The Best Frequent Flyer Programs for Earning Miles from Your Flights (2018)

When you take a flight, you can choose to earn miles with one of several different frequent flyer programs. If you are flying with an airline that belongs to one of the big three alliances, you can choose of the airlines in the alliance (and usually some additional partner programs as well). Even when you fly with an unaffiliated airline, you can usually choose to earn your miles with your choice from a set of different airline partners.

Most people should choose to earn their miles with a single frequent flyer program for each alliance. In many cases, it is better to choose a foreign airline’s program, rather than the US airline that belongs to the alliance (American, Delta, United).

By earning all your miles with the smallest possible set of programs, you will more quickly earn enough miles for free tickets, and have a better chance of qualifying for elite status.

Jump to

The right choice of program depends on how many miles you expect to fly each year
Easier access to American, Delta, and United elite status with credit cards
Factors to consider when choosing which program to earn miles with
US vs foreign-based programs (in general)
Good frequent flyer programs for many people
Programs that make it easier to earn mid-level status
Pooling your status qualifying miles with Egyptair

1 The right choice of program depends on how many miles you expect to fly each year
2 Easier access to American, Delta, and United elite status with credit cards
3 Factors to consider when choosing which program to earn miles with
4 US vs foreign-based programs (in general)
5 Good frequent flyer programs for many people
6 Programs that make it easier to earn mid-level status
7 Pooling your status qualifying miles with Egyptair

The right choice of program depends on how many miles you expect to fly each year

While most people are never sure exactly how much they’ll fly each year, you’ll need to make an estimate, if you want to determine the best frequent flyer program to use.

You should make a separate estimate (and a separate choice) for each alliance, because you can’t combine the miles you earn across alliances. For example, you should estimate how many miles you’re likely to fly on American and other Oneworld carriers, and decide which Oneworld program to use; and then do the same for Delta / SkyTeam, United / Star Alliance, and Alaska and its partners.

Under 20,000 miles	If you’ve got no possibility of earning any level of status (usually under 20,000 miles), you should choose a program simply based on its earning and redemption potential. Choosing the specific program is discussed in greater detail below.
Over 75,000 miles	If you expect to fly enough to earn high-level elite status (usually 75,000 qualifying miles or more), you should use the program of the airline that you most frequently fly. For example, if you expect to earn enough miles to get high-level status on Oneworld, you would usually choose American Airline’s frequent flyer program. The same is true of Delta, United, or Alaska. Only the airline’s own elite members get a chance of free business and first-class upgrades, and you’ll get better treatment every time you fly. While upgrades can be hard to get, at this level or higher, you've got a good chance of getting them periodically. American, Delta, and United require that you spend $9,000 per year, along with earning 75,000 qualifying miles, in order to get high-level status. Make sure that you expect to be able to meet this requirement, as well; or can waive it, with one of the airline’s credit cards.
20 - 50,000 miles	If you expect to fly between 20,000 and 50,000 miles each year, you should consider a frequent flyer programs that provide an easier path to mid-level status. A few foreign-based airlines have frequent flyer programs that make it easier to earn mid-level status. Doing so, will gain you access to airport lounges, every time you fly with that alliance, better bonuses for earning miles, and other benefits. For example, if you choose to earn miles from your United flights with Asiana Airlines, it will be easier than normal to earn Star Alliance Gold. The same number of miles gets you mid-level status with a foreign airline, or low-level status with their US partner. Of the two, the mid-level status is better.
50 - 75,000 miles	If you are likely to earn enough for normal mid-level status (usually 50,000 to 75,000 miles each year), you need to choose between moderate upgrade benefits, or free airport lounge access on domestic flights. You can earn mid-level status with the US airline that you frequently fly, or with one of their foreign partners. If you choose the foreign partner, you’ll get free lounge access whenever you fly within the United States, which is a benefit that is not available to mid-level elites in the US airline’s own programs. If you choose the US airline, you’ll almost always be able to upgrade to Economy Plus, and you have a small chance of getting a better upgrade. Between these two, we’d rather have the moderate upgrade benefits than the lounge access (and limit ourselves to less convenient priority pass lounges), but everyone’s choice is going to be different. American, Delta, and United require that you spend $6,000 per year, along with earning 50,000 miles. Make sure that you’ll be able to meet this qualification, as well; or choose one of the programs where it is easier to reach mid-level status.

