You can earn airline elite status without flying all the time — here’s how

You can earn airline elite status without flying all the time — here’s how

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Airline elite status is a great way to reduce the fees you pay and improve your flying experience. Perks range from waived checked bag fees, to airport lounge access, early boarding and free upgrades. Traditionally, the way to earn status is by flying a lot with a specific airline and its partners. However, that’s not the only way.

Most of the major airlines offer a path to elite status without flying if you simply open and spend on a co-branded airline credit card. Some airlines also let you make progress toward earning elite status through other activities, like shopping online and dining out.

CNBC Select has the details on how to earn airline status without even stepping foot on an airplane, which mostly revolves around finding the right travel credit card.

How to earn airline status without flying

American Airlines

American Airlines offers four tiers of elite status, plus an invitation-only level. Depending on the status level, perks can include free checked bags, priority check-in, airport lounge access and upgrades, which even apply to award flights and flights operated by Alaska Airlines. The program offers many ways to earn elite status beyond just flying and credit card spending.

You earn American Airlines status by accumulating Loyalty Points, and you earn one Loyalty Point for every eligible AAdvantage mile you earn. These are the current status requirements:

  • AAdvantage Gold: 40,000 Loyalty Points
  • AAdvantage Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
  • AAdvantage Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
  • AAdvantage Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points

When you make purchases with an American Airlines credit card, such as the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® or AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, you’ll earn one Loyalty Point per dollar. You don’t earn Loyalty Points from any bonus spending categories or from the cards’ intro bonuses.

Good to Excellent670–850

Earn 80,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is worth considering if you fly with American Airlines once or twice a year because you’ll get your first checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries.

  • First checked bag free on eligible American Airlines flights for the cardholder and up to four travel companions on the same reservation
  • No Foreign transaction fees
  • Preferred boarding
  • American Airlines Flight Discount has a high spending requirement
  • Has an annual fee

AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®

Information about the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by CNBC Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.

  • Rewards

    2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases; 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on other purchases.

  • Welcome bonus

    60,000 miles after the first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee within the first 90 days. 

  • Annual fee

  • Intro APR

    0% intro APR for 15 months on balance transfers made within 45 days of account opening

  • Regular APR

  • Balance transfer fee

    Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

  • Foreign transaction fees

  • Credit needed

Pros

  • Easy-to-earn welcome bonus
  • Generous balance transfer intro APR offer

Cons

  • Not very rewarding for purchases

You can also earn Loyalty Points and miles when you shop with an eligible American Airlines partner. This includes transactions you make through the American Airlines shopping portal and with cards linked to AAdvantage SimplyMiles, as well as rental cars, hotels and cruises you book through American Airlines and its partners. You can also earn Loyalty Points through the AAdvantage Dining program, completing “Miles for Opinions” surveys and more.

Delta

Delta revamped its elite status program for 2024 and moving forward. Now, you earn status solely based on how many Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) you earn in a year. The tier requirements are as follows:

Delta Medallion elite status members can take advantage of benefits, such as seat upgrades, free checked bags, priority boarding and Choice Benefits (like upgrade certificates and Sky Club® memberships and travel vouchers) at the higher levels.

Delta cardholders earn $1 MQD for every $20 spent on the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card. That rate improves to $1 MQD per $10 spent on the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card.

SkyMiles Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve and Reserve Business cardholders also receive a 2,500 MQD boost each Medallion Qualification Year and get closer to status with MQD Headstart. This MQD boost is per card, so you can stack the boosts if you have multiple cards that earn the bonus. For example, if you have the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business card and the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card, you’ll earn a 5,000-MQD bonus.

On the American Express site

On the American Express site

Good to Excellent670–850

Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 Bonus Miles

The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card can help turn your business expenses into Delta miles and elite status credit.

  • Annual Companion Certificate for flights within the U.S. or to Mexico, Central America or the Caribbean (every year after renewal; Baggage charges and other restrictions apply.)
  • Over $400 in annual statement credit offers
  • Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee statement credit of up to $120 about every four years  (Enrollment required for select benefits mentioned)
  • High annual fee
  • Lacks key travel insurance perks

Highlights

Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.

On the American Express site

On the American Express site

The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card’s array of premium benefits make it a perfect fit for the most loyal Delta flyers, including elite status boosts, rideshare credits (enrollment required) and airport lounge access.

  • Access to airport lounges, including Amex Centurion lounges
  • Up to $560 in annual statement credits (Enrollment may be required)
  • 15% discount for eligible Delta award flights (Not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.)
  • High annual fee
  • No bonus spending categories outside of Delta purchases

Highlights

Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.

