It can be discouraging to see the meters and charts that track our various elite statuses reset to empty as the clock strikes 12:00 on New Year’s Eve. That reset can also be useful, giving us an opportunity to evaluate which statuses we use, which ones we want, and which ones give us nothing but an extra brag tag to stuff in the recycling bin.
The FM Team has just emerged from exactly this sort of evaluation. Greg, Nick, and Stephen have already shared their plans for elite hunting in 2026; now it’s my turn to spill the beans. I’ll also include how I plan to earn each one, as well as which will be on the menu for Player 2 (aka, my wife).
Airline Programs
Atmos Titanium
Both my wife and I are currently top-tier Titanium members with Atmos, the loyalty program of Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines, and plan to requalify again in 2026. Titanium status gives us premium economy seating at booking, free same-day changes, highest priority complimentary first class upgrades, free food and drinks when we travel in economy, and more. Last year, I flew 33 segments on Alaska/Hawaiian and was upgraded to first on 26 of them (~78%), a pretty incredible ratio compared to most other programs.
My wife and I get a ton of value out of our Atmos status, especially since we do almost all of our butt-in-seat Alaska flying on companion fares from the several Alaska Visa cards that we have (note that new cardmembers have to spend $6,000 in a calendar year in order to get the companion fare; ours are older cards that have no spending requirement). By using these, we get the majority of my wife’s travel for taxes and fees only…but the fares are upgradeable and earn elite bonuses on miles flown.
This year, we’ll fly at ~50K miles on Alaska itself (primarily with my wife) and will get another 10K for being Alaska Summit cardholders, 20K for qualifying for Titanium in 2025 (a one-time perk), and 20K as a roll-over milestone reward from last year. That puts us at ~100K, 35K short of the 135K status points needed for Titanium. Alaska allows you to earn status points on partner award bookings, and we’ll probably get another 15-20K from that. Whatever is left over, we’ll make up with spending on our Alaska cards. All told, we’ll end up earning ~430,000 redeemable points for our flying and from various milestone rewards, not counting whatever we earn from credit card spend. And we’ll be Titanium for another year.
As far as statuses go, this is probably the most important for us and the only one we’ll actively pursue.
United Silver (no more)
I currently have United Silver status as a perk of being a Marriott Titanium member. I won’t didn’t qualify for Titanium last year, so once my Marriott status dips to Platinum, I assume my United status will soon follow.
Hotel Programs
2026 will be a very different year as I approach hotel elite status. The plethora of credits that we have is mind-boggling: twice-yearly $300 Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, $300 Citi Strata Elite hotels, and twice-yearly $250 credits for Chase Travel℠’s The Edit.
We already used a bunch of last year’s credits for bookings this year, and now that the calendar has flipped to 2026, we have a fresh crop. Because of that, we’ll actually be using a lot fewer points for hotels this year, as we prioritize expiring credits and free night certificates.
We’ll be closing and downgrading cards throughout the year, so by the end of 2026, we’ll have far fewer to use. I’m also swearing off pursuing spend-based free night certificates this year.
Hilton Diamond (maybe Gold by the end of the year?)
Currently, both my wife and I are Hilton Diamond members because we previously had the Amex Hilton Aspire card. Wait, you say, what do you mean, previously? Hilton has always been loosey-goosey with us when it comes to taking away Diamond status after downgrading or cancelling our Aspire cards. After we each received our anniversary free-night certificates last year, I downgraded each of our Aspire cards to the much less expensive Surpass. Still, we’re both entering 2026 as Diamond members (although that may change at some point).
If we do drop down to Gold during the year, I’m fine with it. We’ll still get the same food and beverage benefits as Diamond, and the majority of our Hilton Honors bookings this year will be using free night certificates at Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties, most of which couldn’t care less about your Hilton status.
The combination of declining point values and skyrocketing nightly award rates has cooled my enthusiasm for Hilton considerably over the last year. We’ll be burning through what we have now, but I’m not planning to spend much (or any) effort earning Hilton points, certs, or status in the coming year. Once we get to 2027, we’ll reassess and see where things are, but right now, I’m less bullish on Hilton Honors than I’ve been since I got into points and miles.
Hyatt Globalist
Anyone who reads FM knows that we love Hyatt as a whole, and Hyatt Globalist in particular. It’s hard to make a reasonable case for a better hotel program or top-tier elite status. Unlike Nick and Stephen, and despite having the same logjam of hotel credits and free night certificates, I’ll be keeping it in 2026.
