There are quite a few airlines offering invitation-only elite status, like American Concierge Key, Delta 360, and United Global Services. However, did you know that Star Alliance has — or at least had — a recognition program for its top 1,000 frequent flyers?
Neither did I, until a reader left a comment about this, and now I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole. I’m curious how many OMAAT readers belong to this exclusive club (even if there are virtually no benefits).
In this post:
Star Alliance has 1,000 top frequent flyers
The Star Alliance is the world’s largest global airline alliance, and at least historically the alliance has reportedly offered a program known as Top 1000. This seems to be an annual program that’s offered to recognize the “top 1,000 travelers” of Star Alliance programs.
For example, here’s a FlyerTalk post where you can see what the welcome kit looks like. Here’s how the welcome letter to members reads:
You might travel for business or leisure — all the way from the US to Asia, Europe to Central America or Australasia to Africa. Your flights have taken you across many countries and continents in the past year, no-doubt providing many memories along the way.
We would like to thank you for the loyalty shown to your global Star Alliance network!
It is our pleasure to inform you that you are one of the top 1,000 travelers among our 250 Million Star Alliance Frequent Flyer members in XXXX.
As a token of appreciation for your continued trust and support, please accept our limited edition key ring, handcrafted in Germany exclusively for Star Alliance.
Thank you again for your exceptional loyalty to the Star Alliance network. We wish you safe and pleasant travels ahead, wherever your next flight may take you.
For what it’s worth, I’m seeing some references to this program pre-pandemic, though not much in the past couple of years. I’m not sure if the program has been suspended since then, or people just aren’t talking about it as much.
The qualification requirements for Star Alliance Top 1000 aren’t known, though it seems to be based primarily on how many Star Alliance carriers you’ve flown. It’s not known to what extent the frequency of travel or fare classes play into this, or for that matter how exactly this is tracked. Is it based on crediting flights on the most Star Alliance airlines to a single program in a year?
It seems like this isn’t simply for the people most loyal to each Star Alliance airline, but rather those most loyal to the alliance on the whole, by some unknown metric. I’ve seen mention of needing to fly a minimum of six Star Alliance airlines in a year in order to qualify for this.
Unfortunately don’t expect much in terms of benefits
So, what are the benefits of being one of the 1,000 “best” Star Alliance customers, out of 250 million members? Well, not a whole lot, as it turns out. It would appear that the primary benefit is a key ring. On the one hand, I think many people will appreciate the sentiment behind recognizing top flyers. On the other hand, a key ring seems like a cheap way to recognize your top 0.0004% of customers, no? 😉
There are no perks here when actually flying with alliance airlines, and Star Alliance Gold continues to be the top status tier for the alliance.
Based on the reports I’ve seen online, it would appear that this is actually primarily used as a feedback program, so Star Alliance reaches out to these people when it’s looking to do market research. So it seems to be more about helping Star Alliance rather than Star Alliance helping its best customers.
In general I love the idea of an alliance rewarding customers for trying different airlines. It’s kind of like World of Hyatt’s Brand Explorer promotion, where you can get a free night award for every five unique brands you stay at.
As much as I’d love to see a similar concept from an alliance that rewards the frequency with which you try different airlines, I wouldn’t count on it. At the end of the day, individual alliance members don’t care a whole lot whether you happen to fly another Star Alliance airline. Meanwhile I can’t imagine the alliance as such would be looking to invest in such a concept. But it sure would be cool.
Bottom line
I was today years old when I learned that Star Alliance has (or at least had) a program that recognizes its top 1,000 flyers. It’s not clear how one earns this recognition. For that matter, there don’t actually seem to be many perks to this beyond a key ring. But still, it’s a fun concept. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about this before, so I figured I had to share…
What do you make of Star Alliance Top 1000? Are any OMAAT readers “members” of this club?
I got in in 2017 when I was flying a lot of different airlines and got a leather passport holder.
It also got me and my wife invited to the 20th Anniversary Event of Star Alliance Switzerland which turned up to be a pretty awesome event.
Date/Time
Thursday, 18 May 2017 / 15.00-22.00h
Agenda
15.00-15.15h Official welcome by Star Alliance Switzerland/HQ with Country Managers of Member Carriers at THE CIRCLE Showroom, Zurich...
I got in in 2017 when I was flying a lot of different airlines and got a leather passport holder.