United

United MileagePlus Premier status comes with benefits, such as complimentary checked bags, bonus miles on airfare, lounge access on eligible itineraries, seat upgrades and more. You qualify for status by earning Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) or a combination of a lower PQP threshold and a certain number of Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF).

United’s status tier requirements are:

  • Premier Silver: 15 PQF and 5,000 PQP, or 6,000 PQPs
  • Premier Gold: 30 PQF and 10,000 PQP, or 12,000 PQPs
  • Premier Platinum: 45 PQF and 15,000 PQP, or 18,000 PQPs
  • Premier 1K: 60 PQF and 22,000 PQP, or 28,000 PQPs

You can earn PQPs by spending on many United Airlines credit cards, but how many you can earn per card varies. You can earn up to 1 PQP per $20 you spend on an eligible card (1 PQP per $15 on the United Club Infinite and United Club Business cards), and each card has an annual cap on how many PQPs you can earn.

On the low end, you can earn up to 1,000 PQPs per calendar year with cards such as The New United℠ Explorer Card (see rates and fees) and up to 4,000 PQPs with The New United℠ Business Card (see rates and fees).

Good to Excellent670–850

$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $150

The New United℠ Explorer Card is worth it even if you only fly with United Airlines once or twice a year because you can take advantage of two United Club℠ passes per year when the primary cardmember or authorized user is traveling and you can receive free checked bags.

  • No annual fee for the first year
  • Unlocks upgrades for elite members on award flights
  • Two free United Club airport lounge passes every year
  • Valuable United Airlines perks, such as in-flight purchase discounts and the ability to earn elite status credit through credit card spending
  • First checked bag free benefit requires you to pay for the flight with the card
  • United Airlines has a dynamic award chart which can limit the value and flexibility of your miles

Highlights

Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.

Balance transfer fee

See rates and fees. Terms apply. Member FDIC.

If you regularly book business travel with United Airlines, the United℠ Business Card’s benefits can save you money and make the trip more comfortable thanks to perks such as the first checked bag free and two United Club lounge passes per year.

  • Two free United Club airport lounge passes every year
  • Valuable United Airlines perks, such as in-flight purchase discounts and the ability to earn elite status credit through credit card spending
  • First checked bag free benefit requires you to pay for the flight with the card
  • United Airlines has a dynamic award chart which can limit the value and flexibility of your miles

Southwest

Southwest has a simple elite status program with two tiers, which you can earn without flying by accumulating tier-qualifying points (TQPs):

A-List members receive benefits such as priority boarding and bonus points on paid flights.

Outside of flying with Southwest, you can earn TQPs by making qualifying purchases with certain Southwest credit cards. Both the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card (see rates and fees) and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card earn 1,500 TQP for every $5,000 spent on the card. You can earn an unlimited number of TQPs through credit card spending.

Southwest also offers its popular Companion Pass, which is essentially an unlimited two-for-one flight pass for any paid and award tickets (minus taxes and fees). The Companion Pass can be earned by accumulating 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points, or 100 flights.

All co-branded Southwest cards also automatically provide 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each calendar year. Plus, the points earned from the Southwest card welcome bonuses and card spending count toward Companion Pass qualification.

Good to Excellent670–850

Earn 50,000 bonus points.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is a perfect fit for serious Southwest fans who can easily maximize its benefits like upgraded boardings and an annual travel credit.

  • Valuable welcome bonus
  • 7,500 bonus points every card member anniversary
  • $75 annual Southwest travel credit 
  • Limited value when you’re not traveling with Southwest
  • High annual fee

Terms apply. Information about the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.

Read our Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card review

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is Southwest’s mid-tier card and is valuable if you regularly travel to or from destinations Southwest serves.

  • Valuable welcome bonus
  • 6,000 bonus points every card member anniversary
  • No foreign transaction fee
  • Limited value when you’re not traveling with Southwest
  • No annual statement credits to offset the annual fee

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines elite members earn bonus miles on flights, free checked bags, upgrades and more. Alaska has simplified its MVP status tiers and now you can qualify based solely on the number of elite-qualifying miles (EQMs) you earn. With the announcement of Alaska merging with Hawaiian Airlines, the companies announced they would be integrating the two loyalty programs into one, with more details to come. As of July 2025, customers of the airlines can enjoy a status match between Alaska’s Mileage Plan and Hawaiian’s HawaiianMiles, the ability to redeem Mileage Plan miles on Hawaiian Airlines-operated flights and the opportunity to earn miles across both programs.

