Oneworld Alliance - Status by flight numbers

Whilst Star Alliance is the daddy of airline loyalty alliances, Oneworld dominates some of their fifteen member countries.

With many airlines moving towards spend based loyalty programmes it's becoming harder for those of us on cheap tickets to gain status.  However most airlines still allow a route to status simply via the number of flights you take - offering a way of avoiding the onerous spend requirements.

So let's look at where each of the Oneworld member airlines sets the bar.  For context British Airways Bronze maps to Oneworld Ruby, BA Silver to OW Sapphire and BA Gold to OW Emerald.

Some airlines are clear about how many flights you need to take, others bury it in the terms and conditions.  Beware of extra terms, such as Iberia's demand that all flights have an IB code and be eligible for points.  Or Malaysia Airlines treatment of Premium Economy flights as Economy for tier points.

Full Disclosure: some of these segment numbers are not officially quoted, but sourced via other means or are reconstructed, and appear to be valid at time of publication.  Please confirm these numbers before jumping into a new airline Frequent Flyer Programme!

Oneworld Ruby

Whilst many commentators scoff at lowly Ruby, it still has material benefits - such a 7 day advance seat selection on certain airlines.

The easiest flight segment route to Ruby is on Royal Jordanian with just 14 flights needed for qualification and 12 for retention.  RAM is close behind with 15 flights - two of which must be on their own metal.

Oneworld Sapphire

This is where the magic starts to happen - with lounge access even when flying economy.

RJ is once again the leader of the pack with just 30 flights for qualification and 26 for retention.  Most airlines own metal requirements will deter general Oneworld frequent flyers.

Oneworld Emerald

The benefits increase from Sapphire to Emerald isn't as big, but normally include First Class checkin and lounges.

RJ is the stand out winner again at 46 sgements, and once you qualify for RJ Platinum Hawk you can then average 40 flights a year over two years to maintain status.

Caveat Emptor

Before jumping into bed with Royal Jordanian frequent flyer program - have a look at real world examples and reviews of how the scheme operates.  FlyerTalk has a moderately active thread about RJ with regular examples of the limitations of the airline's computer system and the scheme in general.

Don't expect to be able to do everything you do on your current frequent flyer account over at Royal Jordanian - or any other Oneworld program.

However, if you can survive the limitations (and the loss of Avios / points from crediting flights to a different FFP) - then the route to Ruby, Sapphire & Emerald is a lot quicker at Royal Jordanian.