It also got me and my wife invited to the 20th Anniversary Event of Star Alliance Switzerland which turned up to be a pretty awesome event.
Date/Time
Thursday, 18 May 2017 / 15.00-22.00h
Agenda
15.00-15.15h Official welcome by Star Alliance Switzerland/HQ with Country Managers of Member Carriers at THE CIRCLE Showroom, Zurich Airport (by the bus terminal, vis-à-vis stop B/737) *
15.15-16.30h Presentation about THE CIRCLE by Flughafen Zürich AG incl. small apéro
16.30-17.00h Presentation of new SWISS First Lounge A at SWISS Arrival Lounge
17.00-18.00h Insights into Operations Control at Operation Center/Emergency Room
18.00-19.00h Joint bus transfer to Zurich downtown
19.00-22.00h Exclusive Wine & Dine on top floor at Restaurant Clouds, Prime Tower Zurich
I barely fly nowadays, will loose *G this year, but am still getting the survey emails.
I would credit any spare mileage towards an alliance with reciprocal access to a First lounge over a key ring any day. I have too many of these knick knacks that never see the light of day as it is.
Mostly it’s just surveys on experiences. It’s clever of them - free market research…
There were some posts during the pandemic - a bit more activity recently.
I just received an email that thry are picking up agsin so I suppose I will receive more invitations to take parts in surveys and share opinions. Actually I still don't see any real benefits. I was invited a few years back, I think it was 2015, when I travelled a lot on Star Alliance on at least 6 member airlines.
As Rightly pointed out by some of the others the programme started in 2017 and was not based on the maximum miles flown or the number of flights. It was based on the number of different airlines. One had flown in the alliance. Again somebody mentioned for that here we were given a card holder. The program still runs and I think the keep on adding more numbers to the thousand without deleting the earlier...
As Rightly pointed out by some of the others the programme started in 2017 and was not based on the maximum miles flown or the number of flights. It was based on the number of different airlines. One had flown in the alliance. Again somebody mentioned for that here we were given a card holder. The program still runs and I think the keep on adding more numbers to the thousand without deleting the earlier ones. There is a number at least for the 2017 flyers but I don’t think it is a pecking order and in any case there no perks. As mentioned by others, it is more about getting feedback, akin to market research. thus you haven’t missed much.
You think anybody us "Thousanders" are going to reveal the amazing perks and benefits United showers on us at every opportunity?
The first rule of "Thousanders" is that there is no such thing as Thousanders.
So there.
I am a member of the *A Top 1000 Community since inception, but I have no idea about the “Participant #” someone mentioned in another post. When I logged into the portal, I don’t see any reference about participant #.
I thought I was invited because I do several *A RTW trips each year using LH/SQ/CA/NH/UA/OS. I do use its leather passport holder gift, but threw away the keychain.
There is no benefits in...
I am a member of the *A Top 1000 Community since inception, but I have no idea about the “Participant #” someone mentioned in another post. When I logged into the portal, I don’t see any reference about participant #.
I thought I was invited because I do several *A RTW trips each year using LH/SQ/CA/NH/UA/OS. I do use its leather passport holder gift, but threw away the keychain.
There is no benefits in this community, but I am a willing participant in the surveys to provide feedbacks.
If you are already a dedicated Star Alliance flyer, then the alliance does not need to incentivize you more to fly with them. Most likely you choose Star because you live near one of their airline hubs, not because you have a lot of selection choices.
If the percentage is as small as you claim then of course the benefits will not be much. However, keep in mind this is an alliance recognition and not an airline. The alliance is similar to that of a parent organization. It would not be able to provide benefits without various airlines offering them for this status. I think it would tough for the alliance to have airlines do this unless this status was mostly...
If the percentage is as small as you claim then of course the benefits will not be much. However, keep in mind this is an alliance recognition and not an airline. The alliance is similar to that of a parent organization. It would not be able to provide benefits without various airlines offering them for this status. I think it would tough for the alliance to have airlines do this unless this status was mostly earned by passengers flying that airline. I mean if one reached the status through a specific airline.
I got it in 2020 before the global China Virus, and then have just been updated for 2022 flights. I don't know what the qualification is either. in '22 I flew 37 flights on 8 Star Alliance airlines and this year, '23 I have done 17 flights on 5 Star Alliance partners. So no rhyme or reason how to get it. I didn't get a number of what I am in the pecking order. As...
