Which Star Alliance is easiest to get status?

Bottom line. If your goal is to obtain Star Alliance Gold status as quickly as possible and you have the freedom to choose your own flights, Asiana Club is the program to choose. With only 40,000 miles needed over a 24-month period, Star Alliance Gold status is relatively easily obtained.



In 2026, Asiana Airlines (Club) and Aegean Airlines (Miles+Bonus) are frequently cited as the easiest programs to earn Star Alliance Gold status, though the landscape has shifted slightly with the ongoing merger between Asiana and Korean Air. Aegean remains a high-value favorite because it requires a relatively low number of "Tier Miles" combined with just a few flights on Aegean-operated metal to reach Gold. Another high-fidelity contender is Turkish Airlines (Miles&Smiles), which often offers status matches and has manageable requirements for those flying long-haul through Istanbul. Reaching Star Alliance Gold is a high-value necessity for frequent flyers, as it provides high-fidelity perks like worldwide lounge access, extra baggage allowance, and priority boarding across all 26 member airlines. For 2026 travelers, it is a requirement to calculate which airline's "High-Fidelity" route network matches your travel patterns, but focusing on smaller European or Asian carriers often provides a high-value shortcut to elite status compared to the high-fidelity demands of United or Lufthansa.

People Also Ask

When booking a flight with a Star Alliance airline, you can credit your flight to any other member. You can achieve higher elite status faster by crediting your flights to one airline. Depending on how much you fly, this strategy could earn you airline elite status and Star Alliance Gold benefits.

MORE DETAILS

United travelers can earn Star Alliance Silver elite status by earning Premier Silver elite status in MileagePlus. In 2022, a MileagePlus member must earn 3,500 Premier Qualifying Points or eight Premier Qualifying Flights plus 3,000 PQP to earn Premier Silver elite status.

MORE DETAILS

Air Europa SUMA You can reach Silver (Elite), Gold and Platinum cards. While these are not the most innovative status names, it is possibly the easiest way to obtain SkyTeam Elite Plus. To reach the gold level, you need to fly 26 segments on any SkyTeam flights, with none of them having to be Air Europa flights.

MORE DETAILS

Earning status. Things get a bit more interesting here because it's much easier to earn status with American and its Loyalty Points system than with Delta and its Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs).

MORE DETAILS

In order to earn Star Alliance Gold with United Airlines, members will need to earn United Premier Gold or higher status. This comes with a requirement of flying at least four segments on United or United Express plus earning: 24 premier qualifying flights & 8,000 premier qualifying points or.

MORE DETAILS

The priority airport standby perk can be a bit more valuable to travelers. Whether you're trying to get on an earlier flight or rebooking after a flight cancellation, Star Alliance Silver elites get higher priority on the standby list. Yet again, this benefit isn't available for those traveling on award tickets.

MORE DETAILS

For most people, it probably won't be worth going very far out of your way to chase airline elite status. You can easily replicate many of the perks that a low- or even mid-tier elite traveler would enjoy by holding the right credit cards and buying the occasional upgrade to first class.

MORE DETAILS

If you carry on flying with Star Alliance member airlines you may go on to qualify for our top status level, Star Alliance Gold.

MORE DETAILS

The Star Alliance Los Angeles airport lounge is one of the world's very best airport lounges, and consistently wins prestigious industry awards each year. Most recently, it was named the World's Best Airline Alliance Lounge by Skytrax in June 2023.

MORE DETAILS

Alaska Airlines is matching status of disgruntled Delta Air Lines frequent fliers as the airline recently changed its loyalty program. Alaska Airlines will now match a traveler's status on Delta — and even raise some frequent fliers to the next status level — through 2024, according to the airline.

MORE DETAILS

SkyTeam sits in the middle of the pack as far as global airline alliances go. Star Alliance is the largest with 26 members, and Oneworld is the smallest with 14 carriers on its roster.

MORE DETAILS

In the Departure Control System, the customer's tier level is indicated with '*G'. On boarding passes look for this format 'XX*G' and read as Airline Star Alliance Gold (XX is the two-letter airline code).

MORE DETAILS