Question 8
Question
As a Continental OnePass member who has earned elite status this year for the first time since 2001, what is the best way to efficiently accumulate miles toward maintaining elite status? Also, at what price point does it make sense to redeem miles for a domestic coach reward ticket?
--Michi
Answer
Elite staus, the holy grail for frequent flyers. Upgrades don’t often happen without elite status. Speed through security doesn’t often happen without elite status. Chocie award redemption doesn’t often happen without elite status. Accumulating miles at a faster rate than general members doesn’t often happen without elite status. Yes, elite staus is well worth the miles and hassles you’ve endured so far. And how to maintain that status is part of the game.
It always pays to know very well all the airline partners of your preferred frequent flyer program. For many current OnePass members, most have not yet re-calibrated their profiles with the various travel booking and other systems after Continental’s switch from the SkyTeam to Star Alliance. Typically travel agents and online travel agencies such as Expedia, Travelocity, etc. store your frequent flyer number in their system so when you book a flight, the frequent flyer number you have associated with that particular airline is automatically added to that reservation. When you have airline partner changes like the recent change of Continental from Delta and Northwest to United and US Airways, it requires you to remember to go into your profile with online travel agencies or contact your travel agent and change the frequent flyer number associated with a particular airline. Several months ago, you would have had your Continental OnePass number listed under Delta and Northwest, while having a Mileage Plus number listed under United and US Airways or a Dividend Miles number listed under US Airways and United, depending on which other program you choose as your backup program. Today, those same profiles need to be edited to reflect that under United and US Airways you have listed your OnePass number and under Delta (Northwest has now disappeared for things such as this) would be your Delta SkyMiles number, this now being your backup program. Many members miss the housekeeping detials of things like this, and of course once a flight is flown, you can’t go back to have the miles recredited to another program.
Their is other task and this requires just a little extra time when you are booking tickets. If you are like most business travelers, loyalty to one airline matters, but when it comes to business flights, you may be at the mercy of a corporate travel policy that states that you must fly the cheapest flight available. In these situations, it is important to know which airline is offering the #2 cheapest airfare and sometimes the #3 cheapest. The reason is that you may find situations where Continental or one of its partners is not offering the cheapest airfare. Rather than default to the cheapest choice, you may look at and decide what the difference will be to pay more to fly with Continental or a partner airline to make sure you get the miles you need for elite status. You’ll have to decide for yourself what the threshold is to make it worthwhile. For me, I easily paid up to $30 more for a Continental flight in order to add to my elite status miles – and of course, you also increase your chances for an upgrade since not flying Continental will likely mean you’re sitting by the toilets. These decisions are yours to make but worth considering, especially when you are working with a travel agent who might just give you the “cheapest” airfare with no other flights for comparison.
Just three other suggestions to consider as you develop strategies for maintaining elite status.
What’s in your wallet? If you are just barely Silver elite, you will always be on the bubble at the end of the year and one canceled business trip could mean the difference between Silver and fools gold.
Continental has one credit card which can help maintain elite status. Called the Presidential Plus World MasterCard, this card allows you to earn what they call Flex Elite Qualification Miles (EQMs) based on your credit card purchases. For every $15,000 in purchases you make, you’ll earn 2,000 Flex Elite Qualification Miles (Flex EQMs), up to 14 times a year. These miles do not expire, and you can redeem them toward Elite status at any time in future years. This card could be a nice part of your overall strategy. Now, the card is not cheap with an annual fee of $375. But it comes with Presidents Club lounge access which doesn’t come with any of the elite tiers of Continental and it may be cheaper than having to go all out on a mileage run late in the year.
Speaking of mileage runs. Hate to break it to you but often your year end travel is not complete until you can verify that you have re-qualified for your elite status. If you’re not sure you’ve qualified, then you may have to join thousands of other “late shoppers” in hopping on just about any flight to nowhere just to earn the necessary miles you need to re-qualify. Look to FlyerTalk.com for help here by reading through the “Mileage Run Deals” thread.
And finally, part of your strategy will have to include the new R&R --reading and research. Over the past few years several frequent flyer programs have offered their members opportunities to increase the number of EQMs they earn either by flying or from participation with program partners. You really need to be aware of these special limited-time, registration-only offers. They could come at any time of the year, although most recently they have been targeted toward the end of the year. You really do need to know about these. You can do one of two things, do the reading and research yourself, or find a surrogate for this. If you aren’t a mileage geek, you’ll often know others who spend more time hanging out with their miles than on Facebook. Let them know you need a favor to let you know if they ever see anything related to earning more elite miles with Continental OnePass. If you don’t know the information yourself, then know someone who does know the information.
So there you go. Without going into the actual rocket science of all this, these tips should help you stay elite. I’m OnePass elite and I follow my own advice.
Last edited by Randy Petersen; Jan 25, 2010 at 5:14 am