I got it in 2020 before the global China Virus, and then have just been updated for 2022 flights. I don't know what the qualification is either. in '22 I flew 37 flights on 8 Star Alliance airlines and this year, '23 I have done 17 flights on 5 Star Alliance partners. So no rhyme or reason how to get it. I didn't get a number of what I am in the pecking order. As with the other comments, I got a keyring and a book and I regularly get market surveys on traveling habits to fill in. Apart from that, bugger-all.
Yes, no rhyme or reason if thr numbers you cite hold true.
I did 49 flights in 2018 in UA alone (several more on LH) with not a hint of a keyring.
It's really about the number of *different* airlines. Those who just fly one (like United) plus another one (like Lufthansa for feeder flights) don't match the criteria.
Some airline programs have similar status. BA had it's black status, which is limited to (as I understand) a few hundred people. I used to have it. Got my own telephone number if I ever needed it. Could arrive at an airport with bag to check 40 mins before a transatlantic flight, still make the plane and be escorted to the gate, got invited to cocktails and canapes with the chairman of BA to the House of Lords in the UK. It was very cool
I understand your point, but it's 0.0004%
The issue is that if you are a major flyer with an alliance, you will have a base airline, and use that airline's FF program for all your flights in that alliance. And usually those airlines give you special benefits if you fly on their metal, so you will choose it over another alliance member if both are available. So flying a lot of different airlines may not signal much, other than you flew a...
The issue is that if you are a major flyer with an alliance, you will have a base airline, and use that airline's FF program for all your flights in that alliance. And usually those airlines give you special benefits if you fly on their metal, so you will choose it over another alliance member if both are available. So flying a lot of different airlines may not signal much, other than you flew a bunch of routes where your main airline's metal was not a great choice, or perhaps a lot of codeshares?
I sense a scam, like those in professional industries that most are familiar with, pay a couple of hundred dollars and you too can be a "Top Doctor", "Toy Lawyer", "Top Blogger", "Top Occupant of Economy Middle-Row Seat"
a key chain? really?
what does being in the Top 500 get your?
- coasters?
"Toy Lawyer" - sometimes typos are even better than the original intent :-)
Having read this thread, I guarantee some aviation geeks are going to fly a lot if airlines now just to get this top 1000 swag.
While it would be fun, I'm a bit torn. Flying an alliance member does a.low one to credit points to one's native FFP (albeit sometimes at a reduced earnings rate) but for Air Canada it doesn't count toward 1MM status. Only AC metal does. So while I've flown a baker's dozen or so Star Alliance airlines over the years, and will make a half dozen this year, I wouldn't go out of my way to...
While it would be fun, I'm a bit torn. Flying an alliance member does a.low one to credit points to one's native FFP (albeit sometimes at a reduced earnings rate) but for Air Canada it doesn't count toward 1MM status. Only AC metal does. So while I've flown a baker's dozen or so Star Alliance airlines over the years, and will make a half dozen this year, I wouldn't go out of my way to do so even for the bragging rights. 1MM (or 2MM, or 3MM) status has tangible benefits.
Has it ever occurred that "Top 1000" doesn't literally mean top 1000?
It's more than ever just a marketing term.
Same way to look at "5-star" airlines.
one more remark: Inviting frequent flyers that fly a lot with Star Alliance implies that they do not fly with other alliances too often. From market research perspective, it wouldve been smarter to identify travellers that have earned a status with at least one more alliance/airline. The contributions of those members would be more valuable and out of the box than my contributions..e.g. proposing a Star Alliance Platinum Status comparable to OneWorld Emerald...
Dear Ben,
the "Star Alliance Top 1000" is nothing to be excited about. It is not recognized by any airline but is a market research panel, which was/is organized by market research company Rogator. I just checked the panel and it seems to be hosted on a kernwert.de server (Digital Qualitative Research).
As written before: When Air India did not honour my MileagePlus ticket, I wrote an email to the designated Star Alliance Top...
Dear Ben,
the "Star Alliance Top 1000" is nothing to be excited about. It is not recognized by any airline but is a market research panel, which was/is organized by market research company Rogator. I just checked the panel and it seems to be hosted on a kernwert.de server (Digital Qualitative Research).
