Over a year ago I created some comparison tables of elite status across the five major U.S. carriers: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and US Airways. Now, American and US Airways are merging while Delta and United have introduced new elite qualification requirements.
Otherwise, there haven’t been too many changes to the benefits of elite status in each program …but these projects take a lot of work and I may have overlooked some things. When looking at the tables, please keep in mind that there is only so much space to describe and compare the various benefits, each with their own nuances. If something is radically incorrect, I’ll change it. If something just isn’t described in sufficient detail for your liking, that might take me some more work to determine if it’s (1) necessary and (2) possible.
I’ve already been alerted to one mistake: MVP Gold members on Alaska also receive the 4 confirmed upgrades.
If you want more information about earning elite qualifying dollars and possible waivers for this requirement, you can read more in my posts on United Premier Qualifying Dollars and Delta Medallion Qualifying Dollars. I also discussed in December what I think are the “best value” tiers in each program:
- Alaska Airlines — MVP Gold
- Delta Air Lines — Platinum or Diamond Medallion
- United Airlines — Premier Platinum
- American Airlines — Executive Platinum
- US Airways — Well, they won’t be around for much longer…
Feel free to download these for your personal use or share them for public use as long as you include attribution and a link to this page. They get much larger if you click on the image.
Bottom Tier Elite Status (25K Miles)
Middle Tier Elite Status (50K Miles)
Top Tier Elite Status (75K, 100K, and 125K Miles)
The post Comparing Airline Elite Status in 2014 appeared first on Hack My Trip.
Comments
- Correct. My table assumes they will choose 4 regional upgrades ... by Scottrick
- Fees are typically applied per ticket, and each person has ... by Scottrick
- On the award change/redeposits, are those $'s per person or per ... by jayy
- Delta Diamonds have the opportunity to choose eight Regional ... by John Polley
- Upgrade processing windows are pretty similar across the same ... by Scottrick
- This is insanely helpful – thank you! As a Delta Platinum, ... by Shari