Summary
- Spending your way up to elite status with airline credit cards or partners is an efficient and convenient shortcut.
- Elite status perks like free bags, upgrades, and lounge access can be unlocked with strategic spending.
- Mixing flying and spending is key – though there are costs, loyal travelers can achieve high-tier status without constant flying.
For those who don’t fly frequently enough with a single airline to earn elite status through flight bookings, there’s a convenient and effective workaround: spend your way to the top or near enough.
Using co-branded airline credit cards or making everyday purchases with select partners can earn loyalty points that can quickly elevate your status, putting you in control of your travel benefits.
While airline loyalty programs do encourage frequent fliers to book more expensive tickets more often, it’s important to note that airlines also generate significant revenue through their credit card partnerships. That’s why they offer bonus points to co-branded credit card holders. These extra points can make moving up the loyalty tiers much easier without setting foot in an airport.
Spending your way up elite status tiers can pay off with valuable benefits such as free checked bags, upgrades, and airport lounge access.
Spending for status
One reassuring advantage of having a co-branded airline credit card is that you can earn extra credit for your everyday spending, which can lead to a quick status upgrade. However, it’s not the only way to rise in status. Some airlines also count everyday purchases and spending with select partners, regardless of which credit card you use, making it even more accessible for you to achieve elite status.
How to earn elite status for American Airlines by spending
Let’s take American Airlines as our first example. Most American Airlines AAdvantage credit cards earn 1 Loyalty Point per $1 spent.

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The airline’s entry-level elite tier, which offers limited benefits, only requires 15,000 loyalty points to qualify.
Moving up gets progressively more expensive.
- AAdvantage Gold requires 40,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Platinum requires 75,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro requires 125,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Executive Platinum requires 200,000 Loyalty Points
By spending $40,000, you can achieve Gold status. Spend $200,000, and you can reach Executive Platinum status.

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From car rentals to dining staying at specific hotels, AA offers quite a few ways of advancing your airline status.
Business owners can also benefit from AAdvantage co-branded small business credit cards, earning elite status through their business expenses.
Photo: American Airlines
You can also earn loyalty points by spending with select partners, and you don’t need a co-branded credit card to qualify.
- Get points on the airline’s portals: American Airlines Vacations, AAdvantage® eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, SimplyMiles.
- Get closer to elite status with select hotels: American Airlines Hotels, Hyatt, Marriott International, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Vacations, RocketMiles.
- Earn points by renting cars through American Airlines Cars, Avis, Budget, Payless, Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, Alamo, National, Sixt.
- Book a cruise with American Airlines Cruises to earn extra loyalty points.
- Earn points by filling up your tank at Shell
- Get points for paying your energy bills to NRG, Reliant, or Xoom
- Also, you can earn loyalty points by sharing your thoughts on Miles for Opinions
Get elite status with Air Canada just by signing up for a credit card
Air Canada offers six elite status levels, each with a corresponding Star Alliance status match, ensuring you get VIP treatment on alliance partner airlines.
Photo: Airbus
Be a bit patient here and take time to read through this list. All the acronyms on the Air Canada program get a little complicated.*
Elite status is determined based on the accumulation of ‘Status Qualifying Miles’ (SQM), which are the miles you fly on the airline, ‘Status Qualifying Segments’ (SQS), which are the number of flights you take, and ‘Status Qualifying Dollars’ (SQD), which are the dollars you spend on flights. In addition, members can earn ‘Everyday Status Qualification’ (EDQ) currency through everyday purchases. However, EQD points will only get you to the 25K elite tier, and you need 100,000 EDQ points to qualify.
Okay, you probably need a breather.
To ascend to the following Air Canada elite status tier, you’ll need to accumulate the following:
- 25K (Star Alliance Silver) requires 25,000 SQM or 25 SQS and $3,000 SQD
- 35K (Star Alliance Silver) requires 35,000 SQM or 35 SQS and $4,000 SQD
- 50K (Star Alliance Gold) requires 50,000 SQM or 50 SQS and $6,000 SQD
- 75K (Star Alliance Gold) requires 75,000 SQM or 75 SQS and $9,000 SQD
- Super Elite (Star Alliance Gold) requires 100,000 SQM or 100 SQS and $20,000 SQD
Anyway, there’s a silver lining. When you sign up for an Aeroplan® Credit Card, you can jump straight to the 25K tier. Once you use your new card, you’ll have Air Canada 25K status for the rest of your first and second calendar years. To keep your 25K status, you’ll need to spend at least $15,000. You can reach as high as 35K status by spending $50,000. You must fly to get any higher.
Earn elite status with Alaska Airlines credit cards
You can reach Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan elite status and progress through the tiers using Alaska Airlines cards. Alaska has simplified its MVP status tiers, and now you can qualify based solely on the number of elite-qualifying miles (EQMs) you earn.
Source: Alaska Airlines
The status tiers are as follows:
- MVP requires 20,000 EQMs
- MVP Gold requires 40,000 EQMs
- MVP Gold 75k requires 75,000 EQMs
- MVP Gold 100K requires 100,000 EQMs
Credit card spending alone will only help you reach the Basic MVP status, but Alaska Airlines card spending will earn higher elite levels more quickly.
When you spend $10,000 on an Alaska Airlines credit card, you earn 4,000 EQMs. Purchases on multiple cards can count towards EQMs. However, the maximum EQMs you can earn across all cards, including the Alaska Airlines Visa Business and Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit cards, is 20,000 annually.
Delta’s revamped elite status lets you rise higher by spending
Delta has revamped its SkyMiles elite status program for 2024. Now, you earn status solely based on how many Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) you earn in a year.

