Frequent flyer questions – frequent flyer status

As promised, I am answering some of Wendy Perrin’s readers’ frequent flyer questions.  The first batch of answers are about frequent flyer status.

Zora asks:

“I have Premier Exec status on United, but basically never get any perks out of it except lounge access on international travel. Since most of my travel is international, I feel like I should be switching allegiances to a non-US carrier (I hate flying US airlines overseas anyway–they’re so bad). I just don’t know which one… I’m NYC-based and fly to Europe and the Mid East a lot.”

My answer:

“Premier Executive is Star Alliance gold status, so you should be getting all the star gold benefits (with the exception of lounge access on USA domestic flights that do not connect to or from international flights the same day).  Star Alliance has a very good presence in Europe and the Middle East. I’d probably stick with United Mileage Plus – they have reasonably good redemption rates and promotions.”

Brian White asks:

“You invest years into a frequent flyer program only to find the grass appearing greener on another carrier for what ever reasons float your boat in a particular program. So… when does it make sense to abandon your progress to million miler and annual top tier status on one carrier to move to another carrier only to start from scratch and claw your way back to the front of the plane?”

My answer:

 ”For almost everyone, lifetime elite status requires many years of effort to attain (see lifetime elite status to find out just how much flying is required). If you are close to attaining a lifetime benefit that has reasonable value then switching to another program to start again doesn’t make sense.  That said, if lifetime status will require many more years of flying to achieve and there is another program that is inherently better a switch makes more sense than staying.

For annual top tier status the rationale is slightly different. Generally the best benefits come from the frequent flyer program of the airline you fly most often, and so an annual review each December of your frequent flyer strategy for the year ahead is worthwhile.”

Chad asks:

“As a 16-year old Gold Elite member, it is very difficult to be taken seriously. I have been laughed off by quite a few gate agents when I approached them about an upgrade, even when I wanted to use miles to do so. There was one instance where the gate agent gave my upgrade to a Silver Elite member, just because he was wearing a coat and tie and I was walking around with my Chemistry book. What can I do to be taken more seriously? Flashing my card doesn’t seem to be working…”

My answer:

“As in many other aspects of life, first impressions can count for a lot. An agent having a student approach them for an upgrade may mentally file you as a moocher without properly listening to what you are asking. Be sure to mention your upgrade instrument before you utter “upgrade please” and phrase in a way that they feel good about giving you an upgrade.  To improve your chances try to avoid asking when the agent is especially busy.  Good luck.”

Ii7654 asks:

“ Hi, I am Premier Exec with United, but I now spend 1/2 of the year over seas. I am not sure if I should stick with UA or switch to LH.  I normally fly buisness/first when flying back to the states, so I don’t really benefit from UA in terms of Economy plus, upgrades, priority boarding etc due to status.

But if I move from UA to LH, I wouldn’t earn enough miles to make star gold with them, but I will at least be redeeming more miles with them for future trips for every flight I do take.  I have been thinking about this for a couple of years, and I basically have another month before I decide if i’m going to switch from UA.  The main benefit I get from being star gold is the extra baggage allowance, and using the senator lounges instead of the biz lounge.”

My answer:

“Senator status requires 100k status miles every second calendar year. Business class earns at 200%, first class at 300%, and 25% bonus status miles if have frequent traveller or higher status when flying some airlines, and generous earning rates for intra-europe business class. Thus you may well qualify for senator with the flying you do. 

However if you do this what will you gain? No E+ benefit. No further accumulation towards lifetime elite status on United. Senator status only comes with 1 one-way intercontinental upgrade, every 2 years. Awards are generally more expensive on Miles & More, plus have high fuel surcharges – this will be partly offset by higher earning rates (based on the info you have provided). You will gain lounge access when flying Star Alliance within USA. You gain from the ability to requalify every second calendar year instead of every year.  You gain from no longer having starnet award blocking – indeed Miles & More is one of the very few programs you can get premium awards on Singapore Airlines A380 and 77W aircraft.”

Kevin Leibel asks:

“I’ve become accustomed to the perks that elite membership offers. And, as I near retirement (okay in about 10 + years) I am increasingly worried about achieving lifetime benefits in the programs that I have been loyal to–Marriott, American, and Delta. I need Mr. Petersen to guide me and others as we “senior” travelers face the dilemma of losing status when we need it the most!”

My answer:

“A few programs do have lifetime status, including all those you mention. (See this post for more info on frequent flyer lifetime status.)

Once you have attained lifetime status there should only be three worries. (1) Will the airline continue to be around for me to enjoy the benefits of the status? For the most part this is yes.  (2) Will the benefits remain valuable? Eg if you have lifetime gold status then gold elite benefits could be reduced in future although in practice the most important ones will not. (3) Can I travel enough to reap the benefits of a lifetime of loyalty?

