CMK10

United Platinum and up can select E+ seats for up to 8 companions. I've never traveled with more than one person on the same ticket as me and cannot imagine having 8 people on my ticket.

darthbimmer

I'm not interested in the elite benefits provided to everyone else.

When I fly UA, for example, and I see I'm #41 on the upgrade list, I think, "Wow, what a waste of time." UA could save so much time and money by ignoring them and just helping me. I'm sure most of those people ahead of me, with their higher status and/or fare class, don't really deserve it as much as I do anyway.

Ditto hotel upgrades. Of course I understand there's only one Presidential Suite. But if you'd just read the news, Mr./Ms. FDC, you'd know the president is headed to Mar a Lago in Florida this weekend; whereas I'm standing right here with my gold/plat/diamond/whatever status card. So make with the upgrade, okay?

Dgosche

I'll take all the upgrades I can get, whether it's hotel or flight, but I almost never take advantage of free food.

Hotel breakfast in particular is worthless to me because when I'm traveling for work I dont eat breakfast. When on vacation, I MIGHT eat breakfast but usually some place local rather than in a hotel. Likewise, the lounge food is often worthless, though the access to unlimited water is nice.

365RoadWarrior

Exactly. Not much value, but not negative value.

billygoat27

I prefer benefits that enhance execution of the basics, vs. "nice sounding amenities, but difficult to deliver on". Sure, they are nice, but they don't contribute to loyalty.

Airlines:
- Priority Boarding
- Priority call center (especially during irregular ops)
- Standby: fees waived / priority on list
- Priority Baggage
- Family access to PE / Comfort + / MCE / E+ (a thank you for for all that business travel)


Hotels:
- Free water (sooo awesome after a day of travel and client meetings)
- Late checkout

GoSh4rks

Doesn't need to be the same PNR, can be across multiple ones.

sbm12

Do you believe that there is some set of even more generous benefits a program might offer in certain categories, but then only let you choose a subset of? Like you can get up to 4 free checked bags instead of 2 or 3 but only if you give up an option on any comp domestic upgrades or increased points earning for your status?

The DIY idea is fun in theory in that you can choose the stuff that does really matter to you personally, but that really only helps if the program is going to do better than it already does today in that category. If not you're just giving things up (even if you don't use them, someone else might) for no real benefit.

Worth noting that the Norwegian program is structured such that every six segments you get to choose a new benefit to add to your account. Free bags, bonus points, Fast Track and seat assignments are the options. Norwegian Rewards is the only program I know that does a DIY-like structure for elite status.

(Link to a story I wrote; FT makes me tell you that)

pinniped

Interesting that Norwegian, of all programs, has that feature.

If I could DIY a program...

- From a low/mid-tier status, I'd trade my entire checked luggage benefit for the year for, say, 4 regional confirmed upgrades. The booking class can be the upgrade/award class, as long as I can view it and book it seamlessly in conjunction with any published paid coach fare. That's one R/T per year with a companion where I don't have to wait until my regular upgrade window.

- Might also trade my luggage benefit for a one-time companion ticket, access to "expanded" award inventory, or day-of-travel lounge access. (Can you tell I don't check bags a lot? )

- In the hotel space, I would trade all hypothetical chances at a free suite upgrade in exchange for the ability to book/confirm a suite at a reasonable premium to the standard award, bookable online and as seamlessly as using points to book a standard room.

- Might also trade the hypothetical suite for a more robust guarantee that I'm getting the best possible non-suite room in the hotel (or if I'm mid-tier, the best after the top-tiers have been assigned). In other words, take the suites out of the picture but get my bed/smoke right 100% of the time and give me whatever the "desirable" room is. Don't make elites buy-up to higher categories just to get their bed type. Assign rooms that are away from elevator, facing a quieter direction, decent view, etc. (Can you tell I assess my odds at getting the Presidential Suite at about 0.001% to begin with?)

StuckInYYZ

Actually, Air Canada also has DIY features, although probably not as much variety as Norwegian. You get it all at once rather than every 6 segments.

would be interesting to see how they compare though.

sbm12

It is relatively new so more flexible in its ability to be creative. A larger legacy program would be excoriated here (and likely in the real world, to a lesser extent) for "taking away" benefits if it switched to a DIY approach because, while you might not care about bags there are others who very much do.

If I could DIY a program...

But to the airline does that make sense? If you're not using the baggage allowance anyways then this is the airline giving you a pretty sizable benefit and not recouping any costs elsewhere.

Some programs offer suite bookings via points. Some don't.

Suite upgrades are like on-board upgrades. They're supposed to unload distressed inventory and let the hotel (or airline) oversell at the low end to maximize total revenue. Ascribing a real value to that benefit is tough as a consumer unless you'd really consider paying for such.

And I generally dismiss the suite upgrade value as nil anyways, however, so I'm probably not a particularly disinterested party in that discussion.

Kagehitokiri

skipping all queues would be interesting

as would having call center that handles very few

Annalisa12

Free alcohol.

pinniped

Agreed they'd get excoriated, as they should, if they used it to take away benefits. I think we all agree on that. The question was whether it'd be of interest for people to swap a benefit of less value to them for a real enhancement to one they care about.

Do the person who cares about bags could do nothing and get the normal baggage allowance for their tier.

I'd theoretically fly lighter, thus costing the airline less in fuel. I realize U.S. airlines don't weigh carry-ons, but my regular roller is maybe 20 pounds when I pack it like I usually do. When I do check a bag, it's often because I'm packing it right to 50 pounds, maybe a pound or two under.

It's entirely possible that I'm overestimating the cost of transporting an extra 20-30 pounds. But airlines have been making a big deal about fuel costs from about the time they started charging for bags, so I figure it must be something...

I don't even think I'd ask for a whole new mechanism for the availability.

(1) Use the existing fare buckets that airlines use for upgrade and award availability. I used to know them for UA...it was something like XC and NC when viewed in their system, and maybe O and I when viewed through a tool like ANA.

(2) For hotels that already have *some* existing way to issue suite awards, put it online and make it easy to use via website or app. Again, within existing inventory rules.

Maybe in your DIY paradise, you'd give up all access to upgrades in exchange for more bonus points or something?

(In reality, I'm not expecting any of my big programs to begin doing DIY. This is simply an Internet thought experiment...)

MSPeconomist

A long time ago some of the USA legacy carriers advertised "kids fly free in February" (roughly, but I think it was two full months of the year), not just for elites. The idea was to encourage parents to take their kids on business trips using otherwise empty seats. Bad idea!

TravelerMSY

Bonus points for airlines. Between revenue-based accrual and the fact that I fly almost exclusively on manufactured miles make bonus points a non-issue for me.