patterns, and it was kind of nice but really nothing game chasing and certainly not enough to go out of my way to earn or even fly on one airline over another. I got more value out of a free checked bag than any other benefit that I would have paid for anyway.
Welcome to the dark side. We have cookies.
I’ve done small amounts of chasing in the past; Leg room is important as a tall person so with United selling Economy plus subscriptions for $600 that effectively sets the floor for the value of status with them. Much easier decision when you live where one airline has a fortress since it makes the experience so much better. The extra miles can be valued, better award availability, a couple of upgrades occasionally, free bags, Star Alliance lounge access, and of course IRROPS prioritization certainly add reasons to have it. Some of that can be overcome with a credit card but I’ve tried really hard to keep myself out of the airline credit card game. Straight cash back homey.
I didn’t fly as much the past 2 years (and who needs status when you don’t fly) so downgraded and then dropped entirely this year, only to get 2 international work trips in business. And now I am counting approximate spend to see if it takes me all the way to UA Gold or if I need to find a way to “spend extra” (eyeroll) to get there. Oh, I could buy up to first on that super short domestic flight where I most certainly don’t need first. Gets me an extra $100 closer to the next status level! Bad, bad behavior.
I think you mean 1 EQM per $ spent… not the other way around.
Ive been spinning around in a similar conundrum Crankiest. I’m a DL, AS &AA guy. I do PHL, MSP & PSP mixem’ up flip them over.
Obviously more miles. Heres my take…. DL is superior in every may except $$$$ much more always than AS -AA…. so, I’m shifting away from my formerly beloved DL.
Alaska miles go very far on AA! I AM a tall guy so 90% I fly First. Ugrade? No never even as a platinum… The Diamonds dont even get them often. 360 is the King at DL. On time, I was traveling with a 360. As we exited the sparkling clean fresh 321 a clipboard guy was waiting for my buddy to wisk him away in a Porsche. ” can my buddy ride with?”
No… So I walked 1 1/2 miles to the club at SLC. I digress.. Now the ” central tunnel” is complete now its only one mile. For economical reasons DL less and less.
Alaska miles are best. Get a card with big bonus. Put everything on the AS card! I pay my inlaws Ins, newspaper, utilities etc plus all my spending. Then I buy coach+ or First on AA. The redemption rates are awesome if you can be flexable. I’m going PHL-PHX-PSP for 21k AS miles on AA next week. Only bought those a month ago! Now, you got to shop it.. but worth it. Only glitch is 1 out of 10 times I find at the end of booking process the First tickets are not avail because AA didnt update reward status for AS website. Then you have to try again… Its minor for the value you are getting. I’m flying PHL-MSP in 2 weeks with AS miles on AA in coach for 5k mi! I pay 47$ to sit toward front of coach! Tall guy can hang in front part of coach for 2hrs and less.
Back to upgrades… On DL is impossible any more. I just BUY those tickets! PHL-PSP is 900$-1700$ on DL. But on AA 504$! And changing planes at PHX especially in winter is Ideal!! No getting stuck in ORD, DFW or MSP, DTW or ATL… smooth sailing from SoCal to midwest or east coast on AA..
My stories are never short. Bad spelling, grammar and such. But its worth it for my wealth of info after 8 years going to and frow
PHL/MDT to MSP and or PSP.
I will ignore any snippy comments
I thought you were chasing status with Southwest when you did the 9 airports in a say thing.
Dan D – That wasn’t status. That was a companion pass offer. It didn’t come with any kind of A List status. That was very much a transactional thing.
Status ain’t what it used to be, but sill has some value, IF you fly enough to get it without playing the games such as mileage runs. Note: I fly from DEN so choices are UA and WN (F9 not even a consideration!) Hate the WN boarding and seating circus and have been flying frequently such that I had status for many years before WN came to town so very rarely fly WN. Also, when WN came to DEN they were often cheaper than UA if you looked for sales and promotions, now WN most often more expensive than UA and you still get the circus, for now.
Pre UA-CO merger, my upgrade rate on UA was in the 85-90% range but that was the day when most of F was upgrades, today very different. Post merger, rate dropped to 10-20%, all those high level CO fliers made a difference when they merged into MileagePlus.
Today, there is value in free bags (I always check one, occasionally two for work, both free) and the no cost “upgrade” to EconomyPlus. If there was nothing else of benefit, these two alone would make getting status worth it. Saves me minimum $2,000 a year in baggage fees and that $600 EconomyPlus subscription cost. I still get an occasional F upgrade, but it is a bonus and never expected. Is playing the game worth $2,600 a year minimum? For me, the answer is yes.
