MilesBuzz! - How many FTers Have the Trifecta? Top Elite for Airline/Car/Hotel

I have already made UA 1K and Hertz Presidents Circle for the year, primarily through work related travel. I am now 2 stays away from the 28 stays needed for Hilton Diamond. Though my job really doesn't require it, I am thinking of booking two additional stays at Hampton Inn to make HHonors diamond. Am I nuts to spend the money? Is it really worth it?

The larger question is, how many FTers have the top elite level for car/hotel/airline? And further, who spent their own money for the express purpose of getting the top tier?

I will be CO Plat, Hyatt Diamond, Starwood Plat, Hertz Presidents Circle again for 2005.

Also AA Gold, Hilton Gold, Marriott Silver, Avis Perferred Select.

AA Gold was on my own since they tend to be much cheaper than CO. I really don't like their product though and after a recent transcon with a 6+ hour delay, I probably won't fly them again.

Hyatt was on my own dime, but I'm almost 3x Diamond on nights due to business stays as well. I did a mattress run to get a slew of FFNs earlier in the year. I stay in hotels a lot and try to stay at Hyatt when I can since I feel that they are the best and have been doing so for a long time.

At Hertz I will have about 50 rentals. Most of those are week long, though lately I've been splitting time in two different locations, so it's been two-three times per week. It's sometimes cheaper renting a car for the weekend, than for me to take a taxi to/from the airport. I rent a lot of cars almost always from Hertz.

There are many of us who have not only the trifecta but the double-trifecta (two top tier airlines/hotels/cars). I wouldn't even try to brag about that around here though... there are tons of folks who probably have three or four or more.

(Mine is two airlines/three hotels/two cars... the fun of lots of same-day or one-night trips!)

I would bet there are a very large number of FT'ers in that bucket - once you're travelling a lot, all 3 go hand-in-hand(-in-hand)

I've been US CP/Marriott PLT/Hertz PC for at least 4 years now - toss in current Hyatt Diamond and SPG PLT for good measure. In those last 4 years, I've also had CO PLT once or twice, and HH Diamond for a year, so I'm sure I had a double-triple in their somewhere. As techgirl said, it's not worth bragging about as there's always someone with more - I'm sure there are a few triple-triples out there, at least.

I have already made UA 1K and Hertz Presidents Circle for the year, primarily through work related travel. I am now 2 stays away from the 28 stays needed for Hilton Diamond. Though my job really doesn't require it, I am thinking of booking two additional stays at Hampton Inn to make HHonors diamond. Am I nuts to spend the money? Is it really worth it?

The larger question is, how many FTers have the top elite level for car/hotel/airline? And further, who spent their own money for the express purpose of getting the top tier?

FT is definitely the wrong place to ask who has as much or more than you when it comes to travel status. Or who has the biggest.......

You might spend your own money when the rewards are worth it. Especially for an airlines where the differences in benefits are extreme.

Frankly, at this point in my life I'm more interested in minimizing my travel, not maximizing it.

I have already made UA 1K and Hertz Presidents Circle for the year, primarily through work related travel. I am now 2 stays away from the 28 stays needed for Hilton Diamond. Though my job really doesn't require it, I am thinking of booking two additional stays at Hampton Inn to make HHonors diamond. Am I nuts to spend the money? Is it really worth it?

The larger question is, how many FTers have the top elite level for car/hotel/airline? And further, who spent their own money for the express purpose of getting the top tier?

To be true to the title of this thread, shouldn't it be UA UGS, Hilton Preferred, and Hertz Platinum Club levels of membership? :)

The best I ever managed was a double-double in one year:

DL Plat
CO Plat
Marriott Plat
Hyatt Diamond

Plus a host of other mid-tier and lower-tier memberships.

I rarely rent cars, so it's hard for me to get top elite with car rental companies.

And my travel recently has been entirely on my own nickel, so getting top elite with airlines and hotel chains isn't so easy.... EXCEPT for two things: Bonuses that count towards status qualification (United and Starwood) and award stays that count towards status (Hilton). I have made use of these to get top tier with United, Starwood, and Hilton for this year.... but sadly, I won't be requalifying with Hilton for next year (luckily, Hilton's "status year," unlike most others, lasts through the end of May rather than February).

I don't know if I'll ever score a "trifecta" but I'm sure there are lots of FTers who have that and far more.

Car rentals are not a big deal for us, although we are Hertz President's Circle.

Our challenge is to hit HH Diamond, SPG Platinum, UA 1K and AS MVP Gold every year. That is a big enough challenge for us.

