What Airline Loyalty Actually Buys

Airline loyalty can make your travels more relaxing, but the perks only outweigh the costs for certain travelers.

We have had United Premier Silver status since I accidentally secured status in 2022 by going through my normal travel schedule, coincidentally on mostly United flights.  This happened naturally since Washington Dulles International is our home airport and has many United flights out of it (although our flight to Korea that year happened to leave from Reagan National, so we were lucky), and we happened to pick flights on United and Star Alliance partners for trips to Jamaica, Crete, Korea, and a number of shorter in-country flights.

Since then, we have learned a lot about airline loyalty and its perks since it tends to be a mysterious world that we attribute to business travelers with difficult schedules.  In reality, a lot more of us may be able to take advantage of airline loyalty.  If you fly enough that booking your regularly scheduled travel with one airline could gain you loyalty status, and your home airport has plenty of options for that travel alliance, the perks of airline loyalty may be worth a little intention when booking flights.

The perks include:

Early Boarding

This still feels like a strange “perk” to me because unless you are in first class getting free welcome drinks, rushing to sit on the plane for an even longer time than the flight seems ridiculous.  Unfortunately, trying to board in an earlier group makes sense in the current era of cabin baggage warfare.  Ever since airlines began forcing passengers to pay for a checked bag, cabin baggage space is in high demand.  Combined with the anarchy of many early boarders placing both their carry-on and personal item in the overhead bin, securing overhead bin space can be a nightmare.  (Only do this if you are in an exit row.  If you are in another row and place two bags in the overhead bin, you are the problem.)

To eliminate the stress of that nightmare, boarding in an earlier boarding group means knowing your cabin baggage will make it into the cabin.  We have United Premier Silver loyalty status, the lowest loyalty status United offers.  This is enough to guarantee us boarding in Zone 2.  United has seven boarding zones, so Zone 2 boarding has always been sufficient to guarantee carry-on space for us, even if we end up being last in that group.  (United Premier Gold and Platinum guarantee boarding in Zone 1, and 1K passengers board in pre-boarding.)

American Airlines is similar.  AAdvantage Executive Platinum members board in Group 1, AAdvantage Platinum Pro members board in Group 2, AAdvantage Platinum members board in Group 3, and AAdvantage Gold members board in Group 4.  While Group 4 sounds much later than United’s Zone 2 for a similar level of loyalty, that is just because the two airlines have a different format.  American Airlines has nine boarding groups instead of seven like United.  In both situations, your carry-on will make it on the plane.

Delta’s SkyMiles Medallion program operates similarly, but its early boarding benefits can feel deprioritized compared to the United Premier and AAdvantage programs.  SkyMiles Diamond Medallion members board in Zone 2, SkyMiles Platinum Medallion and SkyMiles Gold Medallion members board in Zone 4, and SkyMiles Silver Medallion members board in Zone 5.  Delta has eight total boarding groups.  The lowest tier of loyalty members, SkyMiles Silver Medallion, actually board in what is called “Main Cabin 1.”  While this is the earliest of the “Main Cabin” groups, it groups loyalty members with a bunch of other groups.  Those boarding in Zone 5/Main Cabin 1 include a lot of different groups, so getting your carry-on a spot on smaller planes may not be guaranteed with the lowest level of Delta loyalty unless you make sure you are at the front of Zone 5 passengers.  In my opinion, having to fight for a spot at the front of my boarding group line defeats the no-stress experience of airline loyalty in the first place.

Baggage Allowance

Another way that loyalty customers can avoid the cabin baggage battles is to check a bag.  Before we had airline loyalty with United, Patrick and I traveled with only a carry-on and personal item so we did not pay for checked bags.  Once we gained status with United, we began to check bags every time so we did not have to fight for space in overhead bins in the cabin.  (Each major airline also offers branded credit cards providing benefits that include priority boarding and free checked bags without having to earn a certain loyalty status.)

With United Silver Premier, we received a free checked bag up to 70 pounds in weight for economy seats.  On long-haul flights where economy passengers can check bags for free, we get two 70-pound checked bags for free.  United Gold Premier gets two 70-pound checked bags for free in economy, even on short flights.  On long-haul flights, this goes up to three 70-pound checked bags.  United Platinum Premier and 1K get three 70-pound checked bags for free in economy class seats.  This limit holds for long haul flights.

