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Earning elite status in hotel and airline programs often requires extensive travel. But, did you know you can skip the hassle and gain instant status just by holding the right credit card? Several premium travel cards offer automatic elite perks across multiple programs — granting you free upgrades, priority boarding, lounge access, and more without stepping on a plane or booking a single night.
Here’s a breakdown of the best credit cards for getting elite status across multiple airlines, hotels, and rental car programs.
Page Contents
- Unlock Hilton™ Gold, Marriott Gold Elite, and Rental Car Statuses
- Get Star Alliance Status and Emirates Perks
- Score Qatar Gold Status and Oneworld Sapphire Status
- Achieve Aeroplan 25K Status and Star Alliance Status for Up to Two Years
- Enjoy Avianca LifeMiles Silver Elite Status and Star Alliance Silver Status
- Leverage These to Get Additional Statuses via Status Matching
- Final Thoughts
Unlock Hilton™ Gold, Marriott Gold Elite, and Rental Car Statuses
While many people know about the hundreds of dollars in credits that The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees) and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees) offer to offset their annual fees, the elite statuses these cards provide are incredibly underrated. Both cards offer the following:
- Hilton Honors™ Gold
- Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite
- Avis Preferred
- Hertz Gold Plus Rewards President Status
- National Emerald Club Executive Status
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
The Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy statuses are mid-tier in their respective programs and provide welcome gifts, faster Wi-Fi, room upgrades upon availability, and more points per stay than status holders in the lower tiers.
Achieving mid-level hotel elite status in a loyalty program can take time and significant financial investment, often requiring 20+ nights with the hotel chain. Or, you can receive the same level of status just by opening the Amex Platinum or Business Platinum Card.
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year).
- Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. shipping providers.
- 1.5X earning rates are subject to a cap of $2 million in purchases per calendar year.
Related: All About The Platinum Card® from American Express
Get Star Alliance Status and Emirates Perks
While Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status is a solid status level, Marriott Platinum Elite status is even more powerful. Not only are you more likely to be upgraded to a better room with Platinum Elite status, but you also can choose a free breakfast as a welcome gift at many brands, have free hotel lounge access at most hotels with lounges, and get guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout at most properties.
Marriott Platinum Elite status requires earning 50 Elite Night Credits each calendar year — or you can simply open a Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card to bypass these requirements and immediately receive high-level status.
Better yet, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card doesn't just grant you hotel status. Through Marriott's partnership with Singapore Airlines, you can obtain Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Silver status for twelve months just by having Platinum Elite status at Marriott. If you just take four flights on Singapore Airlines within the first six months of holding KrisFlyer Silver Status, you can upgrade your status to KrisFlyer Gold.
Holding KrisFlyer Silver status also gets you Star Alliance Silver status. The only concrete perks of Silver status are access to a priority reservations waitlist and priority airport standby. Unfortunately, you'll still have to pay for checked bags or more legroom on most partner airlines.
In addition, because the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card offers Platinum Elite status, the card also provides elite-like perks during your airport experience before an Emirates flight. Through the Your World Rewards partnership, Emirates offers priority check-in and priority boarding to Marriott Bonvoy members with Platinum Elite status or higher — even if you're flying economy.
- Earn up to 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points. Earn 100,000 points after you spend $6,000 and an extra 50,000 points after you spend an additional $2,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- $300 Brilliant Dining Credit: Each calendar year, get up to $300 (up to $25 per month) in statement credits for eligible purchases made on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card at restaurants worldwide.
- With Marriott Bonvoy® Platinum Elite Status, you can receive room upgrades, including enhanced views or suites, when the stay is booked with a Qualifying Rate at hotels that participate in Marriott Bonvoy, subject to availability upon check-in.
- Earn 6X Marriott Bonvoy® points for each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Earn 3X Marriott Bonvoy® points at restaurants worldwide and on flights booked directly with airlines and 2X Marriott Bonvoy® points on all other eligible purchases made on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card.
- Free Night Award: Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card renewal month. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees.
- Each calendar year after spending $60,000 on eligible purchases on your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, you will be eligible to select a Brilliant Earned Choice Award benefit. You can only earn one Brilliant Earned Choice Award per calendar year. See https://www.choice-benefit.marriott.com/brilliant for Award options.
- $100 Marriott Bonvoy® Property Credit: Enjoy your stay. Receive up to a $100 property credit for qualifying charges at The Ritz-Carlton® or St. Regis® when you book direct using a special rate for a two-night minimum stay using your Card.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®: Receive either a statement credit every 4 years after you apply for Global Entry ($120) or a statement credit every 4.5 years after you apply for a five-year membership for TSA PreCheck® (up to $85 through a TSA PreCheck official enrollment provider) and pay the application fee with your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
- Each calendar year with your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card you can receive 25 Elite Night Credits toward the next level of Marriott Bonvoy® Elite status. Limitations apply per Marriott Bonvoy member account. Benefit is not exclusive to Cards offered by American Express.
