31
Dec
Let’s set the stage: I’m an infrequent flyer, partially due to the fact that I never travel for work and partially due to the fact that I hold a traditional day job and can’t take off for vacation at will. In a typical year, I’ve got a handful of short-haul flights to visit family, 4-5 domestic flights for getaways or events, and an international trip that I look forward to all year long. That uses up my time off from work easily, meaning that quite frankly, I don’t have time for mileage running with the hopes of earning medium or high-tier status (especially considering some of my flights are free thanks to frequent flyer miles!).
Over the past year, I’ve been claiming that it’s not worth it for me to be loyal to an airline and earn status and instead I’ve been a free agent to take advantage of better flight times, routing, and prices rather than staying loyal for the few bonus points and nominal perks that low-level status holds. Coincidentally, though, my flights to visit family for Christmas was going to bump my Delta segments for the year up to a total of 30: exactly enough for low-level status. I was going to go from being a nobody to a less-than-somebody and for irrational reasons, that was a little bit exhilarating.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature had different plans and winter weather delays/cancellations meant that in order to have time with my family over the holiday, I ended up re-routing to end the year one segment short of silver status. It was a trade-off I was happy to make in order to still spend time with my family, something worth significantly more to me than status. Yes, I have a request in for original routing credit, though I think it’s doubtful I qualify since I switched routings voluntarily with the weather.
As a result, my 2012 totals clock in at a total of 32,000 miles flown (can you tell I’m a short-haul flyer?) on seven different airlines with vacations including Puerto Rico, Denver, Phoenix, Pensacola, and Morocco, plus a few other trips for personal reasons. Based on my upcoming travel plans, I’m assuming I’ll again be flying around the 25,000-mile mark on paid flights in 2013, though possibly quite farther when you factor in award flights.
If you also ended the year without status, don’t fear. Low-level status only comes with a limited set of benefits anyway, including free preferred seats (such as “economy plus” seating or simply an aisle seat in the front), longshot upgrades to domestic first class, 25% bonus miles, priority check-in, priority boarding, and free checked bags. Out of these, you can receive a number of those perks just by holding the correct credit card and you can usually get just as much value by saving cash on tickets by booking the cheapest airline as you would by earning 25% bonus miles on your paid flights. That truly leaves the preferred seating and unlikely upgrades as forfeited benefits, two things I don’t personally value too highly given that I tend to end up on regional jets for hour-long flights where it doesn’t matter. You may consider that much more valuable if you are in a different set of circumstances.
To be fair, I value mid/high-tier status benefits more highly, including things like waived award ticketing/redeposit/reissue fees or waived same-day confirmed changes. I don’t pay these fees now, but I think if I had the option to take advantage of them for free, I would. I just can’t justify flying 20,000+ additional miles in a year for extra benefits since I’m pretty far from qualifying otherwise. Am I the oddball in this mileage world? How many miles would you fly solely for the sake of earning status? Leisure travelers: do you work toward status or do you choose your airlines based on other criteria? I’m genuinely curious!
Tim2 said,
If I was one segment away, I would probably just fly the segment.
The Deal Mommy said,
I’m in the same boat. I value hotel status MUCH more than airline status and have only had low level delta (earned during AMEX transfer) that are about to expire. Most of my flights are either award or promo, so I just don’t have the volume to be loyal to one airline.
Kay said,
I’ve a decent stash of Thank You points and US Bank Flex points, and I’ve thought of using those to work towards low level status. But to work towards status I’d have to ignore my bucket list, and book whatever tickets make sense for my schedule and earn the most CPM. I really like getting a little extra space on my flights, so it’d be nice to earn silver status, but whenever I do the math and look at a map, it doesn’t make sense. Oh, well.
New Girl in the Air said,
@Tim2, Unfortunately I didn’t know it’d end up 1 segment short until Christmas since I had planned to earn it. Last-minute fares between 12/26-12/31 were horrendous and would cost me more than Silver benefits are worth. Luckily, I’m happy to report I was able to receive original routing credit after all!
@The Deal Mommy, I never valued hotel status until I had it. Now that I get free wifi & free breakfast with Hilton, I’ll never give it back. I’m just worried I’ll end up in the same boat with airlines…content without status until I try it!
@Kay, my bucket list wins at all to the point where I’ve turned down some great fares that otherwise would’ve earned me status in 2013. Already I’ve said no to Moscow for $400 or Abu Dhabi for $500 because I’d rather use my vacation time for places higher on my bucket list. Maybe I’m stupid, but I’m happy.
Robert P. said,
How did you make that google map?
