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Almost every airline now has a loyalty program that rewards dedicated flyers with numerous perks, making traveling convenient and hassle-free. As the price gap between Business/First Class and Economy Class widens, frequent flyers look at loyalty programs to unlock the ability to fly for free and sit in front of the plane, alongside numerous other benefits.
Often, astute flyers consider the plausible benefits of a loyalty program before taking a flight with one airline over another.
Delta Air Lines Choice Benefits
Delta Choice Benefits are a series of customizable perks that Delta Air Lines offers to its frequent flyers, primarily Platinum and Diamond Medallion® Members. A key advantage of Delta Choice Benefits is that they can be custom-tailored.
Before going into detail about the Delta Choice Benefits, here’s a brief rundown on how to achieve elite tiers in Delta’s SkyMiles® program:
- Platinum Medallion® Status
- Flying: 75,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQM) or 100 Medallion Qualification Segments (MQS); and
- Spending: 12,000 Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQD) or earning an MQD waiver by spending $25,000 or more on an eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express Card.
- Diamond Medallion® Status
- Flying: 125,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQM) or 140 Medallion Qualification Segments (MQS); and
- Spending: 20,000 Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQD) or earning an MQD waiver by spending $250,000 or more on an eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express Card.
Note that QMs are earned based on distance traveled and fare class, excluding Basic Economy, whereas MQSs are earned based on the number of flights, excluding Basic Economy.
Delta Choice Benefits for qualifying SkyMiles members are (after February 1, 2023):
Benefit | Platinum (any 1 Choice Benefit) | Diamond (any 3 Choice Benefits) |
Upgrade Certificates (valid for 12 months or till the end of the Medallion Year, whichever is nearer) | 4x Regional | 4x Global OR 8x Regional OR 2x Global AND 4x Regional |
American Express Statement Credit (on Delta co-branded cards) | $200 | $500 |
Starbucks® Rewards Stars | 4,000 Stars | 4,000 Stars |
Delta Sky Club® Executive Membership | N/A | 1x Executive Membership (Requires 3 Choice Benefits) |
MQD Earn Boost | 500 MQDs | 1000 MQDs |
Give Medallion Status | 2x Silver Medallion® | 2x Gold Medallion® |
Bonus Miles | 20,000 | 25,000 |
Delta Vacations® Experience | $400 | $500 |
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Contribution | $250 in SAF | $250 in SAF |
Delta Travel Voucher (valid for 12 months) | $250 | $250 |
Delta Platinum and Diamond Medallion® elite members must select their Choice Benefits no later than January 31 following their elite qualifying year. In simple terms, let’s say you obtain Delta Diamond Medallion® status by flying and spending in the 2023 calendar year. You will receive Delta Diamond Medallion® status for the remainder of 2023, through 2024, and until January 31, 2025. In that case, you can choose Delta Choice Benefits before January 31, 2025.
However, if you attained Delta Platinum or Diamond Medallion® status in 2022, you get the status for the year 2023 — you have until January 31, 2024, to select your Delta Choice Benefits.
Alaska Airlines Choice Benefits
Alaska Airlines provides MVP® Gold 100K members of its loyalty program, Mileage Plan™, with a package of perks so-called Alaska Choice Benefits. These perks are in addition to the status benefits of an elite tier in Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™.
Reaching MVP® Gold 100K is no small undertaking — flying at least 100,000 miles annually on Alaska Airlines or partner airlines or 140 segments, including at least 24 flights with Alaska Airlines.
The following are the Alaska Choice Benefits available (choose one) to MVP® Gold 100K members:
- 50,000 Bonus Miles: Members can receive 50,000 bonus miles, redeemable for future travel and other rewards.
- Alaska Lounge+ Membership.
- Elite Status Gifting: Members can gift MVP® Gold status to a friend or family member, helping them achieve elite status benefits.
- Complimentary Wi-Fi on all flights operated by Alaska Airlines.
AAdvantage® Loyalty Point Rewards
AAdvantage® Loyalty Point Rewards is an extension to the American Airlines loyalty program, AAdvantage®, allowing its members to earn their choice of perks from a series of benefits. In contrast to other such programs, AAdvantage® Loyalty Point Rewards is agnostic to the elite tier of the AAdvantage® loyalty program.
With the conversion of Loyalty Choice Rewards to Loyalty Point Rewards in 2022, American Airlines eliminated the flight segment requirement. Now, the only defining criterion for Loyalty Point Rewards is the amount of AAdvantage® Loyalty Points an AAdvantage® member earns.
