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American Airlines has long lagged behind both United Airlines and Delta Air Lines when it comes to lifetime, million-miler+ status offerings. For years, the highest level that could be attained on American Airlines was AAdvantage Platinum®. Well, that changes in March 2025 when American finally rolls out higher tiers of lifetime status at four and five million miles flown.
Delta Air Lines Lifetime Medallion® Status
Million Miler Status is based on total Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) earned over a member’s lifetime. The status levels awarded changed this year and became more generous. Delta allows members to earn all the way up to its invitation-only, Delta 360° status at five million miles.
United Airlines Lifetime Premier Status
I hold lifetime status with United for flying over one million miles and am closing in on two million in the next few years. With this achievement, my status and that of my spouse will never drop below Premier Gold. I’m currently Premier 1K®, so he also enjoys that status. United is unique in that it offers this companion benefit.
American Airlines Million Miler Lifetime Status
American was long the stingiest with lifetime status. It only allowed members to reach mid-tier AAdvantage Platinum® and then receive four Systemwide Upgrades for each million miles flown after. This changes soon.
AAdvantage members will be able to earn the following levels:
- 1 million: AAdvantage Gold®
- 2 million: AAdvantage Platinum®
- 4 million: AAdvantage Platinum Pro®
- 5 million: AAdvantage Executive Platinum®
American is not offering a path to lifetime ConciergeKey™ status. This is unlike Delta and United. Both offer a clear path to these invite-only status levels. I guess beggars can’t be choosers and the changes that are being made are huge for loyal American flyers.
Anthony’s Take: This is great news for American loyalists who were for years frustrated at the cap of lifetime status at AAdvantage Platinum®.
(Featured Image Credit: American Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