- Enroll in Priority Pass Select, which offers unlimited airport lounge visits to over 1,200 lounges in over 130 countries, regardless of which carrier or class you are flying. This allows you to relax before or between flights. You can enjoy snacks, drinks, and internet access in a quiet, comfortable location.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on international purchases.
- With Cell Phone Protection*, you can be reimbursed, the lesser of, your repair or replacement costs following damage, such as a cracked screen, or theft for a maximum of $800 per claim when your cell phone line is listed on a wireless bill and the prior month's wireless bill was paid by an Eligible Card Account. A $50 deductible will apply to each approved claim with a limit of 2 approved claims per 12-month period. Additional terms and conditions apply. *Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
- $650 Annual Fee.
- Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- 6X points on purchases at Marriott Properties
- 3X points at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery
- 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines
- 2X points on all other eligible purchases
Related: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card Review
Score Qatar Gold Status and Oneworld Sapphire Status
In 2024, Qatar Airways launched two new credit cards: the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card and Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Infinite Credit Card. The latter card has a hefty annual fee of $499, it offers some incredible status perks for your first year as a cardholder.
By holding the Qatar Visa Infinite Card, you'll enjoy Privilege Club Gold status for the first year of your card membership. This includes Qatar business class lounge access regardless of class of ticket and extra checked baggage. In addition, you'll also get Oneworld Sapphire status, which means you can also get business class lounge access and checked bags on other airlines in Oneworld as well.
If the annual fee of the Qatar Visa Infinite Card is too much, the Qatar Visa Signature Card has an annual fee of $99 but also provides Oneworld Ruby status via one complimentary year of Privilege Club Silver status. This means you can get priority seat selection, business-class check-in, and priority boarding regardless of ticket class.
Achieve Aeroplan 25K Status and Star Alliance Status for Up to Two Years
The Aeroplan® Credit Card offers Aeroplan Elite 25K status for the remainder of the calendar year in which you open your account plus the following calendar year. We recommend applying early in the year maximize this perk. You can get nearly two years of status if you apply in January!
This is a solid perk that can be renewed each year if you spend $15,000 on the card. While Aeroplan 25K status offers free bags and seat upgrades, it only provides Star Alliance Silver status, which doesn't offer much to write home about.
To get a higher status tier through the card's “Elite Status Level Up” benefit, you would need to spend $50,000 on purchases in a calendar year. There are definitely cheaper ways to get elite status.
- Earn 75,000 bonus points
- Earn 75K bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- $95 Annual Fee
- Redeem points for both international and domestic flights with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
- Fly to another continent and travel the world with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
- Earn 3X points for each dollar spent at grocery stores, on dining at restaurants, and Air Canada directly. Earn 1X point for each dollar spent on all other purchases.
- 500 bonus points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month - up to 1,500 points per month.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 3x points directly with Air Canada
- 3x points on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 3x points at grocery stores
- 1x point on all other purchases
Related: Aeroplan Card Full Review
Enjoy Avianca LifeMiles Silver Elite Status and Star Alliance Silver Status
Similar to the Aeroplan Card, you can get LifeMiles Silver elite status with Avianca with the Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Elite Card, which offers not just free bags and seat upgrades but also Avianca lounge access twice a year. However, this is also only equivalent to Star Alliance Silver status, and you have to fly frequently in order to upgrade to the next Avianca status level.
- 3x on all avianca airlines and lifemiles purchases
- 2x on travel and restaurants
- 1x on everything else
Leverage These to Get Additional Statuses via Status Matching
You can also obtain status in other programs not listed here via status matching, which essentially involves completing a challenge set by a hotel or airline (typically flying a certain number of flights or staying a certain number of nights within three months) to achieve a certain level of status.
However, complimentary status received from a credit card may not always be sufficient to receive a status match, as some programs will only status match if you have earned your status through flights or stays, rather than received it as a credit card perk.
You can check out our guide to current airline status match and hotel status match offers to learn more.
Related: How To Get Airline Elite Status Without Flying
Final Thoughts
While earning airline and hotel status can be hard to do via flights and hotel nights, obtaining multiple statuses this way can be even more daunting. If you only travel a couple of times a year and still want to enjoy the perks that statuses can offer, applying for the right credit card can make a world of a difference.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), and Aeroplan® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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