Which Airline Elite Status is Most Valuable in 2017?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve taken a close look at elite status granted through six major carriers’ frequent flyer program: American AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus, Alaska Mileage Plan, JetBlue TrueBlue and Southwest Rapid Rewards. In each post, I identified the various benefits offered to each elite status tier and tried to peg a value on each one. However, considering these programs in isolation doesn’t help you decide which one is best for you. Today I’ll remedy that by comparing tiers across each airline to crown one as the most valuable of all.

A few disclaimers before getting into the analysis. For starters, I’ve done my best to match comparable elite status tiers across programs, recognizing that some programs have different thresholds and varied levels of status. JetBlue was probably the most challenging in this regard, as it only has one status level (Mosaic) and doesn’t exactly correspond to anything from the legacy carriers. I’ve included it in the “middle tier” category, though it probably falls more in between the “low” and “middle” categories.

In This Post

In addition, I have included the two Companion Pass “levels” I considered in the Southwest analysis: one through flying alone (top tier) and the other through a 50/50 split between flying and partner activities (high tier). However, the Companion Pass isn’t technically an elite status (in that you can earn it without ever setting foot on a Southwest plane and don’t automatically get A-List or A-List Preferred benefits for earning one). Even though it’s included in the tables below, just be aware that it doesn’t truly map to other airlines’ high or top-tier levels.

Finally, these calculations represent my personal attempt at identifying which program is the most rewarding. Feel free to adjust any of the numbers or assumptions I used based on your own valuations and/or travel situation.

Elite Status Valuations

Let’s start by taking a look at the numbers for each tier of elite status, with the most rewarding programs for each of the four categories (low, middle, high and top) highlighted in bold:

As you can see, a different airline’s program earns the top spot for each category, though United would snag a second #1 if you ignore the Companion Pass and the fact that it isn’t a true elite status.

However, there’s a key bit of information missing here: how much you actually need to fly to earn that status.

Value per Elite-Qualifying Point/Mile

Let’s take a look at these numbers in a different way… by dividing these values by the number of elite-qualifying miles/points I used in my analyses. Here’s a look at how each program stacks up by value per elite-qualifying mile/point:

Right off the bat, you’ll notice some interesting things. For starters, JetBlue Mosaic comes in with a shockingly high value of 10.2 cents per elite qualifying point. However, it’s important to remember that JetBlue awards just 3 base points per dollar spent (Southwest, on the other hand, gives at least 6 for Wanna Get Away fares and up to 12 for Business Select fares). As a result, the value per point may appear to be high, but as you’ll see in our third table, that doesn’t necessarily equate to a better return on spending. As a result, I have highlighted the runner-up (Alaska MVP Gold) as an alternate program for the best middle tier status.

In addition, the best top-tier status is technically Southwest’s Companion Pass earned through a combination of flying and partner activity. However, because this isn’t a true elite status, I’ve again highlighted the runner up (United Premier Platinum).

Return on Spend

A third way to look at the data is return on spend. For each of the six carriers, I assumed that you spent an average of 15 cents per elite-qualifying mile or point, so each tier of status was earned with an assumed level of both flying and spending. Here’s the return you’d get on that spending for each one:

On the whole, these numbers tell a similar story as the two preceding charts. If you take out the possible outliers with JetBlue and Southwest, there are four statuses that are unanimously the most valuable:

• Low: AAdvantage Gold
• Middle: Alaska MVP Gold
• High: United Premier Platinum
• Top: United Premier 1K

Value When Starting From Scratch

There’s a final way to look at this analysis, a consideration that I attempted to include in each of the six posts: Which program is most valuable if you’re starting from scratch? Obviously the answer to this query depends on how much you fly, bearing in mind that you won’t get any benefits until you qualify for low-level status. Using the Excel spreadsheets I created for each carrier (an example can be accessed here), I went through and calculated the values you’d get for reaching different thresholds of 20,000 elite-qualifying miles/points, leaving out JetBlue due to the carrier’s unique qualification formula.

Here’s what I found:

As you can see, the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program is the big winner here, due primarily to the huge value you’d get as an MVP Gold Member. Even though United’s high and top tiers are more rewarding once you’ve reached them, Alaska’s program provides greater benefits to its lower-level elites, thus making it a better option when starting from scratch.

Overall Takeaways

So given all of these calculations, what are some key things that jump out to me? In no particular order:

Remember, though, that all of the assumptions I used in my initial analyses and the calculations above represent one way of determining which carrier’s elite status program is best for you. There are many other factors that come into play besides just value, including where you live, where you typically travel, and even corporate contracts that “force” you into booking a specific airline. As always, feel free to adjust any of my reasoning to make the numbers work for your individual situation.

Finally, bear in mind that none of my analyses include credit cards that can help with elite status qualification (with the exception of Southwest and earning the Companion Pass). However, there are several that can come in handy if you’re short of a given status level and need a boost to get there:

Be sure to factor these into your analysis if you have (or are planning to open) one of them to help you attain your elite status goals.

Bottom Line

As you’ve hopefully seen, airline elite status can be quite rewarding thanks to the array of perks the carriers offer. From bonus miles and points to complimentary upgrades and a variety of fee waivers, it may be worth your while to pursue status with a given carrier. However, be sure to analyze your current travel situation to make sure it makes sense for you to stay loyal to a single airline. Hopefully my series (and this wrap-up post) has given you a framework to use as you make plans for 2017!

Source: thepointsguy.com