Originally Posted by
canadiancow
I (barely) earned 35K at the end of 2012. The year they didn't do "sweeps" because they were transitioning to Altitude.
March 1 2013 I became 35K. It was glorious. MLL access. eUpgrades. Wow.
My goal for that year was 50K. It was going to be tight with some creative FP routings, but I knew I could do it.
Then EYWv1 hit, and I was 50K before summer, easily on target for 85k AQM.
So I picked up my flying a bit. I hit 75K by the end of summer. I noticed a huge change in upgrades. Most were clearing ahead of time, and most of the rest were clearing at the gate.
Then on my flight up to YYZ for the December do, I crossed 100k AQM, and shortly thereafter, I was officially SE.
My first trip as SE had a cancellation and an overnight. I was rebooked to a morning flight, keeping my upgrade. The standby list on that flight was about 150 people long. It was an E90.
While waiting to board that flight, another passenger and I were chatting. He mentioned he received an email about his cancellation, which I had not. He pointed to his 50K (or 75K?) tag and said "it's probably because of this". I showed him my BP. It felt good.
Meal priority over the next couple years felt great, as did most of the other perks.
But I'm certainly over the "glamor" now.
The benefits are still generally good. Lounge access for me and a +1 everywhere in the world (for life now, with MM). Easy upgrades. 50% discounts on all my crappy (non-F) redemptions. Concierge access. Meal priority.
But I'm also in a very different situation than 10 years ago, so:
1. Earning SE is trivial. It takes no effort, barring a global pandemic.
2. I just don't care any more. I book a lot of AA/DL/AS F, because the price/schedule is better. I credit most of my UA flights to UA. I am on track to "legitimately" earn Silver this year (versus IRROPS rebooking into full F, which got it for me the first time, or getting it through Marriott). I booked DXB-FRA-SFO (LH/LH) instead of DXB-YYZ-SFO (AC/AC) for no real reason. I've requalified for 2023, and I have 5 banked years. I could stop flying today and I'd be SE through 2028.
3MM would be nice. And given where I live and where I travel (YVR/YYZ/YYC are probably my top destinations, in that order), I'm sure I'll continue to rack up the LQM. But even 2MM is years away for me.
The first time is definitely special. I can't really imagine flying AC without SE any more. But it does get old.
It definitely does get old, but there was still excitement when I finally became SE for the first time. All of the opportunities lately for achieving status have kind of made it less "exclusive" and I have found that disappointing. At the same time, flying AC and not being SE will likely be an eye opener (although I am good now till the end of 2024).
I also have started to look at other carriers for lots of different reasons. Flying paid J on other carriers does mean you get most of the benefits, so maybe if you are routinely flying J, having status is less of big deal.
I have found the best part of being SE is the concierge. They generally look after the SE's well, and along with the priority awards, is probably the benefit I have enjoyed the most.