Easier access to American, Delta, and United elite status with credit cards

Achieving status on American, Delta, and United airlines requires meeting both a flying and a spending requirement. Low-level status requires 25,000 Qualifying Miles (QMs) and $3,000 of spending, mid-level status requires 50,000 QMs and $6,000, high-level status requires 75,000 QMs and $9,000, and even higher-level statuses requires more. “Qualifying Miles” for travel on the airline’s own flights are not based on the number of miles you fly, but on the amount you spend—adjusted based on your current status level.

However, it is possible to reduce the elite status requirements, by using the airline’s co-branded credit cards.

American Airlines. If you spend $25,000 on one of the Aviator cards (issued by Barcalycard), you can reduce the spending requirement (EQD) by $3,000. For example, you’d only need to spend $3,000 to reach mid-level status, instead of $6,000. With the Aviator Silver card, you can reduce the requirement by another $3,000, by spending an additional $25,000 per year. In addition, the Aviator Silver card will give you 5,000 EQMs after spending $20,000, and an another 5,000 EQMs with an another $20,000 in spending (and a companion certificate when you spend $30,000). The Aviator Red’s annual fee is $95, and the Aviator Silver’s is $195.
Delta. If you spend at least $25,000 (combined) on your Gold, Platinum, or Reserve Delta credit cards, they will waive the spending (MQD) requirement for all levels, except their highest status. In addition, the $195 annual-fee Platinum card will give you 5,000 MQMs when you first sign up (and meet the initial spending requirement), an additional 10,000 MQMs every year you spend $25,000, and another 10,000 MQMs if you reach $50,000. The $450 annual-fee Reserve card gives you 10,000 MQMs when you first sign up, 15,000 MQMs every year you spend $30,000, and another 15,000 MQMs if you reach $60,000. You can combine MQM bonuses from both cards (but won’t get bonuses from both the business and personal version of the same card). So, it is possible to earn 50,000 MQMs per year, just by spending ($110,000!) on your Delta credit cards. You can also transfer MQMs from the Delta Reserve card to another member. For example, both adults in a household can contribute their qualifying miles towards one person's higher level status.
United. If you spend at least $25,000 (combined) on any of United’s co-branded credit cards, they will waive the spending (PQD) requirement.

There is a large opportunity cost of putting this amount of spending on these cards, instead of your credit cards that have better reward rates, so make sure that you actually need the reduction in status requirements, and highly value the difference in status.

Factors to consider when choosing which program to earn miles with

Leaving considerations about elite status aside, there is still no clearly best choice of which frequent flyer program to choose as your primary focus for each alliance. There are several factors to consider.

High earning rates. Different frequent flyer programs have different mileage multipliers for any given class of service on any given airline. You want to choose a program that tends to earn higher amounts of miles for the flights that you take. If you tend to pay for business or first-class seats, that usually means a program that offers higher-than-normal bonuses for premium-cabin tickets. If you tend to buy inexpensive coach tickets, you want to choose a program that avoids heavy penalties for lower fare classes.

Low redemption costs. Different frequent flyer programs charge different amounts of points, and different levels of fees, for the same flights. You want to choose a program that tends to charge fewer points and fees, so that your miles are more valuable. Airline programs that let you take a free stopover add additional potential value to your future award redemptions. Use Free Stopovers to Visit Two (or More) Places for the Price of One.

