Chasing Elite Status: The Upgraded Points Team’s Mid-Year 2025 Update

Every year, our writers and editors travel the world, and elite status with airline and hotel rewards programs factor into these travel plans. Whether it’s for upgraded seats, room upgrades, or complimentary breakfast, elite status can provide some nice perks. However, some status tiers are easier to earn than others.

As we approach the middle of the year, it’s time to check in with our team. How are these elite status plans coming along? Let’s take a look.

Ryan Smith, News Managing Editor

My only elite status goals are focused on hotel programs, as I don’t chase airline status.

I have complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status, which I enrolled for as a benefit of The Platinum Card^® from American Express. Beyond that, I’m working on status in 2 other hotel programs.

I chase Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status annually, and I’ve made excellent progress toward requalification. So far, I have 56 of the 75 elite night credits needed to reach Titanium Elite, and I have 8 additional nights booked at Marriott Bonvoy properties during a trip to Spain in late May and early June. That puts me at 64 out of 75, needing just 11 more nights during the rest of the year.

If needed, I can choose 5 elite night credits as my elite benefit from passing 50 nights — though I’m delaying my choice to see how things shake out near the end of the year.

I’m also working on requalifying for Hyatt Globalist status through a combination of stays and credit card spending. I always spend $15,000 annually on The World of Hyatt Credit Card, and part of the reason is the 6 tier qualifying nights I’ll get from doing so.

Qualifying for Globalist status requires 60 nights, and I have 22 right now. I have 6 additional nights already booked for later this year, so I definitely have work to do with Hyatt. I’ll be checking Hyatt options first as we book travel for fall and winter.

Juan Ruiz, Senior Editor and Content Contributor

Unlike past years when I was racing to hit elite status goals at the tail end of the year, I’m actually ahead of schedule this time — at least with my World of Hyatt Globalist status. As of writing, I’ve already logged 50 of the 60 elite nights needed to requalify for Globalist, thanks to a mix of hotel stays and credit card spend on my World of Hyatt card.

My World of Hyatt card has given me a massive boost towards my World of Hyatt Globalist requalifying plan. It gives me 2 elite night credits for every $5,000 spent. Between some hefty tax bills and household expenses, I’ve managed to rack up those credits quickly, putting me on track to hit 60 elite nights by the end of summer.

Regarding my progress toward American Airlines elite status, I haven’t invested much effort in earning Loyalty Points this year, despite maintaining my status for the past 3 years. That said, I plan to put just enough spend on my AAdvantage^® Aviator^® Red World Elite Mastercard^® and through AA’s shopping portals to at least secure American Airlines Gold Elite status, which is plenty good for my needs.

Along with Hyatt and AA, I’m in a good place with hotel status thanks to top-tier Hilton Diamond status from my Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card* and Marriott Gold Elite status upon enrollment via the Amex Platinum card, so I’m not chasing those.

Overall, my travel style leans heavily toward Hyatt stays or Airbnbs, and since I’m airline agnostic, I’m not too concerned about aggressively chasing airline elite status.

*The information regarding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Chris Hassan, Social Media and Brand Manager

After having Hyatt Globalist for the past 2 years, I fell short of qualifying for 2025. Toward the end of 2024, I was considering making a push for it, but after reviewing upcoming travel plans, I just couldn’t justify the extra cost and effort. I’m sad, but there is a silver lining.

Before my Globalist status expired, I leveraged that status into an Instant Status Match Challenge with American Airlines (which has now expired). Thanks to some unexpected paid travel and some timely shopping portal bonuses, I’ve managed to earn enough Loyalty Points to keep Platinum Pro status through at least the rest of the year.

As someone who travels a lot with family, Platinum Pro status is really valuable because it gets me (us) extra legroom seats, 3 checked bags, and access to Flagship and Oneworld Emerald lounges.

Christine Krzyszton, Senior Contributor

Since I have Delta Air Lines lifetime Diamond elite status, I will fly enough to use the associated global upgrades for a few flights, including an upcoming Delta inaugural flight from Atlanta (ATL) to Marrakesh (RAK) in October. There’s nothing better than joining friends in Delta One business class on an inaugural flight.

I have about 103,000 American Airlines Loyalty Points toward the 200,000 I need to requalify for my goal of Executive Platinum. This is my primary airline at the moment.

