Royal Jordanian & The Royal Club
Royal Jordanian is is the flag carrier for The Kingdom of Jordan. It joined the Oneworld Alliance in 2007 and serves 45 destinations across 30 countries from its base in Amman.
The Royal Club, on the other hand, is a much newer endeavour. In 2018 Royal Jordanian replaced its Royal Plus program for Royal Club effectively pressing the reset button on its previous frequent flyer program.
Royal Jordanian Frequent Flyer Basics
Royal Club
Royal Jordanian’s Frequent Flyer Program is aptly called the Royal Club
In every Oneworld Frequent Flyer program, there are two currencies which members collect simultaneously – Status Points (SP) which determines your elite status level and cannot be spent and Reward Currency (RC) which can be exchanged for airline benefits and rewards.
Tier Miles
The currency of Royal Jordanian’s Status Points system is called Tier Miles.
The number of Tier Miles held is used to calculate your elite status. In general, the more Tier Miles you accrue in a year the higher your elite status will be.
A Membership Year with Royal Jordanian is calculated from when the card was issued.
Award Miles
Award Miles is the name of the Reward Currency used by Royal Jordanian.
A points-based reward scheme used by the airline were you can exchange accrued Award Miles for reward seat redemptions, flight upgrades and other travel-based experiences.
Oneworld Ruby
Royal Jordanian Royal Club Silver Jay is equivalent to Oneworld Ruby status and you will receive similar benefits when flying with other Oneworld Alliance members.
At least 12 Months
For Silver Jay membership is valid for 1 year from date of status issue.
Soft Landing
For Silver Jay members there is no soft landing – unlike Platinum Hawk which has.
If you do not re-qualify for Silver Jay in your 2nd year you will be reset to zero.
How to Collect Tier Miles
When you travel with Royal Jordanian, a Oneworld partner airline, its subsidiaries, or in some specific cases non-Oneworld member airlines you earn Tier Miles with which you can use to achieve higher levels of elite status and unlock different rewards as you do.
The Royal Club Bronze Sunbird membership is the most basic and available to everyone as does not come with any benefits except the ability to earn Tier Miles and Award Miles. Silver Jay, Gold Sparrow, and Platinum Hawk status are earned and come with a varying degree of benefits.
Moving up the ladder within Royal Jordanian Royal Club is completely dependent on the number of Tier Miles accrued within a given year (or tow in the case of Platinum Hawk), and unlike Award Miles, expire after a set time – in this case, Tier Miles expire at the end of your membership year.
Tier Miles can only be earnt by actually flying, not by signing up to credit card deals. There is no other use for Tier Miles other than setting your elite status; they cannot be spent. The general rule is that they are usually based on the distance of the flight and the fare class you are travelling in.
Royal Jordanian Royal Club works a little differently than to other Oneworld members. Some differences include:
Miles Based Calculations
Like American Airlines, Royal Jordanian operates a mileage based reward scheme – this means that you earn states based on the number of miles travelled with the airline.
but unlike Japan Airlines, which is also a mileage based program, the miles accrued is based of the distance between the Airports rather than the Cities.
Fewer Tier Miles on Renewal
Unlike carriers such as British Airways, you do not require as many Status Points to renew your elite status the following year once you have attained the level.
No Mid-Tier Bonus
Unlike its alliance counterpart Cathay Pacific, Royal Jordanian does not offer mid-tier status to its members.
No Lifetime Status
Unlike Airlines like Qantas or British Airways, Royal Jordanian has no scheme in place for lifetime membership.
Routes to Earn Royal Club Silver Jay Status
With Miles
One way to reach Royal Club Silver Jay is to fly with Royal Jordanian, a Oneworld partner airline, its subsidiaries, or in some specific cases a non-Oneworld member airline.
To achieve Royal Jordanian Royal Club Silver Jay status with miles, you need:
1. 15,000 Tier Miles; and
2. A minimum of 4 Sectors on Royal Jordanian
On Renewal you need:
1. 30,000 Tier Miles; and
2. A minimum of 10 Sectors marked on Royal Jordanian.
With Sectors
Another way to reach Royal Club Silver Jay is to fly a lot. Royal Jordanian offers a route to Silver Jay status for those who travel exceptionally frequently with the airline.
To achieve Royal Jordanian Royal Club Silver Jay status with sectors, you need:
1. 12 sectors; and
2. A minimum of 4 Sectors on Royal Jordanian
On Renewal you need:
1.26 sectors; and
2. A minimum of 10 Sectors marked on Royal Jordanian.
Benefits of Royal Club Silver Jay
Outline of the Benefits of having Royal Jordanian Royal Club Silver Jay membership.
Extra Award Miles
When flying on Royal Jordanian
When travelling on eligible flights on Royal Jordanian you will receive Bonus Award Miles ranging from 75% to 225% depending on the class of Travel.
A quirk is that you get 50% extra miles in economy saver just for having the free Bronze Sunbird card.
Preferential Seating
When travelling on Royal Jordanian or Oneworld Carrier
Preferences accommodated where possible at time of booking where offered.
This is useful with Airlines such as British Airways who only allow seat selection 24 hours before departure if you do not hold at a minimum Oneworld Ruby elite status.
Luggage Extra Luggage Allowance
Variable rules depending on Airline and travel location.
Luggage policies can be found on the Royal Jordanian website.
With Silver Jay status you are entitled to 1 extra checked bag weighing 23kg on top of your standard allowance when on flights marked and operated by Royal Jordanian. This is reduced to 10kg when flying to North America in economy.
This does not extend to Basic Economy tickets.
Priority Check-in
Business Class Counters
Members have access to use Business Class check-in desks when flying internationally or domestically on either Royal Jordanian or other Oneworld carriers.
Calculating the Number of Tier Miles Earned
Royal Jordanian calculates the Tier Miles accrued based on the distance (in miles) from the departure and arrival destination and assigning a percentage multiplier based on the class of travel. As such,
However the class multiplier change slightly when travelling on Oneworld Alliance members.
As such, the number of Tier Miles earned is dependant on 3 factors, the Route, the carrier you have flown with, and the class of travel.
For example, if you travelled from London to Amman (a distance of 2,292 miles one way) you would earn 200% of this distance in miles, or 4,584, if you travelled in Business Class. But, if you travelled in Economy Saver you would only earn 25% of this distance or 573 miles.
One of the interesting points is that on Royal Jordanian Fare Class G (group fare) is not considered an eligible fare class to earn Tier Miles but the same fare group is with British Airways.
The simplest and best tool for finding out how many Tier Miles you’ll earn on any flight is to use Royal Jordanian Tier Miles Calculator.
