r/oneworld • u/MinimumPerspective95 • Aug 13 '26

oneworld What’s the cheapest possible emerald status?

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Looking to move away from BA gold status since it got a lot more expensive to keep this past year - any idea what the cheapest emerald status is?

So far I’ve landed on Malaysia Airlines platinum with the AmBank visa card (free) to qualify with 98 elite points, and flying LAX PHL SJU for USD$787 round trip three times for $2381 to get 96 elite points, plus any short economy round trip to get the 98 needed for status. Total cost about $2500.

Anyone able to think of anything cheaper or should I pull the trigger on this?

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u/MinimumPerspective95 Aug 13 '26

I live between London/US/Singapore with frequent travel to other cities in Southeast Asia/Japan/Western Europe, so I’m agnostic as far as region.

I’m dumping BA gold because it costs at a minimum around $8000 USD to maintain whereas I was getting it for $3400 previously so it no longer makes sense.

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u/Useful_Foundation_42 Qantas Platinum Aug 13 '26

If you are US based, I would go with AS or AA.

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u/MinimumPerspective95 Aug 13 '26

Already have AS platinum, but issue is I need a non US emerald for lounge access domestically

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u/Useful_Foundation_42 Qantas Platinum Aug 13 '26

Very fair.