Joshua

While FT represents a tiny minority of the flying public, including elites, just about anyone who is at 43k or 72k or 98k (etc.) EQMs is going to be buying Elite Maximizer miles this year.

With this in mind, we should see somewhat swelled ranks of elites in 2012, since customers can effectively buy their way in. In the past, being short a few thousand EQMs required a mileage run or a history of high revenue tickets to overcome. Most non-FT elites won't do a mileage run.

What will be the effects of this? Normally, I expect the herd to get thinned out in March. For example, CO Elite boarding becomes noticeably thinner since there aren't two programme years' worth of elites pre-boarding.

Conversely, I didn't notice much change at US when they basically started offering anything for sale. Trial Preferred, full fledged Preferred, miles, whatever.

TravellingMan

If someone did not make their status by flying rather by buying it then I do not consider them as competition. What are their chances of flying more the following year compared to the current year? Slim.

I suggest UA sell status to these kinds of travelers as they can make money off them and not have to deliver any services towards it.

mahasamatman

Any effect will be immeasurably small.

demkr

I used it to reach 1K about a week earlier than I would have. Probably an impulse buy. lol

Weatherboy

I agree. If they didn't travel significantly this year and relied on the Maximizer, it's unlikely they'd be consuming that many benefits next year...because they're probably an equally infrequent flier.

Boogie711

I understand there are 800,000 elites. This thread has less than a 100 views.
/
Do the math. So tiny as to be immeasurable.

MayorMcKnife

Source?

nova08

Elite Maximizer is not exactly a cheap alternative. As many threads have pointed out its about ~$1300 for 20k EQM/RDM's. I don't think you will find many people who will shell out thousands to buy thousands of miles.

TommyC80

Not right now....try $2350 for 20k...seriously doubt many Kettle's will be dropping that kind of change

WineCountryUA

for 2004, it was reported UA had 800K+ elites -- no reports since then but even before the merger, it is doubtful the number has decreased

bniu

if i were a kettle and only flew once a year, i'd save that cash and drop it all on a paid F ticket! F ticket essentially == elite for that trip

Mike Jacoubowsky

• Buying elite maximizer is relatively unknown
  
  
• Even more unknown is the fact that you could book a ticket, buy the maximizer miles, refund the ticket within 24 hours and keep the maximizer miles (paying only for the maximizer miles)
  
  
• Rarer still would be people willing to pay more (sometimes much more) for the EQMs than it would cost to fly to get them.

As others have pointed out, FTers are not representative of the general flying public. We're not eve representative of elites.

So no, I don't see elite maximizer as swelling the ranks of elites. I think the bigger effect will be from the extended 2011 elite year, although even that may be overstated as the vast majority of travel during winter is business, not leisure, and it's the leisure ranks that have the greatest flexibility in travel, such that they will swarm like moths to a flame when conditions are right. Biz travel likely shows slower upward & downward trends.

LarkSFO

Next year I am going to buy them in January when they are cheaper...

If I can get 15,000 EQM for $1,000, I'll take it.

Less stress at the end of the year.

raehl311

Meh, elite maximizer is not an economical way to accrue miles except in cases where you're a very small number of miles short. Why spend $2k+ for 20k miles when you could actually travel somewhere interesting for the same price?

It just replaces what used to be a customer service "You're almost there so we'll bump you to the next tier" with "Hey, if it's really important to us, you'll give us an extra $100."

Fanjet

Elite Maximizer has got to be the most expensive way to attain status. I'd be more concerned about the "Status Matchers" and "Mileage Runners" swelling the elite ranks than these seldom few.