Globalist requires 60 elite night credits in a year. I’ll start with 7 elite nights for sharing my annual Guest of Honor awards. Though I rarely ever pay cash for Hyatt stays, because we can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to World of Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio, I still spend ~25-30 nights each year with my butt in an actual Hyatt bed. So, I’ll probably naturally end up somewhere around 30-40 nights. I’ll make up the difference to 60 through spending $10K on the Hyatt Business card, which will give me an additional five elite night credits.
That’s a ton of spending, but I can do it primarily in the business card’s 2x categories. My current estimate is that I’ll have to spend ~$50K this year to get the nights that I need to requalify. By earning 2x and reaching Milestone Rewards with that $50K in spend, I’ll get:
- 105,000 Hyatt points
- 3 Guest of Honor Awards
- 4 Suite Upgrade Awards
- 1 Category 1-7 free night certificate
- Globalist Status for 2027.
That’s a good haul, but it’s not a no-brainer for that level of spend. If I felt like my Hyatt usage would be permanently dipping, I might not do it. However, I don’t plan to have nearly as many credits to use in 2027, so I imagine I’ll be back up in the 35-40 night range, at which point I’ll be glad to still be a Globalist.
IHG Diamond
A few years ago, IHG rejiggered its rewards program, with the goal of making it more competitive with Hilton and Marriott. For the most part, it succeeded, and Diamond has become much more appealing, especially at InterContinental and Kimpton properties, where I’ve had some really nice stays over the last couple of years.
As Hilton and Marriott have grown increasingly irksome over the last year, I’ve found IHG to be a decent “2nd-string” hotel program. The benefits and point values are reliable, and the fact that it gives the fourth night free on award stays for cardholders makes it much more useful to me than Hilton and Marriott’s fifth-night free.
So, my plan is to acquire Diamond status through 2026 and 2027 by spending $40K on my IHG Premier Business card in early 2026. The card offers a $100 statement credit and 20,000 bonus points after $20K in spend, so if I can do the majority of the spend within the card’s plethora of 5x categories, I’ll end up with ~220,000 points and $100, along with Diamond status for nearly two years, once the $40K is complete. By comparison, if I did that spend on a 2% cashback card, I’d get $800 total, for a difference of $700, once you factor in the IHG card’s $100 statement credit. Since I’m getting ~$1100 in points and ~18-22 months of Diamond status, I think the juice is worth the squeeze.
I Prefer Titanium
I Prefer is the rewards program for Preferred Hotels & Resorts, a marketing association of smallish, boutique properties around the world. Citi ThankYou Points transfers to I Prefer at a stellar 1:4 ratio, which can create some exceptional opportunities, like this two-level suite with a furnished terrace that I booked in Central London for 12,500 Citi points per night during last year’s 100K Vacay Challenge.
Preferred Hotels has been a difficult enigmatic program to deal with over the last couple of years, but its IT has gradually been catching up with the 19th Century (the carrier pigeons are now very well-trained). That said, for me, the headache is worth the opportunity.
Nick wrote about an deal in 2024 in which anyone could get iPrefer Titanium status through 2025 without a match. I read his post and have that shiny Titanium status to prove it. Currently, I’m still showing as Titanium through 2026, despite the fact that it was supposed to end at the close of 2025. Benefits are dependably fudgy and unknown to most properties, but I’ve had luck at convincing them that the food and beverage amenity should be a free breakfast. It’s always a fun adventure with I Prefer.
Leader’s Club Sterling
Leader’s Club is the rewards program for Leading Hotels of the World, a Preferred Hotels-style confederation of various independent properties that share a marketing platform. Leader’s Club points are worth ~8 cents each, and their only partner is Citi ThankYou Points. Citi has a 1000/200 transfer ratio to Leader’s Club, effectively making Citi points worth ~1.6 cents each when redeemed this way.
This year, American Express refreshed the Platinum® and Business Platinum® cards and added complimentary Leader’s Club Sterling status as a benefit. It’s interesting that Amex added an elite benefit to a program it doesn’t transfer to, but I imagine there’s a development coming in 2026 that will rectify that.
Regardless, both my wife and I are Sterling in the eyes of Leading Hotels of the World. There are some marvelous properties in the portfolio, and we’ll undoubtedly stay at one eventually. There appear to be some decent benefits with Sterling Status, like upgrades and free breakfast, so I’ll be interested to give it a whirl once we do.
Marriott Platinum (Lifetime)
I’ve been a Marriott Titanium member for several years, and I’ll remain one for a couple more months. Titanium status offers some incremental benefits that put it above Platinum, but for me, the most meaningful is the ability to select a 40K free night certificate as a choice benefit.
