Comments on: Poll: Should airlines give longtime loyalists a chance to keep their status?

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:11:17 +0000

A challenge program to regain status sounds in order here. As soon as I read the response, I knew he would take his business elsewhere. An escalation up the path beyond the front line clerk sounds in order here.

By: bargaintravel (bargaintravel)

bargaintravel (bargaintravel) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:58:06 +0000

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Poll: Should airlines give longtime loyalists a chance to keep their status? [link to post]

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By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:38:32 +0000

I agree with KT and Ryan. What a terrible airline to have to build up your miles. In my experience with DL, NW, and LH, they will drop you down to the next lower tier (although LH takes the cake with their laughable offer – “We will be happy to reinstate your Senator status for 2000 euro”). If you beg for forgiveness after losing your status, due to unforeseen circumstances or whatever, I think you have a better chance of the airline taking pity on you rather than trying to get pity in advance. Some airline and hotel programs will have a “challenge” offer for these circumstances i.e. fly 25K miles in the next 3 months and we’ll give you back your old status.

I don’t know what kind of flying JR does, but if he is US-based like me and flies mostly international, I would recommend accruing Star Alliance miles on LH Miles and More. It is a wonderful program and they give you Star Silver at 35K (Frequent Traveller) and Star Gold (Senator) at 100K miles. The best part is that you get to keep the status for 2 years, and Senators get cool priveleges like discount award tickets for spouses and small children as well as overdrawing your account if you’re a bit short. The downside is that there are no “automatic upgrades” on United or US Airways for domestic travel, but you can use the lounge and I have about a 50% success rate convincing United employees to seat me in Economy Plus by flashing my Senator card.

By: Instant in-flight status match? Continental hustling for upper-tier elites | Upgrade: Travel Better

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:08:37 +0000

[...] elitesPosted by: Mark Ashley In the comments thread of a previous post, Steve Kalman offered this anecdote: I flew first class to Oslo on [Continental] a few months ago using miles (from Amex). Chief [...]

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:22:23 +0000

Alaska Airlines did this for me at the MVP level. I was about 700 mile short and they extended me another year this last January.

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:21:53 +0000

Wait, people still fly US Air??

By: IMH

IMH — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:22:03 +0000

I think your own suggestions are on the right lines: rollover miles and more flexibility over qualification periods both have merits. A “soft landing” can also help both parties — AA and bmi status members, and LH Senators as well I believe, only drop one level if they fail to requalify. That makes staying with the airline more attractive and getting back up to a higher status level a little easier.

By: Twitter Trackbacks for Poll: Should airlines give longtime loyalists a chance to keep their status? | Upgrade: Travel Better [upgradetravelbetter.com] on Topsy.com

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:06:44 +0000

[...] link is being shared on Twitter right now. @upgradetravel said New post: Poll: Should airlines give [...]

By: Steve Kalman

Steve Kalman — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:20:42 +0000

I’m one of those “former status” who had a desk job for a few years and is now back in coach. The year I lost 100K status I flew 89K. No option to buy up. Not a big deal, since the next few years averaged only 20K.

The good news about not having status is that I got to choose flights based on schedule. I sampled lots of other airlines. Two favorites: United for Economy Plus and Continental because I live near EWR. (And, I have an Amex Platinum, so I get lounge access).

I flew first class to Oslo on CO a few months ago using miles (from Amex). Chief attendant (purser?) came around to all in 1st and asked if anyone had gold or better on another airline. My seatmate had SAS, so he filled out a form and got instant Gold on Co. Seems like a smart move.

As for me, with the downsizing I’m back to traveling. Will do 40K this year and about 80K next. With CO joining the alliance, I’ll be on both CO and UA planes.

By the way, CO does do some cost/mileage reckoning. My company just bought me a ticket to LHR at a steep discount. I only get 50% mileage credit. When they bought FRA round trip at the last minute in July the price was staggering. Still, only exact miles. Seems that they should play both ways.

By: S A

S A — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:36:26 +0000

@John,

Two thoughts:

1) How about a hybrid? Earn status via miles flown or dollars spent? You flew 100K miles with us? You get status. You spent $25K with us? You get the same status. That way you reward frequency of business as well as big-ticket business.

2) If it’s based on $$$, instead of miles, the same principle could still apply. Let’s say the cutoff is $25,000 for top tier status. What if the guy who wrote the letter to USAirways spent >$25K for 10 years, and then fell short by $1K because he took a short break from travel. If you’re the airline, do you cut him slack, or tell him to piss off and accept lower-tier status? Changing it from miles to cash doesn’t make the problem of status renewal go away.