Originally Posted by
MarkedMan
See if your co-worker got SWUs as part of the soft landing. If not that will have been a reason to do it the "proper" way
Yep, he has a shiny new stack of SWUs that expire in 1/11. Doing it the "proper" way netted me E-500s, CR-1s, Elite Choice rewards, and plain old miles that he didn't receive, but that's it.
Originally Posted by naumank
To be honest, I have never received the "Clooney treatment." I was acknowledged as a GS member only on 10% of the flights and I never noticed any better services on the flights compared with when I was a 1K member.
GS really isn't much different from 1K on a routine flight, when things are going as planned. It's only when things go wrong (which, thankfully, didn't happen often in 2009,) when it makes a difference. Several times I had a GS rep call my cell phone while sitting on a delayed flight, proactively offering alternatives. Of course, as a good FTer, I had already called in and made my own arrangements, but it's nice to know you're being looked after.
Also, the ability to upgrade award tickets is a huge benefit not available to 1Ks, and there were several times the GS agents were able to "unlock" inventory for award seats that wasn't officially available.
I'm definitely going to miss GS for 2010!