Top-level elite on multiple airlines
 

In 2001, I earned 154000 status miles on Delta and 65000 on United. Obviously, this was an inefficient partitioning of 219000 miles, reflecting the fact that I did not begin shifting business to United until around May of that year.

In 2002, I will do much better. I will finish with about 120000 status miles on Delta (105000 already) and 100000 on United, earning top-level elite status on both. That's efficient!

I realize that lots of people fly as much as I do in total, but I wonder how many have earned -- not comped -- the highest elite level on more than one airline in the same year?

Bruce

This will be my first year to do so. I will finish the year as UA 1K and American Executive Platinum. All flights are booked to earn each.

* 1K with UA Mileage Plus. But I don't intend to maintain that status and will probably be Premier Exeutive after feb-2003

* Senator with LH/OS/LOT miles&more. Due to some requalification/expiry policy changements of this program, I will requalify a second time this year and extend that expiry date to February 2006 (SIX!
* Royal Wing with KLM's Flying Dutchman, expiry dec-2003 (or may be even feb-2004?). Did qualify first time participating at their unusual genereous comping promotion: they comped my UA Mileage Plus mileage-balance (431'000 miles) and 1K-status. Not sure yet what my future policy with this program will be.

For 2003, should be EXP on AA, 1K on UA and PM on Delta. I was not too efficient either as I will have 200k+ actual flight miles on OneWorld and barely squeak in on United and Delta was basically an accident with all those Shuttle flight base mile promotions and medallion bonus base mile stuff.

I got:

AA PLT
DL Gold Medalion
UAL Premier Executive

AA is the only one I will be able to maintain into 2003, all others will drop one level. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

UA 1K - somewhere between 100 and 105K mi
AS MVP Gold - 35K

'01

AA - 25K
CO - 185K

'02

AA - 110K
CO - 65K (90+ segments)

- I reached LH SEN in February (around 106 K miles) - status is valid until February 2005
- I requalified for AF F+ Rouge (around 80 K miles) for 2003

I will focus on AF as my primary carrier for 2003 and LH/OS as my secondary carrier.

I'd like to pose this question another way, if in 03 I expect to fly 150K total with at least 75K allocated to CO to keep my plat (this is something that I prefer to do), would I be better off trying to get 50K on AA or UA and the other 25K on DL or another carrier? Being IAD based, UA seems to make sense but something makes me lean towards AA. I'd be curious as to what others would think.

TrojanHorse probably a question/case-study, many other FlyerTalkers are interested in.

Those interested may find easier access to such a case-study, if you post it as a new topic (with the appropriate title).

Earned AC SE status last year but will drop down to nothing in Feb/03 on AC. Just qualified for UA 1K which will be good for all next year, expecting to end the year at close to 140K with UA. I expect my AA Gold status to disappear in Feb also.

So for a few months I will hold dual status.

I've done US Chairman's Preferred and CO Platinum twice - CO is only 75K.

I've been PM on DL for about 5 years. This year will end up with about 180,000 (lbeit some as double base miles). Last year about 130,000.

Been BA Gold for the last 3-4 years. Before that flitted with Silver and Gold. Had about 3500 tier points last year (Almost 3x qualification in the US programme, something like 7x in the Euro Programme)

Have had BD Gold for 2 years, Silver the previous year. Requal is in q3 next year. Normally make it by a little. Don't know if I'll make it because;

I qualified for KLM RW, and now have more vested with them.

What I really love is being at the top tier of all alliances, therefore they have the opposite effect on me, especially at this time of the year when I have basically been requalified on all of them....complete freedom to fly who I like without FF pressures (although the DL Double Base has taken away business from KLM due to their lack of clarity in carrying forward excess points for status).

2002
Will reach EXP on AA
Hit Senator on LH- good until 2/05


2003
Will go for AA EXP and QF plat

I have been a UA 1K and a USAir CP for 3 years now. I will likely requalify on both. I have considered consolidating (and flying a bit less) but have been unable to chose one of these airlines (or another) to focus on. This combination serves me fairly well as USAir has a great domestic upgrade policy and I do mostly international flights on UA

TrojanHorse, if I were you I would definitely shoot for UA over AA. Since you live on the East Coast and with the new codeshare deals between UA-US, having elite status on UA will give you more flexibility than elite status on AA... IMO.

