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!

I was really upset to read yesterday that Hilton had, with no announcement, raised the status qualification requirements for the HHonors programs.  As View from the Wing detailed, these requirements will take effect starting with your 2013 stays, so if you’ve already qualified for status for 2013, you’re set for another year.  However, if you were planning on earning status in 2013 for the remainder of that year or for 2014 onward, you’ll have a harder time making that happen.

Starting in 2013, it will take an extra 4 stays or nights to earn gold status or an additional 2 stays or nights to earn Diamond.  There is no change for qualifying at the silver level.

Frankly, I think Gold status with Hilton is the best hotel status available at the mid-tier.  For one thing, even with this change, it’ll be available at 20 stays, 40 nights, or 75,000 base points.  That’s still lower than Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, and Starwood, all of which require 50 nights before handing out my favorite freebies (internet & breakfast).  Earning status faster means you’ll enjoy those benefits 10 nights before you otherwise would.  I also think Hilton Gold comes with the most tangible benefits, including free breakfast on all days at all hotels (unless you choose to forfeit this for bonus points), free in-room internet, bonus points, and in my experience, frequent opportunities for room upgrades (that’s not suite upgrades necessarily, but perhaps that preferred oceanview room), early check-in, and late check-out.  You’ll also be eligible for elite-only award discounts, as you would be even at the silver level.

Additionally, Priority Club is cracking down on which points qualify as status-earning, meaning you’ll no longer be able to outright buy Priority Club status.  This isn’t that big of a deal to me, since basically the only benefit to Priority Club platinum status is a 50% points bonus on your room stays.  You’ll find just as many bonus points through other promotions, and you’ll still be stuck paying for your own room upgrades, breakfasts, and wifi.  (Admittedly, some hotels volunteer these to status members, but in no way are they required to.)

If the new requirements mean it’ll be out of reach to earn hotel status with these programs now, there are a few workarounds to enjoying status benefits.

1. Get a Hotel-Branded Credit Card
These days, all major hotel credit cards come with low or mid-level status benefits.  The Priority Club card offers platinum status and the Citi HHonors Reserve card comes with Gold status, both for the lifetime of being a cardholder.  You’ll enjoy all status perks right from Day 1, rather than waiting until 20+ nights into the year to take advantage of benefits.  (Relax, these aren’t referral links, just informational pages).  For less than $100/year in annual fees, it might make sense for you.

2. Fast-Track to Status
Hilton has, in the past, offered options for getting Gold status easily.  While these promotions come and go, keep your eye out.  Limited-time offers have included free, instant status for holding a Visa infinite card or simply residing in certain regions of the world.  The travel agency my employer works with offers a partnership with Hilton to earn Gold status after as few as 4 stays and Hilton MVP members have a similar option.  If those don’t apply to you, call Hilton and be prepared to show proof of status with another chain (usually including proof of actual stays/nights, and not just from a credit card or promotion).  Many members are eligible for a status challenge to earn Gold status quickly.

3. Stay at Hotels that Include Perks Automatically
If free breakfast and wifi are important to you, why not just book a hotel that offers these things?  Most lower-end hotels, ironically, offer these things for free, so the Hampton Inn will include wi-fi when the Hilton next door does not.  Additionally, many independent hotels offer these perks, so branch out a little, help a local business owner, and have a comfortable stay.  Remember, you can still earn rewards on non-chain hotels to work toward free nights.

4. Use Alternate Booking Channels
There are other ways to include VIP benefits other than holding status.  Often, booking rooms through Virtuoso agents, American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, or Visa Signature Hotels will come with room upgrades, late check-out, and free breakfast – at no additional cost to booking directly through the hotel.  Otherwise, look at options like booking through Priceline or Hotwire.  You can almost always figure out which hotel you’ll be staying at even in a “blind” bid, and saving $30-100/night means you’ll be able to pay for your internet and breakfast and still end up money ahead.

5. Look at Other Hotel Programs
If there’s one specific amenity you’re looking for in status, you might be able to get it through a different chain.  For example, Hyatt offers free internet even at low-tier status, obviously achievable at fewer stays.  There’s a lot to go into choosing a hotel program (if you even choose to be loyal), so one perk shouldn’t be the basis for your entire decision, but it can be a tipping point if things were otherwise equal.

I’m not quite sure what this will mean for me in 2013, but I think it’s safe to say I won’t be hopping between three hotel programs anymore.  What about you?

It’s no secret that I don’t have airline status (unless you count Kingfisher or Aegean silver, both of which I consider cheating).  I’ve never put any effort into it because I’ve never thought there was much to be gained for this leisure traveler.  On the flipside, I can see immediate value from jumping airline to airline in order to find the best flight times, routings, and prices.  As my husband moves up the ranks with Delta because of business travel, though, there are now two very different valuations of elite status in our household.

Since many of you might be debating whether to chase status because of American Airlines’ current double elite-qualifying miles promotion, I thought I’d outline a few different takes on the perks of low-tier status before you decide whether or not it’s worth it for your own needs.

Unlimited Complimentary Upgrades on North American Travel at Time of Booking for Full Y Fare

The Business Traveler Opinion: I end up with the cheapest available coach fare at time of booking.  Theoretically that could be a Y-fare, but history says it never has been, even with last-minute bookings.  This is a pipedream.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: Uh…you want me to pay for the most expensive fare class?  Not going to happen.