For United, I will be happy with the Premier Silver status I received from attaining Titanium Elite with Marriott Bonvoy. I have 62 of the 75 nights needed to requalify for that level with Marriott Bonvoy again this year. I especially like using the fifth-night-free benefit when booking award nights with Marriott.

I also enjoy Hilton Diamond status from holding the Hilton Aspire card.

Katie Corrigan Seemann, Podcast Co-Host and Travel Partnerships Manager

My main airline is American, and I am planning to requalify for Platinum Pro status again through flying and using the American Airlines eShopping portal (along with a bit of spending on my Citi^®/AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®). Depending on when I hit that goal, I’ll decide if I am going to make the push for Executive Platinum status.

I recently had a few Delta flights, so I did a status match to Delta Platinum Medallion. I hit the threshold to keep Delta Silver Medallion status for the year, but I will probably fall short of earning Delta Gold. I haven’t been super impressed with Delta status, so I am okay with that.

My husband has United Silver status and Southwest A-List (plus a Southwest Companion Pass), so whenever we’re flying those airlines, we book our tickets from his account.

As far as hotel elite status goes, I have earned Marriott Bonvoy Gold and Hilton Honors Gold from the Amex Platinum card upon enrollment. I also have Hyatt Explorist status and should be able to requalify again this year. I currently have 19 nights with another 7 booked for the summer. I’ll make up the remaining nights with bookings later in the year or spending on the World of Hyatt card.

While I was pretty bummed I didn’t requalify for Hyatt Globalist for this year, my travel plans didn’t line up with putting in the extra effort and cost to do so. So, for my next couple of Hyatt stays, I’ll be using a Guest of Honor Award and a Club Access Award that I earned last year to make up for not having top-tier status.

Alberto Riva, Editor and Content Contributor

I’ve been loyal to Delta Air Lines for a long time, and I will keep working in 2025 to maintain Diamond Medallion status.

As of mid-May, I have 9,726 Medallion Qualification Dollars with Delta, a long way from requalifying for Diamond, which requires 28,000 MQDs. But I’m going to go for it again this year because I greatly value Delta’s top published elite status.

I’m based in New York City, a market dense with very frequent Delta flyers. Even in the face of such tough competition, Diamond status helped me hit a pretty respectable 50% for upgrades from economy to first class in the past 12 months. But what I value even more than upgrades to domestic first class is the Global Upgrade Certificates that come with Diamond status.

On long-haul flights, where Medallion status doesn’t bring automatic upgrades, I can buy Premium Select (Delta’s premium economy) and get bumped straight to lie-flat Delta One using one of those certificates.

Based on my flying from past years, and spending on my Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum American Express Card, I should requalify for Diamond in December of 2025. If I find myself short near the end of the year, there’s always a mileage run on a Delta partner airline; last year, I went on one to India and discovered a wonderful hotel in the process.

Speaking of hotels: Contrary to some of my colleagues at Upgraded Points, I concentrate on airline loyalty and tend to care little about hotel status. That said, I found myself a Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite through February 2026 without really trying, thanks to a (now expired) promotion on the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® and spending a few nights at Marriotts in the U.S and Costa Rica. I haven’t seen a big difference in my travels from having that status, so I’m not planning to extend it.

Lori Zaino, Senior Content Contributor

2025 is the year I finally gave up the airline elite status hamster wheel. Instead of focusing on status with a specific airline, I’m working on earning as many transferable Amex and Chase points as possible so I can transfer them to various airlines to fly business class or premium economy.

However, I did get the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card during its 60,000 Avios promotional welcome bonus offer period in order to earn Qatar Privilege Club Silver status, which translates to Oneworld Ruby. I also have the AAdvantage Aviator Red card, which gives me a free checked bag and preferred boarding when flying American.

For hotel elite status, my strategy this year involves holding mid-tier credit cards that provide basic-level elite status — at least enough for a room upgrade. As Marriott continually seems to devalue its Bonvoy points by raising the amount of points needed for stays, especially at coveted properties, I’m spending on my IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (which gives me IHG Platinum elite status) and World of Hyatt card (which gives me Hyatt Discoverist status).

This year is the first year I haven’t chased airline or hotel status by more traditional methods, like flying or staying overnight. As loyalty programs continue to evolve to value spending over staying or flying, I’ve adapted my strategies to evolve with them.

