Which card for free upgrades to first class?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 10
Which card for free upgrades to first class?
does anyone know which card automatically upgrades its users to first class for an airline. This is a perk that would get me paying up to a grand per year in membership. I am platinum with us airways but doesnt fly everywhere i wanna go.... anyway more specifically delta airlines..
#2
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
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No credit card will provide guaranteed upgrades on any airline. Two Skymiles credit cards issued by American Express will give you a number of EQM (Elite Qualifying Miles) which will allow you to qualify faster for the next level of Skymiles elite status. Read about the Platinum and Reserve cards here:
http://skymilesoffers.delta.com/cred...umer_index.php
The other possibility is an American Express Centurion card, but it exceeds your stated budget and you cannot apply, you must be invited. It is generally believed that the minimum spend to elicit an invitation is between $250,000 - $500,000 per year. Centurion includes automatic Delta and US Airways Platinum status, and other benefits. There is a $5,000 initiation fee, and the annual fee is $2,500.
http://skymilesoffers.delta.com/cred...umer_index.php
The other possibility is an American Express Centurion card, but it exceeds your stated budget and you cannot apply, you must be invited. It is generally believed that the minimum spend to elicit an invitation is between $250,000 - $500,000 per year. Centurion includes automatic Delta and US Airways Platinum status, and other benefits. There is a $5,000 initiation fee, and the annual fee is $2,500.
Last edited by mia; Nov 17, 2011 at 7:00 pm
#3
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
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does anyone know which card automatically upgrades its users to first class for an airline. This is a perk that would get me paying up to a grand per year in membership. I am platinum with us airways but doesnt fly everywhere i wanna go.... anyway more specifically delta airlines..
Second, no airline even puts you on the upgrade list if you don't have elite status. So what you need is elite status.
Third, as mia already explained, no card gets you status on an airline. However, some cards get you closer to status. (But you still have to fly paid trips on the airline to make up the difference.)
Fourth, all of this card activity only gets you (part way) to the first level of status. But on most ailrines, someone with only the lowest level of status gets fairly few upgrades (but it depends a lot on the routes you fly, the days/times you fly, etc, etc). But no card gets you to higher levels of status. You generally need higher levels of status to get a sizeable number of upgrades to actually go through.
#4
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You've got several concepts combined, which should be separated. First, no airline "automatically upgrades" anyone. The closest is thing is that they automatically put you on the upgrade request list, but the actual upgrade is never guaranteed. (And see below about how status level affects this.)
Second, no airline even puts you on the upgrade list if you don't have elite status. So what you need is elite status.
Third, as mia already explained, no card gets you status on an airline. However, some cards get you closer to status. (But you still have to fly paid trips on the airline to make up the difference.)
Fourth, all of this card activity only gets you (part way) to the first level of status. But on most ailrines, someone with only the lowest level of status gets fairly few upgrades (but it depends a lot on the routes you fly, the days/times you fly, etc, etc). But no card gets you to higher levels of status. You generally need higher levels of status to get a sizeable number of upgrades to actually go through.
Second, no airline even puts you on the upgrade list if you don't have elite status. So what you need is elite status.
Third, as mia already explained, no card gets you status on an airline. However, some cards get you closer to status. (But you still have to fly paid trips on the airline to make up the difference.)
Fourth, all of this card activity only gets you (part way) to the first level of status. But on most ailrines, someone with only the lowest level of status gets fairly few upgrades (but it depends a lot on the routes you fly, the days/times you fly, etc, etc). But no card gets you to higher levels of status. You generally need higher levels of status to get a sizeable number of upgrades to actually go through.
At one time, certain tickets booked through AmEx PTS/CTS were upgraded into IFC from expensive business fare classes, but my understanding is that now one only gets a companion ticket instead.
#6
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
does anyone know which card automatically upgrades its users to first class for an airline. This is a perk that would get me paying up to a grand per year in membership. I am platinum with us airways but doesnt fly everywhere i wanna go.... anyway more specifically delta airlines..
(*LAX to BOS is slightly over 5000 miles round trip, but LAX to JFK is slightly under 5000 miles round trip.)
Of course, since you dind't mention where you are, it's hard to say how practical this is. It might be easier for someone near either coast than for someone in the middle of the country, I don't know. (I'm based near LAX and so only experience with doing it from here.)
Of course, again, that grand-or-so of judiciously chosen mileage runs will still only get you to the lowest level of status, which may or may not get you what you consider a reasonbly success rate on upgrades (as I already explained in my previous post).
#7
Join Date: Nov 2011
Programs: Delta Platinum; Marriott Platinum; Hertz PC
Posts: 39
The other possibility is an American Express Centurion card, but it exceeds your stated budget and you cannot apply, you must be invited. It is generally believed that the minimum spend to elicit an invitation is between $250,000 - $500,000 per year. Centurion includes automatic Delta and US Airways Platinum status, and other benefits. There is a $5,000 initiation fee, and the annual fee is $2,500.
#8
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#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 10
You've got several concepts combined, which should be separated. First, no airline "automatically upgrades" anyone. The closest is thing is that they automatically put you on the upgrade request list, but the actual upgrade is never guaranteed. (And see below about how status level affects this.)
