Here’s how to earn elite airline status with a credit card

Elite airline status can come with a variety of benefits, including free seat upgrades, priority boarding, fee waivers, and other valuable perks. However, in most cases, you will need to fly very frequently on a particular airline to earn elite status.

However, some airlines allow you to earn elite status credits with your normal credit card spending. Here’s a quick guide on how to use credit cards to earn elite airline status and what to consider before choosing an airline credit card.

If you want to secure elite airline status, your options depend on which airline you choose.

While some airlines have co-branded credit cards that allow you to earn status through credit card purchases alone, others may limit the reach you can achieve with spending alone. Here are your options for every airline that offers progression toward elite status.

Read more: Best airline credit cards

To achieve elite status with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, you must earn Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs). Starting in 2024, the airline will offer the opportunity to achieve the lowest elite status using your credit card spending alone.

More specifically, you get 4,000 EQMs for every $10,000 you spend on them Alaska Airlines Visa® Cardup to a maximum of 20,000 EQMs. This is enough to give you basic MVP status. However, if you want to achieve higher status levels, you will need to purchase additional EQMs with flights.

American Airlines offers an easy way to earn elite status using just your credit card spending. For every dollar you spend on an American Airlines credit card, you’ll earn one or more AAdvantage miles based on the card’s rewards rates.

For every AAdvantage mile you earn, you will also receive one loyalty point toward elite status, starting at 15,000 loyalty points. Here are the different American Airlines credit cards you can use to earn elite status with the airline:

Delta recently simplified its rewards program, allowing fliers to earn elite status with Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs). Unfortunately, not all airline co-branded credit cards receive MQDs.

Here are the two consumer cards that do the following:

Note that the lowest SkyMiles Elite status level requires $5,000 in MQDs. With the annual bonus for both cards alone you are already halfway there. The highest level requires $28,000 worth of MQDs.

With the Platinum Card, you would need to spend $50,000 per year to earn elite status on your spending alone. With the Reserve Card, you would need to spend $25,000 to reach the lowest tier.

Read more: Delta Platinum vs. Delta Reserve: Which is better for frequent Delta travelers?

With the budget airline, you can easily earn elite status with your credit card spending and earn one elite status point for every dollar you spend Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®. Depending on the card’s current welcome bonus, you may even be able to achieve elite status by meeting the minimum spending requirements in the first few months.

Elite status eligibility starts at 10,000 Elite Status Points and goes up to 100,000 points for the highest tier.

You must earn mosaic tiles to achieve elite status in the JetBlue TrueBlue program. While the fastest way to earn tiles is to book JetBlue flights and vacation packages, you can earn one tile for every $1,000 you spend on a JetBlue credit card – including the JetBlue card and the JetBlue Plus card.

The lowest level of Mosaic status requires 50 tokens, which is an annual spend of $50,000 for each card. To reach the highest level you need to earn 250 tokens.

One way to achieve A-List status with the Rapid Rewards program is to earn 35,000 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs), which you can generate when you book Southwest flights or use an eligible Southwest credit card .

More specifically, you can earn 1,500 TQPs for every $5,000 you spend on them Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card or the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card. There is no limit to how many TQPs you can earn, but you would need to spend about $116,667 per year to earn status using your credit card alone.

The budget airline offers two elite status levels that you can achieve with Status Qualifying Points (SQPs). Silver status requires 2,000 SQPs; You can achieve Gold status with 5,000 SQPs.

With the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®Get 1 SQP for every $10 you spend. In other words, you can achieve elite status with just $20,000 in annual spending on the card.

United Airlines offers several paths to elite status, including earning Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) or a mix of PQPs and Premier Qualifying flights.

The good news is that three of United Airlines’ four consumer cards allow you to earn PQPs on your spending. However, the limit depends on which card you have:

• United℠ Explorer Card: Earn 25 PQPs for every $500 you spend, up to 1,000 PQPs in a calendar year.

• United Quest℠ map: Earn 500 PQPs with the card’s welcome bonus when you meet spending requirements, plus 25 PQPs for every $500 you spend (up to 6,000 PQPs in a calendar year).

• United Club℠ Infinite Card: Earn 25 PQPs for every $500 you spend, up to 10,000 PQPs in a calendar year.

Note that Elite status in the MileagePlus program starts at 5,000 PQPs, so you can only achieve status through credit card spending on the United Quest and United Club Infinite cards alone. To get there, you’d have to spend a staggering $100,000, regardless of which card you own.

Read our full reviews of the United Explorers And United Club Infinite Cards.

Elite airline status can provide a lot of value, but it doesn’t make sense for everyone to pursue. Here are some things to consider to determine if it’s worth it for you:

• Travel habits: If you’re a frequent flyer, it might be worth it to get elite benefits on every flight. If you only fly occasionally, a more general travel rewards credit card may be a better fit.

• Airline loyalty: If you tend to stick with one airline when flying, elite status with the loyalty program means you get perks on virtually every trip. However, if you prefer to book the cheapest flight regardless of airline, you may not be able to use your status often enough to make it worth it.

• Spending habits: Some airlines require significant spending to achieve even the most basic elite status. Therefore, it is important to consider how much you typically spend on a credit card. If you spend less money, you may never generate enough qualifying points to reach your goal.

• Welcome bonuses: Airlines may offer limited-time bonus offers on their branded credit cards several times a year. Depending on the offer, these bonus points can get you significantly closer to elite status in just a few months. Taking advantage of one of these offers can put airline status within your reach. However, be sure to read the fine print to ensure you are eligible.

Read more: The best limited-time credit card offers this month

You should also consider whether your efforts will be better served with a different type of credit card. While airline cards can provide great value, you have little flexibility when redeeming your points or miles. Additionally, airline card perks typically only apply when you fly with the co-branded airline, limiting their value.

If you don’t want to be limited to a single airline or just flight-related perks, compare other travel credit cards to make sure you find the best solution for you.

This article was edited by Alicia Hahn

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