Greg K said,
As of midnight tonight I will lose my silver status with United. I discovered silver status is meaningless if you have the United Card. I have a credit card for UA, AA, and DL for the free baggage and fly what is best for me. I keep hotel credit cards for the status – free wifi and breakfast.
New Girl in the Air said,
@Robert P, I use flightdiary.net.
@Greg K, I’ve been taking advantage of AA/DL/UA credit cards all year for the benefits, though I rarely even check a bag so I can’t say it’s made much difference for me. It’s an easy way for a few perks, though.
Shaquanna said,
I enjoy reading your blog because I feel like I am in a similar boat. Something I read first on your blog, and have seen on others, is the ability to credit miles to Alaska for DL and AA. I think with talks of a revenue based system and a merger, not only would it be a “safer” place to collect miles, but since I am a leisure traveler, a better way to have all my short and long haul flights to help build a reward ticket, and hopefully low level status, which would be nice to use across the airlines.
Although my husband travels for work, it is infrequent enough where he doesn’t qualify for status, so I’ll make sure he credits his flights to Alaska as well, so that they are not all spread out.
As for hotels, he has some low elite status across various programs, but tends to have longer stays, so I’ll have to see if it would make sense to just try to research a brand of hotel to get mid/high elite status.
We LOVE Marriott, so for sure we will take advantage of their stay 2 get 1 night free. We also tend to do a lot of weekend trips, so this works great!
Thanks for all of the info. you provide, particularly in respect to the leisure traveler. Happy travels in 2013!
Damon said,
Just wanted to say Happy New Year! I’m in Strasbourg and I know it’s one of your favorites.
Looking forward to an adventurous 2013.
Karung99 said,
I will lose my UA-1K move my travel to AA now and happy I did it.
Happy New Year!
Shayna said,
I qualified for US gold this year and then bought up to CP. I justified that decision with the system-wide upgrades which I am hoping to pull some real value out of. I never thought I would bother chasing status and may never do it again. I am definitely not a mileage runner, but I flew out to San Francisco this year to visit a friend largely because of a double PQM promo. How about a post on that bucket list? I’m curious!
New Girl in the Air said,
@Shaquanna, not everyone can be top tier status! I’m glad you find some tips useful since you’re in the same boat and I agree Alaska is a great option. I’ll be crediting there for 2013.
@Damon, You’re right – I love Strasbourg and would love to return! Enjoy your time there and Happy New Year!
@Shayna, Like I said, it’s a lot easier to justify chasing mid or top tier status than entry-level. With SWUs, I think you’ll enjoy those extra benefits. I’ll definitely add a post on my bucket list, great idea
deltaplat said,
Glad to hear someone sensible on boardingarea. I am going on my third year of Platinum with Delta, only because I do a lot of traveling for work. If it weren’t for that, it would definitely not be worth mileage running or probably even being loyal to one airline.
Marshall Jackson said,
Glad you got original routing credit.
Cardinal Traveler said,
I could care less about most status perks, mostly because I don’t have a travel job, but also since I can receive them through the right card. I appreciate someone who also shares a similar view (on BoardingArea, no less)
New Girl in the Air said,
@Marshall Jackson, thank you! It was a nice new year’s surprise!
@Cardinal Traveler, I agree many of the perks are easy to replicate with a credit card. Sometimes even buying up certain features – like $20 for an economy comfort seat – can be cheaper than being loyal to a single airline.
Rapid Travel Chai said,
A great, sensible post, the airlines are great at creating the elite status addiction, but when approached rationally it is not worth the cost (time, money, etc) for many people. Sometimes hard to convince the ego of a rational argument, of course.
Most important, you have been to lots of cool places and that is what counts to me, not the conveyance. Morocco and Western Sahara are high on my list, north Africa is so varied and I loved Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
Happy New Year!
Barbara said,
I agree with your premise. I am United Silver which does give me a free checked bag and the opportunity to select an economy plus seat at check in. What I have found out though is that now at check in I am faced with a choice of giving up my preferred seat in economy to sit in a middle premium economy seat or a “bad” seat close to the toilets or the galley. I end up sticking with my original choice or find myself buying up to premium economy if it is a long flight. It is doubly difficult if traveling with a companion to find two good premium economy seats together at checkin. This is probably why United retructured Silver. I am no longer going out of my way to stay with United. As you mention, its just not worth it.
New Girl in the Air said,
@Rapid Travel Chai, Now that I’ve tried premium seating, I can agree that the conveyance is less important for me. It’ll be coach for me next time and a second trip using the savings! Hoping to add a few more great destinations in 2013. Happy New Year to you as well
@Barbara, I’m sorry to hear United silver isn’t all its cracked up to be and hope that you find being a free agent as rewarding as I have!
Add A Comment