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Which Airlines Offer the Best Million Miler Status Benefits?

July 05, 2015
2 min read
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Which Airlines Offer the Best Million Miler Status Benefits?
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TPG reader Sasha tweeted me to ask about elite status:

@thepointsguy – "What airlines offer the best million miler elite status benefits?"

To reward long-term loyalty, some airlines offer special lifetime benefits for customers who reach a cumulative total of one million miles flown. My pick for the best million miler elite status would be United, and you can see their benefits listed below.

United Airlines

  • 1 million miles – Lifetime Premier Gold status
  • 2 million miles – Lifetime Premier Platinum status
  • 3 million miles – Lifetime Premier 1K status
  • 4 million miles – Lifetime United Global Services status

The best part is that United allows your spouse or significant other to share your benefits, which is the clincher for me, as no other US airline does that. Automatic renewal is another perk here. I've listed some of the other program's million miler benefits below, but United (an airline I don't typically give a lot of props to) really takes the cake for million miler benefits.

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United has the best million miler program because your spouse or partner can also receive benefits. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Delta

  • 1 million miles – Lifetime Silver Medallion status
  • 2 million miles – Lifetime Gold Medallion status
  • 4 million miles – Lifetime Platinum Medallion status
  • 7 million miles - One-time, customized experience

Delta also offers gifts from Tumi, Tiffany or Hartmann at various milestones along the way to multi-million miler status.

American

  • 1 million miles – Lifetime AAdvantage Gold status and 35,000 AAdvantage bonus miles
  • 2 million miles – Lifetime AAdvantage Platinum status and four one-way systemwide upgrades
  • Each additional million – four additional one-way systemwide upgrades

If you have any other questions, please tweet me @thepointsguy, message me on Facebook or send me an email at info@thepointsguy.com.
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