dundeelawrence

I recently attained my 35K Altitude status for 2015. However, because of my first-hand experience of AC’s badly slipping customer service and because it’s concept of loyalty only seems to work one way as evidenced by the continual erosion of Altitude benefits, I am wondering if it is even worth trying to achieve status next year. The benefits I value most are domestic and international lounge access and pre-boarding. Free seat selection, free preferred seating and free baggage would be nice to have but I could live without. I am flying to LHR soon and the difference between the Tango and Flex fares is $375. And that is only one of several international flights I intend to take next year. It seems to me that the difference in fare on that single flight alone could pay for a premium credit card that would give me my preferred benefits. I would be interested in knowing what other Altitude members in the ‘average’ category of 25K to 50K are thinking in regards to achieving status next year for 2016. I’d be particularly interested in hearing from individuals who have weaned themselves off AC. Is it time to fly the coop?

superangrypenguin

Well, that's something I've thought about recently too.

Currently 75K. My goal next year is to definitely not exceed 50K, but even then, for me, I only redeem my flights in J, so I asked myself if I really do care about 50K. It's a bit of a toss up, I know the main thing I care about is priority boarding, so next year will be a bit of a "freer" year for me where I don't chase 75K (in reality business travel takes me to 70K, I MR up to 75K - had hoped for zone 1 boarding - well that was a fail).

I'm going to try and give up travel in 2016 and let 2015 be a...que sera sera. Burn up the eupgrade credits, fly wherever, and stop worrying about renewing status. If I don't hit 35K (which I highly highly doubt), i'll grab the Infinite Privilege and be done with worrying about stuff. 1 out of 20 flights I have to call in, and now with 10 minute hold times (and the Bens saying it'll continue to decrease), i'm fine being what I am now, a pleeb. Only thing i'll miss out is domestic lounge access if I really do miss 35K, which in most cases i'm fine with the PP, although MLL's have more locations, probably just redeem a domestic MLL membership.

YOWgary

On what planet is this happening?

superangrypenguin

I know, right! I had called into AC on my last request, hold time (estimated) was 10 minutes. (We lowly pleebs get the same hold time message as non status pax, although it takes us 30 seconds at most to get an agent - E75K line, so who knows if the estimated time is accurate for non status pax) Someone else had posted something about this and Ben L said that they weren't done yet (Reducing hold times)! Now whether or not they get there is a different story. I called in on a weekday, in the afternoon IIRC.

PS Please don't shoot the messenger Just reporting what i've heard when calling in!

superangrypenguin

I had to do a test this morning since we are in a heavy travel time of year. I just called the regular AC line. I did not believe what happened. Right now (at time of post), I selected I had an existing reservation for domestic travel. Got through within 2 seconds! Impressed.

Here's to hoping it keeps up

Bonaventure

Pretty much all your benefits come from a credit card. Why you are concerned about getting 35k is beyond me, particularly when this has already been hashed to death and is really only debatable at 75k and beyond.

anishm

I'm in a similar situation. I generally am between 25k-50k on domestic work travel and 1 personal trip internationally. I liked the domestic upgrades, priority check-in, early boarding and by passing CATSA lines that seem to be getting longer especially in YYC. I will hit 48,500 AQM in 2014 and in the past would have done a MR to make it to the next level. I would also break corporate travel policy to get Flex fares instead of the cheapest possible fare.

With all of the changes to the program I'm now done with chasing status. I get my Nexus card in January and will also get a premium credit card for lounge or priority boarding. I also got my status match at WJ and will now simply choose the cheapest flight option for domestic and buy the cheapest Business class when I take long flights. I chose *A over a cheaper OW flight to India to ensure I got status in 2015. That certainly won't happen again.

i59bravo

I qualified early for E35 this year on segments and will just make E50 on 30 Dec. I've never had status before.

Knowing I would be doing a lot of flying this year, I got an Amex Aeroplan Platinum card at the beginning of the year. At $500 it was pricey, but it came with lounge access, priority check in and a 51000 point enrollment bonus. I made very good use of all of these benefits. I've had Nexus for years, so priority security lines were not a big factor. Since I qualified for E35, I've been enjoying the priority boarding and I definitely enjoyed the J upgrade to a pod YVR-YYZ (a decent meal, a movie, and a lie flat nap - glorious).

I might make E35 next year, or I might only be P25, depending on what happens with work. E50 would require more work travel than I want to do and also segment running to boot. The lounge access and priority checkin that I value can be obtained with a credit card for less than the cost of the segment running it would take for me to reach status. Upgrades will not be frequent enough for an E35 for that to be a factor.

tl;dr - I'm going to enjoy E50 for the next year and not care about whether I make status in 2015. If I want the lounge access and priority check in in 2016, I'll just get a credit card.

superangrypenguin

If you want priority boarding though, (you didn't say you did for 2016, but you did mention that priority boarding was something you valued once you hit 35K), you'll either have to...

1) Pay $399 for the Infinite Priv - netting you priority boarding
2) Pay $499 for the Aeroplat - for lounge access

Or

1) Pay $399 for the Infinite Priv (you only get 4 lounge passes in the MLL / still get priority check in though - unlimited)
2) Pay $375 for domestic MLL membership //or redeem this on AE

Symmetre

+1

i59bravo

I'd rather have lounge access than priority boarding. The "red in tooth and claw" struggle for bin space is not something that I get overly bothered about. However, the $775 for the Infinite Privilege + Dom MLL membership is a good way to measure the threshold for a segment run. I make that equivalent to 15 segments at $53/segment.

SparseFlyer

In my books, status is only worth it if you were going to spend the money anyway.

The Lev

Chasing status for anything below SE is a mug's game - far cheaper routes to the key benefits are available to you via credit cards, etc.

Even SE isn't worth much of a chase anymore.

xLuther

Agreed, plus use the benefits, in past 3 weeks concierge has been invaluable.

Due to personal issues (resulting in no travel until Sept) dropping from 100K to 35K in 2015. Based on schedule could probably get back to to 100K by 3rd qtr, having weighed it all probably stick with AC in 2015 and get back to 100K

I have to say very impressed with service from AC 100K concierge, main reason i am going to shoot to get back status with AC rather then say UA

35,50 and 75 just not worth the effort, getting 50-75K is easy for me, 100K I have to give AC some personal flying, they won that this fall

superangrypenguin

Canadiancow and I had a discussion about this tonight. Cow travels for personal, I travel for work only. I think the overall consensus is that you either hit SE100K, or don't bother. IKK and Concierge services were the overwhelming reasons to be a SE (which I totally agree) - If you only travel for personal reasons, then the Concierge can save you a few $ (or more than a few $) in many cases. If, however, you're on company dime and can buy your way out of IRROPS, then there really is no purpose to SE (other than feeling like you're valued, and board in zone 1), plus another 0.5 eupgrade credits - all in all I think this discussion has been hashed to death...concierges are useful in rare cases where you cannot buy your way out. (or don't want to if it's personal travel). IKK is great if you don't have a strategy (whatever yours may be) and need to burn AE miles (and/or give you much more flexibility than non SE)

Therefore, is there a need to get an infinite priv? - for some, it may make sense. YMMV depending on your patterns, that's all.

**Disclaimer. Again, I only fly domestic, so my reference to concierges above were meant for domestic travel.