Second, no airline even puts you on the upgrade list if you don't have elite status. So what you need is elite status.
Third, as mia already explained, no card gets you status on an airline. However, some cards get you closer to status. (But you still have to fly paid trips on the airline to make up the difference.)
Fourth, all of this card activity only gets you (part way) to the first level of status. But on most ailrines, someone with only the lowest level of status gets fairly few upgrades (but it depends a lot on the routes you fly, the days/times you fly, etc, etc). But no card gets you to higher levels of status. You generally need higher levels of status to get a sizeable number of upgrades to actually go through.
Second, no airline even puts you on the upgrade list if you don't have elite status. So what you need is elite status.
Third, as mia already explained, no card gets you status on an airline. However, some cards get you closer to status. (But you still have to fly paid trips on the airline to make up the difference.)
Fourth, all of this card activity only gets you (part way) to the first level of status. But on most ailrines, someone with only the lowest level of status gets fairly few upgrades (but it depends a lot on the routes you fly, the days/times you fly, etc, etc). But no card gets you to higher levels of status. You generally need higher levels of status to get a sizeable number of upgrades to actually go through.
I am a US airways platinum member and 95 percent of the flights from charlotte to laguardia i was upgraded to first class when i was a silver and almost all of the time when i became a gold. So the lowest level status (at least with us airways) does get you places.
Delta from what im experiencing is more of a pain in the ... airline.
#10
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: USA
Programs: DL PM, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,367
until June 2011 the JP Morgan Palldium card offered
That benefit has ended but I heard there will be something similar added in the future.
Complimentary upgrade to first-class with each full-fare round-trip business class ticket from the U.S. to London
#12
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: USA
Programs: DL PM, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,367
#13
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: BOS
Programs: BA GLD for LIfe, AA PLT 2 MM miler, B6 Mosaic, Star GLD; HH Diamond; Marriott PLT, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,368
Are there credit cards that help/enable you to get elite status on any airline?
The Intercontinental or Priority Club cards and the Hilton Amex do for hotels, but how about for airlines.
I can see that Citi/AA has a me-too version of Amex Platinum that gives 10K status miles after 40K of spending (which means only 90K from flying). Are there others?
I'd like to boost my chances of hitting Exec Plat or Star Gold using a card if one exists. I don't fly SkyTeam that much.
I can see that Citi/AA has a me-too version of Amex Platinum that gives 10K status miles after 40K of spending (which means only 90K from flying). Are there others?
I'd like to boost my chances of hitting Exec Plat or Star Gold using a card if one exists. I don't fly SkyTeam that much.
#14
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton GLD, Marriott Plat, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 2,872
The Presidential Plus card from CO earns flexible EQM (I believe 1k EQM after every $5k of spending) that can get you elite status up to CO Platinum (1K is not obtainable from only credit card spend). The Mileage Plus Select Visa Signature card earns 1 EQM for every dollar spent on United (up to 5k per year).
The OnePass Plus/Mileage Plus Explorer/Various Delta cards can get you various elite-like perks on their respective airlines.
Honestly, if you have three alliances to choose from (and your flying is that spread out), you would be much better consolidating your travel onto a single airline.
The OnePass Plus/Mileage Plus Explorer/Various Delta cards can get you various elite-like perks on their respective airlines.
Honestly, if you have three alliances to choose from (and your flying is that spread out), you would be much better consolidating your travel onto a single airline.
#15
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: BOS
Programs: BA GLD for LIfe, AA PLT 2 MM miler, B6 Mosaic, Star GLD; HH Diamond; Marriott PLT, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,368
FlyerChrisK, I go to London a fair bit and really like the day flights from BOS-LHR which are only on OneWorld. I also fly to Toronto, Newark, and sometimes Houston, which are really Star Alliance (with occasional trips to Basle, Zurich and Munich that are typically best done on Star Alliance and to Singapore which is convenient on SQ). Plus trips to lots of random places depending upon the client and the year (Mexico City, Atlanta, Dubai, Hyderabad, Sydney, ...).
For the last ten years, I've been Gold on BA but don't think the change to Avios is good for Boston-based flyers and will probably switch my FF allegiance back to AA (and want to be Emerald and not Plat). This past year I was also Star Gold on AC, but might not hit that without some help this upcoming year. So, it's not easy to consolidate on one alliance.
I'm under the general impression that United does not treat its elites particularly well (relative to BA, for example) unless they are GS. Is Continental better? If so, do we have any reason to believe the Continental treatment will survive the consolidation?
For the last ten years, I've been Gold on BA but don't think the change to Avios is good for Boston-based flyers and will probably switch my FF allegiance back to AA (and want to be Emerald and not Plat). This past year I was also Star Gold on AC, but might not hit that without some help this upcoming year. So, it's not easy to consolidate on one alliance.
I'm under the general impression that United does not treat its elites particularly well (relative to BA, for example) unless they are GS. Is Continental better? If so, do we have any reason to believe the Continental treatment will survive the consolidation?