Unlimited Complimentary Upgrades on North American Travel at Time of Check-In, Space Available

The Business Traveler Opinion: As a low-tier member, this isn’t a frequent benefit, but every once in awhile, those Saturday 6am flights could pay off.  Not an expected perk by any means, but nice if/when it happens.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: If someone gave me a first class seat, I wouldn’t give it back, but it’s so unlikely (and  nnecessary on 3-hour flights) that it’s not worth going out of my way to earn status for.

Discounted Preferred Seats at Time of Booking

The Business Traveler Opinion: This isn’t an approved expense when work pays, and it isn’t an approved expense when my wife pays.  Discounts aren’t good enough, free would be better!

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: I’m frugal and refuse to pay for this.  Besides, on leisure flights, it’s easy enough to book 4+ weeks in advance in order to find decent (free) seats.

Complimentary Preferred Seats at Time of Check-In

The Business Traveler Opinion: When you only book a week or two in advance, all the aisle seats are usually gone.  A window seat comes in a far second place, but even those are usually taken.  Getting stuck in the middle seat in the back of a plane – on a long flight with a short connection – stinks.  Knowing you can get a decent seat when you check in?  The biggest perk of status.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: Again, if I had it, I wouldn’t give it back, but I’m usually pretty content with my standard window seat that I got by booking in advance.

Priority Class of Service Wait-list

The Business Traveler Opinion: I fly coach.  Always.  This waitlist is not a benefit to me.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: Worthless.

Waived Baggage Fees

The Business Traveler Opinion: I’m not sure I ever checked a bag on a business trip, and checking bags on leisure trips is also pretty rare.  Regardless, I get the same benefit by holding my airline’s credit card.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: The last time I checked a bag was in 2010, but if I wanted to, I’d still get a free bag from my airline credit card.

Priority Check-In

The Business Traveler Opinion: When you don’t check bags, online/mobile check-in is a thousand times easier and faster anyway.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: What he said ^^

Priority Boarding

The Business Traveler Opinion: Since I don’t check bags, I like to make sure I have room for my roll-aboard suitcase, but regardless, I get the same benefit by holding my airline’s credit card.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: Same answer.

Discounted Lounge Membership

The Business Traveler Opinion: This is not an approved expense, and not worth enough to pay out of my own pocket, even at a discount.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: I’d rather use other tactics for free/cheap lounge visits, but honestly, my layovers are usually pretty short anyway – maybe time for a meal at one of my favorite airport restaurants, One Flew South or Tortas Fronteras, and sometimes barely enough time to get to my next gate.

Dedicated Phone Line

The Business Traveler Opinion: I’ve never called an airline.  Seriously.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: I do all the calling, and while I’ve had horrible luck with AA, my hold times on other airlines have usually been five minutes or less, which I think is reasonable.  Maybe I’m just lucky?

25% Mileage Bonus

The Business Traveler Opinion: Anything that gets me free flights faster is welcome in my book.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: I agree that more miles is a good thing, but since no one else is footing the bill on leisure flights, it’s not always “free” bonus miles.  We tend to have short flights, normally working out to less than 1000 potential bonus miles ($10-20 in value).  Instead, I usually gain that $20 in value by choosing airlines with double-miles promotions, more efficient routings (time is money) or lower sticker prices.

Unlimited Rollover Miles

The Business Traveler Opinion: Flying 35,000 paid miles a year is an awkward amount.  You’ve earned more than low-tier status, but aren’t close enough to justify booking extra travel solely to earn mid-tier status.  With rollover miles, next year might bring mid-tier status naturally, or at least close enough to justify a single extra weekend getaway.  Too bad all airlines don’t do this.

The Leisure Traveler Opinion: Since I think mid-tier status is hugely more valuable than low-tier, the ability to achieve that more easily is an interesting value proposition.  The problem with it is more that this becomes a two-year strategy of 75,000 miles butt-in-seat flying…and in two years, a lot of things can change, both in your flying habits and in airline benefits.  Or maybe I just don’t like to commit

Holding status makes a lot of sense for one of us and it’ll be interesting to see what the two of us end up earning in 2013.

American Airlines has announced a generous promotions to earn miles the old-fashioned way (butt-in-seat flying).  Anyone flying American Airlines between now and December 31 will earn double elite-qualifying miles on every AA flight, helping you earn status faster.  Existing elite members will also earn double reedemable miles (for award flights), while non-elites will only qualify for double redeemable miles between November 16-26.

Registration is required, but as long as you are registered, even previously booked flights will be eligible.  Codeshares and other flights operated by partner airlines do not qualify, regardless of whether or not they were booked through AA, so be sure to choose routings that include American Airlines metal.

AAdvantage Gold status, which normally takes 25,000 miles of flying per year, could be achieved through only 12,500 miles of flying during the promotional period.  That’s just one trip from Chicago to Tokyo, roughly 2 trips from the east coast to Europe, or 3 trans-continental flights.  Similarly, Platinum status would “only” take 25,000 miles of flying in this 2-month period and Executive Platinum would require 50,000 miles rather than 100,000 miles.  Of course, that’s assuming you’re starting from zero as of November 1.

I’m not enticed by status, and can’t justify spending money on flights I wouldn’t otherwise take in order to claim some upgrades and other benefits, but if I was close to a threshold, I’d probably have a different opinion.  You can make up your own mind on whether or not it’s worth it by checking out the offered benefits.  Members who already hold status at any level got the better end of the bargain in my book with double redeemable miles.  All except for one of this year’s flights are already booked in order to take advantage of double miles with US Airways instead.

Regardless, use code AATHX when registering, and enjoy your extra miles even if it still doesn’t put you over the edge to earn status.