Keeping your elite status forever without having to requalify every year, that becomes a reality for a number of frequent flyers after years. Some frequent flyer programs reward their members with lifetime status. In this article we cover the most popular frequent flyer programs to earn elite status for life. In a later article we look at the most important hotel programs.
AAdvantage Million Miler Program
After 1 million miles in the AAdvantage Million Miler Program you will be lifetime AAdvantage Gold and therefore Oneworld Ruby for life. You will also receive 35,000 bonus miles. After 2 million miles you will receive the lifetime AAdvantage Platinum status and therefore also Oneworld Sapphire for life. You also get 4 one-way systemwide upgrades.
Miles of partner airlines also count towards lifetime status. For flights with American Airlines, lifetime miles are calculated based on Elite Qualifying Miles. With partners, the base miles are calculated as lifetime miles. Unlike with the British Airways Executive Club program, AAdvantage does not give away a higher lifetime status than AAdvantage Platinum and Oneworld Sapphire.
Asiana Club
Asiana Club is the fastest way to reach lifetime Star Alliance Gold status. This is also an interesting program in Star Alliance. You already get lifetime Diamond Plus and therefore also lifetime Star Alliance Gold after just 500,000 miles with Star Alliance or after 500 flights with Asiana. This makes Asiana Club the fastest way to reach Star Alliance Gold for life.
Executive Club Gold Membership For Life
This is the fastest way to Oneworld Emerald for life. If you have collected 35,000 tier points, you will receive Executive Club Gold Membership For Life. Lifetime Sapphire and Ruby are not offered in the Executive Club program. All tier points collected in the program will count. Executive Club Gold Membership For Life can therefore be achieved if you fly a lot with the Oneworld alliance.
Flying Blue Platinum For Life
If you have been a Platinum member for 10 consecutive years, you will get Flying Blue Platinum status for life. Unfortunately, Platinum is the only lifetime status in Flying Blue. So after 10 years of Silver or Gold, you will not get a lifetime elite status. A lifetime elite status in Flying Blue is therefore only possible if you have qualified for Platinum for 10 consecutive years.
Korean Air SkyPass
This is the fastest way to reach lifetime SkyTeam Elite Plus status. Although it’s not the most attractive program in SkyTeam, Korean Air SkyPass offers lifetime SkyTeam Elite Plus status after just 500.000 miles with Korean Air or with any partner within SkyTeam. This makes Korean Air SkyPass the fastest way to reach SkyTeam Elite Plus status for life.
MileagePlus Million Miler Program
Mileage Plus offers multiple lifetime elite status levels. After 1 million miles flown, you already have lifetime Premier Gold status and therefore you’re lifetime Star Alliance Gold as well. From the US airlines, this is the fastest way to reach lifetime airline elite status, because you can already get a mid tier lifetime elite status after just 1 million miles. Unfortunately, only miles flown on United Airlines and United Express count towards lifetime status.
Lifetime miles are calculated on bud in seat miles and not Premier Qualification Miles. After 2 million miles you get lifetime Premier Platinum, after 3 million lifetime Premier 1K and after no less than 4 million miles you reach United Global Services for life. Once achieved you’re lifetime status, you can also give someone else this lifetime status as a gift. The MileagePlus Million Miler Program is therefore only interesting if you fly a lot with United Airlines, but with 1 million miles, it’s a relatively fast way to reach lifetime Star Alliance Gold status.
SkyMiles Million Miler Status
If you fly a lot with airlines in the SkyTeam alliance, SkyMiles can be an interesting program to earn lifetime elite status. Lifetime miles in the SkyMiles Million Miler program are calculated on all flights based on Medallion Qualification Miles. Saving for lifetime elite status is therefore faster than with MileagePlus and AAdvantage.
After 1 million miles you get lifetime Silver Medallion status, after 2 million miles you reach lifetime Medallion Gold and after 4 million miles you get lifetime Medallion Platinum. In addition to the lifetime elite status, SkyMiles also offers a gift at all levels, a choice of luxury items. Diamond Medallion and the invitation only program, Delta 360 is not offered as a lifetime status.
Other programs
Lufthansa Miles & More also offers lifetime elite status, but requires you to be 60 years or older. SAS Plus, Air Canada Aeroplan, Egyptair Plus, Qantas Frequent Flyer and a bunch of other programs also offer lifetime elite status to their loyal members
Airline Elite Status for Life Bottom Line
Airlines are offering frequent flyer programs to reward their loyal members. If you have flown a certain number of miles or if you have achieved a certain status for a number of years, you will be thanked with lifetime elite status. Having elite status makes flying more attractive with lounge access, upgrades (like on my British Airways flight to Dubai), bonus miles and much more.
Since you have to fly a lot, it can take at least a decade before you have achieved a lifetime status. Therefore, my goal is not to achieve a lifetime elite status as quickly as possible, but rather to get a taste of every airline and alliance, but taking into account the lifetime program. For example, I have been crediting all of my SkyTeam flights to SkyMiles from the beginning. In another article, I will cover how to get lifetime elite status in hotel programs.
What is your experience with lifetime airline elite status? Did already qualify? if so, in what program? Do you have any questions or concerns about this article? Do you maybe know another interesting frequent flyer program to achieve lifetime elite status? Let me know in the comments below.
