Originally Posted by hfly
Do not take it the wrong way, but in actual fact travelling with a handicapped kid on a US carrier is like defacto elite status
This is pretty much true. I am a wheelchair user and I have no status (partly because I never seem to fly the same airline twice), and I've sometimes considered going on extra trips to get status, but considering that I get pre-boarding, and usually am seated in the front of coach (or the first row, thank you Frontier Airlines), I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.