MilesBuzz! - Will any carriers comp Bill Clinton their top elite status?

In a few weeks, President Clinton will step down and no longer have his own 747 and helicopter at his constant disposal. This means, like the rest of us, he will have to travel [occasionally] on commercial airlines. Obviously, he will notice the lack of a few perks he's been used to in the air and on the ground. So I wonder if AA, or UA, US, or NW, or DL -- will comp the [former] Pres with Executive Platinum, 100K, etc.?

I know they don't do it for most of we morals, but... Any thoughts?

Did they do it for Carter, Ford, Reagan, Bush?

Remember the story about Bob Dole almost being denied boarding on US Air because he didn't have ID??

Maybe if he had won the election, they would have bumped him up to First. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Im not sure what the rules or the usual practice is, but ex Presidents continue to have SService escorts & other special perks for life. My guess is that when he does travel commercial, he will surely travel only F and with escorts, both from the SService and probably someone from the airline.


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Gaucho100K

But are commercial airlines prepared to wait on the tarmac for two hours while he gets a haircut?

He could be a killer to on-time stats.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

Virgin might comp him.

IMHO, Bill will have enough rich and powerful Hollywood friends to fly him in their private jets....

I don't think he will be comped, because it doesn't matter. I don't think any ex-president ever flew coach on a commercial plane, for lots of reasons starting with security (could you imagine someone yelling at Gerald Ford to stop hogging the armrest on his middle seat?)

I wonder whether Senate ethics rules prohibit Senator Clinton's husband from accepting "freebies"?

I hope he gets comped on NW, he deserves it.

Clinton did NOT have his own 747 and helicopter or limo. He had use of them, and WE paid for them! Perhaps that is why you can't afford to pay 1st class fares for yourself.

Originally posted by opus17:
I don't think he will be comped, because it doesn't matter. I don't think any ex-president ever flew coach on a commercial plane, for lots of reasons starting with security (could you imagine someone yelling at Gerald Ford to stop hogging the armrest on his middle seat?)


Maybe not, but remember during the air safety scare circa Gulf War (and full fare C class tickets to Asia and Europe for $1500)?

First Lady Barbara Bush flew COACH on a commercial flight to show that air tavel was safe.

I flew on a AA flight once w/ Pres Ford-- He was the last on board w/ 3 Secert Service members. He and 1 Secert Service flew in first while the other Secret Service were in the first row of coach. He was the first off the plane and went straight to the tarmac to a waiting car. His bags were first off the plane to an awaiting Secert Service agent.


[This message has been edited by RMINIONE (edited 12-08-2000).]

Originally posted by RMINIONE:
I flew on a AA flight once w/ Pres Ford-- He was the last on board w/ 3 Secert Service members. He and 1 Secert Service flew in first while the other Secret Service were in the first row of coach. He was the first off the plane and went straight to the tarmac to a waiting car. His bags were first off the plane to an awaiting Secert Service agent.


[This message has been edited by RMINIONE (edited 12-08-2000).]


Too bad they had to gate check his bags because the bins were full. He shouldn't have gotten on last.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif

Interesting thoughts,but do I read a bit of antagonism between the lines?

By the way, I said he had the 747 and helicopter "at his constant disposal" not that he owned one. Though as an American citizen, he/all Americans, own Air Force One etc. And I thought that haircut thing proved to be an urban myth, that the real problem exists all the time AF1 flies into a commercial airport and all traffic must stop for 15-minutes prior to and after takeoff.

I agree most of his friends will likely fly him on their private jets, but there will be times. Interesting thought about potential conflict-of-interest situation vis a vis Hillary's new status as senator. Maybe Bill will not be able to fly on private jets all that much and join Ford in this logical seating configuration.

I've flown on flights with a few congressmen and senators out of DCA over the years, including having Tip O'Neill as a seat mate. Almost all of them have been in coach, including that interesting hour or so!

As an aside, I am a Canadian so don't have to pay the bill for Bill's secret service escort. Our Prime Minister gets use of a slightly used A300 Airbus [bought from CP in one of its refinancing deals] or a Challenger [business jet version of the CRJs], along with his chauffer driven Chevy. More often, he can be found boarding a city or tourist bus and riding up Sussex Drive from Parliament Hill to his residence, chatting with bemused residents and tourists. This drives his Mountie body guards crazy. Ex-PMs get lifetime passes on Air Canada for themselves and their spouses, and perpetual Aeroplan SuperElite. (No Mounties are attached to them for life so the enterage is limited.]

Wonder what awaits other retiring world leaders?

All the airlines have secret "VIP" levels that are superior to the top tier of their frequent-flyer program. Surely ex-Presidents would be at least in that category.

I once read in Forbes FYI that a popular activity of Bill's on AF1 (no...not THAT one) was to stand up at at takeoff and lean forward as the plane lifted off. Don't think commercial airlines will comp him on this perc http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif .

