If you’re a Premier member on United (Silver, Gold, Platinum, 1K) and would like to experience the benefits of status on American, now is your chance.  While American usually offers status matching through challenges that require flying a certain number of points (combination of fare class and distance) in 90 days, they’re now offering a direct status match for UA fliers discontent after the merger and the problems it brought.

As noted in this thread on Flyertalk, here are the details:

Call AA at 1-800-882-8880.  They will send you an email that will detail the required documentation to process the match:

In order to proceed, please provide us with documentation reflecting the Premier level that you hold with United Airlines.
Please send us the following documentation. Simply “Reply” to this message, and for prompt service, do not change the subject line:

• A copy of your dated elite membership card reflecting your name and Premier status level for the 2012 Membership Year (.pdf, .tif, .jpeg, .bmp formats, not to exceed 1MB).  Alternatively, you could send a copy or screen shot of your most recent account summary, reflecting your name and Premier status level (.pdf, .tif, .jpeg, .bmp formats, not to exceed 1MB).
• Your AAdvantage number and phone number

Once your documentation is accepted, you will receive an email within10 days confirming your new AAdvantage elite status, which will be valid through February 28, 2013. Your credentials will follow in 3-5 weeks. Please note the following status equivalents:

• AAdvantage Gold® membership for Premier Silver
• AAdvantage Platinum® membership for Premier Gold or Premier Platinum
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum® membership for Premier 1K

It’s important to note how significant this offer is in two ways:

1. On UA, Premier Golds and Platinums get a 50% and 75% mileage bonus, respectively.  With the match to AAdvantage Platinum that bonus is 100%.  That’s double the bonus for Golds and a third more for Platinums.
2. American Airlines very rarely offers a direct match to Executive Platinum.  This should be considered a limited time offer, as it’s not likely to be repeated anytime soon.

If you’re a UA flier you should jump on this.  There’s nothing to lose, and you get to experience what life on the other side of the fence is like without having to start from the bottom.  Take it from me – my UA Premier Platinum will expire this year and I won’t miss it a bit.  Flying American is a night and day difference in terms of service and professionalism, and the benefits of Executive Platinum status are consistently useful for this frequent flyer.

49 points per dollar.  Yes, 49.  On a $139 stay that’s 6,921 points – for one night.  I posted recently about getting 44 points/dollar at a Hampton Inn; this was even better.  The stay was at a Doubletree with a base rate of $139 (plus taxes).  The point breakdown?

Add to this the 9 points/dollar (1,251 points) for the Amex Surpass card and the total is 6,921 points on the stay.  This quarter’s HHonors promo is really working out to be a fantastic deal – enough that given the lack of a Starwood promo right now I’m shifting all my stays to Hilton properties through the end of the month (and depending on Starwood’s promo possibly even through the end of May).

Are you racking up the points with Hilton, or is there another program you’re earning more in?

Tonight I got an unexpected surprise – I got upgraded to First class on my flight home from Detroit!  The flight was Delta 3417  from DTW-AUS and I was on an “L” fare (discount economy), using my Alaska Airlines MVP Gold status in the booking.  I posted about my expectations as I started flying Delta again as an Alaska MVP, and frankly I didn’t expect the upgrade so I wasn’t planning on it.  I actually bought food in the terminal to carry on the plane, assuming I was in coach.  As I boarded, the BP scanner beeped and the agent handed me a new seat assignment… 3D!  Score!

Upgrades are nice.  Unexpected upgrades (even when earned in the parameters of a program) are even nicer!

What’s your experience been as an Alaska MVP on Delta, or as a Delta Medallion on Alaska?

Feet don’t belong on bulkheads.  Especially with your shoes off.  Why do so many people do this?  This is shared space.  It’s carpeted, so it’s going to absorb what’s on your feet.  And you have legroom… especially in first class.  Is this really what you want others to see of you?  The cast one I can almost understand… but that’s a walking cast and this was a very short flight (less than one hour).  Can anyone really justify this behavior?

Starwood’s program changes changed my hotel stay pattern this year, that’s for sure.  The combination of new benefit tiers based on nights in addition to stays has refocused me on my Starwood night accrual – at the cost of Hilton HHonors nights and the associated points.  That’s okay, though, as my Diamond status with Hilton is maintained through credit card spend on the American Express Surpass HHonors card, not through stays, nights or points.

