itaexpat

Alright, this may strike some readers as a bizarre if not cringy post, but I'm under the veneer of anonymity

I find myself spending a ton of time and mental energy strategizing, looking up flights, crunching numbers so that I can retain airline status at any given point. When it's time to book a trip, the rumination is real. What else is new, says literally all of you, otherwise you wouldn't be on this forum? But my question is: how do you know when it's time to give up, especially when you have status with multiple airlines like I do? What criteria do you use to decide that it's no longer worth chasing status with an airline? I know we're all different with this. It comes down to the individual, their financial situation, their family situation, their work situation... but I'm no looking for the answer (that doesn't exist), rather hear how other people approach this question to open my mind to new possibilities.

Right now I'm basically trying to decide if it's worth putting in a bit more work and money to keep United Silver. I easily secured renewal of Flying Blue Platinum this summer already, and this fall I'm taking a few UA itineraries that just wouldn't make sense on SkyTeam metal. I'll find myself very short of renewing Silver, which I had not expected when I had decided to focus on Flying Blue. Because MileagePlus points don't roll over to the next year, I feel like I'm just wasting money on UA. So I'm wondering if I should sacrifice my customary AFKL itinerary to Europe at Christmas in favor of UA/LH. But then I won't get a good head start on Flying Blue in 2024, and what if that ruins my Platinum streak...! Ahhhh!

How do y'all approach these first-world quandaries? Is there a mindful method to this madness? (I hope the humor comes through clearly)

WingedWorldExplorer

Stop Now.

You spend money now to get miles and status.
By the time you redeem those miles will have been devalued and status benefits will have been reduced once or even twice.

I have been Executive Platinum on American Airlines for several years and even earned LifeTime Platinum Status when I reached 4 million miles.

But no more. Just flew from New York to South America on special fare and earned only ~ 1000 miles.

Yes I could have earned more if I had spent more. I get that, but then its not a Loyalty Program anymore but simply a mileage $$$$ purchase equivalent.

Totally different concept from how it started and envisaged in 1981.

itaexpat

this all makes sense, thanks!

fair point — although airlines are incentivizing that behavior more and more by making their loyalty tiers revenue-based. I’m just about to hop on a UA flight and realizing renewing silver would be a matter of dumping money and not true loyalty. My true loyalty is to Flying Blue and SkyTeam, which I’ve flown religiously for years. United Silver is also not that big of a deal. If I’m flying with my partner, most of the times we can’t get adjacent E+ seats for free at check-in so that benefit becomes moot. I usually fly UA domestic and with just a carry-on so free baggage is seldom if ever used. It still doesn’t feel great to have spent money on them with no return for next year but so it goes.

arollins

If E+ on UA is important for you, best to pay for the benefit you want, rather than chasing the status. That's when I realized that it was time to stop chasing status. Over time, the benefits have been diluted, all it takes is a credit card sign up and you have the pseudo membership without putting the effort.

GUWonder

Between what is mentioned above and the compression between the price/cost of buying regular-priced regular economy class tickets on the legacy majors and the price/cost of buying discounted business class, the relative value gotten out of airline frequent flyer program status is thus no longer worth chasing for some in the way it used to be. And given the drying up of OPM-paid travel, people whose FFP elite status used to be entirely or mostly paid for by employers/clients/grants should know its time to re-evaluate and consider giving up on chasing airline elite status given the out-of-pocket costs involved and the opportunity costs for chasing FFP status.

itaexpat

I used to attain status with a combination of work and personal travel. My personal travel is best covered by my preferred airlines, and I rack up UR points very fast with my CSR credit card, so sometimes I've even been able to purchase J itineraries with them - and that is because I put a value on status, and I was able to afford it, so I didn't mind using credit card point currency for status-lucrative travel. But my work travel has dried up substantially recently, so I'm considering just taking advantage of UR transfers to airline programs instead. I continue placing value of status because I travel so often, even for personal reasons, that having status has made it more sustainable and less stressful in many ways. But if you can redeem your points/miles for J travel, then you should have access to most benefits anyway. It's just... you can't always redeem for business or first, in which case without status you lose out a bit.

GUWonder

Well, what timing. This weeks’s announced changes to acquiring/retaining Delta Air Lines elite status are an example of when more people should jump ship off the elite status hamster wheel and go more toward being a free agent who acts mercenary in the marketplace for their own self-interest as a consumer.

radagastmod

Seems like the only constant is that the programs will continue to devalue.. Take what you can get, but don't go out of your way for it. Delta model is future of airlines and hotel programs have been decaying since Starwood got absorbed.

Dr Jabadski

Sorry to be snarky humorous rude ??? but it’s time to stop chasing status once you achieve Lifetime Status (LT).

In all seriousness, this is a longstanding debate and you’re exactly correct with “… the answer (that doesn't exist)…” and “… comes down to the individual, their financial situation, their family situation, their work situation...” I recall 10-12 years ago attending a presentation at a MegaDO about not chasing status. The discussion is completely different for a business traveler vs a leisure traveler.

Unfortunately achieving status has become more challenging over the past 20 years (in my mind making status more valuable, the opposite of a devaluation). Gone are the days of all miles (credit card, BankDirect) counting toward status on AA and gone are MRs (mileage runs) as an efficient means toward earning miles and status on all airlines. On the other hand there are now many more credit cards which include status benefits or include a head-start on status requirements. It’s prudent to limit the number of programs for which one chooses to chase status starting with 1 airline and 1 hotel program, more if additional travel (or easy opportunities) warrants.

