Originally Posted by FlyingFish

4. From what you all describe, a central 'power' feature of being a diamond is that you get on flights whenever you want seats, even last minute. This is indeed an excellent feature suited to last minute business travellers, particuarly premium passengers who need to jet across for an important closing... I am not one of those customers. I do fly a lot (150-200K per year) but almost all of it is planned at least a month in advance, and often 2 months. I seldom change the date last minute and my local professional commitments do not permit too many changes. Therefore, this feature of the diamond membership is not useful to me.