As of today I’m at 20 stays and 33 nights with Starwood.  Through the end of May I’ll have 26 stays and 48 nights, re-qualifying me for Platinum status and putting me two nights away from the first “nights” reward tier at 50 nights.  When I cross that threshold I’ll be awarded 10 Suite Night awards for confirmed Suite upgrades and will be on track for 75 nights, where benefits include an additional Starpoint per dollar spent and Your24, allowing for customizable check-in/check-out times.  At this pace it’s actually possible I could cross 100 nights which would earn a personal Starwood Ambassador – not something I’d think I’d take much advantage of – but the accompanying Starpoints earned on the stays will be well received.

Have you reached your status level this year already in your program?  What benefit matters most to you in your program?

The original purpose of this blog was to document my quest for AAdvantage Executive Platinum status.  In keeping that focus, this post is about my current accruals, projected milestones and confirmation of my earning strategies across programs.

American Airlines AAdvantage:  At the end of April I’ll cross 70,000 EQM/62 segments and at the end of May I’ll cross 80,000 EQM/72 segments on American, leaving 20,000 EQM yet to be flown to re-qualify as Executive Platinum this year.  It’s a toss-up as to whether I’ll cross first on segments or EQM, but my guess would be it will be miles… just based on the travel I’m still likely to do.

Alaska Airlines MVP: At the end of May I’ll have 6,275 miles and 10 segments flown on Delta and credited to Alaska.  The difference between MVP and MVP Gold, especially in terms of benefits on Delta, are significant (essentially the same as Gold Medallion on Delta, with restrictions on when upgrades clear).  To achieve MVP Gold on partner flights I’ll need to credit 50,000 miles or 60 segments to Alaska.  Since most of my Delta segments will connect through MEM (559 miles from AUS) or ATL (813 miles from AUS) that means they’ll be below the average of 834 miles/segment I’d need to qualify on miles (50,000 miles / 60 segments = 834 miles/segment), so I’ll need to credit 50 more segments to Alaska by the end of the year to maintain MVP Gold status.

Airline Summary: After May I need to accrue 20,000 EQM on AA and 50 segments on AS to maintain Executive Platinum and Alaska MVP Gold, respectively.

Plan for the rest of the year: Given my travel patterns, earning the combined additional flights in seven months should be no problem.  I have the following trips tentatively planned already:

• AUS-DFW/LAX-SEA: 4,300 EQM (5,300 if routed through ORD instead)
• AUS-DFW-SFO (at least twice): 4,000 total EQM each round trip (6,850 EQM for any trip flown before June 30th with the DEQM promo)
• AUS-SLC-LAS: 4 segments (booked on Delta, credited to Alaska)

The first two trips above will accumulate at least 12,000 EQM/12 segments on AA, leaving only 8,000 miles remaining (16 500-mile minimum segments).  Most importantly, though, is that after crediting the 20,000 miles needed for EXP re-qualification to AA, the remaining 46 segments needed for MVP Gold status (typically 11.5 round trips based on my travel pattern of 4 segments per round trip) can be flown on any combination of American, Delta or Alaska.  That level of flexibility is nice, especially when fares are significantly different between AA and DL in the southeast.

The trade-off is this: any Delta flights and any American Airlines flights credited to Alaska don’t count towards my American Airlines Million Miler balance (currently just over 700,000 miles), but Alaska MVP Gold elites earn the same 100% bonus on all flights that American Airlines Executive Platinum and Platinum members do – assuming I can make those the 500-mile minimum segments, that’s an “opportunity cost” of 30,000 EQM in total being diverted from American to Alaska and means I’ll need to have earned 130,000 EQM combined this year to maintain both statuses (but will have earned at least 60,000 redeemable miles on Alaska and at least 200,000 on American this year).  More importantly, though, MVP Gold status gives me some form of benefit on Delta – something I can’t get if American is my only program.  Being able to redeem Alaska miles for flights on Alaska, American and Delta doesn’t hurt, either.

Interesting to note: with another 30 segments (7.5 round trips) credited to Alaska I’d qualify for MVP Gold 75K, Alaska’s top tier (equitable to Platinum Medallion on Delta).  I don’t think I’ll achieve that, primarily because I’d have to know for sure I’d achieve it before I’d commit any flights beyond those needed for MVP Gold qualification to Alaska instead of American (and my Million Miler balance), and achieving it would be at least 180 combined segments between the two airlines (4 segments a week for 45 weeks of the year).

Final note: I’ll lose my United Airlines status this year.  After the merger I’m Premier Platinum, earned through a corporate status match to Continental Platinum last year, but I’m flying zero flights on United this year so it’ll be gone for good.  Not that I mind…

What are your status goals?  How are you tracking them?  How are you doing relative to your goals?  What trade-offs have you made between programs and statuses?