With AAdvantage Gold, loyalty passengers receive one 50-pound checked bag in economy, regardless of flight length (with a few exceptions allowing 70-pounds checked bags for specific long- haul flights like those from the United States to Australia).  AAdvantage Platinum members receive two 50-pound checked bags, regardless of flight length.  AAdvantage Platinum Pro and AAdvantage Executive Platinum members receive three 70-pound checked bags.

Delta SkyMiles Silver Medallion members receive one 70-pound checked bag in economy on domestic flights and an extra 50-pound checked bag on international flights.  SkyMiles Gold Medallion members receive two 70-pound checked bags for free, with an extra 50-pound bag on international flights.  SkyMiles Platinum Medallion and SkyMiles Diamond Medallion members both receive three 70-pound checked bags on domestic flights, with an extra 50-pound check bag on international flights.

United and Delta have slightly more generous programs than American Airlines, especially for travelers like us at the low end of the loyalty program.  Extra bags or heavier bags may not seem to matter, but they can make a huge difference in certain situations.  I bought my first and only (purchased, more on upgrades later!) first-class ticket when I was only 22 years old because I was moving from Connecticut to Las Vegas.  Purchasing a first-class ticket gave me two 70-pound checked bags in addition to my very stuffed carry-on and backpack.  This allowed me to move all my belongings within the purchase of my plane ticket for a lower price than if I bought an economy-class ticket and shipped the remainder of my belongings.  Having two 70-pound checked bags made all the difference.

On a more regular occurrence, heavy checked bags can come in handy if you are traveling with a bit of adventure or for a long time.  You can bring your camping gear in addition to your regular travel possessions if you plan to go to a location for a few weeks with a five-day hike in the middle of the trip.  Two summers ago, we used our large bag allowance to bring our foldable beach chairs to Mallorca.  Most people just purchase loungers each beach day, but a set of loungers with an umbrella is $15 at the low end and $100 in more premium spots.  If we assume a lower-than-average $30/day on a trip where we have 20 beach days in one month of travel, bringing chairs saves us $600.  That can pay for a few more days of a trip!  There may be more advantages to more checked baggage than you initially realize.

One extra note on checked baggage: When you check a bag as a loyalty customer, the airlines tag your bag with a special loyalty tag.  At airports where that airline has a large presence, this tag will make your bag come out earlier with the other loyalty customer bags before the regular bags.  I am also convinced that these tags reduce the likelihood of your bag mysteriously disappearing or ending up at a different location than you since the bags are given more attention than their non-loyalty travel buddies.

Point Accumulation

Point accumulation is quite standard across the board, for the most part.  The baseline miles earned for United, American, and Delta are 5 miles/dollar spent.  For United Silver Premier, AAdvantage Gold, and Delta Skymiles Silver Medallion, this goes up to 7 miles/dollar spent.  For United Gold Premier, AAdvantage Platinum, and Delta Skymiles Gold Medallion, passengers receive 8 miles/dollar spent.  For United Platinum Premier, AAdvantage Platinum Pro, and Delta Skymiles Platinum Medallion, passengers receive 9 miles/dollar spent.  At the highest levels of United 1K Premier, AAdvantage Executive Platinum and Delta Skymiles Diamond Medallion, passengers earn 11 miles/dollar spent.  (Airline-branded credit cards can also increase your miles multiplier.)  

The “for the most part” above is because United changed its MileagePlus point accumulation in the past year.  Those rates hold for frequent travelers who have a United card.  Frequent travelers without a United card now accumulate points at a slower rate or 3 miles/dollar, 5 miles/dollar, 6 miles/dollar, 7 miles/dollar, and 9 miles/dollar.  In other words, flying often with United is no longer enough to accumulate miles at the highest levels, and credit card holders multiply the impact of their purchases.

