zipadee

Mr. Zipadee got the gold Starwoods offer via his AA status. Late checkout and a corner room was the primary benefit I saw. I don't know of any current offers like that.

nkedel

Depends on how far you fly... I've made Platinum for 7 of the last 9 years on 3-4 trips in a year (and kept it for one other thanks to the 2002 "no downgrades"), albeit mostly transpacs (see for example my longest single trip itinerary.)

As an aside, my wife has made GLD a couple of times, but it's never "stuck" - this year she'll make it on miles, although I have been encouraging her to challenge PLT as it would only take a short domestic MR (750 EQP) to make it. Other than a few more RDM for her, I've never noticed any advantages to having PLT + her GLD over just my own status.

travelingmore

We faced a similar question as we began traveling more after my recent retirement. My husband had more lifetime AA miles, so we worked on getting him to GLD Lifetime, accomplished earlier this year ( cc's, Starwood point transfers, etc.) I have about 250,000 lifetime miles, and we have decided to now pursue GLD Lifetime then PLT LT for me. I happen also to have made ExecPLT this year effective thru Feb. 2011 (MR's during the BOS/LAX DEQM promotion), so I am having fun at that status, learning much from the FT forums and getting double mileage for paid flights.

kboo

You have inspired me! Nothing to add, other than I agree with all the above - I have been PLT for the last several years and Dr. kboo and I are working toward LT PLT for me before anything else. He travels for work far less than I do, so it's only a couple trips a year that he has to suffer as a lowly Gold without me around.

SeeBuyFly

The very post you quoted talks about lifetime status, and lifetime status is why what you said is wrong.

gardengirl

We got into AA with point transfers from Marriott Rewards. From reading TUG and flyertalk I was able to get my husband's AA account up to lifetime Gold. I'm still not very savvy on how to take advantage (no pun intended) of maximizing his Gold benefits. We use our miles mostly for long trips like going to Europe in Business Class. Looking at his current statement he has:



YTD Elite Qualifying Points 494 (49,506 until Platinum)
" " " Miles 987 (49,013 until Platinum)
" " " Segments 1
Miles Toward Elite Upgrades 987
Miles Subject to Expiration 30,196
500 miles upgrade account balance 2

He's not flying for business much anymore. It was those 2 500 mile upgrades that prompted my post. I don't know what to do about those.

We also get miles from the dining rewards program.

We are now putting point transfers into my AA account to get it to Lifetime Gold. I have 824,000 miles towards Gold. 213,852 available award mileage. All the lines for points, miles, segments and 500 miles upgrades are 0. I have about 100,000 spg points that I can transfer into miles (Marriott no more )

We're thinking/dreaming of a trip to the Lake District in England.

Should I be working on his account for Platinum or mine for Gold?
How can I use those 500 mile upgrades?

Thank you for any help. I'd like to be able to look at these statements and be able to strategize on my own. Right now I don't know know much more than how to purchase ff tickets with miles. I don't understand the upgrades.

beerup

If you mostly travel together and travel international, it would be beneficial to get his account up to LT PLT since you would then get access to One World lounges when traveling on international itineraries. However, if you travel in business class, you will already receive this benefit.

You may want to check out this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ill-exist.html speculating on upcoming changes in the qualification for lifetime status. This speculation is specifically a change to earning lifetime status only from flown miles (i.e., not bonuses, transfers from other programs or credit card purchases etc). With that in mind, you may want to work on whoever's account is closest to the next lifetime tier and trying to cross the threshold before the end of the year.

beerup

The upgrades are explained here: http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Upgrades_(AA). They are commonly referred to as "sticker" upgrades (for historical reasons). Essentially, each 500-mile upgrade can be exchanged for one person to upgrade one class of service on a domestic flight up to 500 miles long. 500-mile upgrades can be combined for longer flights, i.e. your husbands 2 500-mile upgrades will allow him to upgrade on a flight up to 1000 miles. Requests for upgrades are granted based upon unsold seats in the higher class of service and are competitive with other requests based upon elite level and time of request.

MilesMark

A couple of thoughts....

Although miles can be inherited upon the death of a spouse, status cannot be. Sorry to sound so insensitive, but if there is a big age or health difference between the two of you, it may help you decide where to accumulate miles. I wholeheartedly agree with the prior poster about the lounge benefits of PLT, but if the day may come when you're flying solo, so to speak, those benefits will be lost and you'll be appreciating your priority access to counter help and boarding.

Also, I suspect many SPG account holders are delaying making transfers into miles since AA offered a very limited window of opportunity to get an extra 35% bonus on conversion of points to miles. We're all hoping that an offer like that comes along again some day and keeping our points in the hotel programs for the time being.

rikramer

also, no rush on using those 500mile upgrades. they never expire.

gemac

Based on your flying patterns, I would say that Platinum status for him or Gold status for you is no big deal. You use your miles for Business Class tickets to Europe (mostly), and you won't notice much if any difference because of status on those flights. You will get to use premium checkin, premium line at TSA, free lounge access, priority boarding, and priority baggage service. You will notice the difference that elite status makes when flying on paid tickets. So far this year, you have one paid segment between the two of you, so no big deal. I would keep the hotel points in the hotel program and use them to get hotel tickets, and pay for your plane tickets. If you feel you must travel internationally in Business, compare the cost of purchased miles to the cost you would have to pay for a hotel which could otherwise be paid for with points.

dream7

But if you lose status, they can be very hard to use, if not impossible.

beerup

The OP's husband (whose account the 500-mile UGs are in) is LT GLD.

sent

But what if you gain the status back? Do the stickers just sit there and become usable again?

beerup

Yes