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Having elite status with an airline can make your flying experience more enjoyable. With many airlines, you'll enjoy preferred seating, free checked bags, and even airport lounge access when flying eligible routes.
That said, earning frequent flyer elite status for the first time can be somewhat of a paradox. Elite status will improve your travel experience, but the airline only gives it to you after you've flown thousands of miles or spent even more. That's potentially dozens of flights without the perks you want.
Thankfully, many airlines provide fast tracks to elite status — and in some cases, you can earn elite status without stepping on a plane. Let's take a look at the best ways to earn elite status without flying.
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Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Alaska Mileage Plan is one of our favorite mileage programs, thanks to its mileage-based rewards-earning structure. Alaska Airlines is a Oneworld member with non-alliance partnerships with Aer Lingus, Icelandair, Singapore Airlines, and others. This gives you more ways to redeem miles and enjoy elite status benefits.
You earn Alaska elite status by earning Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) by flying (even on award travel), spending on a credit card, and leveraging the airline's partners. Further, you can earn milestone rewards when you hit specific EQM thresholds. These include (but are not limited to) lounge passes, upgrade coupons, and bonus miles.
Moreover, you'll unlock one of four tiers of elite status as you earn EQMs:
- MVP: 20,000 EQMs
- MVP Gold: 40,000 EQMs
- MVP Gold 75K: 75,000 EQMs
- MVP Gold 100K: 100,000 EQMs
Earning Alaska elite status without flying
Alaska Airlines recently revamped large parts of its loyalty program, adding new benefits and making it easier to earn elite status without flying.
Among the changes is how you earn EQMs with the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card and the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card. These cards earn 1 EQM per $3 spent on an eligible Alaska co-branded credit card — up to 30,000 EQM per year. You can earn up to entry-level MVP elite status by spending on a credit card, but you'd have to spend a lot.
- LIMITED TIME ONLINE OFFER-Buy One, Get One + 50,000 Bonus Miles!
- Buy one ticket, get one for just the taxes and fees ($0 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) and get 50,000 bonus miles with this offer. To qualify, make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
- Get Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) each account anniversary after you spend $6,000 or more on purchases within the prior anniversary year. Valid on all Alaska Airlines flights booked on alaskaair.com.
- Earn unlimited 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases. Earn unlimited 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, EV charging station, cable, streaming services and local transit (including ride share) purchases. And earn unlimited 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases. And, your miles don't expire on active accounts.
- Earn a 10% rewards bonus on all miles earned from card purchases if you have an eligible Bank of America® account.
- Free checked bag and enjoy priority boarding for you and up to 6 guests on the same reservation, when you pay for your flight with your card - Also available for authorized users when they book a reservation too!
- With oneworld® Alliance member airlines and Alaska's Global Partners, Alaska has expanded their global reach to over 1,000 destinations worldwide bringing more airline partners and more ways to earn and redeem miles.
- Plus, no foreign transaction fees and a low $95 annual fee.
- This online only offer may not be available elsewhere if you leave this page. You can take advantage of this offer when you apply now.
- Earn unlimited 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases
- Earn unlimited 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, EV charging stations, cable, streaming services and local transit (including ride share) purchases
- Earn unlimited 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other eligible purchases
Further, you can earn 1,000 EQM per 3,000 miles earned with eligible non-airline partners. These include Lyft, the Alaska Airlines dining program, the airline's shopping portal, and more.
Other paths to Alaska elite status
- Receive gifted status: Existing Alaska elites have two opportunities to gift entry-level MVP elite status to others. The first is after earning the 85,000 EQM milestone reward, where one reward option is nominating another person for MVP status. Further, MVP Gold 100K elites can nominate one other person for MVP status as a benefit of their elite tier.
- Status match: Alaska has an elite status match program. Elite members from nine North American airlines can match their elite status up to MVP Gold 75K for 90 days with the option to extend by earning a posted amount of EQMs during the trial period.
American Airlines AAdvantage®
American Airlines completely overhauled how AAdvantage members earn status in 2022. Since then, the loyalty program awards elite status based on the number of Loyalty Points you earn every year, which is tied to how much you spend on American flights, with its credit cards, and with its airline and non-airline partners.
In short, you earn 1 Loyalty Point for every base mile you earn with American. Base miles are earned by flying, credit card spending, eShopping portal, dining rewards, SimplyMiles, and spending with other eligible partners.
And after earning lots of Loyalty Points, you can unlock AAdvantage elite status.
- Gold: 40,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
- Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points
Earning American Airlines AAdvantage status without flying
- Dining rewards, shopping portals, and SimplyMiles: Earning Loyalty Points towards elite status with SimplyMiles, AAdvantage eShopping, and AAdvantage Dining.