No / Yes / No

I'm an Avis Preferred Select member....oh, I forgot you wanted top tier status. PS is just a rung above peon!

Delta Plat
Marriott Plat
Hilton Diamond
Avis Preferred Select

Another interesting question is whether there are specific job functions that tend to give you the trifecta or better. I do corporate financial consulting, and have no problem hitting Marriott Platinum and National Executive Elite on an annual basis. But, since all of my clients are domestic - and typically in the southeast, it is difficult to get much higher than 25-50K status on an airline (especially when flying Delta on cheap fares and geting 375 MQMs from Tampa to Atlanta :rolleyes: ) since I generally only take one short round trip per week - and sometimes work locally.

I'd imagine most of the trifecta-earners are either in sales and fly several times per week, or are in a position (sales, auditing, consulting, management) that requires international travel -that's where you rack up the miles on airlines.

I know its an oft debated topic here, but I really wish I could get more credit for some of my short domestic trips. A last minute Y fare to New Orleans for $700 gets me a measly 1000 status miles. Spend that same $700 on a discount fare to Toyko and you get... well, I don't know the mileage... but a heckuvalot more. Of course, if the airlines were to ever try to make things "more fair", they'd probably do it by lowering the miles granted for the Tokyo trip, rather than raising them for the New Orleans trip.

Car rentals are not a big deal for us, although we are Hertz President's Circle.

Is that the case with most here? That car status isn't a big deal? I'm not sure what the other programs (you mentioned Hertz, somebody else mentioned Avis) give you, but I REALLY like Nationals program that started about a year ago. I pay for an intermediate car and am guaranteed an upgrade to a full size. But, at major airports, I typically get an SUV. Plus, I earn a free day for every 5 rentals. Since I typically rent for a full week, it doesn't add up too fast, but I've still got over 10 free days coming. Its nice to have that when travelling with the family because after getting the flights and hotels on rewards, the rental car is real off the only "big ticket" payment left. If you get that for free too, the only cost to the vacation is food & entertainment (and finding time to actually take a vacation, of course).

UA 1P
AA Gold (Combined these would put me at 1K or Exec Plat :)
*wood Plat
Hertz Presidents Circle

Not any of my own money (thankfully).

AA and Marriott, yes. But car rental? No.

NW Plat, HP Plat, AA ExPlat but going down
Hyatt Diamond
Avis PS (Although I don't see much improvement in service)

Internal Audit, lots of international travel.

My first Status was LH Senator followed by AC SuperElite, OZ Diamond and KLM Gold Elite. My LH status is renewed thru 2007, about AC I´m not sure if I´ll keep SE and OZ has no expiry date. KLM is valid thru 2005.

Hotel status include Hyatt Diamond and Hilton Gold.
I mostly rent my cars at Europcar and Sixt so I carry a Europcar First card and a Sixt Platinum.

I am now 2 stays away from the 28 stays needed for Hilton Diamond. Though my job really doesn't require it, I am thinking of booking two additional stays at Hampton Inn to make HHonors diamond. Am I nuts to spend the money? Is it really worth it?

I hear that Hilton Diamond members are able to redeem easier than Gold and Silver.

The Diamond desk is able to book a reward on dates when the property shows as unavialable.

NW Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, Hertz Presidents Circle ( :o there is no possible way any individual can rent more than I do .. I have had a hertz rental for every day of the year for the last 3 years straight .. still only capped at Presidents Circle)

NW Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, Hertz Presidents Circle ( :o there is no possible way any individual can rent more than I do .. I have had a hertz rental for every day of the year for the last 3 years straight .. still only capped at Presidents Circle)

How about someone renting 2 cars for 3 years in a row ;)

UA 1k, Starwood Plat, Hilton Diamond, Hertz Pres. Circle

Is that the case with most here? That car status isn't a big deal? I'm not sure what the other programs (you mentioned Hertz, somebody else mentioned Avis) give you, but I REALLY like Nationals program that started about a year ago. I pay for an intermediate car and am guaranteed an upgrade to a full size. But, at major airports, I typically get an SUV. Plus, I earn a free day for every 5 rentals. Since I typically rent for a full week, it doesn't add up too fast, but I've still got over 10 free days coming. Its nice to have that when travelling with the family because after getting the flights and hotels on rewards, the rental car is real off the only "big ticket" payment left. If you get that for free too, the only cost to the vacation is food & entertainment (and finding time to actually take a vacation, of course).

True, car is the biggest ticket after air/room, but at $30/day it is much smaller than air/room, so in the big scheme of things it's a lower priority. National must be better than Hertz - even at PC for the last 4-5 years, I seem to get 2-3 free rental certs per year.

