How Valuable is Elite Status?
 

I am a non-business traveler living in New York City (JFK, LGA, EWR) who has 100K miles each in DL, CO, and AA frequent flyer programs. Recently I decided to earn premium status from DL (since it seemed the easiest to attain) so that I might upgrade when I travel to Europe and in the US, but now I am not so sure. I usually purchase bargain fares or weekend Web specials, which I discovered are not upgradeable on DL and probably not on AA but seem to be on CO. For someone in my situation, does elite status make sense and if so, on which airline?

[This message has been edited by shannonk (edited 05-02-2001).]

U might want to re-think status with Delta.

Visit the Delta board and perform a search for details regarding SWU's, the Revenue Protection Unit (the Delta Gestapo Squad), and Simply Good Business issues, etc.

CO and AA FTers are, for the most part, happy campers. Compare the AA vs. CO route structures to see which will work best for you. Finally, compare the free domestic UG's with CO vs. those of AA (Then compare the int'l UG benefits, keeping in mind the downside of CO's int'l. UG policy, which is pretty much a bummer). But, since you're NYC based, CO might be best.

I think you'll find sticking to one carrier and going for status, definately worth the effort. Check at ALL the bonuses that CO is offering at present, cause they amount to mega, mega miles!

Welcome to FT BTW. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif




[This message has been edited by tvl4free (edited 05-02-2001).]

VERY! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

"...I think you'll find sticking to one carrier and going for status, definately worth the effort. Check at ALL the bonuses that CO is offering at present, cause they amount to mega, mega miles!...

Great advice from tvl4free above!

Note that many, if all the CO bonuses are scehduled to end soon! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Elite status makes sense, so long as it is not on either DL or HP.

DL's SkyMiles is just plain terrible. Running a business cost-effectively needs to be looked at in terms of whether the firm's product is being watered down so much that it's detrimental to attracting and retaining new customers. In my opinion, DL management are a bunch of cheapskates. They've made their pizza so plain that no one wants a bite of it - that is, if they could even get their hands on one. If I want no-frills, I'll fly WN.

For HP, you might as well put your miles with CO. HP is riddled with customer service/reliability problems. Could be a good airline, but not today.

AA has an infinite gold elite accomodation for those accumulating 1,000M miles, whether by flying or by bonuses/promotions. Might be worth looking at, since the benefit lasts a lifetime, as opposed to only a year.

Good luck.

[This message has been edited by ETOPS01 (edited 05-02-2001).]

Elite status is great with too many benefits to list them all. I think AA is tremendous. You can make platinum with a challenge (see the AA forum), get triple miles (in some cases), upgrade web fares with miles or certs, better seat selection, etc. And the people at AA are great.

I used to spread out my travel among many airlines but have found the benefits of concentrating loyalty to one to be much better.

You can upgrade on web specials on AA. Never had any problem doing it.

DUMP DELTA, I did (for CO) and it was the best move I could have made

Like Delta, CO puts significant upgrade restrictions on routes to Europe. So you might have to pay, say $800 for an upgradeable coach ticket in the low season instead of $450 for the non-upgradeable. Asian routes are less restrictive in this sense.

That said, CO has plenty of other nice reasons to be elite.

Cheap fares on DL are non-upgradeable, even domestically. To UG on DL int'l, you have to be on a Y/B/M fare, which to europe will always be over $1,000USD.

Almost all fares on AA are upgradeable. Even most consolidator fares that aren't elligeable for mile accumulation are elligable for upgrades on AA. The only exception is certain web fares available at aa.com.

IMHO, elite status is VERY much worth it. Most importantly for the priority treatment on the phone, at check-in, and for seat assignments - but also for the occasional opportunity to upgrade from the lowest elite tier.

I like the AA program much, much better than UA. At the Gold level, I felt that I was treated with respect - I felt like a valuable customer that AA wanted to keep. I recently reached the Plat level, and I can now get upgrades for most of my requests. Even at UA's mid-tier level, I have never felt like anything more than self-loading cargo, and rarely get treated with respect.

I don't know if you'd consider US - especially with a pending UA merger down the line - but I've always liked their FF program. They award more upgrade certificates than AA and also give each elite (even Silvers) 2 SWU's per year. Their gate agents seem to have more liberties than those at other airlines, and I've had quite a few comp. upgrades at the Gold and Silver levels. Customer service at this airline has always been good (in my experience), except at PHL.

(Pardon the sidebar into a discussion of my favorite programs.)

But to get back to the point of your question: Elite status on any airline is definitely worth it, if for no other reason than that the airlines treat non-elites very, very poorly across the board. If you run into irregular operations, sometimes it is your ONLY way of getting service.

To answer the original question (How Valuable Is Elite Status?), the 2 systemwide upgrades (SWUs) offered by USAir are worth, by my calculation, $4000-$6000. (I just checked on usairways.com. RT coach from D.C. to London is as little as $438, while Envoy Class is $6312.) Never mind the bonus points, domestic upgrades, free visit to the USAirways lounge, etc. SWUs are easy to use, have virtually no restrictions, and are in and of themselves reason enough to work toward USAir elite status. I sent in a paper ballot so I could write them in for the Freddie awards!

Silly quesstion: what exactly is an SWU (system wide upgrade)

Not silly at all, because it's not immediately obvious and I'm sure many of them have been wasted.

Like most frequent flyer programs at their elite levels, USAir offers domestic upgrades, which are usable only on domestic flights, only with certain fares, and usually only within a few days of the flight on a space available basis.

On the other hand, SWUs can be used for international as well as domestic travel, with virtually any fares, at any time before the flight, and (it appears) can be used to reserve any available seat. And -- unlike domestic upgrades -- one certificate upgrades your entire flight, no matter how long or how many segments.

In short: They're upgrade certificates on steroids.



[This message has been edited by BBRebozo (edited 05-02-2001).]

Thanks to each of you for sharing your expertise. Based on the information you provided and my further investigation, I have definitely decided ot pursue elite status on either AA or CO. However, since I am over half-way toward earning status on DL, I was wondering if anyone knows whether AA and/or CO will match my elite DL status on their elite programs?

There is elite, and then there is elite. What level of elite can you reasonably anticipate?
If it is the second or third tier, it would definitely be worth it. The first tier is probably worth it on Continental/Northwest (silver), because you still have a fairly good chance of domestic upgrades. I don't think elite is very helpful for travelling to Europe, where upgrades are rarely granted for status. .