- Credit card spending: The miles earned from welcome offers do not count towards elite status. However, the miles you earn from regular spending count toward elite status but not those earned from bonus categories. As such, you'll earn one Loyalty Point per dollar spent. Thus, $40,000 of credit card spending would yield 40,000 Loyalty Points — enough for AAdvantage Gold.
- Loyalty Points boost: Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® members receive a 10,000 Loyalty Point bonus after earning 50,000 Loyalty Points in a status qualification year. Plus, cardmembers can earn an additional 10,000 Loyalty Point bonus after earning 90,000 Loyalty Points in the same status qualification year.
- Complimentary Admirals Club® membership for the primary cardholder
- Admirals Club® membership for authorized user accounts
- First checked bag free on domestic AA flights for you and up to 8 companions
- Priority check-in, TSA screening lines, and boarding
- 10,000 bonus Loyalty Points after you spend $40,000 in purchases within the year
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Earn 10X miles for every $1 spent on eligible hotels booked at aa.com/hotels and eligible rental cars booked through aa.com/cars
- Earn 4X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases (increased to 5X miles through the end of the calendar year after you pass $150,000 in purchases annually)
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
And while there are a lot of ways to earn AA miles, several methods do not earn Loyalty Points, including:
- Transferring points to AAdvantage from other programs like Marriott Bonvoy.
- Gifting, transferring, or buying AAdvantage miles.
- Miles earned with Bask Bank.
- Any miles considered “bonus” miles, including shopping portal bonuses, dining program new member bonuses, credit card spending bonuses, etc.
Other paths to American elite status
- Free elite status promotions: American Airlines is known for periodically gifting elite status to non-elite members. Keep an eye on your email for an invite.
- Hyatt partnership: In the past, Hyatt Globalist members have gotten free AAdvantage Executive Platinum elite status. More recently, Hyatt elite members have gotten an elite status fast-track option. Though it's worth noting that this partnership is changing in 2025.
- Status challenge: Non-elite members can use Instant Status Pass to challenge for AAdvantage elite status if they receive the targeted offer. While you start with some level of elite status, you'll need to meet certain Loyalty Point thresholds every four months to keep it.
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles
Like American, Delta SkyMiles also uses a single metric — Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs) — to qualify for elite status. However, there aren't as many ways to earn MQDs as there are Loyalty Points.
But comparatively, the thresholds for earning Delta elite status look a lot more digestible than what the AAdvantage program imposes:
- Silver Medallion: 5,000 MQDs
- Gold Medallion: 10,000 MQDs
- Platinum Medallion: 15,000 MQDs
- Diamond Medallion: 28,000 MQDs
Earning Delta elite status without flying
The main way to earn MQDs without flying is by leveraging Delta's premium co-brand credit cards. These cards earn MQD on everyday spending and receive an annual headstart toward elite status. Specifically, Delta gives cardmembers an MQD headstart of 2,500 per card type if they hold one or more of the following cards:
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
- Earn 90,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $4,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Receive a Companion Certificate on a Main Cabin round-trip flight to select destinations each year after renewal of your Card. The Companion Certificate requires payment of the government-imposed taxes and fees of between $22 and $250 (for itineraries with up to four flight segments). Baggage charges and other restrictions apply.
- Receive $2,500 Medallion® Qualification Dollars with MQD Headstart each Medallion Qualification Year and earn $1 MQD for each $20 in purchases on your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card with MQD Boost to get closer to Status next Medallion Year.
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Resy Credit: Get up to $10 in statement credits each month after you pay with your enrolled Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases.
- $120 Rideshare Credit: earn up to $10 in statement credits each month after using your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card on U.S. rideshare purchases with select providers. Enrollment required.
- You can check your first bag free on Delta flights, saving up to $70 on a round-trip Delta flight per person. For a family of four that's a potential savings of up to $280 per round-trip flight.
- Receive either a $120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card Members with an eligible ticket will be added to the Complimentary Upgrade list, after Delta SkyMiles Medallion Members and Reserve Card Members.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $350 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
- 3X miles per dollar spent on purchases made directly with Delta
- 3X miles per dollar at hotels
- 2X miles per dollar at U.S. supermarkets
- 2X Miles per dollar at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S.
- 1 mile on every eligible dollar spent on purchases.
This means you can earn up to $10,000 MQD if you have all four of these Delta credit cards in your wallet. Plus, you can earn MQDs from spending with these cards at the following rates:
- Platinum Delta Amex and Delta Business Platinum Amex: 1 MQD for every $20 spent on your card.