Of course, it depends on your routing too. UA and the Star Alliance has a route structure second to none. If you're keen on keeping the CO status, here's what I would do:

75k - CO (NW, Wings)
50k - UA (US, Star)
25k - Alaskan (AA, CO, and others)

for 5-6 consecutive years i was :

Lufthansa M&M Senator
BAEC Gold
KLM Royal Wing

i then shifted some business away from KLM
and , like Rudi , will give them another chance after the generous comp/promo , which may mean to sacrifice status in BAEC,simply for the reason that their RTW fares are not competative any longer ( increasing prices by more than 50% like in southafrica did not help here either ).

Is anyone here like me? 103 segment CP with US and only 71,350 miles? same on CO! 30 Segment Silver elite, 18,000 miles! Seems most on here are flying the whole wide world and I'm stuck in the USA east of the Mississippi! With that travel pattern I doubt if I will ever rack up the miles I see here. Do I need to start to consider "Mileage Runs". I want to maximize my CP status and I can't see how doing "Runs" helps. Or do I use CO and build that up? suggestions from the experts please!!!

AS MVP Gold - But this one's somewhat easy to make.

UA 1K - Will make it by a whisper with my last PDX/BKK fun and run Dec. 24 - Dec. 30. This would have been easier if I would have switched more of my flights to UA after requalifying for AS MVP Gold by June of this year. Oh well, I'll keep a better watch in 2003.

CS

UA 1K and AA EXP (next week) here. I'm starting to get a clue...

In 1998, I flew USAir a lot. Downright stupid of me. :P

In 1999, I did 225K exclusively on UA. At least I got away from US, but it was quite an inefficient allocation of miles, from a status perspective.

In 2000, I did a little over 100K on UA and a little over 50K on AA to get 1K and PLT. Getting better..

In 2001, well, let's not mention 2001. I only did about 60K, all on AA. Fortunately, UA extended my 1K status into 2002.

In 2002, I discovered FlyerTalk and finally figured out how to do things right. I will hit 100,000 on AA next weekend to qualify for EXP and I'll reach 100,000 on UA in two weeks to re-qual for 1K. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Now I just need to do a little over 25K in Nov and Dec to break my PR for miles in a year... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Bruce,

Somewhat like you, I made a few "miles allocating" mistakes this year...I flew over 60K on AS (qualification for their MVPG is 35K) before I realized that I could have been pumping some miles into AA, where I will be attaining EXP for '03 by 12/16/02.

Thus, I "wasted" about 25K miles, having to schedule some MRs on AA to get to EXP. The cost of this mistake wound up being about $1800, but what the hey, the airlines need my money, right?

Next year I'll be a little smarter about miles allocation!

1995-2000

CO-top level, Gold then Plat

2001

TWA-Plat
CO-Plat

2002

AA-EXP 98K
CO-Plat 67 segs

I'll requalify for both, but probably boot CO next year.

I'm with you. I am a member of the "painfully earns my elite status the hardway" club. I have 68 segments so far, only 51k miles (this includes ~15k miles for doing LAX-HNL-LAX and a LAX-LHR-LAX http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif). Past two years, I have probably ~120+ segments each year, but I barely squeek by 100k miles (and that is with doing a couple of transocean mileage runs!!).

For me to make top level elite on multiple airlines based on my flying patters, I would have to take 300+ flights lax-sjc-lax. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

Last year:

140k on DL, about 10k scattered among everyone else.

This year:

130k on AA
100k on DL (thanks to 2x miles, no extra travel booked, and the 10k base miles from Amex)
5k on everyone else

Next year: (assuming no further cuts)

100+k on AA
Everything else is negotiable. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

i once got 3 emeralds on OW last year.
(but a lot less this year)

in fact, these are spread over some 20 month period, due to different membership year starting points of these programs,
160k on AA for explt
2700 tier points on BA GOLD
and 65k to renew my CX MPO Diamond into Gold.

it is, in fact, not difficult to retain BA if you fly in th efront cabin,

Here I go.
UA 1K 135,000 miles
AA Plat Exec 152,000 miles (mostly CX)
CO Plat Exec 76,000 miles
BA Gold 1240 points
SQ Gold (I think that is what they call it) 105,000 miles

God, this is actually depressing!

