I've earned Atmos Rewards Platinum, which gets me oneworld Emerald status, but I'm tempted to push for top-tier Titanium. Here's why the math might check out.
(Whispering: I mean, oneworld Emerald’s kinda where it’s at… but, you do you… get a few extra milestone awards… eh…)
I think you meant at least 60k points from $60k spend right? You wrote 30k
As an AS Titanium, I'd say in your case it's not worth it. The incremental benefits of having Titanium over platinum are only going to show up if you fly Alaska with regularity, which you don't. Even having Titanium and flying AS all the time, I only get upgraded 75% of the time. Also the day of departure upgrades to business on the long hauls is nice in theory but if you look at the threads on FT, you'll see they are far from a guarantee (Personally I've only hit on 1 out of my 4 long hauls this year). Enjoy the Plat status and save your spend for something else.
Ben, you mention trying to double dip AS and AA status and you also mentioned the other day on your card portfolio post that you keep the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card pretty much only because it offers access to the Admirals Club. Wouldn't it make more sense for you to pursue OWE with AS (given that you seem to value it greatly) and OWS with a non-US airline (e.g. BA silver) for access to the Admirals Club?
Maybe I'm thinking a bit too basic, but given that you only travel J on longer flights and already have AS OWE, I don't really see how status with AA would provide more value than an AS+BA combo.
The big problem with pursuing OWS with a non-US airline is (outside of Qatar) there's no way to do it via CC spend. JAL does that the lifetime OWS if you spend $450k lifetime on their card, but outside of real big spenders, that could take some time (and a major opportunity cost).
@Samar -- $450K on the card! Yeah, yeah... lemme get right on that... *wink*
https://onemileatatime.com/news/jal-usa-card-japan-airlines-credit-card/
You mean access to flagship lounges not admirals clubs, correct? Ben has admirals club access through the AA Exec Card.
It doesn't enhance your (personality). So, what does it cost and what do you get? Included in "what does it cost" is opportunity cost. I find emotional issues tend to cloud a person's ability to answer this question.
This was intended to be a general comment but somehow became an unintended reply to @BenHolz. Sorry for any confusion.
I've mentioned on other threads, but I'm personally pursuing the 95k milestone to get access to the 10k status points boosts for 2027. Since you get to pick 2 awards at 95k, I'm hoping I can pick that twice and get a 20k bump for next year. The 125k milestone would require a significant amount of non-bonuses spend for me, and I won't put any of that on the card until 2027.
No.
I'm not seeing a ton of value for Titanium status in your case, since you're not flying a lot on Alaska metal. Since the Global Companion Award is based on the anniversary year, I think it would make more sense to spend the $60K in early 2027 to make it easier to earn Platinum next year.
I’m a Titanium based in SFO. Short answer. Not worth it.
The major incremental advantage is global upgrades. But those are very hard to come by. You have to fly AS metal and get lucky. I’m 0 for 4 this year.
I fly a lot of BA and AY. OWE is more advantageous with lounges especially at Heathrow.
I do get marginally more upgrades on AS domestic metal. But even then. They are selling upgrades till boarding on a declining scale. Selling F class underneath titanium members.
I will hit 150k status points cuz summit card and head starts. I will get the 40k boost for next year. But I said. Stop at platinum and spread it around. SAS is my back up to Europe.
You are in Miami. You ain’t gonna use the global upgrades much. And you don’t fly west much. So AS operated upgrades aren’t much either. Ok you get better chances on AA metal too. But those are even harder to get than AS metal.