Originally posted by ROADRUNNER:
Clinton did NOT have his own 747 and helicopter or limo. He had use of them, and WE paid for them! Perhaps that is why you can't afford to pay 1st class fares for yourself.


and considering how poorly the markets react to the election confusion, I'm sure you'd rather have something happen to the President? That would do wonders to increase the collective national wealth...

[sarcasm off]


[This message has been edited by CO FF (edited 12-11-2000).]

The discussion on this thread has been interesting. I can't be completely sure, but I think Shareholder started this thread mostly out of curiousity and partly for humour purposes (aren't we Canadians a weird bunch?). So with that I'll chime in with my prediction:

Airlines will not comp soon-to-be-former President Clinton elite status. He is hearby sentenced to doing the time in the flying aluminum tubes. In other words, he has to earn his status like everybody else. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Yeah, right!!

FewMiles..

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Unofficial Guide to AAdvantage: http://home.webflyer.com/fewmiles/AA/

Originally posted by BigKing:
I hope he gets comped on NW, he deserves it.

ROTFLMAO!!!

Eat your heart out, United!

There are currently four living ex-presidents. Two of them used a 707 (the venerable tail-numbered "N27000") and the other two had use of the 747. Each of them faced this "problem" upon leaving office. Why does this silly question (not the FF level comp., but the transition) come up every time?

About 15 years ago, I twice flew UA in FC from EWR to LAX with Richard Nixon and security escorts on the other side of the cabin.

[This message has been edited by RichG (edited 12-09-2000).]

Seriously, though, I think one of his aides was in FC with me on a MEM-LIT flight years ago.

NW, with their MEM hub, seems to make the most sense to/from LIT. Then again, if he's up in NYC, who knows.

I'm sure he will get comped to Platinum Liar on any airline he chooses.

Be nice, Harold! Hope you're not to bitter about the economy Bill's left us!

I will first state that I am a supporter of Pres Clinton. I had a problem with his "realtionship" with Ms Lewinski, especially with him being married and all, but I very much do support him.

Having said that to put thing in proper perspective, I'm sure he will be comped by UAL. Who better to exemplify the motto:

"FLY UNITED"

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif

[This message has been edited by Larrude (edited 12-11-2000).]

Going a bit Omni here.....

About 5 years ago, I treated my wife to Mother's Day brunch at the Ritz in YUL. After ordering, I noticed a gentlemen at the next table who looked very familiar. After a bit, I realized that it was Brian Mulroney, former PM of Canda. He was there with his family enjoying a quiet meal.

No one bothered him and there was no security. I hate to think brunch would have been like if it had been one of the former US President sitting nearby.

It's sometimes amazing noting the differencesin attitudes between Canada and the US.

I'm sure they would comp him if asked, but he probably does not need status to get the benefits that most people rely on the status to receive. In other words, he could book a V fare in coach a year in advance, call someone on the inside, and get upgraded for free a year in advance. I have also experienced, though, that many poleticians fly in coach either because of actual rules regarding receipt of free gifts, or the perception that might come up if they flew in first class. But I'm sure any x-president can make a 30-second phone call and get any ticket upgraded, any change fee waived, or any other similar benefit that a member at large of the generl public might very well need status to receive. I too am curious about these "secret" levels that many programs have like the CO Chairman's Circle. There was a good article about this in one of the major papers a few months ago. It profiled a corporate executive in one of these hidden prestege levels in an airline program. He had the code for a key-pad door for one of the airport offices, and would just go into that room for any check-in assistance, etc. When flights were delayed, he spoke to the VIP department, and said he knew more information about the delay than the gate agent working the flight. OMNI I've been able to experience this perk on my own, by listening to ATC and airline company radio frequencies on my hand-held scanner. Also the profiled individual said it was common for the airline to book him/her on many flights for protection during ireg ops. Also one benefit of either the top/secret level, or knowing somebody on the inside, is that for award travel they could probably just book you in F, J, or Y (never mind those pesky capacity controlled codes like Z, R, G, etc. for you). Just some ideas. And we all, hopefully, at least get to experience the benefits of the hidden elite teer at least once in a while when we get lucky.

Clinton has joked for months about becoming ``Citizen Clinton.''

For his birthday in August, aides gave Clinton a blowup of an airline boarding pass to reacquaint him with life after Air Force One.

from an AP article in Yahoo!News (http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20001231/pl/citizen_clinton_1.html)


[This message has been edited by onedog (edited 01-02-2001).]

Originally posted by lkuby:
Be nice, Harold! Hope you're not to bitter about the economy Bill's left us!


I think you're right, the economy's left us.

Delta better not Comp him, remember "simply good business" no wavers no favors.

