Why Chase Airline Elite Status?

As you may know from my previous blog posts, I’m usually Oneworld-loyal. In fact, I’d guess 98% of my flights since the year 2000 have been on Oneworld airlines (OW). So, I’ve always striven for elite status, mainly because the higher statuses confer international lounge access regardless of service class (e.g., “economy” or “business”). And I just like airline lounges.

Holding Oneworld Sapphire status grants you access to all OW Business Lounges. The top-tier Emerald status allows you access to all OW Business and First Class Lounges. As an American Airlines frequent flyer, “Platinum” status is equivalent to OW Sapphire, and “Platinum Pro” and “Executive Platinum” are equivalent to OW Emerald. In short, if you have OW Sapphire or Emerald (irrespective of Oneworld airline), you have access to the lounges. 

One caveat: if you are an American Airlines elite member traveling domestically in North America (AA sees the US, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean as "North America"), you are NOT allowed to use the Admirals Clubs, even if you’re flying in First Class (there are a couple exceptions on transcontinental routes). 

That said, if you are Sapphire or Emerald status from another Oneworld airline, say Iberia Airlines, then you do have access to Admiral’s Clubs in the US (and elsewhere). So there’s a workaround if you hold elite status with another OW airline.

As I was recently contemplating my travel future, however, something hit me: given my travel preferences and style, I thought, "airline elite status does not matter much for me anymore..." Here was my thinking...

The last few years, I’ve made it a general rule for myself that if a flight is longer than 3 or 4 hours I will do all I can to fly Business or First Class. This is done for more practical reasons than any type of prestige. For example, I'm a larger-than-average guy and, with the shrinking sizes of seats and leg room in economy, business and first class seats are much more comfortable. I also like boarding the plane early to settle in and then deplaning quickly to beat the rush through immigration or to the rental car counters.

But here’s the kicker: flying internationally in Business or First Class with Oneworld airlines gives you access to those lounges, respectively. For domestic flights – where I wouldn’t be allowed access to an Admiral’s Club even if I was flying First Class (since I’m an AAdvantage elite member) – I already have an Admiral’s Club membership via my Citi card. Basically, as long as my international travel is in Business Class or higher, I get lounge access anyhow.

Some people like to earn airline status for the “free” upgrades. That’s all well and good. However, the best way to be sure you always get “upgraded” is to buy the ticket for the seat you want.

Granted, business and first class fares can be mighty steep for some destinations. But if you’re traveling only a couple or few times a year, treating yourself to that higher service level sure makes travel nice.

So, given the way I travel, why would I chase airline elite status?

Well...as my wife reminded me when I bombarded her with my thought: award miles. Yes, for earning status you need a certain amount of miles and/or points. But when I say "award miles", I mean miles that you can redeem for travel (e.g., free and/or discounted tickets). With each level of elite status, you usually earn award mileage multiplier/bonuses. For example, with the AAdvantage program, a Gold member earns a 40% bonus on top of base miles. If you're Platinum, it's 60%. Platinum Pro 80%. And for top-end Executive Platinum, a whopping 120%!

Side note: American has introduced "Loyalty Points", and it's a revenue-based program. Basically, $1 = 1 loyalty point (LP), and 1 LP = 1 award mile. AAdvantage members (no tier status) earn 3 LP/miles per dollar. That means, for example, if you're an AAdvantage Member, and you spend $1500 on a ticket -- regardless of where you go -- you'll earn 7500 LP (1500 x 3). If you're AAdvantage Gold that earning increases to 10,500. And to 12,500 for Platinum, 13,500 for Platinum Pro, and an incredible 16,500 for Executive Platinum.

In the case of higher-level elite statuses, those miles can add up quickly. Plus, you might also get an extra boost in award miles depending on your "class" of service, as flying business or first will often give you up to 100% more miles on top of the base miles AND elite miles bonus.

For example, if you are AAdvantage Gold and fly on a $1500 discounted business class ticket from, say, Miami to Los Angeles (~2300 miles), you would earn 10,500 award miles, PLUS a cabin bonus of 75% (of the base miles): 2300 x 75% = 1725 + 10,500 = 12,225 total award miles.

You might be able to imagine how fast those miles can add up with higher elite status and class of service. And, on some Oneworld flights, you still earn based on miles flown, not ticket price, and so class and status multipliers can often make for very lucrative earnings, depending on your flight. As an AAdvantage Gold member, a roundtrip business class ticket on Qatar Airways from Miami to Doha, regardless of the amount you paid for example, would earn you more than 40,000 award miles (and nearly as many LPs)!

But there's also another, more practical reason. As you get older, recovery from long flights seems to take longer and longer. The old tricks like immediately getting on the schedule of your destination from the time you step on the plane or staying awake until bedtime the day of arrival don't work as well. It may take a day or two to recover from a several hour flight.

Traveling in business or first class -- where you have lie-flat seat, your own pajamas and sparkly amenity kit, and on-demand meals -- you arrive at your long-haul destination rested and ready to go. I've found that when I fly more than 3 or 4 hours in business or first class, I hit the ground running and ready to go. If the same flight is in economy, I'll need time to recover (sometimes a full day or two...or three, depending on the flight).

So why chase airline elite status? Well, depending on your travel style, it can earn you upgrades, lounge access, and/or award miles quicker. Plus, when you figure in the time not lost because you got a decent and (mostly) comfortable rest on your long flight? Totally worth it.

#AAdvantage #Lounge #LoungeStatus #Elite #EliteStatus #Oneworld #upgrade #FirstClass #BusinessClass #Citi #Citicard

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