Upgrades

Upgrades are one of the most fun parts of airline loyalty programs, but the big upgrades are few and far between.  United offers one-cabin upgrades to loyalty passengers.  The loyalty level impacts how soon these upgrade opportunities open for various passengers: 1K passengers can upgrade to any available seat 96 hours before departure, Platinum can upgrade 72 hours before departure, Gold can upgrade 48 hours before departure, and silver can upgrade 24 hours before departure.  As you can imagine, this makes upgrades for later loyalty groups harder to secure.  However, it happens, particularly if you are on short flights where frequent flyers are likely to change flights at the last minute, leaving a first-class seat available for you!  But even an upgrade from economy to economy plus will make a flight more comfortable.

American’s AAdvantage program offers the same tiers as United, except Executive Platinum members have an extra four hours so they can upgrade 100 hours in advance for free.  Delta’s tiers are even earlier: Diamond and Platinum Medallion members can upgrade 120 hours before the flight, Gold Medallion members can upgrade 72 hours before, and Silver Medallion members can upgrade 24 hours in advance of the flight.

A point to emphasize is that almost all upgrades are only eligible for one cabin level.  In other words, if you are in economy on a transatlantic flight, you cannot upgrade to a fly-flat seat.  The only time I could have gotten a fly-flat seat with an upgrade was when we already had Economy Plus seating, making it a one-cabin upgrade.  (Unfortunately, this was offered to only me and not Patrick, so I stayed with him in Economy Plus on our flight back from Manila.)  There are rare exceptions to this, but if you are in one of the lower loyalty levels while flying economy, you will not end up with a fly-flat seat.

Lounge Access

Loyalty status alone does not secure passengers lounge access.  Lounge access is provided through (a) first or business class tickets and (b) credit card rewards.  There are certain scenarios in which higher levels of loyalty status gain passengers access to lounges, like when flying internationally and accessing a partner airline’s lounge, but this is not the case in most U.S. airports or for most passengers at the lower levels of loyalty programs.

However, this brings up an interesting opportunity for frequent flyers who fly enough to take advantage of loyalty programs: If you naturally fly enough to gain loyalty with an airline, it may be worth having an airline-branded credit card with that airline to get you access to lounges, multiply your points, and make it easier to retain your loyalty status.  Most of these are luxury perks, but they can also lead to smoother journeys, a huge positive for anyone that flies a lot.  Airline lounges usually have the best desk agents, an under-utilized perk of lounge access.  This can become the most important perk of all in situations where your flight gets cancelled or delayed significantly, as a lounge desk agent is more likely to find you a quick alternative than the gate agent or general help phone number.  Passengers in lounges get extra competent attention, and this matters when flights do not go according to plan.

The Negatives of Prioritizing Airline Loyalty

While there are many perks to having airline loyalty, there are also many reasons not to prioritize it.  If you do not fly enough already, you should not chase airline loyalty and overspend on travel!  Airline loyalty is for those already travelling at a level that they would achieve airline loyalty with their regular travel, assuming they booked all flights with one airline or alliance.

Booking flights all with the same airline is impossible for anyone, but booking within an alliance is possible.  Each of the three major U.S. airlines is part of a global alliance of flights, and airline loyalty carries over to their global partners.  For example, my United Premier Silver status is honored on a Lufthansa flight because they are both part of the Star Alliance.  Particularly if one alliance makes sense for most of your travels, airline loyalty is an easier decision.

However, if you are a points maximizer, even alliance loyalty may limit your travel potential.  The best points travelers shop deals and can do more with a few expensive travel rewards cards that allow them to shift points between a variety of airlines.  Particularly if you are in a location like New York City where you have access to multiple airports with many airline options, this strategy may be better than airline loyalty.

The winning travel method—airline loyalty versus credit card point maximization—may not be the same each year or each trip.  We travel enough that keeping loyalty with one program while sometimes using points to enhance our travel experiences makes the most sense for us, but others may only travel enough to pick one methodology.  Regardless of what you decide, it is fun to upgrade your travel experience, but make sure you are not spending extra money without value.  Prioritize your travel values when you consider airline loyalty or any other travel hacks.  Airline loyalty can eliminate a lot of the stress around travel and improve your travel experience, but only if your travel habits make the program a worthwhile prioritization.