As written before: When Air India did not honour my MileagePlus ticket, I wrote an email to the designated Star Alliance Top 1000 email adress. A representative from the Star Alliance Office in Frankfurt was understanding, but could not help me. I guess Star Alliance is more like a service provider to the airlines than the other way around but it would be interesting to get an insight here. (It is not like Star Alliance as such is a big company. See linkedin).
I was invited back in 2017 being a MileagePlus 1K member due to traveling on many different airlines. Based on my fare classes, it was most likely not based on the highest yielad fare classes. Living in Europe, you easily fly a lot of different airlines by just traveling intra-europe on one of the 10 (?) european Star Alliance airlines. (All Star Alliance airlines with the exception of Shenzhen and Copa fly to Europe (?).
Anyway, in the first year I received a nice personal letter and a leather passport holder with a Star Alliance Top 1000 imprint so I felt special. The second year I received a leather credit card wallet and then in 2019 I received a "Top 1000 Inspirational Journeys Book" in the form of a pdf...because I am so special. It was very promising in the beginning and I was excited but in the end there were no special events but only the online market research platform.
I believe it is based on the Top 1000 (I am number 792) in terms of flying most number of alliance airlines in a given year (rather than total miles).
I believe they are ramping up again, as they sent a note a couple of days ago saying “In the following months we are about to launch numerous initiatives aimed at collecting your valuable ideas and thoughts for the sake of improvement of Star...
I believe it is based on the Top 1000 (I am number 792) in terms of flying most number of alliance airlines in a given year (rather than total miles).
I believe they are ramping up again, as they sent a note a couple of days ago saying “In the following months we are about to launch numerous initiatives aimed at collecting your valuable ideas and thoughts for the sake of improvement of Star Alliance products and services.”
They also publish the results of the survey questions so you can see how other Top 1000 responded to questions about which are the best lounges, which alliance benefits are most important, etc., which is pretty cool.
If you are interested feel free to PM me and I could log in and screen share what is in the portal.
So are you only using one FFP that creditting a lot of different airlines or they might be able to track all of your accounts? Any idea?
I only credit to MileagePlus. I assume United nominated me for this in 2017/2018 when it started. Again, it’s just a survey program.
at David: How do you know that you are number 792? That was not stated in any letter, was it?
When you log in the portal it shows your “participant number”
Only UA FF number
Star Alliance launched this initiative in 2017. They’ve not updated it or published any re-qualification requirements. I still get their emails, despite my travel having decreased.
They occasionally send members a survey asking to share their opinions. I see the program as just a way for Star Alliance to ask certain frequent flyers questions.
There are no benefits associated with Top 1000. They mailed me a passport holder and a keychain- that’s it.
interesting. I did not get a keychain but a wallet for credit cards instead. And the pdf "inspirational journeys" :)
@John S, wouldn't it be nice if they actually *listened* to all your responses? I'm assuming that you (and others) gave feedback on things to improve.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any meaningful benefits they've added. Silver is just as useless as it was 25 years ago, and Gold benefits have gotten worse with Light/Basic fares (bags). IMHO, they should take away that exception, give *S some priority airport perks,...
@John S, wouldn't it be nice if they actually *listened* to all your responses? I'm assuming that you (and others) gave feedback on things to improve.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any meaningful benefits they've added. Silver is just as useless as it was 25 years ago, and Gold benefits have gotten worse with Light/Basic fares (bags). IMHO, they should take away that exception, give *S some priority airport perks, and add a preferred seating benefit to both *G and *S.
“I was today years old when I learned that Star Alliance has (or at least had) a program”
Perhaps a typo here, or is this an expression?
A common expression. It means someone learned something new that day.
Lol I also just learnt it's an expression the kids use these days
@Ken, Americans don't recognise the word "learnt".
Would be cool if OneWorld did something like this!
I agree. But have you looked at Malaysia Airlines and tried to credit them to AS or AA?
I did, and they "forgot" to credit me in 2022. Their window is: it has to have been 7 days or less than 6 months for Enrich miles, but there's no process (with either MH or our domestic carriers) to research missing partner-posted miles.
I just decided not to fly MH again. Seems simpler. ;-)
Howdy, admittedly I haven't tried to do that. I did have numerous problems like 5 years ago getting Jet Airways in India (they were OneWorld or at least partners with AA for a time) crediting anything. It got consistently blamed and pushed around to different ground employees and city stations. Finally I gave up. Was a fairly long set of flights too. AA and Qatar segments all posted fine. But the final segments on Jet never would. Very frustrating.