Holiday Inn today is offering to SELL gold status for $50 a year! How sad, and pathetic. Their program was terrible BEFORE, not it's just a joke.

Sheraton sold me Gold status in their original loyalty program for $10 back in 1990. I bought it so I could skip the really long lines checking into the DC Zoo property (now a Marriott) for a particular convention each year.

And you can get Platinum status with Holiday In, etc., by signing up for the Six Continents Club ($100).

d

Hertz has been doing this for a long time.

Starwood gives Gold status to anyone who gets an AMEX card - free for the 1st year and $39/year thereafter.

Yeah they say they do, but nobody really *pays* for #1 Club Gold, do they?

(Also, Hertz doesn't claim to sell status levels, just membership in the program. If you seriously want free #1 Club Gold membership, there are about 100 ways to get it. Search the Hertz board.)

Kind of as an aside: I wonder if any airlines have ever considered selling elite levels, or parts thereof. For example, sell a level that included no-hold phone service, use of first-class check-in, and priority markings on your luggage (we all know how effective that is). No upgrades, no mileage bonuses, no club access, etc. Just friendly customer service.

(Note: I would never WANT them to do this. They would inevitably staff airports and call centers incorrectly, resulting in hold times and long F check-in lines for the "real" elites.)

On the flip side: if you were about to take a few flights on an airline on which you had no status, how much would you pay for an "Elite Lite" status? $50/year? $100/year? More? (Note that if you flew the airline a lot, you'd get a normal elite level eventually.)

[This message has been edited by rmccamy (edited 03-07-2002).]

They want to make money. It's like American Express' platinum card. Anyone know what the annual fee is on that thing? And don't you have a minimum charge commitment for that as well?

Keep in mind that people here are far more concerned with elite tiers than most of the folks who get it.

I'm definitely in the minority here, but I'm like, if they can make money off people who don't use their services as much and thus can reduce the price I pay or, in the case of an airline these days, not go belly up, I'm all for it.

Not anymore. You get different level now which I don't find any useful benefits...

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ValueConsumer.com Home of Tripple Dipping Online Shopping

If you hop over to the CO page, you'll see where CO is offering to sell status to those who didn't fly enough to retain their 2001-2002 level. Gold last year, only silver this year? No problem, write Gordon a check for $400, and he'll issue you a nice new Gold card! Fee on those who actually earned it....

I actually think it's a brilliant marketing move:
You create a gold level that doesn't give you anything other than 10% point discount and dedicated phone line, and charge money for getting to this level.
If you want to spend 50$ for nothing, you are very welcome.
Once you spent the money you'll more likely stay at the HI hotels to justify your expense!

Yes, the "famed" Wardman Plaza. Marriott did an excellent job on the renovations, IMHO. My wife loves the Pandas!

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It's $300 per year - as it was when they started many years ago!

Nah. No minimum committment per se!

Incidentally, it used to be WELL worth it, IMHO!

I get all of the above for free with Southwest! OK, no priority luggage lags, but when all the bags come out by 25 minutes from landing, it's just as good as priority. Their Frequent Flier reservation line answers immediately, even when the general call load is heavy. The web site is reliable and fast and eliminates most of the need to phone. And Southwest has your "no upgrades" request covered, too! :-)

Well, there is the small matter of the cattle call boarding, having to show up four hours early, Southwest's pretty limited route system, and so on.

But hey, whatever floats your boat.

CO just sent my dad an offer to purchase Silver Elite for only $200.. He won't need it, I already convinced him to switch to AA after explaining the new upgrade policy for international destinations. Like me, he didn't think it was worth the effort to accumulate any CO miles if we can't use them to upgrade to BF. It's not worth it !

Oh, I thought the Starwood card is the only Amex card that grants gold for the first year and $39/year afterwards. You can actually obtain SPG Gold status for free if you have a Platinum charge card.
As a Platinum member, you'll keep SPG Gold as long you remain a Plat. cardholder, while Centurion grants SPG Platinum..

[This message has been edited by eperaltaotero (edited 03-07-2002).]