I know...I know.... its an oxymoron isn't it?

Sure is like Jumbo Shrimp and the Thundering Silence.

Still, I can't help but feel somewhat mediocre. It seems like I travel but compared to some people on here I might as well be sitting at home. What can I say? I'm envious.

Sure I got lots of status but none of it seems to be good enough. Is this a common disorder? I dunno. I guess at the core - I value good customer service and I will pay for it more than a brand.

The one thing I have recognized however is that elite status is truly the only way to be recognized. Paying top dollar seems to come in second. So after years of abstinence I signed up for multiple programs.

Now I face a crisis. How do I act as a good corporate citizen and not let my PointLust control my travel decisions while at the same time accelerate my earnings to keep my envy in check?

Any ideas?

Follow your instinct and go for the points : If you have upgrades and treated nicely, you are happier, thus more productive ... so in the long run go for the points. Our company encourages us to collect points and get status, we have a ceiling for each city (hotels) and a list of preferred airlines , but that's it .

Well, for what it's worth, Gold elite status at Marriott doesn't generate much different treatment than Silver (the freebie status).

On one hand, this is a credit to Marriott - they never treated me badly as a Silver, whereas I have had absolutely horrid stays at other chains and non-chain properties. On the other hand, Marriott doesn't roll out the carpet and treat me like royalty because of my shiny little Gold card. I still get a nice room, still get nice treatment, no complaints.

Do I wouldn't panic: I think everybody has status-envy until they start accumulating the little pieces of plastic, and then it becomes no big deal.

IMHO, it's a bigger deal with the airlines where non-elites are treated miserably at almost every possible customer interface point leading up to the travel. (The FAs themselves don't seem to discriminate, which is good.) Elites get...marginally humane treatment from the airlines at all of those pre-travel touchpoints, so even a simple AAdvantage Gold card can radically change your overall travel experience.

Don't be. I'd much rather be at home with the kids than sleeping in a hotel 150 nights a year. I'm envious of "normal" people.

Yes well being gone 1/2 year isn't exactly my idea of fun (unless its for pleasure).

Trust me...You don't want to envy people with status...It looks like it provides you with excellent benefits...But the benefits are almost always overshadowed by things you give up in life.

Friends, family, your bed at home...And the list goes on.

You say you value good service....I think a lot of people who attain status value good service, which is what usually brings them back to a particular brand name, they come to expect a certain level of service (and as you could probably tell, they don't always receive their expected service which causes complaints). My strategy is to pick a brand I'm happy with (without having status) and stick with it...I've been happy with Marriott, I've been happy with Hertz (more so than Avis) and I have been somewhat happy with United, although I have not tried other airlines. I feel I receive acceptable and sometimes excellent service so I continue with going to the same brands.

As for your questions of keeping your lust in check...It really depends on what your company's policies are. Some will provide a ceiling on prices, others will have preferred properties. Follow your gut instinct on what your company will find accepable.

. . .On one hand, this is a credit to Marriott - they never treated me badly as a Silver . . .

Good point. Marriott offers a pretty reliable product experience across the board.

Even with Silver status, we've been bumped up to concierge floor on occassion when revisiting a property a few times a year ( I'm sure that this was more because they happened to have rooms, but still it was a nice gesture to be recognized as a returning customer to the property ).

If status helps a stay to be more enjoyable, then it's worth it with any chain. It's a matter of personal taste and needs.

Barry

...for just one solid month...hell 2 weeks at home!!!!

okay maybe I wouldn't give up status in all...but the point remains the same...the status is nice, but to echo psychephylax...the sacrifice is "a life". I've joked about it for years, (getting lost on the way home, the dog growling at me, my son's definition of "dad" being that cool guy who visits every other weekend, etc.) But some of this crap is actually starting to happen. At 150 nights a year you have status (or if you plan well you could) yet your home over 200 nights a year!!!

The problem with the advice "go for the points" is that is often causes otherwise illogical behaviour. Sometimes, even often, "the tail wags the dog."
We stay at hotels that might not be the best value or location for the points that we can earn to our favorite program.