- Delta Reserve and Business Delta Reserve: 1 MQD for every $10 spent on your card.
Earning Delta Medallion Status without flying is possible, but you must be a big spender to earn higher tiers. These cards have relatively high annual fees, so it might not be worth earning Delta status from the annual MQD boost alone.
Other paths to Delta elite status
- Receive gifted status: Delta Diamond and Platinum Medallion elites earn Choice Benefits when qualifying for status. There are various perks to choose from, with one being the ability to gift status to two other travelers. Platinum Medallions can gift Silver Medallion status to two other members, while Diamond Medallion can gift Gold Medallion to two others.
- Match from another airline: You can match your status from competing airline loyalty programs to Delta. If you do this, you'll enjoy complimentary status for three months with the option to extend by earning a set number of MQD while you have complimentary status.
JetBlue TrueBlue
For years, JetBlue TrueBlue had one elite tier called Mosaic. However, in early 2023, JetBlue revamped its loyalty program to include four Mosaic elite status tiers. Now, all tiers of Mosaic get the following benefits:
- Two complimentary checked bags
- Free same-day flight changes
- Access to “Even More” seats at check-in (Mosaic 2 members can confirm at booking)
- Complimentary wine, beer, and liquor
- Priority boarding
- Expedited security (in select airports)
- Dedicated Mosaic customer service line
Elite status level requirements for JetBlue Mosaic status:
- Mosaic 1: 50 tiles
- Mosaic 2: 100 tiles
- Mosaic 3: 150 tiles
- Mosaic 4: 250 tiles
Mosaic 3 status includes four Move to Mint certificates that let elites confirm an upgrade to Mint business class before departure. And that's great news, as JetBlue Mint is perhaps the best domestic business-class product in the sky. You will receive two more Mint upgrade certificates when you reach Mosaic 4 status.
Earning JetBlue elite status without flying
There are two main ways to earn JetBlue Mosaic status, and both require a fair amount of spending. First, you can earn 1 tile for every $100 spent on JetBlue flights, JetBlue Vacations packages, and Paisly by JetBlue, which offers car rentals, stays, and activities.
And if you don't want to fly, you can earn 1 tile for every $1,000 spent on co-branded JetBlue credit cards. You'll earn Mosaic 1 elite status for one year by spending $50,000 in one calendar year on these cards:
- JetBlue Card
- JetBlue Plus Card
- JetBlue Business Card
There's no limit on how many tiles you can earn with a JetBlue credit card. However, earning Mosaic status through credit card spending alone would require considerable spending.
Other paths to JetBlue elite status
JetBlue will match the elite status of a handful of competing airlines. Depending on your elite tier, you can match to Mosaic 1 or 2. Status is valid for three months with the option to extend to the end of the following calendar year by earning a set number of tiles. Tiles earned by spending on a credit do count.
United Airlines MileagePlus
United MileagePlus has four status tiers, which can be earned in one of two ways. You can earn enough Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) to earn your desired status tier, or you can earn a combination of PQP and Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) to earn status, with the PQP requirements being lower if you go this route.
PQP is earned based on the cost of your flights or through credit card spending. Meanwhile, PQFs are essentially flight segments. In most cases, every flight you take is one PQF that puts you closer to the next status tier.
These are United's elite status requirements for the 2026 status year. To earn status, you must also fly at least four United or United Express segments in 2025.
- Premier Silver: 5,000 PQP + 15 PQF or 6,000 PQP
- Premier Gold: 10,000 PQP + 30 PQF or 12,000 PQP
- Premier Platinum: 15,000 PQP + 45 PQF or 18,000 PQP
- Premier 1K: 22,000 PQP + 60 PQF or 28,000 PQP
Earning United elite status without flying
United made major changes to how elite status is earned with credit cards for this status year. In the past, it let you earn some PQP with credit cards but not enough to earn status outright. That's recently changed as PQP earning caps were increased for some of United's premium credit cards.
Here's how many you can earn PQP with United credit cards:
- The New United Club℠ Card: 1 PQP per $15 spent, up to 28,000 PQP per year.
- United Club℠ Business Card:1 PQP per $15 spent, up to 28,000 PQP per year.
- The New United Quest℠ Card: 1 PQP per $20 spent, up to 18,000 PQP per year.
- The New United℠ Business Card: 1 PQP per $20 spent, up to 4,000 PQP per year.
- The New United℠ Explorer Card: 1 PQP per $20 spent, up to 1,000 PQP per year.
