Summary
- Star Alliance offers just two elite tiers – Silver and Gold.
- Silver provides minimal benefits, including waitlist priority, while Gold offers access to lounges, extra baggage, and priority handling.
- Gold status with Star Alliance is comparable to top benefits from other alliances.
Star Alliance is the world’s largest airline group by several measures, including the number of airline members and passengers it has carried. With 26 airline members, there are many ways to earn and take advantage of status. There are just two elite tiers with Star Alliance – Silver and Gold.
The real benefits only start at the higher level of Gold. At this level, you will get lounge access, additional luggage allowance, and priority airport handling with all member airlines. Silver acts as a stepping stone but only has minimal waitlist and standby priority benefits.
Only two tiers with Star Alliance
To keep things simple, the Star Alliance only offers two tiers, Silver and Gold, similar to rival SkyTeam. However, you have likely noticed most airlines have three or even more levels of status. These are only matched across to Silver and Gold on the alliance level. The table below shows some examples of how tiers are matched:
|
Loyalty Program |
Star Alliance Silver status |
Star Alliance Gold status |
|---|---|---|
|
United Airlines MileagePlus |
Premier Silver |
Premier Gold, Platinum, 1K |
|
Air Canada Aeroplan |
Aeroplan 25K, 35K |
Aeroplan 50K, 75K, Super Elite |
|
Lufthansa Miles & More |
Frequent Traveller |
Senator, HON Circle |
|
Avianca LifeMiles |
LifeMiles Red Plus, Silver |
LifeMiles Gold, Diamond |
|
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer |
KrisFlyer Elite Silver |
KrisFlyer Elite Gold, PPS Club |
|
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles |
Classic Plus |
Elite, Elite Plus |
Image: Star Alliance
The benefits of Star Alliance Silver
Star Alliance Silver is generally acknowledged to be a poor entry level of status. There are just two published and guaranteed benefits of Star Alliance Silver – priority reservations waitlisting and priority airport standby.
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Exploring The Perks Of Star Alliance Silver Status
Star Alliance silver status offers minimal entry levels benefits but is relatively easy to earn.
This is generally a poor offering and will only be of use to a limited number of travelers. For comparison, oneworld Ruby (the lowest elite status of three) throws in guaranteed access to business class check-in queues, while SkyTeam Elite (the lower of two tiers) even guarantees priority boarding and an extra checked bag.
The two guaranteed benefits of Silver are:
- Priority reservations waitlisting. Silver status holders receive priority and higher placement on the waitlist for sold-out flights. This is only for paid tickets – there is no priority on offer for sold-out award seats.
- Priority airport standby. Elite members of silver and higher status will receive priority treatment and listing for flights at the airport. This includes situations where passengers are permitted to stand by for earlier flights, as well as for re-booking in the event of disruption. This is potentially a more useful benefit for more travelers.
The benefits of Star Alliance Gold
While Silver status leaves something to be desired, Star Alliance Gold is a desirable status for any frequent flyer. The benefits here are comparable with the top-level benefits of either of the other alliances. And in some cases, they are easier to attain with just the two elite levels.
The main guaranteed benefits of Star Alliance Gold status are:
- Access to business class lounges (first class with some airlines). Star Alliance Gold cardholders can access over 1,000 lounges worldwide when traveling on a Star Alliance member airline. These include airline-operated lounges, Star Alliance lounges at some key airports, as well as many third-party lounges.
Photo: Sorbis | Shutterstock
- Additional luggage allowance. Travelers get an additional 20kg (44 lbs) when the baggage limit is determined by weight. When using the luggage item concept, Star Alliance Gold members get one extra piece of baggage. There are a few exceptions with the lowest fares for some airlines.
- Priority airport check-in. This includes Gold or business class-specific check-in. This is a valuable benefit for regular travelers, often significantly speeding up the airport experience.
Photo: Cineberg | Shutterstock
- Fast track security. This includes ‘Gold Track’ Lanes at select airports.
- Priority boarding. Gold members will receive an earlier boarding group. They usually board after those with additional needs, top-tier airline members, and first/business class passengers.
- Priority baggage handling. This is not the most valuable or reliable benefit. Bags are specially tagged and, in theory, should receive faster treatment.
Related
The Top 6 Star Alliance Gold Benefits
The benefits can stop passengers from queuing soo much, while making the airport experience more pleasant.
Read more about miles, loyalty programs, and points here!
What makes Star Alliance unique are the lounge offerings of its members, such as Turkish Airlines’ lounge at Istanbul Airport or Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer Gold lounge (dedicated to elite members). Given its large network across six continents, it’s no surprise why Star Alliance Gold is considered a prized possession and not one that is easy to achieve.
Photo: Sorbis | Shutterstock
More benefits with your main airline
Remember with elite status that the Star Alliance benefits are only part of what is on offer. All airlines offer additional benefits for their status members when traveling on the home airline. Members will often get many more benefits – including priority airport handling, additional luggage allowance, bound earnings, and some level of complimentary upgrading.
Photo: viper-zero | Shutterstock
For instance, United MileagePlus Silver (Star Alliance) will give you Group 2 boarding access and an extra checked bag, not dissimilar to Gold on American Airlines AAdvantage (oneworld Ruby, American’s lowest elite tier).
Achieving Star Alliance status
Of course, the main way to earn Star Alliance status is by flying with one or more of the member airlines. However, all airlines have different ways to earn status based on flight activity, credit card earnings, and sometimes other sources.
There are also opportunities to match the status held with other non-Star Alliance airlines. Some airlines regularly offer a status match, or status challenge offers to attract flyers with other airlines. These are generally targeted to certain countries and certain airlines – the ones that strategically make sense to attract over.
Photo: Fabian Joy | Shutterstock
Status matches are a great opportunity to expedite the route to Silver or Gold status. If you hold elite status with another alliance, it is unappealing to fly other airlines with no benefits. Airlines recognize this, of course.
As of mid-2024, status matches were available with airlines, including United Airlines, Air Canada, Turkish Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and TAP Air Portugal.
Related
Which Star Alliance Airlines Offer Status Matches For Frequent Flyers?
Some Star Alliance airlines like United and Turkish Airlines offer generous status matches while most offer little or nothing.
There are also some opportunities to get status through credit cards. Co-branded cards sometimes offer instant status or a boost towards it.
Current offers include:
Are you an elite status member with one of the 26 Star Alliance airlines? What do you think about the benefits offered across the alliance? Let us know in the comments section below.