As we begin a new year one of the most common questions I’m getting from people is how to choose a frequent flyer program. Given all the changes happening with the US-based programs I thought now might be a good time to go over the decision-making process in choosing the best program for you.
In general, I tend to think choosing an airline should be based off a combination of factors, and as different people prioritize things differently there really isn’t an easy answer. Among other things, I think it’s worth considering three main factors:
- How many miles will you fly?
- Where will you be flying?
- What features do you most value?
How many miles will you fly?
In general, I tend to think the first factor to consider in choosing an airline is determining how many miles you’re going to fly in a given year. If you are an occasional traveler or fly less than 25,000 miles in a year it probably doesn’t make sense to be loyal to a particular airline.
At least in the US, many airlines’ co-branded credit cards offer similar benefits in terms of baggage allowances and priority boarding as their entry-tier elite status:
- Priority Boarding
- First Checked Bag Free
- Earn 2x SkyMiles on purchases directly with Delta
- Annual Fee: $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150
Delta Air Lines requires you to earn 25,000 miles or points plus spend $2500 on Delta flights to earn Silver Medallion.
Delta Silver Medallion status benefits include:
- 25% Elite Bonus miles
- Complimentary Domestic upgrades
- Companion upgrades
- Priority Check-In
- Priority boarding
- First bag free for member and companions
- Earn Southwest Companion Pass
- Earn 1x points on everyday purchases
- Earn 2x points on Southwest Airlines purchases
- Annual Fee: $99
Southwest requires you to fly 20 qualifying one-way flights or earn 35,000 tier qualifying points in a calendar year to earn Rapid Rewards A-List.
Southwest Rapid Rewards A-List status benefits include:
- 25% earning bonus
- Priority boarding
- Priority check-in and security lane access
- Same-day standby
- Priority Boarding
- First Free Checked Bag
- Earn 9x total miles on eligible United flights
- Annual Fee: $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150
United Airlines requires you to either have 15 Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) and 5,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP), or 6,000 Premier Qualifying Points to earn MileagePlus Premier Silver.
MileagePlus Premier Silver status benefits include:
- 25% Elite Bonus miles on United and some partners
- Complimentary Domestic upgrades – Companion upgrades
- Priority Check-In
- Priority boarding
- First bag free for member and companions
- Complimentary access to Economy Plus at check-in
- Reduced Award fees
So if you’re not flying all that often, you’re probably better off purchasing the cheapest fare available and using an airline credit card to supplement the experience.
If you are flying enough to achieve mid-tier status, at least, then loyalty makes more sense. Once you’re flying 50,000 miles or so per year you’re not only going to have the opportunity to use the benefits of elite status, but you’ll also potentially be accumulating more miles in a given program, so it makes more sense to focus your earnings.
| Mid-Tier Elite Status | How to Earn | Additional Status Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines MVP Gold | 40,000 miles on Alaska or 60 segments on partners AND at least 4 total flights marketed and operated by Alaska | – 100% Mileage Bonus – Oneworld Sapphire Status – Free Same Day Standby – Fee Waivers – Free Premium Beverage in Main Cabin – Four First Class Guest Upgrades per Year – Unlimited First-Class Upgrades When Available – Unlimited Free Upgrades to Seats with More Legroom When Available |
| American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum | 50,000 EQMs or 60 EQSs plus $6,000 EQDs | – 60% Mileage Bonus – Oneworld Sapphire Status – Complimentary Main Cabin Extra and Preferred Seats upon Booking – Free Same-Day Standby – First-Class Upgrades 48 Hours before Departure when using 500-mile upgrades on flights over 500 miles |
| Delta Air Lines Gold Medallion | 50,000 MQMs or 60 Segments plus $6,000 spent on Delta flights | – Complimentary First-Class Upgrades on Domestic & Short-Haul International Flights – Complimentary Comfort+ Upgrades 3 days before travel – Access to Preferred Seats – Earn an extra 3 miles per dollar – Waived Same-Day Standby Fees |
