Lifetime status by airline -- attempted summary
 

Hello everyone. I tried this some years ago, will try again now. I see that there are numerous threads on lifetime top elite FF status but none too comprehensive I think.

So, I will attempt a brief summary to see if I got this right - so, please go ahead and correct me ! I will then edit this post on the basis of the info received in later posts. I will do this only for the three major alliances, as I guess this is what most of us are in for. I will also only focus, in a concise manner, on the highest attainable tier by alliance, i.e. Elite Plus for ST, Gold for *A, and Sapphire for OW (on the understanding that OW Emerald is not available for lifetime in any manner, right ?).


Sky Team (to attain ST Elite Plus status)

* AF/KL: Lifetime Platinum after 10 consecutive years of membership at the Platinum level

* DL: Lifetime Platinum after 4M "Medallion Qualifying Miles", i.e. from any ST flights

* KE: Lifetime Million Miler after 1M miles on any ST flights

My assessment: If one does plan to qualify for AF/KL FB Platinum for 10 years, that's best. If not, KE is also very good.


Star Alliance (to attain *A Gold status)

* BM: Lifetime Gold after 10 consecutive years of membership at the Gold level

* CA: Lifetime Platinum after 1M kms on CA-coded flights only

* MS: Lifetime Platinum after 1M miles on MS flights (or all *A flights ??)

* OZ: Lifetime Platinum after 1M miles on Star Alliance flights

* SA: Lifetime Platinum after 6 consecutive years of membership at the Platinum level

* UA: Lifetime Premier Executive after 1 million miles on UA or CM only

My assessment: If one plans to fly enough for 10 or 6 years, BM and SA are good. Otherwise, OZ is the most achievable. UA is good but only if you fly UA/CM.

Comment and question: It should be noted that many of the above however are not flagship carriers (e.g. BM, CO, OZ, UA), while some are (e.g. MS, SA, not sure about the status of CA). The way airlines are going, I would rely more on the flagship carriers, e.g. MS and SA have a higher chance of continuing to exist, than BM, OZ, or even CO and UA. What do you think ?

Question: does anyone know whether *A plans to introduce anything higher than *A Gold, since so many *A members have two or more tiers that are equivalent to *A Gold ?


One World (to attain OW Sapphire status)

* AA: Lifetime Platinum after 2M miles from any source [However, NB: as AA Platinum, you get no lounge access in AA lounges when travelling on AA domestically, while you would get access as OW Sapphire with another airline]

* QF: Lifetime Gold after 14,000 status credits

Assessment: AA is quite easy to achieve. QF is good for those down under.

Question: Am I correct that there is no way to attain lifetime OW Emerald ?


Please send corrections etc so we can update this.

AA currently only counts actual flight miles towards lifetime status, as a result it would take 40-200 years of barely re-qualifying each year to earn lifetime status at a particular level (miles takes 40 years, segments takes up to 200). If you rely on promos like DEQM your progress towards lifetime status will be considerably slower.

This ended December 2011. Discussion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ec-2011-a.html

which airlines is BM?

the OP probably means BD/BMI. However as BD is no longer a *A member, this very lucrative option to earn lifetime status no longer exists.

Did that program even exist for 10 years?

BD existed for many years and until its demise earlier this year was by far and away the worlds most lucrative program. There are many BD lifetime golds out there, although that means nothing now that BA have taken over.

OZ have lifetime *G at 500k

recap
 

Thanks everyone !

So the changes I am noting would be:

* AA: info is correct, but with the HUGE difference that only base miles now count

* BD/BM (whatever it was called, I did bean BMI): no longer applicable

* OZ: only 500K and not 1M miles, correct ?

Let me know if above is right, any additions etc, so I can change the summary as necessary.

Lifetime status by airline -- attempted summary
 

KE is also 500k.. But no STE+ before reaching it...

As I found out many moons ago, Useless Air ignores 1000000 miles. Not that I would fly US anywhere. :rolleyes:

Cheers

Correct.

I believe OZ has two different Lifetime status levels, one is earnt after 500k miles and the higher one is earned after one million miles

Additionally, AC also offers lifetime status:

Lifetime Elite status after 1 million status miles earnt on AC operated flights only
Lifetime Super Elite status (AC´s highest status) after 3 million status miles earnt on AC operated flights only

IIRC US Airways awards lifetime status (can´t remember which level) after 1 million miles on US operated flights.

Unless the benefit has been enhanced, LH offers Lifetime Senator (*G) status if:

- you are over 60 years old AND
- you had SEN status for 10 consecutive years AND
- accumulated 1 million status miles

(that´s if I remember the criteria correctly)

IIRC lifetime status on LH is an unpublished benefit, is not automatically awarded and needs to be requested by the FF once he no longer qualifies for SEN status the regular way.

Finnair offers lifetime Gold (OW Sapphire) and Platinum (OW Emerald) at 3M & 5M points respectively. :)

I'm not certain though, whether or not this is BIS miles only, or if partner miles count too. :p

Appreciate this effort.

Is this still good?

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2010/08/14/air-canada-introduces-lifetime-status/