The Alaska Airlines status tiers are as follows:

  • MVP: 20,000 EQMs
  • MVP Gold: 40,000 EQMs
  • MVP Gold 75K: 75,000 EQMs
  • MVP Gold 100K: 100,000 EQMs

Purchases across multiple cards are combined to qualify for the EQMs, and you can only earn a maximum of 20,000 EQMs combined across all cards each year, including the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business credit card and Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card. You can only qualify for the Basic MVP status based on credit card spending alone, but an Alaska Airlines card is a great way to give you a head start on earning higher status levels.

Bank of America cards are currently not available on CNBC Select. Click “Learn More” to review other credit card offers.

Bank of America cards are currently not available on CNBC Select. Click “Learn More” to review other credit card offers.

Spotlight

Bank of America cards are currently not available on CNBC Select but you can check out our marketplace to compare offers from other issuers including American Express and Chase.

*See rates and fees, terms apply.

  • Annual companion fare
  • Lounge membership discount
  • Earns valuable miles
  • Annual fee
  • Limited bonus spending categories

Information about Bank of America cards has been collected independently by CNBC Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer prior to publication.

JetBlue

JetBlue Mosaic elite status is broken down into four tiers, which you progress through by earning tiles:

  • Mosaic 1: 50 tiles
  • Mosaic 2: 100 tiles
  • Mosaic 3: 150 tiles
  • Mosaic 4: 250 tiles

Entry-level Mosaic 1 status grants you two free checked bags (first bag for you and a companion), up to three free drinks per flight (beer, wine, liquor) and priority boarding. Higher tiers unlock additional perks, like Mint upgrade certificates and pet fee waivers.

When you’re not flying, you’ll earn one tile per $100 spent on JetBlue vacation packages and one tile per $1,000 spent on any JetBlue credit card, including the JetBlue Card and JetBlue Plus Card. This means you can reach basic Mosaic 1 status with $50,000 in card spending in a year or top-tier status after spending $250,000 on your JetBlue cards in a year.

JetBlue Card

Information about the JetBlue Card has been collected independently by CNBC Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer prior to publication.

  • Rewards

    3X points per dollar spent on eligible JetBlue purchases; 2X points at restaurants and eligible grocery stores; 1X points on all other purchases

  • Welcome bonus

    Earn 10,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on the card in the first 90 days.

  • Annual fee

  • Intro APR

    Eligible balance transfers that post to your account in the first 45 days of account opening qualify for 0% introductory APR for the first twelve billing cycles, then a 20.24% to 29.99%, APR applies.

  • Regular APR

    20.24% to 29.99% variable

  • Balance transfer fee

  • Foreign transaction fees

Pros

  • No annual fee
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Intro-APR offer for balance transfers

Cons

  • No free checked bags
  • Fewer partner airlines to redeem points with compared to other major frequent flyer programs

JetBlue Plus Card

Information about the JetBlue Plus Card has been collected independently by CNBC Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer prior to publication.

  • Rewards

    6X points per dollar spent on eligible JetBlue purchases; 2X points at restaurants and eligible grocery stores; 1X points on all other purchases

  • Welcome bonus

    Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on the card and pay the annual fee in the first 90 days with the JetBlue Plus Card.

  • Annual fee

  • Intro APR

    0% APR on eligible balance transfers that post to account within 45 days of account opening, for the first 12 billing cycles; 20.74% to 29.99% variable thereafter depending on creditworthiness

  • Regular APR

    20.74% to 29.99% variable

  • Balance transfer fee

    Either $5 or 5%, whichever is greater.

  • Foreign transaction fees

  • Credit needed

Pros

  • 5,000 bonus points on your account anniversary
  • 10% rebate on all redeemed TrueBlue points
  • First checked bag free for you and up to three companions
  • 50% off in-flight purchases

Cons

  • $99 annual fee
  • No airport lounge access

FAQs

What’s the easiest way to earn airline status?

If you don’t fly frequently, the easiest way to earn status is generally by spending on the airline’s co-branded credit card. When you have an airline credit card that helps you earn elite status, your non-travel purchases can move you closer to the next status tier.

Can you earn status by flying other airlines?

You can earn miles and elite status credit for your preferred airline when you fly eligible partner airlines. This can be with alliance partner airlines and non-alliance partners, just be sure to credit the flight to the frequent flyer account you want to earn status with.

Is airline status worth it?

Even for the occasional flyer, elite status perks can save you money. You’ll typically be able to take advantage of perks such as priority check-in, free checked bags, bonus miles on paid flights and upgrades.

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For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, click here.

For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, click here.

For rates and fees of the  Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, click here.

For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, click here.

Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.





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