As an interesting side note, I just compleated an aircanada survery and some of the questions were around the ability to purchse status miles with cash or points if you were within 10k of the next status level. There we also some questions about purchsing additional e-upgrade credits.

But my situation is differnet. :eek: Because of IRROPS, I am over the threshold by 274 miles. Can I get a refund or will they credit me and allow me to be 274 short next year? :D:D

Good one!

I find it amazing why people feel "entiltled" to one or another. AC has a loyalty program. Qualify for the various levels requires the member to be loyal and fly AC and associated carriers in *alliance. That's it, that's all. As easy as it might seem to "gift" one member here and there, it is at their discretion. Why? Because it's their loyalty program! Should they gift? I don't know. AC will gift if they feel it is in their best interest to do so.

If someone falls short of a qualifying level, then its really not AC's fault. As mentioned above, if status is important for someone, then let that someone pony up a few bucks for a mileage run.

Being able to buy your way into the next tier if you are close enough makes a lot of sense to me. The gray area is then dealt with in an even handed manner, is more profitable for the airline and gives customers their way out if status is really important to them and they can't make it onto a flight.

I think for getting comped over, status and the amount of business you do with a company, as well as the magnitude of the "favor" being asked, usually affects how adamantly they interpret the rules.

I'd be willing to bet a nice polite 10 year running SE with no history of problems or complaints who falls short by 10 miles has less to worry about than someone with no status falling short by a few hundred of E.

I think I know the answer to this question, but would like the opinions of others.

Friend is currently Elite which was earned in 2010, will expire Feb 29, 2012. She has 23,000 SM at the moment for 2011.
No real travel planned for balance of 2011 calender, with quite a few other commitments in balance of 2011. MRs are possible but a hassle.
Early 2012 (Jan thru March) has much more free time.
Is she better off just flagging requalifying for Elite this year, and doing it in early 2012 instead whereby she will qualify right through until Feb 2014?

As far as I know, the only benefit she will lose in Jan/Feb 2012 is the 50% Elite bonus miles (assuming she chose that benefit) since the year for the bonus miles runs from Jan to Dec. Otherwise, all her other Elite benefits are intact until Mar 1/12. So assuming she does 35K miles in those 2 months, she would lose out on 17,500 non-status miles.

Since she is so close, it might be worthwhile to go for Prestige though, just so she can those few meagre ecredits (and 25% bonus miles), and then she can add those to her pool when she gets early Elite.

Given the poor choices this year as opposed to previous, she would have chosen ecredits over bonus miles.

P is a good idea though. The ecredits from that coupled with leftovers from this year will make Jan thru March more comfortable.

AH HA!

Thats why fares are so high after christmas. Has nothing to do with people visiting loved ones, people close to status doing MR clogging up the airways... lol

Then she definitely has nothing to lose by waiting until next year to requalify! I'd say it's a no brainer.

Prestige is worth considering because even though the 20 ecredits she could get as a benefit are useless as a Prestige, they will come in handy when she hits Elite. Actually, I wonder if she could use those ecredits in Jan/Feb on T+ fares because she will still have her Elite status. Anyone care to weigh in on this?

From everything we've seen, the system allows for use of credits based on the current status of the member, regardless of the status of the member when they were earned. So it would likely depend on when the update the system to show her new status. If they show her as an E in the system on January 1, I'd bet she'll be able to use the previous year's credits as if she was an E for the remainder of January and February.

However, this is a very YMMV situation, as we haven't seen how the system handles year changes yet, and my opinion is based solely on how the system reacts to P->E->SE changes during the same benefit year.

i wished Elite status could be donated.....Dont feel like travelling lately...... Found new hobby

Really? Care to share?

HGTV :p

I thought I've been giving out hints........ like turning my house into a MLL

Rather than MRing or travelling for status......I could for........

Prestige status - new bathroom
Elite status - new kitchen
Super Elite status - new hot tub

It's cute that you think a new kitchen costs less then a hot tub :p

IKEA kitchen vs dunno brand supersized hot tub enough to fit a MiniDO........... hehehehehe :D:p