My hunt for Oneworld status

Good morning from Beijing, known for its incredible Peking Duck dish (and maybe some other things).

I’m on the hunt for some status, and I need your help, so let’s get to it:

• 🌎 My hunt for Oneworld status

• 💳 Current Transfer Bonuses

🌎 My hunt for Oneworld status

I’m excited to write about this… not just because of my own quest to regain elite status, but because I think a lot of YOU can use this same tactic to earn status for yourself.

I recently told you about how I really enjoyed having Oneworld Emerald status this year and how I wanted to find a way to earn it again in 2025…

Check out that newsletter if you missed it to catch up on why I like having status with Oneworld airlines more than other alliances.

Today, I’m going to tell you about my top three paths toward doing this and how you can do it, too.

Which airline should I earn status with?

Well, it doesn’t really matter.

My goal is to get status that I can use with ANY airline in the Oneworld alliance… so I don’t really care which airline I earn it with. I just want the easiest possible path.

A few weeks ago, I told you about how to credit flights to other airline programs (i.e., flying on Delta but crediting the flights to SAS).

That’s exactly what I would do here, too.

Whichever airline I fly (American, Alaska, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines), I’ll credit it to the program that can earn me status most easily.

So, without further ado, here are the top three options:

Option 1: American Airlines Advantage

This is an obvious option for one reason:

You can earn AA status without ever flying on a plane. As you know, AA uses Loyalty Points to determine your status.

You can earn these by shopping online, using the AA travel portal, spending on credit cards, and yes - flying.

AA’s program also has the benefits of milestone rewards between status tiers, which is definitely appealing. 👇

For many of you, this might seem like the clear way to get Oneworld status… but here’s the kicker:

Even if you have AA status, you won’t necessarily get lounge access on short-haul domestic flights in the U.S., where earning status with either of the other two options I’m about to tell you about WOULD get you such lounge access on ANY American Airlines flights…

Personally, I don’t have an AA credit card, I don’t use the portal often, and earning AA status just from flying isn’t feasible…

That brings me to option 2…

Option 2: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

I’ve flown Cathay a lot this year… and I love the airline, I love the lounges, I love the service, and I love Hong Kong.

Being based in Asia now, Cathay is the airline I’ll likely be flying the most to earn status, regardless of which program I credit those flights to.

So, naturally, it makes sense to consider their program.

Cathay has a pretty straightforward system for earning status. All you need to do is collect a certain number of Status Points in a 12-month period.

Status points are calculated based on the distance of the flight and class of service.

Once you hit a level of status, your points reset, as does your “membership year.”

So if you earn Silver status, your Status Points go to zero, and you have one year from that point to earn 600 to reach Gold. And so on.

Even better, they have a calculator tool that tells you EXACTLY how many status points (and miles) you’ll earn from each flight, and partner flights ARE eligible to earn status points.

In addition to being one of the world’s best airlines, Cathay also has some crazy cash fares…

Next week, I’m flying from Shanghai to Jakarta (via Hong Kong), and the ticket only cost me $112.

I’ve flown on a bunch of long-haul Cathay and Qatar Airways flights this year, where I earned a lot of status points but didn’t have to spend a lot of money, like this flight from Riyadh to Jakarta (via Hong Kong) for just over $200.

At that rate, and with the number of times I fly per year, I could probably get to Gold status fairly easily.

This path has the added bonus of earning me Asia Miles, which is a points currency I like to use (read more about why I love that program here).

If you fly internationally, this could be a good program to credit your flights to in order to earn status to use both at home with AA and abroad.

But there’s one other option… and it might be the best one for U.S.-based travelers.

Option 3: Royal Jordanian Royal Club

Stick with me…

Royal Jordanian, while a great airline, is probably not a loyalty program you’ve EVER thought about…

But they actually have one of the easiest paths to elite status.

Here’s how it works:

All you need to do is fly a certain number of flights, and you’ll unlock status. Renewing status after the first year is even easier.

Here’s the chart for earning status and maintaining it in subsequent years:

As you can see, earning the lowest tier of status only requires 14 flights. 

If you lock in top-tier status, you’ll get it for TWO years and have that amount of time to re-qualify.

The best part?

Partner flights count toward this number with Royal Jordanian’s program!

If you fly American Airlines and/or Alaska Airlines 14 times per year, you can credit these flights to Royal Jordanian and have Oneworld status.

Given some of the super cheap deals there are in the U.S., this might be a REALLY appealing option for everyone.

If you just flew the flight I referenced above every couple of weeks, you’d be able to basically buy Oneworld status for $434…

Their second tier of status (which requires 30 flights) would give you Oneworld Sapphire status, which would get you access to AA Admirals Club lounges (and other airline lounges around the world).

Retaining that status the following year only requires 26 flights, which is definitely the easiest path toward Oneworld Sapphire status (which is the sweet spot I’m really aiming for).

The main downside here is that you’re earning Royal Jordanian miles…

I honestly don’t know much about the program, but most people wouldn’t be earning a meaningful amount of them, and there’s no way to transfer points to them and top up your balance.

The other downside is that most of the perks from the top status tiers apply to Royal Jordanian itself, which I don’t really fly.

Having Cathay-specific benefits, on the other hand, would be super useful to me - including potential upgrades to Cathay’s epic new premium seats. 🤤

So here’s the main dilemma:

Royal Jordanian is the easiest path toward status, that’s for sure. Whether you’re based in the U.S., Europe, or Asia, they have a program that could unlock status easily by flying partner airlines.

But the extra effort (and likely extra cost) of aiming for Cathay might be worth earning Asia miles and getting perks on the airline I’ll actually be flying most often.

But what do you think?

That’s all for today, folks! I’ve definitely come to appreciate the value I get from airline status this year.

Given how many great ways there are to earn Oneworld status, I hope some of you can take this info and go get some elite status for yourself.

Have a great weekend, and see you on Monday.

39.9042° N, 116.4074° E