US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Is this possible?

Just called United Air to see if they would "comp" my Chairman's preferred USair status (75,000 miles so far this year, with many trips to come--several booked on US but sitting on United metal). Agent told me that they don't comp status for Star Alliance members.

Odd, for I'm sure I've seen that others have been comped. And I don't fly bargain-basement fares; I usually fly upgradeable "B" or better fares.

Is this true, or did I (with my usual luck) get the one agent who doesn't know all the possibilities here?

Yes that is right. *A carriers are not supposed to cannabalize other carrier's frequent fliers.

You could still try to plead your case with United's executive office. I would send them a copy of your monthly statements.

Good luck! Let us know if you are successful!

I've spoken to a couple of UA Mileage Plus agents who said they could comp me to Premier Executive (equiv of US Gold) based on my US Chairman's status. All it would take, theoretically, is a faxed copy of one's latest US mileage statement. However, I haven't followed through with the request as most status matches are "once in a lifetime" events---and there's now the Star Alliance rules in play which may deny such a request.

Note that UA never comps its top tier, 1K...you have to earn it the old-fashioned way with lots and lots of flying.

As a last resort, you could always do a Platinum Challenge on AA (10,000 q-points in three months gets you mid-tier) and use your newfound AA status to comp over to UA. This might be more hassle than it's worth, though.

Thanks Wahoo, Runaway, and Neo, for the good feedback! I'll try your suggestions. BUT--I would still like to know--what are other CP's (with a good history of flying non-roach fares) planning to do about their elite status? Just wait and risk losing it altogether? Or leap, while one still can, to another carrier? And if so, which one?

Goes without saying that my 300,000+ miles I mean to use up as fast as I can! So it's only status that's in question here...

most status matches are "once in a lifetime" events---

That is a myth. I've been comped on the same airlines several times. Within a timespan of three years, I might add.

I went and got status on NW, but I had specific reasons why NW made sense for me to select as a secondary airline -- those might not apply for you. Generally AA would make more sense from RDU, I would think, but I had to be difficult. :)

BUT--I would still like to know--what are other CP's (with a good history of flying non-roach fares) planning to do about their elite status? Just wait and risk losing it altogether? Or leap, while one still can, to another carrier? And if so, which one?

I buy mostly roach fares, so I can't speak for the higher-revenue CP's. Either way, I'm pretty confident that US Airways, or at least the Div Miles program, will survive in some form for more than just the next few months. But as a "security blanket" as well a second airline to reap elite perks from, I challenged over to American's Platinum status last month. AA has a far superior first class product to US, especially on the IAD-LAX transcons that I take most often. But they don't serve many of the smaller airports in the Mid-Atlantic (even my true "home" airport, CHO) at which US Express has a large presence. Not even sure about award availability yet as I haven't tried redeeming miles, but AA's ridiculous $75 fee for last-minute award bookings irks me. One thing's for sure, though: US Airways' frontline employees are far more knowledgeable and friendly on the whole than those I've dealt with so far at American.

So for the shorter hops (and perhaps even some transcons if the price is right) I'm still going to be flying US and UA. I may even be doing enough transcon and transatlantic flying these last few months of 2004 to make Executive Platinum on AA, which comes with a similar unlimited domestic upgrade policy as US and a dedicated reservations telephone line.

My advice to anyone who flies more than 100,000 miles with US each year: once you've made CP, try out another airline to spread out some of your miles and status. That way you won't get burned if the worst-case scenario were actually to happen.