The difference between the requirements of Platinum and Titanium is 25 nights. I’ve never really tried to hit Titanium, but since I started with 40 nights from holding the Bonvoy Brilliant and Bonvoy Business cards, I’ve been able to reach it for several years running, thanks to organic stays and the frequent elite night promos Marriott periodically runs.
But no more.
In 2025, I only spent 14 nights at Marriott properties, none of which were doubled. In the process, I finally qualified for Lifetime Platinum status by earning 600 lifetime elite nights (the majority of which came from COVID-era bonuses and credit cards). That gave me the perfect excuse to downgrade my Bonvoy Brilliant card as soon as my anniversary 85k free night certificate posted. Going forward, I’m not going to make any attempt to qualify for Marriott elite status and will rely on my Lifetime Platinum status for future award stays.
Omni Select Guest Champion
I am a Champion, my friend. But I won’t be for long.
For a few beautiful months last year, Mesa was paying folks a net $100-200 per year in credits for holding its no-annual-fee Homeowners card and earning transferable points on mortgage payments, childcare, general contractors, and more. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mesa’s business model proved untenable, and it closed up shop almost overnight.
However, a few days before the party ended, Mesa held the glorious distinction of becoming the first transferable currency to partner with Omni Hotels, a small mid-to-upper-echelon North American hotel chain. And not only did Mesa partner with Omni, but there was also an unadvertised promotion that allowed Mesa customers to earn a year+ of Champion status by transferring points within the first 90 days of the partnership.
I jumped on the opportunity, and now I’m lucky enough to have a year of Champion Status and one free night, with no way to earn more Omni credits. Don’t worry about me, though; that one night is going to be incredible.
Radisson VIP
In August of 2024, there was a brief (and unintended) promotion that allowed anyone with an (in?)appropriate promo code to get two years of Radisson’s top-tier VIP status, which includes free breakfast for two, room upgrades, lounge access, late check-out, and more. I signed up and am currently a proud Radisson VIP member through August of this year.
Choice now owns Radisson Americas, so this status strictly applies to overseas properties. There aren’t many useful ways for US-based consumers to earn Radisson points, and I don’t spend much on lodging, but there are some very nice Radisson hotels around the world. I thought that I might be able to get a good cash rate somewhere useful during our travels. 16 months in, that hasn’t happened. By the end of 2026, I’ll return to being a lowly, unremarkable Radisson Rewards member.
Wyndham Diamond
The Wyndham Earner Business credit card is a fixture in my wallet, thanks to its 8x earning rate at gas stations, and cardholders earn Wyndham Diamond simply by having the card. Impressive, isn’t it?
I’ve been a Wyndham Diamond for several years now, and have had the opportunity to savor its benefits exactly once: at a creepy hotel in Brazil with the entire FM Team during our 2023 Party of 5 Challenge.
As you’ve probably guessed, I don’t frequent Wyndham properties often; my points have been used exclusively for timeshares, Cottages.com properties in the UK, and through its now-defunct partnership with Vacasa Vacation Rentals. Despite the loss of Vacasa, Cottages.com, and Wyndham’s own timeshares are just interesting enough to keep me squirreling away a modest amount of Wyndham points. Because of that, I don’t plan to give up my Wyndham Business card any time soon, and thus will be a proud Wyndham Diamond member.
Car Rental Programs
National Executive
There are a bunch of ultra-premium cards that offer free National Executive status. The biggest perk of the status is that you can rent a mid-size car and pick from the Executive Selection of vehicles. However, it usually doesn’t matter to me what kind of car I get, and I almost always find better rates with Budget or Hertz. Accordingly, I rarely rent from National. Still, as a status that I don’t have to spend anything to maintain, it’s worthwhile for those few times that I do.
Hertz President’s Circle
I currently have Hertz President Circle Status through my Amex Platinum cards, so both my wife and I will be keeping it. Budget and Hertz are the two companies that we rent from the most, due to great shopping portal rates, Amazon’s partnership with Budget, and the ability to get an extra four-hour grace period at the end of a Hertz rental via Platinum cards – one of the rental car perks that I value the most.
Hertz has had a rough couple of years, with the company arresting unsuspecting customers, then adding an AI-based damage assessor that found things it shouldn’t have, but allowed for a post-return shakedown along the lines of, “Hey, your damage will eventually cost you thousands of dollars. Or you can give us $300 right now and never hear about it.” I’ve never had an issue with them, but I’m starting to suspect it’s only a matter of time.
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