Summary

  • Oneworld has three priority tiers: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, each with benefits like lounge access and priority boarding.
  • Earning elite status with American Airlines is easier due to lower point requirements and more earning opportunities compared to Alaska Airlines.
  • Alaska Airlines now allows earning status through credit card spending, providing an alternate route to achieving elite status.

The oneworld airline alliance is one of the three largest airline alliances in the world. Comprising 14 global airline members, the Oneworld Alliance was formed in 1999 and aims to become the first-choice alliance for frequent international travelers.

To achieve an oneworld priority status, travelers must enroll in the frequent flier program of one of the member airlines and receive a top-tier status. The oneworld priority status has three tiers: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. According to oneworld,

“Each tier enjoys a level of oneworld priority benefits, which may include airport lounge access, priority boarding, extra baggage, priority baggage handling and more.”

An American Airlines Boeing 737 in oneworld livery flying in the sky.

Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock

Oneworld Alliance tiers and benefits

Ruby

  • Access to Business Class priority check-in
  • Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating
  • Priority on waitlists and when on standby

Sapphire

  • Access to Business Class lounges
  • Access to Business Class priority check-in
  • Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating
  • Priority on waitlists and when on standby
  • Priority boarding
  • When you fly on oneworld member airlines, you can check-in extra baggage for free, in addition to your ticketed baggage allowance
  • Priority baggage handling

Emerald

  • Access to First and Business Class lounges
  • Access to First Class priority check-in
  • ‘Fast Track’ or ‘Priority Lane’ access at select airports worldwide
  • Priority baggage handling
  • When you fly on oneworld member airlines, you can check-in extra baggage for free, in addition to your ticketed baggage allowance.
  • Priority boarding
  • Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating
  • Priority on waitlists and when on standby

Related

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The three alliances are heavily influential across the commercial aviation spectrum.

Top-tier American Airlines or Alaska Airlines members automatically receive one of the oneworld priority tiers, depending on their tier with the airline. Earning oneworld alliance status with American Airlines is easier than with Alaska Airlines. This is because the former requires fewer points and more opportunities to earn miles than the latter. Let’s quickly compare the earning opportunities between the two airlines.

American Airlines

AAdvantage Tiers

  • AAdvantage Gold® | 40,000 points
  • AAdvantage Platinum® | 75,000 points
  • AAdvantage Platinum Pro® | 125,000 points
  • AAdvantage Executive Platinum® | 200,000 points

American Airlines offers numerous ways for enrolled AAdvantage members to earn miles. While those are called miles, those are earned based on the dollar amount spent on American Airlines tickets, flying with oneworld member airlines or American partner airlines, hotel stays, car rentals, shopping, and more. AAdvantage co-branded credit card holders also earn miles based on how much they spend using the card.

An American Airlines Boeing 777 in oneworld alliance livery

Photo: Tupungato | Shutterstock

With 1 AAdvantage mile equaling 1 loyalty point, members must accumulate at least 40,000 miles (or points) to earn elite status with the airline and subsequently with the oneworld alliance. On average, hotels, dining, and shopping earn approximately 1 to 2 miles per dollar. Moreover, rental packages and cruises earn more; for example, booking a cruise through AA Cruises earns 3 miles per dollar spent.

Let’s take a more realistic example. An AAdvantage member who aims to earn an elite status must spend between $20,000 – $26,667 (assuming 1.5 to 2 points for each dollar spent on average) to earn 40,000 loyalty points and quality for the Advantage Gold status. This can be done within a year, given the co-branded credit card is frequently used for all purchases.

Related

A Complete Guide To Elite Status In The oneworld Alliance

Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphires are the tiers to strive for within the oneworld Alliance.

Alaska Airlines

Mileage Tiers

  • MVP | 20,000 miles
  • MVP Gold | 40,000 miles
  • MVP Gold 75K | 75,000 miles
  • MVP Gold 100K | 100,000 miles

Earning miles with Alaska Airlines is much simpler. Earn elite qualifying miles (EQM) through Alaska Airlines-operated flights and partner-operated flights. Members accumulate points from their flights to earn a top priority status with the airline. In the past, the only way to earn EQMs was to fly with Alaska or its partner airlines.

Alaska oneworld

Photo: Alaska Airlines

But something has changed this year with the airline’s new offer for 2024. With Alaska Airlines credit card spending, members can earn up to 20,000 EQMs, enough to get them MVP status. According to Alaska Airlines,

“A faster way to earn status through your Alaska Airlines credit card. Throughout 2024, for every $10,000 you spend on purchases, you’ll automatically earn 4,000 EQMs (up to 20,000 EQMs total).”

The above offer is only valid until December 31, 2024, with the EQMs applied towards elite status in 2025. In the above case, a loyalty member aiming to earn Alaska Airlines’ elite status must spend $50,000 within 2024 to earn 20,000 EQMs to qualify for MVP status.

Related

How To Use The Alaska Airlines Status Match To Earn Additional Frequent Flyer Benefits

Alaska Airlines offers a challenge to match status from several other programs.

Bottom line

The path to American Airlines’ frequent flier elite status seems quicker and more economical than Alaska Airlines. Despite the generous offer of 4,000 EQPs per $10,000 spent, it is quite expensive compared to the AAdvantage program. Moreover, spending $50,000 on a credit card will likely take more than one year.

What are your thoughts on the oneworld elite status path through its partner airlines, American and Alaska? Do you hold an elite status with any US airline? Share your experience in the comments section.

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