As mentioned by others, the IRROPS and other such benefits are a bonus.
I’ve been at least DL Silver since…end of 2021 I think? Got Gold end of 2022, which somehow got matched to AS 75K end of 2023 and all of 2024. Had Spirit Gold at one point…the paid match did actually marginally pay for itself…and F9 100K in 2021 (worth the buy-up) and 50K in 2024 (not worth the more expensive buy-up, though F9 adding AUS means maybe it’s worthwhile getting on that train again). The above status has caused me to book DL over WN for a handful of flights where both had nonstops and in-the-same-league pricing, and when I had AS status AA got measurably more flying from me than they otherwise would’ve, on routes that I likely would’ve taken WN on instead.
But the lynchpin of the above status was CC spend (booking hotel for a conference @ 3x redeemable miles per dollar on AmEx Platinum makes that card worth the annual fee), with a mix of spend and flying (1x intercontinental paid Economy in each of 2023 and 2024) to keep status going. For the above reason I’ll be Silver again in 2026, though it will take some Main flying on DL (which is what they want), plus continuing to put groceries on the AmEx (which is what they want). But with DL bulking up AUS I don’t have to chase status that hard, and even getting Silver for a year wouldn’t justify me connecting on DL for a flight where a nonstop at a reasonable time and price existed on another airline.
And as much as I like Alaska (and I currently have both AS and HA CCs due to valuable miles), same rule applies there.
I travel a ton, probably more than anyone else who participates here. I’ve been Ex Plat on AA for 20 straight years.
I also have a Citi AA card that I put some work stuff on. Between all that, I accumulated 580,000 loyalty points on AA last year.
Keep in mind that it only takes 200,000 to be ex plat. Also, they allocate upgrades based upon loyalty points the last nine months. So I am usually first or second on the upgrade list every time (I get priority even over other EPs).
But I still get upgrades maybe half the time. And if you take out short Eagle flights, it’s less than that. AA has followed Deltas lead and is actively pushing upsells for first.
As an example even with my status it’s almost impossible to get upgrades on really long flights. People are willing to pay for first on those.
Don’t read this as a complaint – I am still pretty spoiled compared to the average flier in seat 32B. I’m just commenting that no one should really worry about getting status for upgrades. Unless you are some uber road warrior like me, you will only get them on DFW to Abilene or Atlanta to Chattanooga.
What status is good for is being able to get better seats, boarding earlier, etc. these days those are valuable commodities. So if you can get it without reaching too hard, it’s still worth it. Just not for upgrades anymore.
I’ve seen the same trend on UA as a 1K over the last few years. I maybe get an upgrade 30% of the time, and almost never on a long haul domestic route, particularly hub-to-hub. I will qualify this by saying I typically buy the lower fare ticket and not a specific fare class that would boost your upgrade position. Thirty minute flight from ORD-GRR? Upgraded! IAD-SFO? Never.
Oddly though I’ve had good success with UA plus points upgrades on international flights, specifically if traveling during the off-season.
A strange time to succumb to chasing status when upgrades are rare and miles values are rapidly declining!
You’re still pretty far off if this requires $30k credit card spend, all for Oneworld ruby status. This is for a free checked bag (which you get with the credit card) and AS’s economy plus at checkin (not bad if you’re not spending $ on the AS credit card for it, otherwise probably cheaper to get a cashback card and buy it outright)
Alaska also has the nice benefit of earning elite qualifying miles on award bookings 1 EQM per mile flown. This has made me re-interested in their elite program since I often redeem their miles for long haul flights.
Do they still? I booked an award ticket and flew it in January/February… even upgraded the return to first (with $$$$) but no miles have been granted for that trip, I’ve even submitted a missing miles request.
To be fair you at least picked the right city to chase AS status. LAX-SLC on an E175 has 12/76 seats in First and a relatively small number of elites. Compare that to SEA-SLC on 737-800 where it’s 12/159 in First and tons of Seattle-based elites. You’ll be clearing upgrades all day long
You might consider emailing and asking Alaska for a challenge. Don’t say you run a blog just do it for the love of the game. When I first got MVP Status it was a status match from Aegean (don’t ask why I had Aegean status to begin with). They normally wouldn’t do that but when I emailed they said sure no problem and gave it to me anyways
That’s what I was thinking. They are pretty generous with status challenge requests if you haven’t done a match in the past few years.