Even the best programs for redeeming miles have lower than normal costs for some types of flights, and higher costs (or other limitations) for other types of flights. So, the best program for you, depends on where you live, and where you fly. For example, if you live in the Southeast and like to travel to the Caribbean, British Airways, or possible Air France, are great options. But, if you think you are going to use your miles for flights to Europe, you might want to make other choices. Or perhaps, you frequently need to fly to some region of the world to visit family, or for work, and want a program that offers particularly good redemption opportunities to that region.

Ability to combine miles and credit card points. It can take a long time to build up miles from flying. One good strategy is to combine the miles in your account, with additional points from your credit cards, so that you have enough miles to book an award ticket. Essentially, the miles you earn from flying reduce the number of credit card points you need to book an award. This means choosing a program that partners with one or more of your credit card programs.

This handy chart is from the Well Traveled Mile.

Keeping your miles from expiring without much effort. Each frequent flyer program has different rules about miles expiration. With some programs, your miles expire after a fixed time period (often three years); with other programs, your miles won’t expire, if you have at least some activity in your account over the previous one or two years. Since it might be awhile before you build up enough miles, and have a good opportunity to redeem an award, you want a program that doesn’t have a fixed expiration date.
(Possibly) Miles freely shareable between family members. Some frequent flyer programs allow you to combine miles, earned by different family members, to book an award ticket. With these programs, you can combine all your miles, making it easier to have enough for a free ticket. If you frequently travel with at least one other person, this feature can make a frequent flyer program much more attractive. Some of these programs work for unmarried people who live together, some require a more official relationship. Of course, if you are still single, this is less of an advantage. Frequent Flyer Programs where Family Members Can Share Their Miles.
Good set of non-alliance partners. Most frequent flyer programs have non-alliance partners, along with any partners from their alliance. If you choose a frequent flyer program that has other useful partners, you are more likely to be able to pool additional miles into your account, and will have a wider range of redemption options. The specific additional partners that are likely to be useful depend on your individual circumstances.

US vs foreign-based programs (in general)

There are several big differences between the frequent flyer programs of the US-based airlines, and their foreign brethren.

With US-based programs, you’ll earn miles based on the price of your tickets, rather than on the distance you fly. When you choose to earn miles with American, Delta, or United, on one of their own flights, you’ll receive 5 miles for every dollar spent (or more if you have elite status). If you choose any other frequent flyer program instead, you’ll earn a percentage of the miles flown.

If you buy cheaper tickets, you’ll often earn more miles with a foreign airline. For example, if you pay $350 to fly coast-to-coast, you’ll receive 1,750 miles from a US airline, for a flight of around 5,000 miles. Because the ticket was purchased with a more discounted fare, a different program might give you 25% to 75% of the mileage flown, or 1,250 to 3,750 miles.

As another example, if you pay $700 to fly from the East Coast to Paris, you’d earn 3,500 miles from the US airline, and probably around 3,750 miles from a foreign airline.

But if you fly short distances, or on more expensive tickets, you’ll usually earn more miles with the US airline. A discounted $250 fare between Boston and Chicago will earn 1,250 miles from the US airline, and probably around 850 miles with a foreign airline. A $4,000 business class ticket to Europe will earn 20,000 miles with a US airline. With a foreign airline, you’ll receive 100% to 200% of the mileage flown, or around 8,000 to 16,000 miles.

With a US-based program, you WON'T pay fuel surcharges on most flights. Most foreign frequent flyer programs charge hefty “fuel surcharges”, when you book an award ticket to Asia or Africa, and even higher charges for flights to Europe. With a US-based program (and a couple of foreign-based programs), you will mostly avoid these fees. Regardless of which frequent flyer program you choose, you usually won’t need to pay fuel surcharges when you fly in North and South America, and when you actually fly on a US airline (a notable exception is using British Airways points to fly American). The cost savings are only for award tickets that use a foreign airline to fly to a destination in Europe, Africa, or Asia.