| Delta Air Lines Platinum Medallion | 75,000 MQMs or 100 Segments plus $9,000 spent on Delta flights | – Complimentary First-Class Upgrades on Domestic & Short-Haul International Flights – Complimentary Comfort+ Upgrades 5 days before travel – Access to Preferred Seats – Earn an extra 4 miles per dollar – Waived Same-Day Standby Fees – Choice Benefits (1) |
| United Airlines Premier Gold | 24 PQFs and 8,000 PQPs or 10,000 PQPs | – Complimentary Access to Economy Plus and preferred seats at booking – Complimentary Premier upgrades on domestic and short-haul international flights 48 hours before departure – Earn an extra 3 miles per dollar – Waived Same Day Flight Change and Baggage Fees – Expanded Award Availability – Star Alliance Gold status – Marriott Gold status |
| United Airlines Premier Platinum | 36 PQFs and 12,000 PQPs or 15,000 PQPs | – Complimentary Access to Economy Plus and preferred seats at booking – Complimentary Premier upgrades on domestic and short-haul international flights 72 hours before departure – Earn an extra 4 miles per dollar – Waived Same Day Flight Change and Baggage Fees – Expanded Award Availability – Star Alliance Gold status – Marriott Gold status – 40 PlusPoints |
In my opinion, elite status makes the most sense at the top-tier of each airline.
When you’re flying 100,000 miles or more per year it absolutely makes sense to be loyal to an airline, especially if you can maximize the benefits offered by the elite status. You’re also accumulating redeemable miles at a meaningful rate, as most programs offer substantial bonuses to their top-tier elites.
| Top-Tier Elite Status | How to Earn | Additional Status Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75k | 75,000 miles on Alaska or 90 segments on partners AND at least 6 total flights marketed and operated by Alaska | – 125% Mileage Bonus – 50,000 Bonus miles when you attain status – Oneworld Emerald Status – Nominate someone else to MVP status – Free Same Day Standby – Fee Waivers – Free Premium Beverage in Main Cabin – Four First Class Guest Upgrades per Year – Unlimited First-Class Upgrades When Available – Unlimited Free Upgrades to Seats with More Legroom When Available – Four Complimentary Alaska Lounge day passes |
| American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum Pro | 75,000 EQMs or 90 EQSs plus $9,000 EQDs | – 80% Mileage Bonus – Oneworld Sapphire Status – Complimentary Main Cabin Extra and Preferred Seats upon Booking – Free Same-Day Standby – Free Same-Day Flight Changes – First-Class Upgrades 72 Hours before Departure on all Domestic Flights – Elite Choice Benefits (1) |
| American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum | 100,000 EQMs or 120 EQSs plus $15,000 EQDs | – 120% Mileage Bonus – Oneworld Emerald Status – Complimentary Main Cabin Extra and Preferred Seats upon Booking – Free Same-Day Standby – Free Same-Day Flight Changes – First-Class Upgrades 100 Hours before Departure when using 500-mile upgrades on all Domestic Flights – Elite Choice Benefits (2) – Expanded Award Availability – Upgrades on Award Tickets – Complimentary food and drink in the Main Cabin |
| Delta Air Lines Diamond Medallion | 125,000 MQMs or 140 Segments plus $15,000 spent on Delta flights | – Complimentary First-Class Upgrades on Domestic & Short-Haul International Flights – Complimentary Comfort+ Upgrades 5 days before travel – Access to Preferred Seats – Earn an extra 6 miles per dollar – Waived Same-Day Standby Fees – Complimentary CLEAR membership – Choice Benefits (3) |
| United Airlines Premier 1K | 54 PQFs and 18,000 PQPs or 24,000 PQPs | – Complimentary Access to Economy Plus and preferred seats at booking – Complimentary Premier upgrades on domestic and short-haul international flights 96 hours before departure – Earn an extra 6 miles per dollar – Waived Same Day Flight Change and Baggage Fees – Expanded Award Availability – Star Alliance Gold status – Marriott Gold status – Complimentary snack and drink in economy – Complimentary CLEAR membership – 280 PlusPoints |
Furthermore, keep in mind airline partnerships if your travel is spread across multiple airlines. For example, Alaska partners with both American and Delta, so if you don’t fly enough with either carrier to earn status with them, it could make sense to credit travel from both airlines to Alaska, where you could have enough activity to qualify for status.
