Yes it's worth it. I twice while *P had emergency runs to make (one family medical reasons from YOW, one business from YWG) and got the "skip to the front " treatment from the AC courtesy desks.
We did win the e-lottery once but the most important thing to me was the "we're looking after you" that I got. And of course, with a shopaholic Mrs Haz the extra luggage allowance helped after visiting The Shops of Los Americas in San Ysidro...
No -- really not worth it.
If you don't pay for checked bags, AND you have lounge access (which you wouldn't get with Prestige anyway) -- what is the Prestige benefit you're looking to get??
Seriously -- winning Aerolotto as Prestige?? Good luck. Look at the number of complaints from SuperElite about Aerolotto and extrapolate from there.
Besides, decent chance you'll get Prestige at 24,700 anyway.
If you fly on Latitude flight passes you can confirm your upgrades when you make the booking - 1 or 2 credits depending on distance in NA, 6 or 8 for International. If you use T+ flight passes you'll need to play Aerolotto and will use up 2 or 4 credits in NA. Since you can start the year with 20 credits you'd be able to upgrade quite a few NA trips.
No -- really not worth it.
If you don't pay for checked bags, AND you have lounge access (which you wouldn't get with Prestige anyway) -- what is the Prestige benefit you're looking to get??
Seriously -- winning Aerolotto as Prestige?? Good luck. Look at the number of complaints from SuperElite about Aerolotto and extrapolate from there.
Besides, decent chance you'll get Prestige at 24,700 anyway.
It depends the routes you fly. I've been paying a lot more attention this year with my lack of status (and expected 35k status next year), and for YYZ<->SFO
1. 4 of the 5 flights I've been on have had empty J seats.
2. Just checking last minute fares (within the 4 day window) shows seats available for immediate upgrade on AC's website
That is why I'm doing an MR to hit 35k. A few extra eUps, which will be quite nice if I decide to go for a T+ FP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tax Dude
If you fly on Latitude flight passes you can confirm your upgrades when you make the booking - 1 or 2 credits depending on distance in NA, 6 or 8 for International. If you use T+ flight passes you'll need to play Aerolotto and will use up 2 or 4 credits in NA. Since you can start the year with 20 credits you'd be able to upgrade quite a few NA trips.
And if you don't use flight passes, that's roughly one round trip
Travelling on domestic T+ flight passes makes prestige worthwhile. Passes stretch the value of e-up credits. You use half the credits and earn more.
I spent most of 2011 as Prestige travelling on T+ passes and had a great experience with upgrades. Just wait until two days before to departure and book into available upgrade space. Book outbound and return separately.
With a minimum of flexibility, there's almost always something available. The only route that gave me grief was YOW to YVR direct.
If you're on Latitude passes, I wouldn't bother. Latitude passes comp upgrade feature will serve you well enough.
So the upgrades with P (and E35) are OK if you're booking on on a flight pass (believe the T+ flight passes are M class), but not so good if you typically buy the least expensive T+.
On a sidenote, looks like Elite 35K is even more watered-down for next year than I'd initially thought with only M class being eligible for upgrade.
So the upgrades with P (and E35) are OK if you're booking on on a flight pass (believe the T+ flight passes are M class), but not so good if you typically buy the least expensive T+.
On a sidenote, looks like Elite 35K is even more watered-down for next year than I'd initially thought with only M class being eligible for upgrade.
Argh. If I wasn't almost ready to buy a T+ flight pass, I'd be quite annoyed considering I booked a couple short MRs to hit 35k.
I only had one upgrade fail this year as a P. I've upgraded 3 flights so far, and had 3 others where I could have, but chose not to (or used dollars to upgrade instead via LMU).
Have a look at United's sale fares every week and see if you can find an ultra-cheap weekend run somewhere... or get a ride somewhere nearby (but over 300 miles by air away ) and fly a one-way flight back to keep the costs down.
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2012: YQR ORD MCO YYZ DEN LAS YWG YFC DCA EWR TPA
2013 planned: YQR YYZ DEN SAN YEG CLE LAX SYD MEL HBA PER
) and fly a one-way flight back to keep the costs down.