And now I have to use Avis and Budget, which I've yet to see anything out of.

True, car is the biggest ticket after air/room, but at $30/day it is much smaller than air/room, so in the big scheme of things it's a lower priority. National must be better than Hertz - even at PC for the last 4-5 years, I seem to get 2-3 free rental certs per year.

And now I have to use Avis and Budget, which I've yet to see anything out of.

So what does elite status get you with Hertz (or other rental companies for anyone else who's reading this)? Do you get upgrades? Free NeverLost? Or is it just shorter lines and a special colored card?

So what does elite status get you with Hertz (or other rental companies for anyone else who's reading this)? Do you get upgrades? Free NeverLost? Or is it just shorter lines and a special colored card?

There are numerous threads in the airline/hotel/rental car forums on elite benefits. For Hertz, you might want to try a seach of "platinum".

NWA Plat
Hilton Diamond
National Emerald Club Executive Elite

kinda like to spend a little more time at home though.....

AA EXP 2 times over this year, UA Premier Executive; top with 3 hotel chains - Marriott, Hilton and Starwood and Hertz President's circle.

So what does elite status get you with Hertz (or other rental companies for anyone else who's reading this)? Do you get upgrades? Free NeverLost? Or is it just shorter lines and a special colored card?

Not shorter lines - no lines - find your slot on the board and go right to the car. Rent a mid-size and get at least a full size, sometimes a Volvo, Lincoln, Jag, etc. I also get a free rental coupon but only 2-3 times a year, plus one with a holiday card.

UA 1K, Starwood Plat, Hertz Presidents circle. Currently also Marriott Plat

Triple, Triple, and extra stuff.

CO Plat
DL Plat
AA Exec Plat
US Gold

Starwood Plat
Hyatt Diamond
Hilton Diamond
Holiday Inn (whatever it is called this week) Gold
Marriott Tin

Hertz super mongo presidents circle/cigarman doesn't own a car he just rents from Hertz every day of the year club.

Interesting, DevilBucsFlyer. Does National have Neverlost? Do they have easy pick-up at the airport with no lines? Those are the two things that I like about Hertz--the Neverlost and never having to stand in line, well you do have to wait in little podunk towns where they don't have a Gold Board to tell you where your car is waiting.

I have no real loyalty to Hertz and would switch in a heartbeat if I found a better deal.

NW Plat, HH Diamond, but Hertz Five Star.

Interesting, DevilBucsFlyer. Does National have Neverlost? Do they have easy pick-up at the airport with no lines? Those are the two things that I like about Hertz--the Neverlost and never having to stand in line, well you do have to wait in little podunk towns where they don't have a Gold Board to tell you where your car is waiting.

I have no real loyalty to Hertz and would switch in a heartbeat if I found a better deal.

See my post about National in the MilesBuzz forum too. National doesn't have any GPS system. But they do have easy pickup that is (I think) even easier than Hertz.

If you join Emerald Club, simply get online and reserve a car. Then, when you get to the airport, get to the rental car lot and pick out any car you want off the Emerald Isle. Quite often you'll be able to score an upgrade because they'll have an SUV or something like that on the Emerald Isle. I rented with them at DCA for about 3 months before I had status and got an SUV 90% of the time with an intermediate reservation.

Same counter service as everyone else at the podunk airports.

Airlines UA 1K
CO Platinum
AA Platinum
Hotels SPG Platinum
Hilton Diamond
Hyatt Platinum
Cars
Avis Preferred Select (This is the only company we are allowed to rent from for work)

AA-EXP
HH-Diamond
Hertz-Pres. Circle

I have already made UA 1K and Hertz Presidents Circle for the year, primarily through work related travel. I am now 2 stays away from the 28 stays needed for Hilton Diamond. Though my job really doesn't require it, I am thinking of booking two additional stays at Hampton Inn to make HHonors diamond. Am I nuts to spend the money? Is it really worth it?

The larger question is, how many FTers have the top elite level for car/hotel/airline? And further, who spent their own money for the express purpose of getting the top tier?

I have UAL 1K, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, Hertz President's Circle.

hoorah for travel.

:)

See my post about National in the MilesBuzz forum too. National doesn't have any GPS system. But they do have easy pickup that is (I think) even easier than Hertz.

If you join Emerald Club, simply get online and reserve a car. Then, when you get to the airport, get to the rental car lot and pick out any car you want off the Emerald Isle. Quite often you'll be able to score an upgrade because they'll have an SUV or something like that on the Emerald Isle. I rented with them at DCA for about 3 months before I had status and got an SUV 90% of the time with an intermediate reservation.

