Best credit cards for airline elite status (2026)
A few cards grant airline status outright; most accelerate it by earning the qualifying credits (PQP, Loyalty Points, MQDs) on everyday spend. Here's what each US airline card actually does for your status.
Grants $2,500 MQD Headstart toward Medallion status · American Express · annual fee $650 · Delta Air Lines status
Grants Status Points toward status (no instant tier) · Bank of America · annual fee $95 · Alaska Airlines status
Grants Tiles toward Mosaic (no instant tier) · Barclays · annual fee $99 · JetBlue status
Grants Emirates Skywards Gold · Barclays · annual fee $499 · Emirates status
Grants Privilege Club Gold (oneworld Sapphire), year 1 · Cardless / First Electronic Bank · annual fee $499 · Qatar Airways status
Grants XP toward Silver (no instant tier) · Bank of America · annual fee $89 · Air France-KLM status
Grants PQP toward all Premier tiers · Chase · annual fee $695 · United Airlines status
Grants Loyalty Points toward all tiers · Citi · annual fee $695 · American Airlines status
Advertiser disclosure: StatusKart may earn a commission if you are approved for a card linked here. This does not affect our rankings — we rank by how fast each route grants status. Fees and terms are set by the issuer and can change; verify before applying.
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