Originally Posted by
CPRich
Only if you've been paying more for flights to get on a specific airline. I can't remember doing that more than 2 or 3 times in the last 20 years. 80%+ of the flights out of my home airport were the same airline for many of those years, so I built up lifetime status. But since they cut back, my elite status has hopped around based on where my projects were and who flew there. I do tend to fly to the same city for 9-15 months at a time, and the most timely/cheapest airline to a city is usually pretty consistent. When I had to fly to IAH, I was CO PLT, DFW the last year or so, so AA PLT, etc.
I used to pay anywhere between $1800 and $2000 in peak summer
fares between NYC and Asia.
This year, I only paid $1082 by flying Hawaiian Airlines. No miles and
no upgrades, must connect in Honolulu(not that it's a bad thing), but
I am saving almost $900 compared to the same flights on UA or NH
this time last year. (correction: there are miles... but only going into
Hawaiian's own program, which I haven't figured out yet)