United never charges fuel surcharges, American only charges if you are flying British Airways or Iberia, and Delta only charges from some partners, or on one-way flights from Europe.

With a US-based program, you’ll have access to “anytime” award space on domestic flights. Most frequent flyer programs allow their own members to book award tickets on any flight, if they are willing to spend extra miles. When you are booking award tickets on a partner airline, you can only book regularly priced (“saver”) award space.

We usually choose to pay cash, rather than the inflated award price, when there is no saver award space available. But, it can be nice to have the flexibility to pay the extra miles, if you want to. This is especially true on Delta, which often charges just a small number of additional miles to book award tickets on many flights. Of course, a foreign program will give you “anytime” awards on their own flights, but you’re less likely to have an opportunity to take advantage of that.

With a US-based program, mid-level elites won’t get access to lounges on domestic flights. As discussed above, mid-level elites usually get access to airport lounges, when flying on an airline in the alliance. But, American, Delta, and United don’t give access to their own mid-level elitesm when they are flying on a domestic flight. For example, a mid-level elite with Singapore Airlines gets access to United lounges on United domestic flights, but a mid-level elite in United’s own program, does not.

Good frequent flyer programs for many people

As discussed above, the best program to choose for each alliance depends on your own individual circumstances. However, the following programs tend to be good choices for many people.

Star Alliance (United)

United. United never passes through fuel surcharges, making it a great option for travel to Europe, Asia, and Africa. But, it requires a much higher-than-normal number of miles to fly in business or first class (on those airlines). So, it is a good program for economy redemptions, but less useful for premium seats. United participate in the Ultimate Rewards program, so you can easily combine your points and miles to book an award ticket. They also offer free stopovers on round trip awards.

Singapore. Singapore airlines has a well-priced award chart, with many flights requiring fewer miles than United, especially in business and first-class. They are partners with every credit card program, making it easy to combine your miles and credit card points to get a free ticket. They also don’t add any last-minute booking fees, and they offer free stopovers on round trip awards.

The biggest downside is that they will pass through fuel surcharges when you book award tickets. If you expect to redeem your miles for tickets to Europe, Asia, or Africa, and to fly on an airline other than United, you’ll pay a lot of money in fees by using Singapore, instead of United. Another downside is you have just three years to use your miles.

SkyTeam (Delta)

Delta. Delta doesn’t pass through fuel surcharges for most SkyTeam flights. This can be a big advantage when travelling to Europe, Africa, and Asia. If you plan to redeem on Delta itself, Delta often has extra space available at slightly higher-than-normal prices. This award space would not be available via other frequent flyer programs. One drawback of Delta, is that you can’t use your miles to book first-class award tickets on any of their partners. If this is important to you, you will need to choose another frequent flyer program to concentrate on.

With Delta, you’ll be earning miles based on the ticket price, rather than distance, for flights you take on Delta itself. They are a partner of the Membership Rewards program, so you can easily combine your miles and credit card points.

Plus, they have their own co-branded credit cards. These also provide the opportunity to get a status boost via spending, if you get close to an elite status level.

Korean. Korean has some amazing award values, especially for business class travel to Europe, and any travel to Hawaii and Mexico. They do limit you to round trip awards, but you can get a free stopover. On the earning side, they offer good award multiples for economy flights, but less than the normal number of miles for business and first-class flights. So, if you frequently buy premium cabin tickets, you are probably better off with another program.

They are partners with Chase (and SPG), so you can easily combine your miles and credit card points. And family members can combine their miles to book tickets.

Korean is partners with Alaska, American, and Hawaiian Airlines (among others). This expands your opportunity for using Korean miles, and it also opens the possibility of crediting all your Delta, American, and Alaska miles to the same account.