The following are the AA Loyalty Point Rewards tiers and benefits associated with it:
- 15,000 Loyalty Points – Member is enrolled in Group 5 boarding for the remainder of the year plus any one of the following:
- Priority privileges and Group 4 boarding for one trip.
- Five preferred seat vouchers.
- 60,000 Loyalty Points – At this threshold, the AAdvantage® member will be enrolled in AAdvantage Gold®, plus:
- Avis Preferred Plus® status.
- 20% Loyalty Point bonus when you spend with specific partners (such as American Airlines Vacations, AAdvantage Dining, etc.) within 6 months of unlocking this reward.
- 100,000 Loyalty Points – Somewhat similar to the previous tier, the AAdvantage® member will be enrolled in AAdvantage Platinum®, plus:
- Avis President’s Club® status.
- 30% Loyalty Point bonus with the same select partners and on the same terms.
- 175,000 Loyalty Points – This time around, the AAdvantage® member will be enrolled in AAdvantage Platinum Pro®, plus any one of the following rewards:
- 2 systemwide upgrades.
- 20,000 bonus miles (25,000 bonus miles for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- 6 Admirals Club® one-day passes.
- $200 Trip Credit ($250 for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- Carbon offset.
- $250 donation to select non-profit.
- 15% rebate on the award.
- 2 gifts of AAdvantage Gold® status.
- 35,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience (only for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- 250,000 Loyalty Points – Upon reaching this level, the AAdvantage® member will be enrolled in AAdvantage Executive Platinum®, plus any two of the following rewards:
- 2 systemwide upgrades.
- 20,000 bonus miles (30,000 bonus miles for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- 6 Admirals Club® one-day passes.
- $200 Trip Credit ($250 for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- Carbon offset.
- $250 donation to select non-profit.
- Bang & Olufsen product (requires two choices).
- 2 gifts of AAdvantage Gold® status.
- 1 Flagship® Lounge single-visit pass (2 passes for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- 35,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience (only for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- 400,000 Loyalty Points – The AAdvantage® member (already enrolled in AAdvantage Executive Platinum®) will receive any two of the following rewards:
- 1 systemwide upgrade.
- 25,000 bonus miles.
- Admirals Club® membership (requires two choices).
- $200 Trip Credit ($250 for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- Carbon offset.
- Bang & Olufsen product (requires two choices).
- 2 Flagship® Lounge single-visit pass.
- 1 Flagship® First Dining visit pass.
- 40,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience (only for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- 550,000 Loyalty Points – At this threshold, the AAdvantage® member (already enrolled in AAdvantage Executive Platinum®) will receive any two of the rewards available in the previous tier with the only addition of ‘Gift of AAdvantage Platinum® status’ as an additional option.
- 750,000 Loyalty Points – Same as the previous tier.
- 1,000,000 Loyalty Points – The AAdvantage® member (already enrolled in AAdvantage Executive Platinum®) will receive any one of the following rewards:
- 4 systemwide upgrades.
- Carbon offset.
- Gift of AAdvantage Platinum Pro® status.
- Up to 100,000 miles back on award redemptions.
- 150,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience (only for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- 3,000,000 Loyalty Points – The AAdvantage® member (already enrolled in AAdvantage Executive Platinum®) will receive any one of the following rewards:
- 6 systemwide upgrades.
- Carbon offset.
- Gift of AAdvantage Executive Platinum® status.
- Up to 300,000 miles back on award redemptions.
- 350,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience (only for AAdvantage® credit cards).
- 5,000,000 Loyalty Points – The AAdvantage® member (already enrolled in AAdvantage Executive Platinum®) will receive any one of the following rewards:
- 10 systemwide upgrades.
- Carbon offset.
- Gift of AAdvantage Executive Platinum® status.
- Up to 500,000 miles back on award redemptions.
- 550,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience (only for AAdvantage® credit cards).
Which benefit program is better?
There is no correct answer to this question. At the onset, it may seem like entry barriers to the AAdvantage® Loyalty Point Rewards are limited; the program only starts to become meaningful at 175,000 Loyalty Points or above. However, if you are a frequent flyer, it would make sense to either stick to Delta Air Lines or American Airlines and skip Alaska Airlines.
Between the Delta Choice Benefits and AAdvantage® Loyalty Point Rewards, it would be easier to attain a higher threshold in the AAdvantage® Loyalty Point Rewards as compared to achieving Platinum and Diamond Medallion® status. Therefore, overall, AAdvantage® Loyalty Point Rewards is a better frequent flyer benefit program.
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