Hi- I'm fairly new here and wondered about the end of the year count towards Elite levels. I was Gold Elite 2 (or was it 3?) years and remained loyal to Continental even after all the changes in miles/points. Last year (2005) I was close to reaching Gold and we were planning a trip to Anchorge to visit friends and to put me over the top for sure. My father-in-law died on Christmas night and I was unable to go in time. I called the Elite desk and asked about rounding up, as I had met several men while traveling who told me that they'd been rounded up to the next level even though they were short on miles. The Elite Desk lady told me she had just been given info on this and was supposed to reassure people asking and tell them to keep flying CO.

Because there was nothing I could do to get those last miles in, I figured that I'd be rounded up, too. I wasn't and received info in March that I was now a Silver Elite. I don't think Silver Elite means anything anymore and I certainly don't get upgrades. After being a loyal customer for so long (I flew CO for years before becoming a Gold Elite) I was sure it would be Gold again. I even flew 1st class to London and back last Summer, and flew constantly through the year. I took the Elite Desk's word on another matter- flying within Europe. I was told I should take a certain NW/KLM flight from London to Munich via Amsterdam and I did, but only one half of the flight's miles counted!

My question is, how close to the next level does one have to be in order to be rounded up, and why are some members rounded up when others aren't? I met a man in the President's Club who was "rounded up" more miles than I needed 2 years in a row, and another man I flew with was also "rounded up". I've met at least six men and one woman in the past year and a half who got this privilege.

I could never have imagined my father-in-law dying suddenly the week I wanted to go to Alaska and at the time it wasn't much on my mind to think of my Elite status. I guess I thought that it would all work out.

Now I live in a city where it is cheaper to fly other airlines and I wonder, should I even bother staying with CO when the Elite program is so random?

Has anyone else experienced this? Believe me, I don't think ill of the people who WERE rounded up- I think they were lucky. But I do resent not having this done to me when I was an extremely loyal member.

Now I am flying to New York next week and am being told that I need to get on a waitlist and use points to get an upgrade. If it were a longer flight, I would, but why waste 15,000 points on an hour and a half flight?

I guess I am trying to justify staying with CO when I have a busy year starting this Summer and it might be better to try a new airline program. I don't think my loyalty was rewarded. It's probably abnormal to think so much of a "status" but I was thinking of CO as my home away from home.

I wouldn't even question it if I hadn't met others who were given the upper Elite status while short on miles. Is their business more important to the airline than mine?

Without knowing how many miles you needed to be "rounded up" ^ it would be impossible to render an opinion and even then it would just be my judgement which could be ^ or stay

Welcome to FT by the way.

How many miles were you short? CO doesn't publish any information on how many miles they will allow you to be short, but it's been reported to be under 1000. Regarding only receiving 50% EQM for NW/KLM flights, the details for each partner airline are different and depend on what carrier the flight was ticketed on, what carrier actually flew the flight, and what fare class you paid. details are here.

I know someone who was 'rounded' up who was just over 3,000 miles short. The person had flown four times in 2005: twice in Z and twice in Y, so maybe fare basis has something to do with it. The person also had two Y tickets purchased for 06 when the call was made--I don't know if the person could see that.

Thanks for the welcome!

As for miles, I know that my trip from Detroit to Anchorage would've put me over b/c we had planned to go the last week in December, but my hubby's dad passed on Christmas night. I've heard from a few people that they'd been rounded up anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000, and one man made Platinum for 3rd year in a row which surprised him b/c he was short by quite a bit.

I think the idea that 1 more trip (which we'd planned) would've set me over and other people got bigger "jumps in miles" and DID get the upgrade is what bothered me. I mean, we should all be equal. I wouldn't want their status taken away, but I do think that my losing the Gold Elite made me re-evaluate my flights. If they'd upgraded me to Gold, I would've had incentive to use CO for every flight instead of the other airlines I've begun to use. Knowing my routes and which flights I was likely to be upgraded on as a Gold member, I was flying CO a lot. If they'd rounded me up as they did other members I've met, they would've had at least one flight more a month from me in past months.

I'm Platinum with Starwood's hotels and have been for 3 years. I switched from Hilton and whle I am still Silver with them (I WAS gold) my allegiance changed and Starwood has made a lot of money from me. (And I have enjoyed the Platinum Perks.) I wonder if it's worth it to change my airline programs, too?

We had a discussion earlier in the year where some OP members did not get Elite status "rounded up" and that apparently it was happening less and less.

Well if you would have flown from DTW to ANC that would have been approx. 2970 miles each way so I assume you were needing somewhere between 2970 and 5940 EQM for your round-upto Gold. I would say your chances are slim....Then I would not begrudge you for trying ,even trying several different times in the hope of getting someone sympathetic to your plight.
Im a plat mainly flying Iah -EWR and my upgrades the last 2 months on 4 out of 4 segments has been zip.I dont know your routes ,but it may not matter anyway if your city pairs are as dismal with upgrades as mine

Ugh, the dreaded IAH-EWR route! When I lived in Houston I always used miles to upgrade myself b/c I never got upgrades as a Gold member. I go to NY twice a year and always flew IAH to Newark. Next week I am flying to NYC through Cleveland to LGA. Even with the plane change, I am glad it isn't the IAH-EWR flight!