I recall that Nixon flew on a commercial plane not just after leaving office (see the post by RichG above) but once while President. The flight went off without hitches but the press roundly condemned him for (1) messing up the public's travel plans that day, though IIRC the flight wasn't delayed, (2) kicking people out of their reserved seats so he could fly, and (3) exposing himself to security risks.

As to comping President Clinton -- why? The three main benefits of elite status are (1) upgrades, (2) free travel, and (3) bumping non-elites out of seats in emergencies and irregular ops. Any USA airline is going to (1) put an ex-President in first class no matter what fare is paid (can you picture an FA saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. President, but we've run out of your first choice for lunch"?) and (3) bump others to give him a seat if he shows up at the airport. Most of the rest of his travel will be paid for by (2) the public or the people to whom he's flying to give a speech, so what would he do with elite status?

I think the more appropriate question is if any of the carriers will be able to entice him to join their Board of Directors?

How long before he joins the "commercial" mile high club - you know he's already an Air Force One Member...

I would like for hime to Fly Southwest - then he could really "feel my pain"...

Is Monica considered a carrier? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Cheers.

I would like for hime to Fly Southwest - then he could really "feel my pain"...

Everybody seems to hate Southwest - I'm never gonna fly them (well maybe once to try the pain).

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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Goldlust
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I am rather tired of people giving credit to our president for "the economy he's left us." That certainly is not true, in fact, Mickey Mouse could have left us this economy...Think about this everyone...

Just a few short months before Mr. Clinton took his first oath of office in January 1993, Tim Berners-Lee and company gave us all the World Wide Web...THE RESULT IN THE PAST EIGHT YEARS:

Twenty million new high paying jobs were created...

Both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ constantly hit record after record after record...

New millionaires were created overnight...

The unemployment rate hit all time lows and is still at that point...

The economy has never been better...

...And it is not because of a Democrat president...or a Republican congress...

...I am sick and tired of our elected officials always taking credit for things they did not have responsibility for (I am not even going to get into the "Gore invented the Internet stuff because that was really taken out of context). During the Democratic National Convention, Clinton and his cronies were proud of the fact and constantly stated "are we better off today than we were 8 years ago?"

Well, if the previous administrations had the resources that Clinton had to succeed, they would be claiming the same thing...

...Now think about this...

...If people were so darn happy about the past eight years, would'nt that be considered a "mandate" for Al Gore to be our next president? Given this information and knowing that there are many more registered Democrats than Republicans across the country, Gore should have won more electoral votes and the margin of victory should have been much more than 500,000 votes...the nation should not have been split down the middle as it is today...

...If Gore just won his or Clinton's home state, he would have won the election. His home state's home voters where he never lost an election did not even want their "favorite son" to be our next president...or Clinton's home state either.

...And now, I have read so much in the news about President Clinton's possible indictment after he leaves office for lying to a grand jury...CONSIDER THIS...

...What would happen if Clinton resigned from office on January 18 or 19...Gore becomes the 43rd President of the United States for two days...HE GRANTS A PRESIDENTIAL PARDON TO CLINTON because George W. Bush would not do that as our president...and Bust becomes our 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2001...

The ramifications of this is Clinton does not get disbarred from any state. Will not be convicted of a felony (lying to a grand jury is a felony). Will have a clean record and can be nominated as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice in the future (probably under an administration of a Democrat president).

This is a lot to think about but it could all come true...

Sorry to my fellow FTers for sort of changing the subject, but in this time of transition of our nation's highest office, I just wanted to write something in the spirit of the times and give everyone something interesting to ponder.

I am sure everyone on these boards will echo my sentiments and prayers that this upcoming administration continues to operate a strong economy. And I sincerely hope that all of us are the beneficiaries of that strong economy which will lead to higher salaries, greater opportunities and better lives for all of us...

...And of course, this will all lead to record levels of miles and points in all of our account portfolios!

Happy New Year to all of my Democrat, Republican and Independent friends out there...and a special Happy New Year to all of my friends who live outside of the United States of America who frequent these boards and can appreciate all of the interesting information that we Americans can provide to you on FlyerTalk!

God bless all of you!

Robert Linderman
Fairlawn, OH

Clinton's unethical conduct may get him disbarred. A pardon cannot save him.

"I anticipate that my Christian bearing will be tested by a return to commercial air travel," Clinton told worshippers at a Washington church last week. "I will reap the rewards of not having succeeded in one of the things I tried very hard to do, which was to end all those backlogs."

We must not forget, Mr. Clinton, as part of his "benefits package", receives a small Secret Service detail, for life...

And besides Clinton will charter an aircraft (i.e., G-V, Challenger, etc..) before flying commercial..

I suspect Elmherstnick has it right: he'll be afforded first class rights just like any other member of the board of directors of whichever airline he decides to so join.

It's always been amusing to me to see people's vitriolic reaction to anything Clinton. Something in his personality really seems to get under some people's skin!!!!

