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.