I was Silver or Gold on US Airways from 1998-2008. Being based at LAX and mostly doing LAX-PHL as you can tell, it also allowed me to form friendships with the agents at LAX, who went above and beyond to help me the few times I really needed to get on a different flight from my original and I’d booked a “Go Fare”. I will say that flying transcon F, especially with dinner service, during the Wolf years when US was the “Carrier of Choice” was also quite nice. I met many lovely flight attendants, mostly ex-LAX based before the base closed in 97, who continued to hold LA flights. Once the merger was done Parker turned it sour.
However, once married and with kids price became the factor, and living in the Valley and using Burbank as much as we can we ended up with a Southwest credit card, put everything on it, and have had companion pass for over 10 years. My wife even hit A-List last year. The savings value we’ve gotten from the Companion Pass by having to purchase one less ticket every time we fly WN all these years outweighs the small time loss on connecting flights. Now we’re anxious to see what happens now that it’s Elliot Air.
I think we know how this ends … completely unnecessary trip to Tokyo or Seoul on Alaska metal to chase EQM and miles. It will generate a trip report at least, turning it into a tax-deductible business expense.
HBAlbany – That definitely isn’t happening. Can just as easily put spend on the credit card if you come up short these days. It’s a far cry from the old days.
People always say they are in control. It’s not like I’m addicted or anything. I can stop any time. It’s just something small to help me occasionally. A few months later, they go cold turkey if they can’t fly halfway round the world to top up their loyalty points ! :-)
the best TD bait would be to fly round-trip with one leg on HA and the other on DL and compare the two
AA will straight up sell you a status challenge for a couple hundred dollars. You have to earn the annual amount of Loyalty Points in three 4-month sprints (overage rolls over if you over-qualify). Requirements per period are 13K points for Gold, 25K for Platinum, 42K for Platinum Pro, and 67K for Executive Platinum. There’s even one for Concierge Key!
I looked up the requirements for Concierge Key. The challenge they are offering is to earn 250,000 loyalty points in each of three consecutive 4-month periods. You can’t just have one big spend and dump, has to be in three continuous four-month periods.
That’s a TON of earn. I flew something like 160 or 170 segments last year, and I had a card with some business spend on it, and still didn’t hit 250,000 in any 4-month period.
Tangential to this discussion, I have the Alaska Credit Card and Companion pass doesn’t work on HA metal. Make we want to stop trying to build loyalty on Alaska. I will say I loved their flat change fee on “shuttle” flights, its nice when you are trying to get home a bit early or need to push your flight out.
I don’t know if I qualify as a road warrior, but I had 50 segments last year, mostly all for work, and 44 of those were on UA for which I started the year with Silver status, and eventually earned Gold (my flights are all relatively low fare domestic economy tickets). I can tell you that when I do have to travel an airline I don’t have status on, I do not typically look forward to the trip. On the other hand, I would go as far as to say that many of my UA trips are even (gasp!) enjoyable. With gold status I can pretty much always get an exit row seat, which means I’m guaranteed to be able to work on my laptop (I bill hourly, so that’s time I get back from work). I know that if something goes SNAFU, United will take care of me – even with just gold status. Last year I took my family on a European vacation and when New York was closed due to storms, the airline prioritized our rebooking through IAH and took great care of us. I didn’t stress a bit.
I have the Club Card, which I used to enter United clubs 34 times last year. Though I don’t live in a UA hub city, I have a club in my hometown airport, so I typically will get at least three club visits per 4 segment trip. If you figure each of those is $15 in meals I didn’t buy towards my per diem, then that’s $510 in benefit to me. I also earn about 10k miles on each trip, which I use to pay back work ticket purchases, which means $100 a month additional back in my pocket.
I do think it’s a law of diminishing returns. When I did heavy business class travel I was 1K, and it was great, but I feel that I get 70% of the benefits from my gold status.
When your work supported travel is $15k-$20k per year, it adds up. Status is nice for IRROPS etc. but it doesn’t do much for you domestically beyond that. It’s infuriating that UA 1k line options aren’t any better than what you get in the app. Posts above are correct, forget upgrades, even as UA 1k. You have to pay for your seat on US metal. International is bit a different story. Admittedly a small sample size, but star gold has been very nice for me outside US.
Hey CF, love your work. It’s 1 April here in NZ so I thought for a moment this was an April Fool’s prank.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the thrill (?) of the chase, and don’t get caught in LAX traffic too often :)
Keep the awesome content coming!
This would have also been a great 4/1 post!