[This message has been edited by kokonutz (edited 01-26-2001).]

I like what George Will had to say "He may not be the worst President we ever had, but he's the worst man to be President we ever had."

It's not just one specific thing - it is the whole package. I think I am angriest at him for what he has done to the Democratic Party. They've become more beholden to money than principles. The head of the DNC is their top fundraiser and coordinator of the smear campaigns - what does that tell you about the principles of the party?

And aside from that - after what he and his staff did to Air Force One (I'm surprised they didn't find the airplane up on blocks with the tires stolen), the airlines better just write off everything not nailed down in the FC cabin when he's on board.



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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

JonToner-

I usually agree with your reasoned posts, but Clinton did not make the Democratic party the money-beholdent fraternal twin of the Republican party that it has become, but he did contribute its descent into the cesspool that has become of American politics.

With that being said, for anyone who thinks that the Dems and Clinton are the only unethical ones, take a look at Dubya.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/25/bush.power.ap/index.html

Returning honor to the White House?

Very funny.

The White House is compiling a list of acts of vandalism by departing Clinton administration officials but has declined to open a formal investigation, Ari Fleischer, the press secretary, said today.

Bush aides settling into the White House this week said they had found several instances in which property had been damaged, including computer keyboards that have had the "W," the new president's middle initial, removed, computer and telephone lines that had been snipped and graffiti and obscene messages left in office copiers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/26/politics/26WHIT.html

I see no reason why the democratic party can't be billed for the vandelism, clean up, and repairs for the 'smooth' transition.
It would be a very good example for us poor folks, who have to make restitutions!

I like the comment, that he might not have been the worst president, but certainly the WORST man to be President!

Is there a chance that Hillary lead by example"? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif
Like a leopard can change it's spots!

doc,

A more relevant example of the Clinton's departure from the White House relates to their flight on Air Force One to New York after his last day in office.

Another news report I read indicated that in addition to the vandalism at the White House, Air Force One was apparently stripped of nearly everything (blankets, amenity kits, silverware, china, etc., etc.). Interestingly, the report also indicated that the Bush administration is trying to keep a lid on this thing (perhaps for fear of perpetuating the partisan rivalry that heated up during the election).

BoSoxFan:
I'm not claiming EITHER side is better than the other when it comes to rolling over for corporate "friends". I'm just lamenting seeing the Democratic Party jettison its integrity with such a vengence.

Remember the massive debt that the DNC found itself in following the 1996 election when Clinton spent incredible sums of money in states where he had 15-20 point lead? I think they were something like $18m in debt at one point.

That debt was repaid by Clinton fundraisers. Nothing extraordinary in that. Except the timing -- all these fundraisers were taking place while Lewinsky was front page news.

I can't help but wonder if Clinton didn't place the party in financial difficulties for no reason other than to force the party to rely on him to return to fiscal viability.

Incredibly cynical I'll grant you, but when you consider his redefinitions of the word "is", it's hard to say it is unjustified.

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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

Some airlines would comp him I imagine...do any still allow cigars on the planes?

Oh, come on.

Der Schlickmeister always struck me as the kind of guy i'd give a zillion free tickets on HP to.

Taking this from Buzz to Omni:

The supposed takeover of the major political parties by "big monied special interest" is a myth perpetuated by the media.

In point of fact, more people as a percentage of the overall population give money directly to the political parties today then ever before, DESPITE the fact that people claiming party "affiliation" as a percentage of the population has halved in the past 50 years.

This has to do with the shift in the role of the political parties in the wake of the social changes that have taken place in the United States. Formerly, political parties relied on social capital (ie, people power) to get the message out, persuade and get out the vote. As we are all acutely aware, Americans have increasingly eschewed social capital as a means of commuincation. While the Internet is fueling a pseudo-revival of the comminity spirit and communication thru social interaction, it is swimming against a tide where mass communication is replacing social capital as the means of choice for political parties to get out the message and the vote.

That means political parties are more interested in fungible capital then they are in social capital.

You see, money is not corrupting the political system leading to a breakdown in social intercourse. Rather, a breakdown in social intercourse that can be traced back to the invention of the television, the valuation of time and suburban sprawl has forced the political parties to deftly respond to the new paradigm of social interaction (or lack thereof) in America to refocus their efforts of mass communication. To do so forces them to focus on money power more then people power.

There have always been big contributors. And we could debate how much influence those contributors really have. But the record shows that much of the money now flowing to the political parties comes $20 and $50 at a time...THAT'S what has fueled the recent surge in budgets at the RNC and DNC.

Mr. Clinton can still fly on Air Force planes when Hillary arranges for it.

The coolest plane / plane trick was when Bill arrived in Pakistan in a sleek Gulfstream III. Minutes later, Air Force One landed (with no Prez). They were trying to fool overhead-bin LAAden