Silver Elite Question
 

As a lowly college student with not much money and trying to chase silver elite this year; is it worth it to make silver elite this year knowing that it will continue into 2010 without knowledge that may re qualify in 2010?

Basically, can someone convince me that making elite will somehow pay for itself over the next year?

It depends on how much you fly and where you're flying from. If you fly out of a hub location (EWR, CLE, IAH) it's going to be very hard for you to get upgrades as a Silver. Mileage bonuses are minimal now, only 25%.

The only real bonus is elite access airport privileges and the ability to Y-B-up (and slightly better reward redemption options). That's about it for Silver. Don't go too far out of your way to get there....

Currently, I fly out of DTW for the most part. But my home is IAH.

I was afraid someone would say that upgrades at hubs are few and far between. I've seen the lines for elite boarding and they only get longer as time goes by.

Not that reward travel is easy to get, but doing limited flying and spreading out your flights to several airlines leaves you with a few miles in multiple places and no good way to use them. If you are flying enough to make silver then you will be earning enough mileage to get at least one flight for free so you might want to look at it that way.

I am a Silver and due to the economy and resulting light loads I am 4/7 on upgrades so far.

With the cheap fares you could easily make Gold for ~$1500

I'm in the same spot as you. Is your college also where "Home" is or do you fly to visit "Home" for various holidays?

With an upcoming study abroad I was forced to change my habit of just flying around on WN and getting free flights and booze every so often. Everything for the program was finalized a little too late to change my flights already booked for the end of January - but from here on out i'm on going to try and be on CO unless it's ridiculously priced.

I'm going to be flying around to hopefully visit some grad schools and then once in a program in the fall i certainly will be coming home for holidays. If I end up in California I'll certainly make some status for 2010. If I end up going to grad schools in middle america.. well.. i might or I might not.

Edit: Do you happen to know what you flew, mile-wise in 2008? I'm going to pull up the lion-share of my flights from my RR account for last year and see just how much flying i really did.

We have been silver elite for five years now. This year will no longer be elite. Will I miss the extra perks? Sure I will. Is it worth the extra money to take flights just to gain elite status? No way. I used to think it was but no longer. The only things we get that I love are the elite phone line and the elite status on our luggage-- making it priority. We never get upgrades because we fly out of EWR. So, regrettably, we will no longer be seeking Silver this year. We'll save a small fortune in airfares so this is a no brainer for us.

Maybe it is just me, but I think that as a college student, you may not have the income necessary to actively select a preferred carrier. I know that sometimes the difference between CO and the cheapest can be $30 dollars, sometimes it can be $200. In that case, I don't think it would be worth it for a lot of people (myself included).

My 2 cents.

That depends on you! ;)

CO Plat and 1K paid for themselves, literally, in my case when I was in college. Be creative and you'll figure out something.

Income?! What does that have to do with anything?

The key to the game is dealing with the costs -- as long as you can offset those you're set. (And yes, income is a way - a boring way - to deal with them.)

I never understood this argument. Every flight is to or from a hub, so what the heck does it matter whether the first flight on the itinerary is going in to the hub or out from the hub? I suppose the directionality of the Monday/Friday flights makes a difference, but I've found that there's not a whole lot of rhyme or reason to upgrades as a Silver.

You can see my 2008 results in my sig. I've only flown 2 legs on NW this year and none on CO, but I'm batting .500 so far.

JE the OP is saying they just get to 25k and for this coming yr they will hav eto fly unnecessary flights to get there or spend more on a tkt for CO then another Carrier.

OP Id say now that Silver only gets a bonus of 25% and with the Economy being what it is, if it was me Id fly which Carrier can get me from A to B for the least amount of $$$ and pocket the rest.

Ex I had a res on CO for an Intl trip on hold , I called DL & AA and AA had a free Coach seat available at the Saver rate, I grabbed it and let my CO res expire. The CO tkt would have been 11 cents per EQM for that same $1350 I can fly back and forth PHL & Cali just under 6 times and earn 28k in EQMs.(OK I already have 56k in EQMs and no sweat getting 75k by yrs end).

Bout the only good thing to Silver is the free bags (or is it bag). If you fly with just carry-on then its a slam dunk , its Not worth it. BTW there are ways around the bag fees

Spartanflyer86,

I am a student at U of M, I live in PHX, I always fly out of DTW and I have Silver Elite status. I gained it a couple of years ago, and it doesn't look like I'm going to have it again.

To earn elite this past year, I flew between DTW-PHX 12 times (I flew NWA and flew mostly deeply discounted coach), in addition to a study abroad TATL and a few side trips. It's a lot of flying, but it does have it's perks.

You have no security line, you have no check-in line. You have no bag fees (except now I do on NWA), and the first class upgrades are nice. Not only do you get to sit up front and enjoy a bigger seat/better meal, its a great way to network with people and possibly connect to a job.

If you can get elite, get it. It makes flying easier and more enjoyable. It could cost you a little more in airfares, but you'll find that an extra $50 is worth it for all those conveniences. The upgrades as a silver are not numerous enough, but it's a perk that need not be included for elite to be worth it.

You can achieve silver status on 3 trips for ~1320 (if not cheaper). IAH-EWR-DUB-EWR-CLE-IAH AI was $440 and 9392 EQM.

I think you forgot the free baggage, which saves $100 a trip, per person (considering two bags per trip).

I think Silver is well worth the time spent, especially if one lives on the East Coast or West Coast. Those in the middle of the country who won't rack up TCONs might think differently. I don't consider (at least for me) Silver an extra expense, as I usually only need one MR to make Silver.....I think we're all forgetting that the OP probably travels enough to get close to Silver.

For me, being able to fly cheaply out of PHL (versus EWR) where I get extra miles (routing through IAH), cheaper flights and a better chance of upgrades makes silver worth every penny.