And with airline FF programs, it is far easier to see examples of illogical action. We all have been guilty of passing up another carrier's multiple nonstop flights to our desired destination and opting instead for our favorite carrier's connecting flights. Not only does that create a journey that is at least a couple of hours longer, it always raises the possibility of a misconnect. But we get FF miles that count toward attaining the Holy Grail of elite status.

Suddenly just having the ordinary Marriott card doesn't seem so bad!

[QUOTE=RobertS975]The problem with the advice "go for the points" is that is often causes otherwise illogical behaviour. Sometimes, even often, "the tail wags the dog."
We stay at hotels that might not be the best value or location for the points that we can earn to our favorite program.

QUOTE]


Am I the tail or the dog in this analogy?

Are you working for my wife (non FTer doesn't understand value/fascination with earning points)?

Just had to respond...I know I often stay at a hotel that's slightly less efficient than another so that I can earn points, but as 90% of my flights are short haul, I'm good there. As for the best value isn't that a direct correlation to "points earned"

[QUOTE=rbedgood]I know people who fly from BOS to ORD and connect in either ATL or CVG to get their Delta miles (and their status/upgrades). And people who fly from SFO to SAN via SLC. Now, each of these routes has literally dozens of nonstop flights. Every now and then, there is a mis-adventure and these FFs will misconnect, and every now and then, an unplanned overnite at the hub due to missed connection, cancellations etc. Now some of these folks are fairly high-powered businessmen who literally command huge hourly consulting fees etc, but somehow the fact that their elapsed travel times take several more hours over a nonstop doesn't figure into their calculations.

. . . some of these folks are fairly high-powered businessmen who literally command huge hourly consulting fees etc, but somehow the fact that their elapsed travel times take several more hours over a nonstop doesn't figure into their calculations . . .

I suspect that most of these types of folks are tooling around on the company's expense account and being on the road a great deal, they have a different perspective of time and ( someone else's ) money. Lots of business travellers are however captive to the airlines and they are often compelled to take circuitous routes to their destination. Most need a FF program to make all of this flying tolerable.

FF programs are in some ways, less flexible than a hotel rewards program. We live near PHL and US Airways FF program fits us like a glove covering most destinations we travel to non-stop or with a logical conneciton. We eschew Delta and other carriers because they do not offer good direct service out of PHL.

But our travel is almost always leisure as we are Marriott timeshare owners. We stick with Marriott for hotel stays, utilize the Marriott VISA, and roll our TS ownership into the MR program as our goal is destination travel and the MR program is a great enhancement to TS ownership and our travel goals.

The interesting thing about the MR program is that one can either earn points for stays or points for FF miles on an airline of their choice. Great flexibility. And most Marriott properties are well-situated thus most usually obviating the location issue mentioned by another poster.

I guess that a good rewards program is one that is flexible and serves both leisure and business travelers. Marriott certainly accomplishes that goal for lots of folks.

Barry

Perhaps OT, but my take regarding being a slave to miles: Over the years, I've learned that nothing beats a nonstop flight. Not a cheap airfare and certainly not bonus miles. Just this past weekend: Memorial Day trip to visit family in Florida, we took the nonstop WN flight to MCO. It was exactly what you'd expect for a cattle car to Orlando on a holiday weekend: a totally packed flight and dozens of cranky kids. But the other option was an AA flight through DFW. Even though I collect AA miles and hold a lifetime elite status, the time cost and additional time-risk of turning out 2h45m gate-to-gate trip into 5+ hours was simply unacceptable. So we took the cattle car. It sucked, but not as bad as getting stuck in Dallas would suck.

So with airlines, chasing the miles can get pretty costly and illogical if you let it. But with hotels, I've found that usually I don't have to give up much or anything to stay within the big three programs. Even on leisure, where the room cost is a factor, at least Marriott and Hilton have all sorts of brand/quality choices. Sure, there is occasionally a trip where we'll compare a 3rd-party-booked room vs. any points-earning option, but lately we've been doing a lot of 2-room bookings, so a Residence Inn or MVCI unit comes in lower-cost (and roomier!) than a couple of standard Priceline rooms.

You don't really have to give up much to participate in the hotel programs - as long as you check yourself when it seems that you might be working a bit too hard to make one chain work for your travel needs.