A few days ago I wrote a post about the value of earning oneworld Sapphire status with any program other than American AAdvantage. Oneworld Sapphire members get lounge access whenever they fly with a oneworld airline, and that includes access to American Flagship Lounges.
In other words, if you were a British Airways Silver member, you’d get access to American’s Flagship Lounge JFK, even if you’re just flying domestically. As of now only one Flagship Lounge is open, though with Flagship Lounges in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, and Philadelphia scheduled to open, there will be lots more opportunities soon.
If you don’t want to actually earn oneworld Sapphire status by flying (which isn’t that tough in many cases), one airline will outright sell you the status by the month. LoyaltyLobby notes that S7 Airlines (the oneworld airline based in Russia) will sell you their Gold status (which equates to oneworld Sapphire status) by the month. Here’s what their website says (you have to view the Russian version of the site to see this, and can then use Google Translate):
The service is valid for payment of Gold status and is available to any participant of the program.
The minimum period for which the service is possible is 1 month.
The cost of one (1) month of use of the status: 15,000 rubles or 30,000 miles.
The cost of the service is calculated as the cost of 1 month * N months at the request of the participant.
A card certifying the presence of status is virtual (it is displayed in the Personal Area). A physical medium is not manufactured.
The service is non-refundable.
15,000 rubles is ~260USD. Now, that’s not an insignificant amount of money. However, it’s still something that might interest some, especially when you consider the other benefits that come with oneworld Sapphire status.
In addition to lounge access, keep in mind that oneworld Sapphire status comes with the following benefits:
- Access to priority Business Class check-in
- Priority boarding
- Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating when offered by the airline operating the flight
- Priority standby and waitlisting (where offered)
So I’m not suggesting that this is some huge bargain that everyone should take advantage of, but it’s at least something to be aware of. I had no clue that any airline sold oneworld Sapphire status by the month. If you don’t otherwise have status but have an especially busy month for oneworld travel, paying ~260USD to access Flagship Lounges, get priority check-in, boarding, etc., might not be a bad deal.
(Featured image via Humphrey Manusiwa)
OneWorld Emerald status, not Sapphire status, gets F lounge access. But you would get Admirals Club admission on U.S. domestic flights.
Purchased BA tickets r/t from Seattle to Dublin .. my partner and I are on the same reservation. If I bite, do we 'both' get advanced seat selection, boarding/etc. since we're under the same booking? No way we're paying $80/seat/leg .. the Priority Boarding/Check-In/Baggage would be incremental, but helpful either way.
@Len
I'm assuming other airlines would catch on. Besides, I believe you would be asked for evidence of historic transactions before they would extend their offer.
I wonder if there is any value in buying this status and using it for a status match. Thoughts?
Luke,
That makes sense because I've been Sapphire/Silver a few times and never gotten those seats. Although they're only really special on a 747 and then they are 1A and 1B, I believe. Very hard to snag.
I should be BA Gold by November so will try then.
@Kerry - while OW Sapphire/BA Silver does give you the ability to reserve seats at any time in advance, it does not give you access to certain seats which are reserved for Emerald/Gold members, including 1A/1F. From memory, Sapphire/Silver members can only reserve such seats a few days out (can't remember if it's 3 or 7).
This offer seems great in the surface. It's only $3120 to buy standard oneworld Sapphire. Now AA ask you to pay them at least $6000 before getting (watered-down version of) oneworld Sapphire with no lounge access domestically.
But this is not something you'll consider if you take advantage of super cheap Qatar business class fare. Credit them to JAL and get quasi-lifetime oneworld Sapphire (JAL Global Club, requires 50000 FLY ON points, 50% of...
This offer seems great in the surface. It's only $3120 to buy standard oneworld Sapphire. Now AA ask you to pay them at least $6000 before getting (watered-down version of) oneworld Sapphire with no lounge access domestically.
But this is not something you'll consider if you take advantage of super cheap Qatar business class fare. Credit them to JAL and get quasi-lifetime oneworld Sapphire (JAL Global Club, requires 50000 FLY ON points, 50% of them must on JAL in the first year, then 5000 redeemble miles per year afterwards. No flying required until your balance ran out.)
mkcol
Yes, BA silver enables you to select seats when you book.
In BA First you get to select your seat at booking regardless. They figure if you are spending that much . .
@Kerry I stand corrected. I went by experience of family members who are BA Silver & had not been able to book seats at point of booking but had to wait til 7 days out. They must've been hit by BA's fantastic IT.
Kerry,
Actually I thought Ruby enabled seat selection 3 days ahead of the flight. At least that is how it is on BA flights if you are Bronze.
One benefit of Sapphire/BA-Silver is a 50 bonus on actual miles flown on BA. Is that bonus included with this purchased membership?
Incidentally, because I was (slightly) inconvenienced by the BA computer outage back in June, my Silver/Sapphire status was extended by 24 months regardless of whether...
Kerry,
Actually I thought Ruby enabled seat selection 3 days ahead of the flight. At least that is how it is on BA flights if you are Bronze.
One benefit of Sapphire/BA-Silver is a 50 bonus on actual miles flown on BA. Is that bonus included with this purchased membership?
Incidentally, because I was (slightly) inconvenienced by the BA computer outage back in June, my Silver/Sapphire status was extended by 24 months regardless of whether I fly with them. So I won't be buying this.
Quickest way to get BA-Silver/Sapphire is to fly something like: SFO-JFK-LHR-JFK-LAX-SFO in Club World/Business. That's 600 BA tier points.
@mkcol @andree, that is incorrect. Sapphire status does indeed get you an ability to reserve seats at any point in advance on BA. It's Ruby that is limited to one week ahead.
This sounds like a good deal for people who travel a lot and don't otherwise have status - Oneworld sapphire is, imho, the best mid-tier status there is. Having said that, how many people fly oneworld enough to make use of this but...
@mkcol @andree, that is incorrect. Sapphire status does indeed get you an ability to reserve seats at any point in advance on BA. It's Ruby that is limited to one week ahead.
This sounds like a good deal for people who travel a lot and don't otherwise have status - Oneworld sapphire is, imho, the best mid-tier status there is. Having said that, how many people fly oneworld enough to make use of this but don't credit enough miles to get to sapphire? The price point is probably a decent eliminator otherwise partner airlines might object.
Could you clarify. Does Oneworld Emerald elite get F lounge access. I thought it only got onself into business class lounges. You would get Qantas F lounge or AA Flagship access ?
QF F lounge access at LAX?
@Andree 7 days out yes. It's Emerald that gets it at any time.
1 more benefit is the extra weight for check in luggage which is expensive in its own right
Does oneworld Sapphire get the ability to reserve British airways preferred seats? Hoping to get 1A or 1F on my 747 F ticket
This could be very useful if you have low/no status but are taking on a TP run or equivalent.
This is very interesting in deed. Do you think one could also invite 1 guest to lounges during that month?
@ Edwin -- Absolutely.
This may be because I don't understand elite status very well, but, if I were to purchase this, would I have to credit any mileage earning when I fly to S7? Or could I credit them to AA/BA, and just pull up by S7 gold status to get access to the lounges, priority boarding, etc.?