- Limited-Time Offer: Earn 60,000 bonus miles
- $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150
- 2x miles on United® purchases, dining, and hotel stays when booked with the hotel
- Enjoy priority boarding privileges and visit the United Club℠ with 2 one-time passes each year for your anniversary
- Free first checked bag - a savings of up to $160 per roundtrip. Terms Apply.
- Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS fee credit
- Earn a $100 United travel credit after spending $10,000 on purchases with your United℠ Explorer Card within a calendar year
- Over $400 in partner credits each year
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 2X miles per $1 spent on purchases from United®
- 2X miles per $1 spent on dining and hotel stays when booked with the hotel
- 1X mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
These limits are per card, so you can open multiple types of United credit cards to bypass the single card's PQP limits. So, if you have a business with high spending, you can open a United Club℠ Business Card and a United Business Card to earn up to 30,000 PQP per year.
Other paths to United elite status
- Marriott status match: You can get United Silver Elite status by being a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite member.
- Receive gifted status: United Million Milers can gift their lifetime status to another member. Additionally, Premier Platinum and Premier 1K members will soon be able to redeem PlusPoints to gift elite status to another member.
- Match from another airline: If you have elite status with another airline, you can use United's status match challenge to shortcut your way to United elite status.
Related: Strategies for Earning United Premier Qualifying Points by Flying
Southwest Rapid Rewards
Southwest has two elite status tiers, A-List and A-List Preferred. You can earn Southwest status by collecting tier points or flying a set number of Southwest flight segments in a calendar year.
- A-List: 20 Southwest flights or 35,000 tier points.
- A-List Preferred: 40 Southwest flights or 70,000 tier points.
You can earn tier points when you fly Southwest and spend on its co-branded credit cards. When flying, you earn 1 tier point per Rapid Rewards point you earn on paid flights. Award tickets do not earn tier points.
Note that Southwest also has the Companion Pass that lets you take another person with you on all Southwest flights, including award flights. This perk is earned with Companion Pass qualifying points — which are earned differently from tier points. You must accumulate 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points in a calendar year to earn the Companion Pass.
Earning Southwest elite status without flying
There are currently four co-branded Southwest credit cards that allow cardholders to earn qualifying points:
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card: Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card: Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card: Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card: Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 3X points per $1 spent on all Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on all Rapid Rewards® Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
- 2X points per $1 spent on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming services
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Each card earns 1,500 tier-qualifying points for every $5,000 spent on the card, with no cap on the total number of tier-qualifying points you can earn.
Meanwhile, Companion Pass qualifying points are easier to earn. These are some of the easiest ways to earn them without flying:
- Southwest credit cards (including sign-up bonuses)
- Southwest hotels
- Car rental partners
- Rapid Rewards shopping portal
- Rapid Rewards Dining
Even better, having a Southwest credit card in your wallet gives you 10,000 bonus Companion Pass qualifying points per year. However, you can only earn this bonus from one Southwest card, as the benefit does not stack across multiple credit cards.
Other paths to Southwest elite status
If you're starting from scratch, you can utilize Southwest's status match to earn status quickly. You can match most other U.S.-based carriers' status for 90 days. You can extend your status for another 12 months by flying three round-trip or six one-way Southwest flights during the promotional period.
Related: Why Southwest Rapid Rewards is the Easiest Airline Loyalty Program
Final Thoughts
Delta Air Lines is the easiest airline to earn status with if you don't fly a ton. In theory, you can sign up for four credit cards — the Platinum Delta Amex, Delta Business Platinum Amex, Delta Reserve and Business Delta Reserve. That would get you a total of 10,000 MQD headstart — which is enough for Gold Medallion. However, you'd pay over $1,500 in credit card annual fees to do this.
If you can spend a lot on your credit cards, American Airlines is a good option. Just spend $40,000 on an American Airlines card and get AAdvantage Gold elite status without stepping on a plane. Of course, you can combine credit card spending with other Loyalty Point-earning methods, too.
Related: Chasing AAdvantage Elite Status? Here’s How to Earn 25K Miles and Loyalty Points From Home
That said, you don't necessarily need airline elite status to improve your travel experience. In many cases, airline credit card benefits mirror some benefits offered to elite members. Plus, it's easier to justify paying an annual fee than to dedicate tens of thousands of dollars of spending (or more) to one airline's cards. An annual fee of less than $100 might offer the perks you want, like free checked bags and priority boarding.
Lastly, anyone interested in earning elite status the “easy way” should stay informed on current status match opportunities. These can transform one elite status into many, delivering a far better return for obtaining the first.
Do you have tips on earning elite status without much flying? Let us know in the comments.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card (Rates & Fees), and The New United℠ Explorer Card (Rates & Fees)
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