Can't justify A-List Preferred ...

Old Jan 31, 2014, 10:50 am
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by mike_la_jolla
I'm A-List Preferred now. I can't justify spending the money necessary to get to the A-List Preferred tier for 2015. I don't think that the extra money I need to spend to get to ALP is redeemed by the 100% match on points.

I think I'll slum it next year as a mere A-Lister. Am I missing something? Has anybody done the spreadsheet?
To answer the question of whether it is worth spending extra to get to the A+ tier, it depends on your usage pattern.

If you typically buy WGA fares and redeem for WGA fares, the effective discounts are
A-: 10.7% (12.5% before the devaluation)
A+: 17.1% (20% before the devaluation)
The difference between the two is 6.4%. To determine whether getting the A+ designation is worth it, estimate the cost of your next-year's travel and multiply by 6.4% - that's your break even point. So if you plan on spending 10k next year on travel, the A+ designation is worth it if it costs you less than $640.

If you typically buy Business Select fares and redeem for WGA fares, the effective discounts are
A-: 21.4% (25% before the devaluation)
A+: 34.3% (40% before the devaluation)
and the break even point is 12.9%. So if you plan on spending 10k next year on travel, obtaining A+ status is worth it if it costs you less than $1.29k.

There are also some fringe benefits to A+ such as the free internet and almost-guaranteed 1st place in the stand-by line, so you have to price in what those are worth to you as well.
redchilly is offline  
Old Jan 31, 2014, 5:13 pm
  #17  
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OK - Just counted. I made 13 round trip flights in 2013. So to make A-List Preferred, I had to pay Business Select for nearly every flight. I'm pretty sure the 100% bonus on points doesn't make up for the extra cost of the flights.

I'll go for A-List in 2015 and book (much) cheaper flights this year.
mike_la_jolla is offline  
Old Jan 31, 2014, 5:35 pm
  #18  
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Can't justify A-List Preferred ...

Only chance I consider it is with DTQM promos.
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Old Jan 31, 2014, 8:45 pm
  #19  
 
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Smile

Originally Posted by mike_la_jolla
OK - Just counted. I made 13 round trip flights in 2013. So to make A-List Preferred, I had to pay Business Select for nearly every flight. I'm pretty sure the 100% bonus on points doesn't make up for the extra cost of the flights.

I'll go for A-List in 2015 and book (much) cheaper flights this year.
Do you have a Chase Southwest Airlines credit card? If not, wait for a good bonus (like 50,000 points) and sign up. That will get you back to A+. If you do it right, it will get you a Companion Pass too. I did that last year.
Mr. Style is offline  
Old Jan 31, 2014, 9:58 pm
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by Mr. Style
Do you have a Chase Southwest Airlines credit card? If not, wait for a good bonus (like 50,000 points) and sign up. That will get you back to A+. If you do it right, it will get you a Companion Pass too. I did that last year.
Are you implying that the 50k bonus points from your Chase SWA CC posted as TQPs? Bonus points and points from regular CC spending do NOT count as TQPs The only TQPs from CCs are those 1,500 TQPs are posted as bonus for every $10k spent on a premier card up to 15,000 such TQPs per card per calendar year.
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