Where will you be flying?
This seems like a basic question, but it’s one that seems to be overlooked. If you live in a city served by all the major carriers you likely have lots of choices, and pretty competitive fares. However, if you live someplace like Atlanta, Minneapolis, Houston, Dallas, or Charlotte you might be what we call “hub-captive,” meaning you likely have one airline that dominates the market. This can sometimes make choosing an airline a moot point, as your options are limited by geography.
Similarly, route networks make a difference! I personally enjoy making multiple connections, but for most people (and especially business travelers) that’s not an efficient use of time. So you’ll want to think about where you’ll be flying, which airlines can take you there, and what makes the most sense for your travel patterns. For example, American has an extremely strong route network for travel to South America, while United doesn’t. Conversely, United has an extremely strong route network to Asia, while American doesn’t.
What features do you most value?
This is where the discussion becomes a matter of trade-offs, in my opinion. Once you’ve determined where and how often you’ll be flying, the incremental perks and benefits will likely be what set an airline apart. This is obviously a highly personalized decision, so rather than making a specific recommendation I thought I’d summarize what I consider to be the pros and cons of each airline:
Alaska
Alaska has some of the most valuable redeemable miles around, and is a genuinely well-run airline. They also have Wi-Fi across their network, and for people on the west coast they’re a solid option for domestic travel. However, the hard product itself isn’t fantastic (I lovingly refer to Alaska as “the bus”), and the route network is impractical for all but west coast flyers. The lack of power ports on transcon flights is incredibly limiting, and it’s worth keeping in mind that there isn’t an option for international upgrades.
That being said, their mid-tier elite members and above can cancel both revenue and award tickets for free (for revenue tickets the cost of the fare is simply transferred to your “Alaska Wallet”), and Alaska has a very generous same day change policy, which is useful given the frequency with which they fly in many markets.
American
At present, I think American is the best all-around domestic airline, though there are a lot of unknowns with the pending merger with US Airways. Currently top-tier elites receive eight systemwide upgrades, valid on even the lowest economy fares, and the award chart is quite lucrative. They have Wi-Fi and power ports across most of their domestic fleet, and even on some international flights as well.
The major limitation is the international route network, which is pretty weak to places other than South America compared to Delta and United.
Delta
Delta is tough to quantify. While they run a great airline with a relatively modern fleet, solid hard product, great crews, and domestic Wi-Fi, their frequent flyer program is a joke aside from domestic upgrades. The implementation of Medallion Qualifying Dollars isn’t too bad, as this can be easily waived with the co-branded credit card. Upgrades are difficult, even for top-tier elites using upgrade instruments, and the program often changes without notice.
If you’re more concerned about your domestic experience than the value of the redeemable miles they could still be a good option though.
United
Even with the slaughtering of their partner award chart, United miles are still valuable, especially with US Airways leaving Star Alliance in March. Their route network is vast, and top-tier elites receive six systemwide upgrades and four regional confirmed upgrades, though there is a minimum fare class requirement. The Premier Qualifying Dollars can’t be waived via credit card spend for the 1K level, so that’s a consideration as well.
They are behind the other domestic carriers in terms of rolling out Wi-Fi, and I don’t think their soft product compares well to American, nor their hard product to Delta, but they are one of the more stable options at this point.
So which airline frequent flyer program should you go with?
I’d say it depends on your individual priorities, and which factors impact you the most. I’ll be sticking with American as my primary airline, and Alaska as my secondary – at least as long as I live on the west coast.
What about you? Have you chosen a frequent flyer program for this year? How did you decide?
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