Oneworld (American)

British Airways. Many people should choose to earn miles for their Oneworld flights with British Airways. They have a distance-based award chart that offers great value for short flights, such as flights from the West Coast to Hawaii, and flights from the East Coast to the Caribbean. They are members of both the Membership Rewards and Ultimate Rewards program, so you can easily combine your points with miles. You have the flexibility of transferring your points to Iberia, when their award chart offers better value. And they allow family members to pool together their points.

However, they are very expensive for longer-haul premium-cabin award tickets. They also are the only airline that will add expensive fuel surcharges for American Airlines flights to Europe.

American Airlines. American Airlines has a well-priced award chart for many different regions, especially if you can take advantage of off-peak awards. They are also the only Oneworld airline that doesn’t pass through fuel surcharges (unfortunately except for British Airways and Iberia flights), making them a great option for flights to Asia and Africa, and some flights to Europe. American Airlines also offers some useful non-alliance partnerships to get from the US to the South Pacific.

If you choose American, you’ll be earning miles based on the ticket price, rather than distance, for flights you take on American itself. They don’t participate with either Amex’s or Chase’s point system, but there are two different families of American Airline credit cards that you can use to augment your account balance. And, you can use these cards to earn additional qualifying miles, if you get close to reaching a status level.

Programs that make it easier to earn mid-level status

Mid-level status with any Star Alliance, SkyTeam, or Oneworld frequent flyer program givess you lounge access, early access to upgraded economy-class seats (except with Star Alliance), free bags, and priority check-in, security, and boarding. In one respect, earning mid-level status with a foreign airline’s frequent flyer program is even better than earning it with American, Delta, or United. You’ll get lounge access even on domestic flights. Benefits of Elite Frequent Flyer Status.

While most frequent flyer programs require 50,000 miles per year to qualify for mid-level status, some programs make it easier to achieve. If you aren’t going to fly enough to earn mid-level status on your first choice of frequent flyer programs, you might still be able to qualify with one of these easier programs.

Star Alliance (United)

Egyptair. For most people, Egyptair is the easiest program to earn and keep Star Alliance Gold status. You’ll need to acquire 30,000 QMs to get to Silver Status, but you can spread this out over any length of time. Once you’ve reached Silver status, you only need to earn an additional 30,000 QMs over TWO years to get to Gold. Then once you’re Gold, you only need 30,000 QMs every TWO years to keep your status. That's 30,000 QMs every two years, versus the normal 50,000 QMs every year.

In addition, (as described below) Egyptair is the only program that lets you earn qualifying miles from your family member’s flights. A couple only needs to average 7,500 QMs per year to earn Gold status for one of them.

Asiana Airlines (Korea). If you aren’t planning to share your elite status qualifying miles with others, Asiana airlines is a good option. You need 40,000 QMs every TWO years to qualify for a two-year period. Then you only need 30,000 QMs over those TWO years to re-qualify. That's a little harder than Egyptair, but Asiana is a better program for using your miles and has its own US branded credit card.
Turkish Airlines. Like Asiana, Turkish Airlines operates on a two-year cycle. While you only have one year to earn the 40,000 QMs to initially qualify, status will last two years, and you only need 37,500 QMs over those TWO years to re-qualify.

But if you have status with another airline / alliance and are planning to fly Turkish, you may be able to take advantage of their status match to make it easier. Once you match, you'll have status for 4 months. If you take one international flight with Turkish, it will be extended to a full year. If you then earn 15,000 QMs on Turkish international flights during that year, you'll get an extra year.

Aegean Airlines (Greece). If you can fly on Aegean, they are another easier-than-normal option. Earning 12,000 QMs in 12 months (including 2 Aegean-operated segments) gets you to Silver status. Once there, earning another 24,000 QMs in the following 12 months (including 4 Aegean segments) gets you Gold. Then you only need 12,000 QMs (including two Aegean segments) or 24,000 QMs (without the Aegean flights) to re-qualify.

