$91 difference- worth Silver Elite?

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Oct 3, 2009 | 9:19 am

#31

rjque

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Portland

Posts: 11,690

$91 for silver status for a California resident? It's probably not worth it. You are unlikely to ever see an upgrade on your CA-IAH/EWR flights and the chances vary for destinations beyond that. I guess if you fly regularly to somewhere like Florida, it might be worth it for the occasional upgrade between IAH and FLL.

Oct 3, 2009 | 9:50 am

#32

njcommodore

Join Date: Jan 2009

Location: IAD

Programs: UA Gold, Marriott Rewards - LTPP

Posts: 4,242

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjque

That is unless you fly Y/B or want the extra 25% mileage bonus. The elite security line and preboarding is nice too, especially if you're in Y and fighting for bin space.

Oct 3, 2009 | 7:08 pm

#33

bmw303

Join Date: Feb 2008

Posts: 1,608

Quote:

Originally Posted by njcommodore

That is unless you fly Y/B or want the extra 25% mileage bonus. The elite security line and preboarding is nice too, especially if you're in Y and fighting for bin space.

in addition to bag fee waivers which can save quite a bit each trip.

Oct 3, 2009 | 7:18 pm

#34

channa

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Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Bay Area, CA

Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K

Posts: 35,092

Quote:

Originally Posted by njcommodore

That is unless you fly Y/B or want the extra 25% mileage bonus. The elite security line and preboarding is nice too, especially if you're in Y and fighting for bin space.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmw303

in addition to bag fee waivers which can save quite a bit each trip.

These are all fair points, but remember that a Silver doesn't fly that much to begin with, especially one who is struggling to make Silver. We could be looking at someone who flies as little as 2 trips a year.

The bag fees may not be an issue if they're flying internationally, or if they don't check bags often. As has been pointed out, upgrades on CO out of the West Coast are nearly impossible for Plat, so essentially non-existant for Silver.

And the Elite bonus is only 25%, if you're flying 25K or less, it could be pre-paying $91 for a potential of up to 6,000 miles (or less) and some pre-boarding privileges on a couple of trips.

It really is a YMMV situation.