Originally Posted by
Eastbay1K
It is a huge improvement for many. I know a fair number of people that fly mostly shorthaul VX (with an occasional longhaul) on cheap fares and never end up with status. I was actually surprised to find out that one friend wasn't silver knowing her what should have been frequent-enough travel patterns.
Yeah, I have the silver card almost exclusively for the no-change fee benefit. I only got up to about 18,000 status points, so didn't make it to status. I doubt I'll have close to that this year. I appreciate the bag-fee change. When I used it before it lingered there, even though the counter person said it posts and is refunded the same-day.
I've never had a real problem with the card as noted above in this thread. Plus, I think the reward travel levels is pretty good compared to other cards/programs.