The Elite Status Chase, 2023
Jan. 11th, 2023 07:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerThe start of a new year is always a bittersweet time for frequent travelers. All those status counters in our airline/hotel/car loyalty programs, that we strove so hard to reach the next level in for the past 12 months, flip over to zero. The status chase starts anew.
Status chasing isn't as big a thing for me as it used to be, nor is the annual zeroing of status values as much of a gut punch. That's largely because I've already got permanent status, or semi-permanent status, in various travel programs. With United Airlines and Marriott Hotels I've got Lifetime Gold and Lifetime Titanium status, respectively. UA Gold is lower-mid tier status but it grants some important benefits. Marriott Titanium is high tier but not necessarily worth much. Still, it's way better than being "dirt"— i.e., no status.
I also have a few status as fringe benefits of credit cards. I'm Diamond with Hilton and Platinum with IHG, both because of cards. These statuses often don't mean much but occasionally they come through with nice benefits. I'm likely to downgrade my Hilton credit card in a few months, though, so I'll see how the other half lives when I drop to mere Silver status, right down there next to the dirt.
What's left? Southwest Airlines is what's left. And boy, do I work on chasing status with them!
Last year I created a plan in January to achieve both top status levels with Southwest, A-List Preferred and Companion pass. I cinched the latter in September but only nabbed the former with 2 weeks left to go in 2022.
What's my plan for 2023? Uhhh... it's going to be harder, frankly. I don't know if I'm going to make it. My work travel's being shifted to an online travel agency that may interfere with me earning points from my travel. And my work travel duties have become fairly small anyway. For leisure travel I'm sorely tempted to spend points— on award flights— rather than earn them. I have so many award points. And for the first few trips I can plan for later this year the points rates are decent. That said, I do have a plan in place and I am tracking it with a spreadsheet. It's just that it's a long-shot plan. I'll see how the year develops.
Status chasing isn't as big a thing for me as it used to be, nor is the annual zeroing of status values as much of a gut punch. That's largely because I've already got permanent status, or semi-permanent status, in various travel programs. With United Airlines and Marriott Hotels I've got Lifetime Gold and Lifetime Titanium status, respectively. UA Gold is lower-mid tier status but it grants some important benefits. Marriott Titanium is high tier but not necessarily worth much. Still, it's way better than being "dirt"— i.e., no status.
I also have a few status as fringe benefits of credit cards. I'm Diamond with Hilton and Platinum with IHG, both because of cards. These statuses often don't mean much but occasionally they come through with nice benefits. I'm likely to downgrade my Hilton credit card in a few months, though, so I'll see how the other half lives when I drop to mere Silver status, right down there next to the dirt.
What's left? Southwest Airlines is what's left. And boy, do I work on chasing status with them!
Last year I created a plan in January to achieve both top status levels with Southwest, A-List Preferred and Companion pass. I cinched the latter in September but only nabbed the former with 2 weeks left to go in 2022.What's my plan for 2023? Uhhh... it's going to be harder, frankly. I don't know if I'm going to make it. My work travel's being shifted to an online travel agency that may interfere with me earning points from my travel. And my work travel duties have become fairly small anyway. For leisure travel I'm sorely tempted to spend points— on award flights— rather than earn them. I have so many award points. And for the first few trips I can plan for later this year the points rates are decent. That said, I do have a plan in place and I am tracking it with a spreadsheet. It's just that it's a long-shot plan. I'll see how the year develops.
Envying your program status
Date: 2023-01-11 10:18 pm (UTC)I hope such an awful disaster never befalls you, especially given you're not top-tier at Marriott, Hyatt, or IHG. Some travelers report having spent their entire vacation in an airport in December 2022. If weather prevents plane and car travel, and/or all rental cars are sold out, you'll be glad you're not sleeping in an airport.
It's an edge case, I admit. A whole bunch of unlikely events would have to occur. I think one of the advantages of being comfortably well off is being able to buy insurance. Credit cards that come with top-tier status are, to my mind, like a diffuse form of insurance.
Re: Envying your program status
Date: 2023-01-11 11:51 pm (UTC)...At least that's how it was several years ago. In recent years many companies have cut their specialist CS teams so now the elite 1-800 number routes to the same offshore team everyone talks to, with the only difference being that they begin the call by saying, "Thank you for being a Beryllium Elite member, Mr. Walker!"
Even when the CS team is elite focused there's only so much they can do. They can't make another aircraft appear. They can't rebook you to an already full flight. You're on the same footing as everyone else... maybe just closer to the front of the waiting line.
For an example of how little status can matter during IRROPS see my blog entry "Flying Trainwreck. Sleeping At The Airport" from a few months ago.
Oh, and hotel status means pretty much zero for IRROPS. Hilton does have a "Diamond Guarantee" that a Diamond can always reserve a room even if the hotel is fully booked— but that's only for reservations made 72 hours or more in advance. When it's late at night and you're scrambling for a place to stay, they're not going to walk someone to make room for you instead.
And when you do have a reservation but can't get there because you're 1000 miles away due to a canceled flight or missed connection— as happened when I sat up overnight at a Chicago airport while holding a hotel reservation in Florida— the elite membership desk at the franchise company can only ask the general manager at a specific hotel to refund your money. IME it's way less than 50/50 that works anymore.