I'm in the Detroit area now (Ann Arbor area) so just about any route begins with the equally dreaded ERJ flight, unless I fly through Houston, which I do regularly. But it would be easier for me to use Northwest, now, or Midwest Express. I know we get miles on CO for NW but the rules are ridiculous. When CO began basing everything on fares instead of miles flown, I think the Elite program went downhill. Last year I flew to London from Detroit via Houston 1st class and flew every month of the year. I was so much closer to Gold than Silver. I should've stopped flying CO when I hit Silver and started a new program on another airline. All those extra trips to hit Gold are for nothing. And I paid extra to fly CO from Detroit.

If I thought anyone would listen to my logic (who knew my father in law would die and prevent me from my last flight?) I would try to appeal to someone at the Elite program. We're both losing out- I'm not a Gold member any longer and they aren't getting much of my business this year. When I think of the money I spent last year at Continental, it makes my head ache! Not only that, but I had my hubby fly CO, and my father and cousins!

I'm enjoying Midwest Express, maybe that is worth a change. I mean, the space between Silver and Gold at CO Elite is pretty huge, and I was short ONE flight. I think the fare changes put the nail in the coffin for me. Still, if I were put back as Gold I would go back to every flight on CO, but I don't see it happening.

Don't know if you can do this, as most airlines require current account info, but you could try to do a status match with another airline with your Gold status. If you time it for the latter half of the year, you get the status for that year and the next, usually till the end of the calendar year. That's the only thing I can think of. That or book a ticket in Y or A and call up the Elite Desk. Hope I've been helpful.

- Ben

It turns out that I misquoted a friend when I contributed to this thread. He had actually just over eight hundred miles to go to make Gold last December. He was annoyed because he felt he was due an additional 3,000 EQM miles if CO had honored a Chase credit card sign-up promise. [He was promised EQM's, but they weren't credited to his account] He called about that, even sent a copy of the offer, but CO wouldn't give him the EQM's. In the end, he called three different agents on December 24 and gave each his sad story; the third agent promoted him to Gold.

Continental typically rounds up less than 500 miles. Don't belive garbage people on planes tell you. Second it could be their company gets some "comped" platinums. This happens with high rev corporations. And the whole one flight concept is not a good benchmark. One flight to HKG is about the difference between silver and gold, or gold and platinum.
The real issue is the last minute problem. If you registered for the last SAT of the year and had to miss it. Will the colleges admit you without it? Good execuse or not... sometimes life happens. It's not the companies job to modify the rules. CO tries to be fair. But you'd be shocked at the number of people who want to be rounded up to due some reason. How to you start judging the reasons? What is a valid reason? And more importantly, IS it fair to those that fly the required miles? Let's not be hypocrites. We get VERY upset on this board about comped Elites taking our upgrades.
My advice is take that missed trip now. It will put you well on the way to a higher status level.

Great to hear from you again Cigar!

Well put!

I wish I could agree, but I don't. I guess I feel like I flew an extra 20,000 miles for nothing. I think we're both losing. CO has lost 50 percent of my business, which is a lot, and I lost the Elite Gold status. Silver Elite to me, means that I get to board earlier than the non-Elite passengers. That's it. I'm earning less miles and I get no upgrades. I don't even know why we have a Silver Elite if it means nothing in the way of upgrades. As a Gold I was upgraded almost everytime, but as a Silver I am not, and I don't earn the extra miles so I can't use miles to upgrade as often.

I guess I feel that after years of patronage, 3 years at Gold, and all the money I spent to get those Elite miles, I wasn't appreciated. I missed one last trip b/c of a death in the family and I lost Gold. And I spent a lot of money to fly CO now that I am no longer living in the Houston area. The flights are more expensive and I could've flown other airlines for cheaper. But I was so sure that I'd make Gold again that I flew CO all last year. In fact, it was a member at the Elite desk who recommended a KLM/Northwest flight for me b/c she was SURE I would get Elite miles. Later I found that for some odd reason, I was given Elite miles on the departure but not the return flights. That was the ONLY non-Continental flight I took all last year!

If I had gone with another airline I would have those extra 20,000 Elite miles towards another airline program. 25,000 is Silver, so all above that was a waste, IMO. It's not just sour grapes- I actually phoned the Elite desk when my father-in-law died on Christmas night, and I realized I wouldn't be flying to Anchorage. I was encouraged to "not worry about it" and "keep flying CO!" So, I didn't, I did, and I lost out.

I flew 1st class to Europe and flew on the partner airlines I was told to in order to get Elite miles, but that whole trip wasn't even needed to get to the "Silver" level. I'm the type of person who will book a last minute flight/hotel if my status is in jeopardy. I'm Platinum with Starwood hotels and am close to being Platinum for next year already. I keep an eye on my flights/miles/points. So I was ready and happy to fly the last week of December but it was impossible. I would've at least felt better if the Elite desk had told me that I would not qualify when I phoned them in December. I wouldn't have held out hope for 3 months. If they had told me that they'd allow me to take my flight in January and have it count towards my Gold, then I would've gone in January.

I also think that the many people I met who told me of being rounded up were not lying. Why would they? There were too many and one man I got to know well from the PC in Houston was not lying to me. He got rounded up. Maybe it DID have to do with his job, but am I less important?

That being said, it's not all bad. I am enjoying other airlines, especially not having to take the ERJs as much and not having to switch planes every trip. I simply believed that with all the money I'd spent and all the flights I took, this was one of those iffy cases where a round up to Gold should've occurred. If I'd known that I would be short miles this past year and no chance of rounding up, I would have only flown the 25,000 miles with CO and flown the rest with another airline. I would've saved money and time.

I guess it is like getting into an argument with a best friend. We both lost out. Then again, it is only my opinion!