While almost all airlines credit cards earn frequent flyer miles on their own airline and affiliates, few cards earn miles that count toward elite status. Most airlines differentiate between qualifying miles, which go towards earning elite benefits, and non-qualifying miles, which can be used towards free flights and such but won’t help you reach that platinum level. Here, we’ll tell you which cards will help you get that complimentary glass of champagne.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention two caveats, though. The first is that branded airline cards often don’t give the same rewards rate as non-branded travel cards. For example, you earn 1 United mile per $1 spent on the United MileagePlus Explorer and 2 miles when you spend on the airline itself. The Capital One Venture, by contrast, gives 2 miles per dollar on all purchases, significantly increasing the rewards you earn. The largest benefits of a branded credit card are the auxiliary perks, like priority boarding or free checked bags.
The second is that with the exception of the high-priced Continental Presidential Plus (annual fee: $395), all of the cards have a foreign transaction fee. This charge is applied on all international purchases, so if you fly United to Europe and put $2,000 on the card, you’re out an additional $60. If you’re looking to travel internationally, check out our list of credit cards with no foreign transaction fees.
United Airlines – United MileagePlus Explorer
Note: United and Continental will merge their elite status programs in early 2012. The new MileagePlus program benefits will be a hybrid of both the original MileagePlus and OnePass offerings, and the Continental OnePass Plus credit card will be phased out in favor of the United MileagePlus Explorer. Program details here refer to the post-merger 2012 elite status.
Earning miles: United Airlines has both Premier Qualifying Miles and regular ones, and offers a class multiplier of up to 150%. All the OnePass airlines, which include US Airways, Hawaiian, and a number of others, earn United miles at the same rate. It’s important to note that the United MileagePlus Explorer credit card’s miles do NOT count towards elite status – according to Chase, “Bonus miles and miles earned through non-flight activity do not count towards elite status.”
Ease of qualifying: According to our calculations, you’ll need to fly from SFO to Boston Logan and back:
- 5 times on discounted economy or 3 times business or first to reach Premier Silver status
- 9 times on discounted economy or 6 times business or first to reach Premier Gold status
- 13 times on discounted economy or 9 times business or first to reach Premier Platinum status
- 17 times on discounted economy or 12 times business or first to reach Premier 1K status
Benefits: Silver-level benefits aren’t great, but past that, you start getting a good value. At Silver, you receive companion upgrades, and priority boarding/check-in/screening/baggage handling. Gold levels and above receive waived change fees, 3 checked bags, and access to Economy Plus seating at booking (plus a few other perks – see the website for details). All come with a mileage booster.
How the card helps: With the United MileagePlus credit card, you can earn 1 PQM per dollar spent at United.com, up to 5,000 miles a year.
Virgin Atlantic – Virgin AmEx
Earning miles: Virgin bases its system on the number of segments flown, not the distance. A one-way ticket earns 2 tier points on economy, 3 on premium economy and 5 on upper (British for first, we assume). Flying on Virgin affiliates earns tier points too, though at a lower rate.
Ease of qualifying: According to our calculations, you’ll need to fly from SFO to Boston Logan and back:
- 4 times on economy, 3 on premium economy and 2 on upper to reach Silver status
- 11 times on economy, 7 on premium economy and 4 on upper to reach Gold status
Benefits: Although Virgin’s elite status is the easiest to qualify for at every level, the benefits are less than stellar. It doesn’t have an unlimited upgrade program, unlike domestic airlines, and offers no seating/upgrade perks other than priority waitlist. It does offer the standard baggage, security and lounge perks. So it hardly seems worth getting a Virgin Atlantic card, solely to help with elite status on the airline.
How the card helps: Each month, you can earn up to 2 tier points by spending $5,000.
Check out our list of no foreign transaction fee credit cards, and stop paying unnecessary fees!