Same counter service as everyone else at the podunk airports.

I have found, that in some locations, you can pick (almost, within reason) any car off the lot. There is nothing to tell them if the car was in Emerald Aisle or in the regular SUV row.

:)

ndimitru

I have found, that in some locations, you can pick (almost, within reason) any car off the lot. There is nothing to tell them if the car was in Emerald Aisle or in the regular SUV row.

:)

ndimitru

I have had this experience too. At SNA a few weeks ago everything on the aisle (EC & EC Exec) was crap so I just told them I was going to look around and find another car I liked. I have had many, many good experiences with National. Avis was good for me too, but National is usually cheaper and I love being able to easily choose my own car. Plus I like being able to quickly earn free rental days that I can use any day of the week (i think Avis just gives you free weekends).

----------------------
Airlines:
AA Platinum
UA Premier
US Gold Preferred
CO Silver

Hotels:
Marriott Platinum
Goldpoints Elite

Car Rental:
National Emerald Club Executive
Avis Preferred Select

Usually I hardly pay for any of it; this year its been about 50/50.

DL Plat Medallion for 2005
Hertz Presidents Circle for 2005
InterContinental Platinum Royal Ambassador for 2005

Great post. . .

will be 1K as of Sunday (was 1k in 2003, 2 and 1)
Hilton Diamond
National Exec Elite

I second the rec for National. Contrary to many other compainies, they have really enhanced their services, elite program and marketing in the last year. Picking the car is great, and even at little airports they give me just about any car they don't have reserved. I also love getting an email with my rental contract minutes after I return the car.

If you are redeeming any Hilton points next year, or plan to stay quite a bit, then arrange two more stays. you get a 50% bonus with diamond and no blackouts/(almost) unlimited availability.

I work in sales/marketing consulting. I do mostly domestic travel, with an occasional European stint.

Guess I've been missing something on the car rental, although Exec Platinum on American & Hilton Diamond I've never seen the point of "top tier" with a car company - my only experience was with Alamo and I didn't seem to getting anything (other than no or short lines) as a result of renting exclusively with them and being a quicksilver member.

:-: Sounds like I need to join National or Hertz instead :)

Sixt PLT has been a worthwhile addition as they give an automatic 20% rate reduction for LH SEN status. I did like National's Emerald as I like to pick my own car and still walk the lot to see what the choices are, except with Hertz, who usually gives me something interesting.

I must protest the use of my term "trifecta," I used to designate the OW, *A and SkyTeam top elite level held by an individual. You are mixing horses and dogs and rats (you figure which are which) and calling that a "trifecta." I guess a race is a race so fair use.

I actually did not own a car from 1993 to 1997. A company I worked with had at least 25 rental cars available at our lab at any time.

OW (AA) and *A (LH) top level
Hyatt and Starwood top level
Hertz #1 Gold and Sixt PLT.

LH Senator
Air France Rouge
KLM Platinum
BMI Gold
BA Silver (new for me)
I will keep all of them next year except KLM Patinum who will be downgrade to Gold

and yes I have already pay a bit of money choising a more expensive ticket with the apropriate airline for vacations to be sure to keep a statut.

In Europe it is a bit more difficult to be Diamond with hotels (we don't have a Sheraton, Hilton, .... in every city...)

I was Gold Hilton and I am now Gold Starwood.

I was invited into Avis President's Club by the regional director of Avis Car Rental recently so know, I can claim the Trifecta with top elite for airline/car/hotel.

I am Executive Platinum with AA and Platinum with Marriott Rewards.

Air

AA ExP
CO plat

Lodging

Hyatt Diamond
Marriott Plat
SPG Plat
Hilton Diamond

Car:

Notta - We can only use Budget and dont get squat except for Fast Break which fails me half the time anyway.. but I don't have a choice to move.. on personal travel, I book the cheapest by whomever offers the best deal.. often its Alamo and Advantage

Delta > Platinum
Marriott > Platinum
Starwood > Platinum
National > Executive Elite

Plus a few others at lower elite levels .... I would trade them all just sleep in my own bed for more than 1 or 2 nights in a row!

I was invited into Avis President's Club by the regional director of Avis Car Rental recently so know, I can claim the Trifecta with top elite for airline/car/hotel.

I am Executive Platinum with AA and Platinum with Marriott Rewards.

There is the pesky Platinum Premiere at Marriott, as well as UGS at United. What is the definition of Top Elite?
;)

I would discount Hertz Platinum as that is based on being a big-wig, not on rental activity.