Personally, writing as 95% personal leisure traveler I achieved my first status serendipitously about 20 years ago. After a western ski trip or 2 I had legitimately flown transcon (from NYC) or to Las Vegas (connecting in LAX or SFO) several times all on UA and in July received Premier status (25K miles). When I finished all my legitimate travel for the year in early December I had ~46,800 miles, saw that 25K status received 25% earned mileage bonus and 50K status received 100% bonus and decided to fly to FLL via ORD for lunch in the terminal before getting back on the same plane to fly to ORD and LGA to earn 3800 miles and Premier Executive (50K) status for the next 14 months. (I was so smug at the time and thought I was so smart, didn’t realize until finding FT 6-8 years later that what I had done, and did occasionally over the years, was a well-known and well-discussed procedure known as Mileage Run.)

Part of my pursuit of status, starting ~20 years ago, included shifting destinations for things I would be doing regardless. Instead of 3 or 4 or 5 annual ski trips driving to Vermont I flew to the Rockies or Vancouver/Whistler. Instead of driving to (required) CME (Continuing Medical Education) a few miles from home I found CME which required flying, usually transcon. Perhaps you might be able to shift some driving trips to flying trips, if business or educational related it could be tax deductible (a small additional perk). Hotel status for a nugget* is a no brainer: Hilton Diamond via AmEx Aspire card. Hilton has an extensive footprint, Diamond gets breakfast (in many Hilton hotels) and the AF of $450 is very easily offset via low hanging credits (airline fee $250, Hilton resort $250, annual free night) to result in at least $50 put back in your pocket every year.

If you have a reasonable path to LT status it’s probably prudent to pursue it as LT status does provide a good deal of peace of mind, even with ever changing benefits and procedures. Of course LT status is just like FF miles in general, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Took me 35 years total flying including the last 15 years with occasional (1 or 2 annually) MRs to achieve LT status on UA.

(*Naval Aviation “nugget”: “A Nugget is a first-tour Naval Aviator or Flight Officer, especially applicable during their first deployment.” and/or “A nugget was defined as a brand-new naval aviator who’d just received his wings of gold and was now enrolled in advanced flight training.” - funny story in this link.)

pinniped

All of the programs have devalued to the point where I no longer chase any status.

My two LT's are Marriott Titanium and AA Gold. I will also have UA Silver as long as the benefit is there with Marriott Titanium, and HH Diamond as long as they keep paying me to carry around a credit card that includes it. So these are nice to have - ensuring an avoidance of the worst hotel rooms, airline seats, and customer service - but I have little expectation that any of these companies will do anything great for these tiers in the future.

Sometimes my domestic U.S. travel is enough to hit a low-tier Alaska or Southwest status, but I will no longer pass up a nonstop flight to chase status by taking connections. Thus I won't consolidate on one airline/alliance enough to hit a mid-tier or higher. I used to go out of my way to fly AA, spent a lot of time sitting in Chicago or Dallas because of it, and it just isn't worth it anymore. Time is too valuable. The benefits of an upgrade here or there - if I'm really lucky - aren't.

kdinino

It's a great question and after hearing Delta's news, I'm done with the chase. Time is now my most valuable currency. I'm older, have a family and we travel 4-5x a year leisure and maybe 12-15 business trips max. I'm picking direct flights and will pay for premium economy out of pocket.

The upgrades just don't happen often for me as a Silver or Gold over the years. It's simply not worth it.

I don't even look at the Mileage Run forum anymore as it's quickly become obsolete. And to think I would spend hours in there a decade or so ago. Things change and the airlines want all your money, all your card spend and will devalue more and more. It's close to worthless anyway (status) unless it's the highest tier.

If Southwest actually flew on time, had better service and seats with in seat power and better wifi , they would get all of my business. So for now, you bargain shop and then pay for the added perks that matter. For me, that's a bigger seat. That's all I really care about - a direct flight with a comfortable seat and great wifi/power in seat.

Dr Jabadski

Agreed. Was at one time among my favorite forums.

I should have added that during my first few years here, I often thought “geez, I thought I was the only person weird enough to do this but these folks (FTers) have perfected it.”

jeanie

For me, I scaled back when the game of trying to get to the next level wasn't any better than the lifetime statuses at Marriott and AA that I already have.

I have been traveling for work over 25 years. I went through several phases. First, I really wanted lifetime plt on AA. I am glad I was aggressive and achieved that goal when all miles still counted. The free main cabin extra and 2 checked bags save a bunch of money. I fly out of DFW. When I stopped being ex plt a few years ago, I never got upgraded again.

I was also a big Hilton fan. They gave me some really nice perks as a diamond in the early 2000s - especially on European travel. I am still a long way away from lifetime Diamond at Hilton because I wasn't able to be exclusive to the brand. I travel to a lot of small towns in the US on business, and most of these towns had either a Hampton or Fairfield Inn. So I split stays between Hilton and Marriott.

Finally, I was able to attain lifetime plt with Marriott just in time to be grandfathered into lifetime Titanium. Great decision! I used some flyertalk tricks on this one because I thought it was worth it!

Nowadays, I mainly go after hotel points/certificates. Hotel stays typically cost me more than airline tickets when I travel. For me, all of the devaluations have taken the excitement out of getting lifetime statuses just because I can. The Marriott cards that offer 5 - 50K certificates are a great deal.

If Hilton were to offer a lifetime gold, I might go after that. I'm not going to hold my breath for Hilton to offer that, though.

Dr Jabadski

Hilton does offer essentially lifetime Diamond status which is relatively speaking, easy to attain. AmEx Hilton Aspire card. There are many reports as to how this card, despite the high annual fee, puts money in your pocket every year, in addition to other perks (Diamond status, 14X on Hilton stays, etc.).

SPN Lifer

Provided one lives in the U.S. or can get a Hilton Aspire AmEx card there.