In the platinum tier, for example, plans are rated at 90 percent, with the explanation that the carrier is paying an average of 90 percent of costs and the consumer an average of 10 percent.
This means that any of US Airways' Platinum members who fly 75,000 miles or more will be downgraded to American's Platinum tier, which is actually equivalent to US Airways' Gold tier and requires only 50,000 miles.
At the elite levels, the program is more forgiving, particularly for the highest tier, Platinum.
Northwest Airlines opened separate lines for its first-class and business-class passengers, as well as those in its two highest frequent-flier tiers, platinum and gold, at its hubs in Detroit, Minneapolis-St.
Seth Miller, a freelance technology consultant in Manhattan, is one of the elite frequent fliers airlines have been courting, having maintained top-tier platinum status in Continental's OnePass program for 10 years.
The tiers "Platinum," "Gold" "Silver" and "Bronze" are virtually useless designations, at least on the federal exchange.
The exchanges now rank plans on four tiers (from platinum to bronze), based on the share of standard health costs they will cover.
On most airlines, they have three tiers, some combination of silver, gold, platinum with the latter two tiers providing 100% bonus on miles.
Take the Hyatt Gold Passport program (ranked ninth in the 2014-15 Hotel Rewards rankings), for example: The program upgrades members to the first elite tier known as Platinum status after five qualifying stays (or 15 eligible nights) within one year, a low requirement compared to its peers.
While its top-tier members (Executive Platinum) receive free upgrades on any published fare, other members do not.
Instead, the two tiers below Executive Platinum (Platinum and Gold) receive four 500-mile upgrades for every 10,000 qualifying miles they earn.
