Lifetime frequent flyer status is offered by certain airlines to reward frequent flyers who have been loyal for years. Usually the threshold is so high that most people would only achieve it around the time they retire.
Of course, some ultra-frequent flyers achieve it earlier and good for them. It means they are guaranteed to have a shiny card with lounge access forever. Well, “forever” as long as the airline remains in business.
Lifetime Frequent Flyer – But Then Switching?
I have seen a couple of random comments from people on forums in relation to lifetime frequent flyer status recently. One person said that now they have it with a oneworld airline, they can switch to flying with Star Alliance to achieve high status there.
Switching to another alliance altogether makes little sense to me. How many shiny cards does one person really need? Besides, as a devoted oneworld flyer, I can’t imagine having to fly with Star or god forbid, SkyTeam. I can do without choosing a new airline, learning a new programme and all the rest of it. It seems to unnecessary.
While I sort of get that point, it’s something we do anyway. I generally only fly the airlines in the alliance where possible. However, my location means my main airline will always be that. I’d only be able to switch completely if I lived somewhere else. This would be the same for most people.
Overall Thoughts
Quite frankly, if I achieved lifetime frequent flyer status with an airline, I’d be delighted. Should I keep flying as much usual, I imagine I’ll be around 65 when I get it. At that point, I’ll probably have no money to travel anyway, so it won’t be worth much to me!
Either way, it would not occur to me to suddenly decide to switch to a new airline. I fly with the airlines I do because I enjoy the service I get from them. I don’t do it because I’m aiming for lifetime status, that’s for sure.
Do you have lifetime frequent flyer status? Do you continue to fly with that airline or have you switched to another? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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I have lifetime AA status but for international travel, I choose the Lufthansa Group because of their great First Class Service (LH, Swiss, Austrian Business Class) and also very convenient schedules for me to visit family in Europe. It really depends on my destination as to if I stick to OneWorld. Certainly domestically I’m not jumping ship as my home airport is a major AA hub.
It makes sense that you would choose an airline that has better long haul service, I mean, it is your hard earned money, after all. I can also understand sticking with AA locally. Thanks for the comment!
I’m with AA Lifetime Platinum, Oneworld Sapphire. I never have to fly with AA again having accumulated my miles in the days when they counted non flying miles towards lifetime qualifications. I now use it for their partner airlines’ lounge access and elite offerings. My flying days are over so now only when I need to. Have lifetime Marriott Platinum Elite but now stay mostly with Hilton.
I’d say you’re not alone there with regards to using it for other airlines. I guess the good thing is you’ll soon have another US partner to play with if you choose to fly again. Thanks for the comment, it’s good to hear your perspective.
I am Lifetime Platinum and AA Is actually most convenient to where we live and fly (NYC, DCA, LAX, BTV, LHR). AA inflight service has fallen, but you cannot find better frontline staff from the clubs, to the Platinum Desk, to the amazing station leads; my family has been well served and we have lived and travelled all over the world .
But I am now working on a new strategy pushing all miles to Alaska. I got MVP GOLD status match which is good through the end of 2021! They are joining Oneworld this year and I use my Platinum status on AA to get free premium seats and baggage (when we check). Change cards before departure. Fortunately, Alaska already has a partnership with BA so we can use those lounges in London and now that AA is in Terminal 5 it will be interesting to see how the lounges shake out.
I completely agree with you with regards to AA on the ground. I’ve had nothing but stellar service, especially in the lounges and places like that. On board has been a mixed bag. Makes sense you would be lifetime if they are most convenient. I am curious about how things will go once Alaska are in oneworld when it comes to the AA earning and burning. You have a good strategy there with regards to the use of the cards too, which is good. Let’s see what happens as time passes! Thanks for sharing your experiences there.
I’m Lifetime Platinum on AA made by flying ExecPlat every year from 2000-2015. I dropped the AAdvantage program and the airline like a hot rock after the continuous series of devaluations, service decline/unreliability, and complete inability to use my miles at competitive redemptions. I’m a small business owner and over an 18 month exit process, I simply burned the 3.5M accumulated miles for work trips for myself and my employees, where I would have paid for the ticket, but averaged 3c per mile on the redemptions (pretty proud of that). Now, I’m flying to Europe on whichever European carrier has the best schedule/business options, and almost all of my domestic travel is SWA. When Covid hit, I had 5 SWA trips promptly refunded, and am looking forward to flying SWA again when this is all over. Way too much BS with with the AA program and that leadership team … interestingly, that AA culture seems to be doing the same maneuvers at United right now. Alienation of your most loyal customers doesn’t seem like a good strategy to me, but good luck to them.
It makes sense not to be loyal to an airline that has declining service and unreliability. I wouldn’t be happy spending my hard earned cash in that situation either. Great to see you’ve found a solution that suits you. To be honest, I never hear anything bad about Southwest, which means they must be doing something right. Well done on the 3c per mile on the redemptions – you certainly maximised the value there! Even I have noticed the change with American from flying them each time I go to the US over the past few trips. Once Alaska join oneworld, I’ll likely choose them instead. Thanks for the comprehensive response, I really appreciated hearing your story!
You can add me to the list of UA lifers who couldn’t wait to go somewhere else. As soon as I got lifetime Plat, I switched to AA, and with their downfall I’m now primarily DL. Here’s what’s great about having lifetime status. I can fly whoever I want and will always have a back-up. I generally don’t like UA, but will fly them if it’s convenient and cheap and will have status when I fly. I consolidate most of my flying on DL (pre-COVID) and have status as a result and they treat me better as a mid-level elite than UA or AA ever did as a 1K/EP. AA often has good business class corporate fares and I’ll fly them on those fares only (which comes with most of the elite benefits). So essentially I have the freedom to fly whoever is convenient and economical and be taken care of. It’s great to be a free agent and, at minimum, I have status in two alliances with little effort, which really opens up options when traveling outside the US.
I think you summed things up really well with your line, “I have the freedom to fly whoever is convenient and economical and be taken care of”. That makes quite a lot of sense to me, rather than having to pay extra to fly the airline you need to maintain status with, when cheaper deals are available. I find I frequently have to do that, and on some occasions the price difference is such that I have to take an alternative airline. Really appreciate you taking the time to write out such a thoughtful response. Thanks for that, enjoyed reading it!
I loved continental ….then they became United errrrr ……I’m lifetime gold status and switched to American and was treated so much better and then they merged and they when downhill fast …..now I’m a slut ….maybe Alaska or southwest and can’t believe I flew Spirit and loved the big front seat ….it was like flying the old business class but seat don’t recline …..spirit I really enjoyed my one experience after hearing so many horror stories
I think a lot of ex-Continental people found the switch to United a tough one. American really haven’t been the same for a long time, that much is true. I have a good impression of Alaska and I’m looking forward to flying them again once they join oneworld. Haven’t had the pleasure of Spirit, but I think your comment might be the first good one I’ve seen 🙂 Might be worth a try sometime then! Thanks for the comment,
I have Lifetime gold on United and I refuse to fly united any longer unless it’s the ONLY option. If you know how BAD United is, you would understand.
I haven’t flown United since 1991, but since you have the experience here, I’ll take your word for it. It’s a shame things have ended up like that! Thanks for the comment.