If you haven’t yet attained lifetime status then there are additional worries. Will lifetime status continue to be offered? Singapore PPS lifetime status was discontinued in 2007 for those who hadn’t yet qualified, and from time to time there are rumours that unpublished lifetime status (eg AAdvantage and Miles & More) may be abandoned.  Will lifetime status require a higher qualification threshold before I get there? I’m not aware of any recent cases where the lifetime elite status thresholds have been increased.”

Aaron asks:

“As a 1K on United, I enjoy some of the best perks that top status has to offer, including upgrades, waitlist priority, dedicated reservations and customer service, and in generall excellent treatment. There’s no question to me that for someone who flies 100,000 miles a year, sticking to one airline is absolutely worth it.

My question concerns those at the other end of the spectrum, namely people who fly just enough to attain the lowest status level (e.g., “Silver”) but not more: Are the benefits that come at the lowest status levels really worth the extra costs and potential inconvenience of sticking with one airline? I used to think so, but I’m not so sure anymore, particularly with the airlines’ significantly diminished capacity, making upgrades harder to obtain; the the increasing difficulty of using frequent flyer miles to get where you want to go, when you want to go there; and proliferation of “Low-Cost Carriers,” which often can get you from A to B at a much cheaper price.

In short, is the lowest-tier elite game still worth the candle?”

My answer:

“In general, yes.

Where I see people getting dissatisfied with low level elite status it is usually because expectations are unrealistically high. On a prime flight for business people, chances are low elite status will not be enough to clear a supported upgrade or to be operationally upgraded.

Just having some status, or even membership of the frequent flyer program without status, puts a passenger ahead of all the very infrequent flyers. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been sitting in a preferred seating section (eg business class seats sold as economy) and others seated beside me have been no status frequent flyer members – they were given a great seat because on those particular flights the vast majority of passengers had no FF membership.  Furthermore, if something should go wrong a low status is much better than none in terms of the treatment by the airline.”

Richard posts:

“I was going to say that my problem is I need a new job that allows me to travel, but (though true) that’s a little boring. So wrote this instead. Enjoy!

Roger was having a bad day. Worse then that, he was having a Bad Day. The. Ultimate. Bad. Day.

Roger had it all. A nice place with some nice toys, nice suits, a decent amount in the bank account and most importantly, he had a lot of frequent flyer points. A lot. Like more then what most normal people would even dream possible. A veritable Mountain of Points. Most of the points had come via the credit card – spend one dollar get one point. And Roger was smart – he knew to stay at certain hotels in order to get bonus points. He knew to rent his cars from the one company that also gave bonus points. But by far, the most valuable, the most cherished of those miles were the status miles.

Status Miles. Just the words alone had a special glow that surrounded them. Status Miles. Words that slid off the tongue leaving a warm, special feeling behind in the mouth as they came out. Status Miles. Like silk fluttering gently over the skin. Status Miles. Those special rewards that came from flying.

Flying where? Well that didn’t really matter now did it? Flying generated Status Miles. Oh how wonderful that was! Just that feeling of sitting on the airplane flying above the clouds knowing that Status Miles were his. And better still to see those precious, those truly precious Status Miles in black and white in his account. Mmmm … Status Miles.

Status Miles. Status Miles. Status Miles.

And it was all over on this Ultimate Bad Day, because Roger had just been fired by some jerk named Ryan Bingham. Ryan – the smooth talking stuffed suit who was there only because Roger’s boss didn’t have the guts to face him himself. Ryan – the well-coifed, sharp dresser who smiled and said, “Roger, I’m here to talk about your future.”

Future?! What future? There never was any future. There was only Now. And now only mattered if Status Miles were accumulating.

And now, there would be no miles. Not anymore. That was over.

The Ultimate Bad Day indeed.

Roger had fumed, had sworn, had heatedly told Mister Jerk Ryan Bingham that he was taking everything away. Who was he to do this to Roger? But The Jerk had just nodded as though he knew. But what could he possibly know? How could someone like him possibly even begin to understand what was at stake? What it was that was being unceremoniously yanked from Roger?

It wasn’t the job. It wasn’t the prestige of working for the company. Heck, it wasn’t even for the money (though that was pretty good). It was the opportunity to accumulate Status Miles.

Roger knew well enough he could fly anywhere in style and comfort for a long time if he just used his miles. He knew how to work within the system to get himself around the world in First Class for only 120,000 points. Spending that wouldn’t even begin to make a dent in his account.

But that wasn’t the point. Spending miles might be OK for some, but for Roger the goal, the whole point of everything was to accumulate Status Miles. It wasn’t a competition, it wasn’t even necessarily a challenge. Nobody even knew Roger did this and nobody really needed to know. It was just The Way Things Were. Accumulation of Status Miles was the only thing that mattered.

And so, on The Ultimate Bad Day, Roger had a problem. How could he find a new role that would allow him to continue his mission? Where would he begin his search for the job that would enable him to get back to accumulating Status Miles?”

My answer:

“LOL. Roger could earn frequent flyer status on leisure travel instead.”

This post has gotten rather long, so I’ll answer some more frequent flyer status questions in another post later.

Stay tuned for the next set of frequent flyer questions and answers on upgrades.