I track my monthly segments on my calendar starting around mid-year to ensure obtaining the 100 segment threshold on both DL and US. I'm going on 7 years as Chairman's Preferred on US and 3 years as PM on Delta, but due to changing travel patterns, I doubt I make DL PM this year. I've had AA Platinum the last 6 years, usually through begging or a comp. UA Premier Exec now and two years ago, both times through comps.

LH Sen: I requalified this year until 2006 due to the 120 segments rule (I flew mainly short distances in Europe with 1000/2000miles (Y/C-class) and some in Asia with 500/1000/1500miles (Y/C/F-class) only. Therefore I requalified by segments firstly; a few weeks later I reached the miles limit, too.)
KL Plt: I qualified for this great offer by flying about 16000miles. LH Sen is secured for the next time and so I'm going to give KLM a chance. The first impression was quite good. (In case KLM joins SkyTeam, I'm going to be very happy.)

Off topic hotels:
MRT Plt: I stayed in Marriott hotels mainly in Germany and in some Marriotts in Europe.
SPG Plt: I stayed in Starwood hotels mainly in Germany and Europe. I also had some stays in Asia and will have soon two stays in South America.

I held top status on our preferred carriers, CO and Dl for 3 straight years in a row a few years ago. The DL flights were almost all to Europe and San Juan (all through ATL) and CO for the domestic trips. I was managing a group of engineers doing plant start-ups and always on call. Although my company had a policy of u/g to business class for trips 5+ hours, we managers were encouraged to “set an good example” and book only coach. Looking back it was a very grueling time.

MisterNice

This year I'll qualify for UA 1K, Delta PM, and SQ PPS. I'll also hold about half a dozen second tier cards which includes most US majors and all the alliances.

Previously, I used to fly Delta first and not pay attention to other airlines and only qualify for their elite programs by luck. When Delta stopped handing out SWU's for additional mileage I decided to go for more than one 1000,000 level. It was easy to move an extra block of mileage to get more SWU's froma nother carrier. I wonder why Delta didn't see that.

For several years I have been 1K on UA and Platinum on America West. Will end the year with about 240 flights and 235k miles. No significant change from prior years. I am considering cutting back on UA next year, due to their program changes, and concentrating even more of my business on America West.

Earned QF Platinum, UA 1K and MH Gold, the top level for each of those three airlines, and probably should be either certified or grounded for doing so.
[Was comped to NZ Gold, part of the hangover from the AN collapse, but that does not count.]
Koala

2002 carried over into 2003

AA EXP
CO Gold
AS MVP Gold (will loose in 2003)
DL Gold
US (middle level)

Dix - should we worry about you being loose in 2003?
K

Like Rudi, I earned United 1K (about 150K miles) and LH Senator (about 200K miles) outright, and earned KLM Royal Wing on the challenge (actual miles STR-AMS-IAH and return). Also have scattered miles on Qualiflyer, American, and Delta this year.

[This message has been edited by Counsellor (edited 10-19-2002).]

IAD is about as close to a 'home' airport as I get, and a EXP membership should not be undervalued. The AA staff at IAD is small, and you will very quickly make yourself memorable (and the favors it entails) being an EXP based there.

OTH there are gobs of 1K's floating around IAD every day...and while I consider my 1K card (re-upped for both it and practically worthless DL PM by the middle of this year) my most 'useful' airline membership, I am REALLY looking forward to finally hitting EXP on AA this year.

I have seen many examples of AA really making a fuss over EXP (especially at small stations) and many UA agents (especially in RCC's) also will 'perk up' a little. I won't even bother discussing 'top tier' at the home of SGB.

CoMooter, thats a good point on AA having a small staff at IAD and getting to know you. The same has already happened for me at IAD with CO, a small staff that I see regularly who seem to help out more often than not. At UA I would be just another number (although all those direct flights out of IAD are tempting) that will be something to put into the equation. Although it is highly unlikely that I would hit EXP, I would make plat on AA if I do go that route. thanks for the input.

97 (qualified for next year)

ua premium

98

aa plat
dl plat

99

aa plat
dl gold
ac elite

00

aa exec plat
nw plat
dl silver
us gold

01

aa exec plat
nw plat
dl gold
us silver
co silver

02

aa exec plat
nw plat
dl silver

Why would you have CO silver if you had NW Plat.. seems to defeat the purpose!!!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lonman:
01

aa exec plat
nw plat
dl gold
us silver
co silver

You all have my sincere condolences...

It's hard enough being a top level elite on one airline. May the Schwartz be with you...