SkyTeam (Delta)

Air Europa. Air Europa is the easiest program for earning SkyTeam Elite Plus status. It requires 12,000 QMs to reach Silver level. Once there, you'll have a year to earn 32,000 additional miles to reach and maintain Gold. Air Europa has a distance-based award chart, which can represent either very good or very bad award prices, depending on the length of the route. They are best for very short or very long flights. One downside is that Air Europa doesn’t partner with any credit card programs, so you can’t easily combine your miles with credit card points, to book tickets.
Flying Blue. Air France and KLM’s Flying Blue program uses "Experience Points" rather than qualifying miles. The number of XPs you receive is based on the class of service and distance buckets. It normally isn't particularly easy to earn the 280 XP you need to qualify for mid-level status. However, you may be able to take advantage of some quirks to qualify much more easily. On even the shortest international segments, Flying Blue gives you 10 XP in Premium Economy, 15 XP in Business, and 25 XP in First. If you have the opportunity to take very short inexpensive international flights, you'll quickly earn enough points without flying a lot of miles or spending a lot of money.

Oneworld (American)

British Airways. British Airways bases their status level on “tier points” rather than qualifying miles. The flight miles to tier points conversion rate is not fixed but is typically around 60:1. Thus, you only need to earn the equivalent of about 36,000 QMs per year to get the 600 tier points for gold status. Unfortunately. you’ll also need to make sure that at least four of those flights are on British Airways. So British Airways is a good choice for some people, but unworkable for others.
Iberia (Spain). Like British Airways, Iberia bases their status on “elite points” not qualifying miles. If you book full economy, business, or first-class tickets, you can earn status with far less than the normal amount of flying. But if you buy discounted economy tickets, it will take far more than the normal amount of flying.
Japan Airlines. For some travelers, JAL can be an unbelievable way to maintain Oneworld mid-level status (Sapphire). Once you qualify for JAL’s Sapphire tier, you’ll have an opportunity to join their “JAL Global Club” for two years. As a member, you’ll automatically have Oneworld mid-level status. To keep your membership, you’ll only need to earn 25,000 QMs per year. And if that isn’t good enough, you also have the option of simply paying 5,000 redeemable miles for the renewal fee.

The catch is that, to reach JNB Sapphire status in the first place, you’ll need to earn the normal 50,000 miles in a year, half of which needs to be on flights operated by JAL. So, to get started, you’ll need to wait until you have the opportunity to earn at least 25,000 miles on JAL flights.

Pooling your status qualifying miles with Egyptair

If you frequently travel as a family, the easiest path towards elite status is with Egyptair’s frequent flyer program.

This is the only frequent flyer program, where you can earn qualifying miles on flights taken by multiple family members. For example, if a family of four each earned 9,000 miles for a round trip to Europe, all 36,000 miles can be credited to the same account, and contribute to Star Alliance status for the primary card holder. (The AwardWallet Blog brought this to our attention.)

It takes 30,000 miles to reach low-level status (Silver), but there is no time limit, and you only need to credit a total of 15,000 miles every two years, to keep your Silver status alive. Once you reach Silver, if you accrue 30,000 miles over a two-year period, you’ll get mid-level status (Gold). Then, you’ll need to earn 30,000 miles every two years to keep your Gold status.

Flying a combined total of 30,000 miles as a family, every two years, is an achievable goal for many people, even if they don’t fly very often. Of course, since lounge access is limited to only one guest, it would be better to try to qualify separately for every two people—7,500 miles per person per year.

The only problem with this strategy is that you’ll wind up with a bunch of miles with Egyptair, instead of with another Star Alliance program. Their award chart is somewhat more expensive than most, and you can’t combine miles with your credit card points (even Starwood).

So, you’ll easily earn status, but you’ll wind up with somewhat less valuable miles. However, even if you assume that Egyptair miles are worth .25 cents less, because you need more of them to earn an award, you’ll only be giving up $75 in value, every two years, to earn Star Alliance Gold.