Did you know you can plan and book a round-the-world ticket across all Oneworld carriers and destinations with one tool?  You can.  The Oneworld “Plan and book online” tool is an interactive map that allows you to choose a starting point, click through valid stops along the way, plan ground travel between two different points, and book the trip across multiple carriers – all in one place.

Where is this tool, you ask?  Right here, powered by Innosked.  Also linked from the Oneworld Plan and book online page are the Itinerary Planner help page and the Oneworld Explorer rule sheet.

The tool requires Adobe Flash version 10, and it really needs the screen size of a computer (smartphone displays are too small).  Here’s a screen shot from the planning page of the tool:

Now that you can plan and book in one place, where will you go?

Note: In a quirk of fate, AAdvantage Geek posted the American Airlines AAdvantage Oneworld Explorer award chart today.  It’s a good tool to start thinking about how many miles to calculate with on the Oneworld planner based on how many AAdvantage miles you have!

It’s no secret that American Airlines is going through chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in an attempt to reorganize their debts and obligations in an attempt to turn a negative cash flow situation into a profitable airline.  On April 6th the court received an Amicus Curiae brief from a flight attendant that, simply stated, pleaded that the court take notice of personnel who, although union members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), did not feel that their interests were being represented by the union as part of its involvement with the unsecured creditors committee.

[Update: FlyingWithFish has a post today, also, with the APFA voicing support for a US merger/takeover bid, likely a result of this brief becoming public and demonstrating eroded support from their members for just such an action.]

What does all this mean?  Essentially, the brief said that a certain number of flight attendants support American’s motion to terminate union contracts.  Why?  It lists several reasons (paraphrased here for brevity – all points created by and elaborated on by the author in his brief):

• Union requirements on American Airlines raise overhead costs, negatively affecting money available to pay employees
• The APFA agreements actually reduce the willingness of flight attendants to maintain high standards of service and professionalism
• Rejecting the current contract will allow American Airlines to reward the best performing employees, not just the most senior ones

The full text of the brief (PDF format) entitled Amicus Curiae Memorandum In Support of Debtor’s Motion Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. Sec. 1113, To Reject Collective Bargaining Agreements, and With Particularity, to Reject Flight-Attendant-Union Contracts, can be read here.

Personally, I’ve seen the same levels of professionalism and service before and after the bankruptcy filing, and I’ve talked with FA’s on every flight that just want a road back to profitability, stability and excellence.  Notably, I have heard the exact same complaints – that some FA’s are “retired in place” and have no drive to perform – and that this frustrates FA’s who want to perform better and be recognized for it.  As a customer, I’m all for that!

What are your thoughts on this filing?

Note: While I don’t usually post personal information in my blog, in this instance the filer of the brief did [as required] file his information along with the brief.  While I do have respect for the role unions play in the American labor market (and I do not believe that unions, or union members, are inherently bad, greedy, lazy or sloppy), that role has changed since the deregulation of airlines in 1978 and the change in market dynamics since 2001.  So, a personal kudos to you, David Tripp, for standing up for your  beliefs and those of the fellow employees you do implicitly represent – those who want to do nothing more than provide exceptional service, be aptly compensated and rewarded for it, and enjoy being a part of a great airline.  Here’s hoping that American, its employees and all the groups that represent them can find the right balance to emerge as an organization that sets a new standard for service and professionalism – and do so as a single, strong entity that represents every employee that makes it great.

As I was reconciling my HHonors statement today I noticed that my one night stay at a Hampton Inn last week earned me 4,361 HHonors points.  That’s a whopping 44 HHonors points per dollar!  How?  First, my MyWay preferences are set for Points and Points (since I stay primarily at Hampton Inns, Points + Miles isn’t as attractive), so that earns an automatic 50% bonus on base points in addition to the 50% bonus for having Diamond status.  Hilton awards an additional 500 points for booking at the Hilton site with my HHonors Amex.  This is rounded out by the current Hilton promo which doubles the base points awarded.  Here’s the breakdown from my statement:

That’s 3,470 points for the stay, but I also earn 9 points per dollar on my HHonors Surpass card.  That’s an additional 891 HHonors points for a total of 4,361 points.  Not bad for a one night, $99 rate!

How many of you are taking full advantage of all the hotel programs to seriously expand your award earnings?  Are there other tricks that I’m missing?

