Originally Posted by
worldtrav
The sooner you liberate yourself from the shackles of airline frequent flyer programs the better your life will become.
Originally Posted by
iapetus
But this could also be used to justify obtaining MM status, no?
Indeed, after achieving 1MM ~ 5 years ago, I shifted away from UA and now fly different airlines but concentrate most of my mileage earnings with AA and oneworld partners. It's great to come back to UA/*A occasionally knowing that I still get *G benefits. For me, the most valuable *G benefits are:
1) +1 *G status for wife/husband/companion/friend,
2) lounge access on CA/ZH, BR, and NH,
3) *G bag allowance on the above-mentioned Asian carriers
4) free bag and E+ on the 1-2 trips/year I now fly on UA,
5) the small but still >0% chance of CPU, which happened on a LAS-LAX flight last fall.