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The Delta elite tier requirements are as follows:
- Silver Medallion requires 5,000 MQDs
- Gold Medallion requires 10,000 MQDs
- Platinum Medallion requires 15,000 MQDs
- Diamond Medallion requires 28,000 MQDs
Delta Medallion elite status members receive seat upgrades, free checked bags, priority boarding, and Choice Benefits.
Photo: Delta Air Lines
Delta credit cardholders earn $1 MQD for every $20 spent on the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card.
The airline issues $1 MQD per $10 spent on the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card.
Starting this February, SkyMiles Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve, and Reserve Business, cardholders get 2,500 MQD to boost each Medallion Qualification Year. The new policy will help bring members closer to elite status. This boost applies to each card you hold. If you have more than one card that earns a bonus, you can combine your MQD boosts.
Source: Delta Air Lines
It can get pricey. To achieve Delta elite status solely through credit card spending, without booking Delta flights, you would need to splash out anywhere from $50,000 to $510,000 on either SkyMiles Platinum cards. The cost halves to between $25,000 and $255,000 on either of the Reserve credit cards.
Add ‘Tiles’ for JetBlue elite status using your wallet
JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program recently relaunched its elite status, Mosaic, which now includes four loyalty tiers. You can reach these tiers by spending on select JetBlue credit cards.

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JetBlue does not offer the alliance-wide benefits of other airlines, but has some good value for regular passengers.
The Mosaic program uses “Tiles” to achieve elite status. Each tier level offers extra perks like Even More Space seats, pet fee waivers, credit card statement credits, point bonuses, and more.
- Mosaic 1 requires 50 Tiles
- Mosaic 2 requires 100 Tiles
- Mosaic 3 requires 150 Tiles
- Mosaic 4 requires 250 Tiles
You’ll earn one Tile for every $1,000 you spend on your eligible JetBlue credit card. If you spend $50,000, you’ll earn the 50 Tiles you need for Mosaic 1 status.
Photo: EQRoy | Shutterstock
To reach the top-tier Mosaic 4 status, you’d need to spend $250,000 in a single calendar year. Whether that level of spending is worth the perks depends on how often you might fly with JetBlue.
Photo: JetBlue Airways
You can also earn JetBlue Tiles through bookings or purchases on the airline’s Paisly platform. Or just buy up to Tiles for cash, if you’re really keen.

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You can also purchase tiles outright to establish your Mosaic elite status.
Get elite perks on Southwest Airlines through credit card spending
Southwest Airlines has two elite tiers on its Rapid Rewards loyalty program: A-List status and A-List Preferred status. While all passengers receive free bags on Southwest Airlines, these elite statuses offer additional perks, like priority boarding, which can make flying with Southwest more pleasant.

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Earning a specific number of Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) is required to achieve elite status with Southwest.
- A-List requires 35,000 TQPs
- A-List Preferred requires 70,000 TQPs
When you spend on your Southwest Airlines credit cards, you accrue 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) for every $5,000 spent. The Southwest Airlines Companion Pass requires 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points.
Since each dollar spent on Southwest credit cards counts as a Companion Pass point, you could spend $135,000 on your co-branded card and earn both A-List status and the Companion Pass.
Reach elite status on United Airlines without flying
United MileagePlus Premier status includes benefits such as complimentary checked bags, bonus miles on airfare, lounge access on eligible itineraries, seat upgrades, and more.
You can qualify for this status by earning Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) or a combination of a lower PQP threshold and a certain number of Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF).

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These benefits can be quite extensive.
You can earn PQPs by spending money on a few United Airlines credit cards. However, you must fly at least four segments on United Airlines planes.
The United Airlines elite status levels are as follows:
- Premier Silver (Star Alliance Silver) requires 5,000 PQPs
- Premier Gold (Star Alliance Gold) requires 10,000 PQPs
- Premier Platinum (Star Alliance Gold) requires 15,000 PQPs
- Premier 1k (Star Alliance Gold) requires 24,000 PQPs
Photo: United Airlines
United Airlines offers three credit cards that can help you earn PQPs to achieve status. The United Club℠ Infinite Card allows you to earn up to 10,000 PQPs annually. However, within a calendar year, you will earn 25 PQPs for every $500 spent on the card.
To max out the 10,000 PQPs bonus, you’d need to spend $200,000. The United Quest℠ Card earns up to 6,000 PQPs, and the United℠ Explorer Card can earn up to 1,000 PQPs yearly, with 25 PQPs per $500 spent.
Holding all three credit cards could earn you 17,000 PQPs yearly,earningn you Premier Platinum status. Still, you’d need to spend a hefty $340,000 on all three cards to get there.
There are no free flights—always consider the cost
Before rushing to apply for multiple airline credit cards, consider the cost. There are no free flights. Even flights paid with miles cost whatever you spent on earning those miles.

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There are no free perks either, though they are lovely and likely worth the price. Still, some airline co-branded credit cards have annual fees over $500, enough to pay for a round-trip economy ticket to some pleasant destinations.
Earning status through spending only makes sense if you spent that much a year anyway. You might as well earn a little extra for your money, but look out for interest rates.
The best path to elite status is as a frequent flier
Most airline loyalty programs attract more high-revenue frequent fliers. You must take many flights with the same airline to achieve the most elite tier status. This is easier for business travelers, with companies paying for their tickets.

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Booking higher fare classes, like business class on an international flight, will help you reach a higher status tier faster than a few short basic economy flights.

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The benefit of elite status only pays off when you fly. Combining flying and spending is your best path to the top elite tiers. Of course, you could game the system, and many make a hobby out of it, but the ultimate reward is the VIP treatment at around 30,000 feet.

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