Followers of my blog will know that I focus my travel on American Airlines, and that last year I discussed my choice of Alaska as my choice of secondary frequent flyer program.  One of the benefits of that arrangement is that I can maintain my status on Alaska Airlines each year by crediting flights from Alaska, American and Delta to my Alaska account, retaining MVP Gold status with 50,000 miles (or 60 segments).  Obviously this comes with trade-offs, namely not crediting that mileage to my AAdvantage account and the flights/segments not counting towards status on American.  The flip side, however, is that Delta recognizes Alaska Elites for things like early boarding, domestic upgrades and waived baggage fees (varying at each Alaska elite level), and that I can travel across three airlines to earn my Alaska MVP Gold status – greatly broadening my travel options and reducing the number of flights/miles I fly that don’t earn me usable credit (flying Southwest, Allegiant, Frontier, etc.) on American Airlines flights.

Fast-forward to today.  One of the territories I cover for my full-time job is the southeastern US, essentially Tennessee to North Carolina and south from there.  Getting to and from specific cities on American isn’t difficult – Austin through Dallas/Fort Worth to wherever is pretty much a given.  Doing a regional tour in the southeast, however, often puts AA out of competition in terms of price.  I needed to book a trip that left from Austin and spent a day in Nashville followed by one in Charlotte then back home to Austin.  Delta, with hubs in Memphis, Atlanta, Cincinati and Detroit, had the price on this travel pattern set well below the competition; for work I’m generally required to take the most logical low priced fare, so travel on Delta it was.

I booked AUS-ATL-BNA, followed  by BNA-CVG-CLT, them home on CLT-DTW-AUS.  Note: AUS = Austin, ATL = Atlant, BNA = Nashville, CVG = Cincinnati, CLT = Charlotte, DTW = Detroit.  The entire trip was under $600, right at about $200 per flight (not per segment), which isn’t bad for < 14 day reservations.

This will net 3,962 EQM towards Alaska status, 7,294 RDM to my Alaska Mileage Plan account, and 6 segments.

I’ll be on the upgrade list for the Delta flights, but since half of them are Canadair regional jets with no first class and the others are out of hubs, I’m not really expecting to get an upgrade.  Alaska MVP Gold members are treated as Delta Gold Medallion members, except that upgrades for Alaska elites do not process until the flight transfers to airport control, so all Delta elites have a chance to clear first (which makes sense and is only fair – if I were a Delta traveler that got bumped by an Alaska elite, I’d be rather dissatisfied).

I’ll report back on my experiences, and I’ll add the airports I travel through to my Airport Perks thread as I find something unique in each to share.  I’d love, however, to hear your experiences as an Alaska elite on Delta, or any tips and tricks for navigating the operational policies of Delta, especially as they relate to oversold flights (on the CLT-DTW flight I took the last economy seat that could be assigned, and the DTW-AUS  looks rather full, too).  Thoughts?  Tips?  Tricks?

Note: I thought about a Delta Status Match/Challenge, but I’m not likely to meet the requirements in 90 days, and I don’t want to credit my miles to Delta’s Skymiles program.

For the second time in a month I find myself sitting in the Best Care Club in Milwaukee’s General Mitchell airport (MKE).  BCC is Frontier Airlines‘ airport lounge, and the only one is at Milwaukee.  Sadly, the club is closing on May 31st of this year, leaving only a Delta Sky Club, which means no access for people like me.

“People like you,” you ask, “what do you mean?”  I access this club lounge via Priority Pass Select, which I’m enrolled in via my American Express Platinum card.  One of the perks of Priority Pass is that you’re not required to be flying on an airline to access their club if they accept Priority Pass (vs. Delta‘s Sky Club and American Airlines‘ Admirals Club, which gives access to American Express Platinum members when traveling on that airline).  That means the Best Care Club was the only option for me when in Milwaukee and flying on American Airlines, as American has no club here, period.

I actually enjoy the BCC here because they offer a fantastic environment to work in – comfortable seating, nice views of the tarmac and gates, and above-average refreshments (self-serve soft drinks/juices, warm cookies, kettle chips, nuts, and fruit, with a cash bar available), great WiFi, and business accoutrements like copiers, phones and workspaces.

A lot of the reason relates to cutbacks.  Where last year Frontier had 100 flights from Milwaukee a day they’re paring down to 18 a day on May 15th, so the volume just isn’t there to support continuing operations.  This reaches beyond the BCC, though, to downsizing in-terminal restaurants and services, affecting the local economy as well.

So farewell, Best Care Club, I’ve enjoyed you and you’ll be missed!