Originally Posted by
findark
Until a paid premium ticket gets you the same access to reservations agents and general handling that status does, I have to strongly disagree with this. "Chasing" might be a bit much, but the ability to ring through directly to an agent in a time of need is a significant benefit.
I believe that a number of carriers offer this in F, but I have never heard of it in J. But to use UA as a prime example, you can purchase a Polaris ticket with no status and simply be SOL in IRROPS, waiting in line with every no-status pax in Y in the phone queue.
That’s fair, but your odds of experiencing IRROPS is directly proportional to how much you fly. If you’re not flying very often in Y, it’s not worth much. (And if you’re flying often in J, you’ll get status without optimizing.)