Nick Ellis, Senior Editor and Content Contributor

For years, I’ve made it a goal to maintain at least Platinum Medallion status with Delta Air Lines. I was even a Diamond Medallion elite member with the airline for several consecutive years before and during the pandemic.

These days, my flying has decreased fairly significantly. While I currently hold Platinum Medallion, I think Gold Medallion is the most realistic goal for next year, simply because I get a huge boost toward that by holding the Delta Reserve card and the Delta Platinum card, which each give a 2,500 MQD boost every year toward elite status with the airline. Having both credit cards gets me halfway to Gold status, which requires earning 10,000 MQDs, each year without stepping foot on an airplane.

Depending on how my summer travel plans shake out (nothing’s set in stone yet), I could very well qualify for Gold, as I already have 6,602 MQDs and am eyeing a few trips that will add plenty to that number.

However, after a recent move to Chicago, the land of American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines, I need to take a serious look at my flying and determine whether staying loyal to Delta is worth it at all. It likely won’t be, as Delta doesn’t offer many nonstop flights from Chicago to destinations outside its hubs and is often more expensive than its competitors.

The move presents an opportunity to start fresh with a new airline or become a true airline free agent. I’m leaning toward the latter, as it allows me to re-focus on maximizing my transferrable points and even splurge for reasonably priced premium cabin tickets when possible.

On the hotel side, I have Gold Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy, which I earned thanks to an automatic deposit of 15 elite night credits from having the Ritz-Carlton Rewards^® Card (closed to new applicants) and staying an additional 13 nights last year, giving me a total of 28 nights, well short of the 50 required to earn Platinum.

I was bummed to not requalify for Platinum Elite status because I value the complimentary breakfast perk that comes with it (only applicable at select brands). Still, I wasn’t willing to spend extra money superfluously to reach the next level of status.

It’s not looking like my travel for the rest of this year will involve many hotel nights, so I doubt I’ll reach Platinum status when the book closes on 2025, but I will re-qualify for Gold. I don’t value Gold status very highly, but I appreciate the free night certificate (up to 85,000 points) that comes with the Ritz-Carlton Rewards card, so I’ll keep that card open and let the chips fall where they may in terms of my status.

I also have top-tier Hilton Honors Diamond status because I have the Hilton Aspire card. I don’t stay with Hilton too often, but I stay just enough to keep the card in my wallet. I also find Hilton’s high-end properties to be excellent, and I value the perks that come with my automatic Diamond status on those stays. However, above all, I keep the card and thus the status for the annual free night certificate. If I didn’t keep the Hilton Aspire card in my wallet, I likely wouldn’t miss Hilton Diamond status.

James Larounis, Senior Content Contributor

You’ll probably notice a theme here. These are all the same statuses I went for in 2023 and in 2024, which means I succeeded over the past 2 years. I’m pretty settled on which statuses I enjoy and travel often, so it’s easy for me to re-qualify each year.

Hyatt Globalist status is my favorite hotel elite status and one I always work to requalify for. As a frequent traveler, I don’t need to use mattress runs to hit the 60-night threshold. Instead, I use a mix of paid stays and award redemptions using points to hit my goals and take advantage of the amazing benefits of being a Globalist. I’m well on my way to the 60 nights needed for requalification this year.

I have 2 different Marriott credit cards: the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy^® American Express^® Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business^® American Express^® Card. Together, they get me 30 elite night credits each year without ever setting foot in a hotel. However, since I’m always on the road, it’s simple enough to earn the 45 extra nights to hit Titanium Elite status each year.

American Airlines is my chosen airline, and I’m fully committed. I don’t rely on tricks such as AAdvantage Hotels or SimplyMiles to earn my Loyalty Points. Instead, I do it the old-fashioned way and fly my way directly to Executive Platinum elite status. This is done via both American Airlines flights and flights with Alaska Airlines, thanks to their excellent partnership. With my travel plans this year, I’m right where I need to be to qualify by the end of the year.

Final Thoughts

Some of us have work to do if we want to reach our status goals by the end of the year. Others have made significant progress and can cruise through the rest of 2025 knowing they should reach their goals to enjoy elite status with their preferred hotel and airline programs in 2026.

For those of us with work to do, being told we need to plan another trip won’t be bad news.