As you’re undoubtedly aware, it’s nearing the end of the qualifying year for 2014 airline and hotel elite status with December 31 quickly approaching. And for the first time in, well, forever, I’m either dropping tier levels or losing status completely in all of my travel loyalty programs. If I were reading this post, say,…
gold
Tag Archives for gold.
Bidding Adieu to My United Club Membership With a ‘Soft Landing’
It’s that time of year for me to renew my United Club membership and I received the following reminder email from United. But after six consecutive years of membership, I’ve decided to let it lapse. I’m probably in the minority of travel bloggers (and you, my readers) who actually dole out cash directly to United…
United Airlines Million-Miler Credentials: A Look Inside
Last month, I (finally) rolled over one million lifetime miles in United’s MileagePlus program and yesterday I received my credentials via USPS Priority Mail. Here’s a look inside the package. The first item upon opening it was a letter from Tom O’Toole, United’s president of MileagePlus. Note the language that, “you will never fall below…
Using Premier Accelerator as a Fast Track to United Elite Status
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ll be about 11,000 Premier Qualifying Miles (PQMs) short of Platinum status for 2014 after flying what I have booked for the rest of the year. And I’m currently debating whether to go for Platinum, or settle with lifetime Gold. At this point, my travel plans on United Airlines and Star…
Pondering United Premier Platinum Over Gold for 2014
“To Plat or not to Plat, that is the question.†I started pondering this last night after updating my mileage spreadsheet to see that after flying what I have booked for the rest of the year, I’ll be about 11,000 miles short of Premier Platinum next year. I had long resigned myself not to go…
Rumor: Did American Airlines Leak Its New Elite Status Requirements?
The “big” news this week so far has been United’s addition of a revenue requirement to achieve or maintain elite status beginning in 2014. I wrote a quick summary of the new policy in this post, and I followed it up with my thoughts on why I think it’s only the beginning of revenue-based changes.…
United’s Revenue Model for Elite Status Is Only the Beginning
Earlier today, I quickly posted the news that United Airlines will introduce a new Premier Qualifying Dollar (PQD) revenue requirement in 2014 to maintain or achieve elite status, in addition to the normal mileage requisites. It didn’t come as a shock to me and I promised to share more of my thoughts about the change.…
American Increasing Most Admirals Club Rates May 1
American Airlines will be raising most rates for an Admirals Club membership effective May 1, 2013. Rates for non-elites will remain unchanged, with prices for new or renewal memberships for AAdvantage Gold members going up by $25. If burning miles is more your style, the rates for Golds are going up by 5,000 miles with…
A Very Generous ‘Soft Landing’ to American AAdvantage Platinum
While not an officially advertised benefit, American Airlines has for years provided “soft landings†to elite members who fail to qualify for status the following year. And even though it’s a known program, I was a bit surprised that American was generous enough to grant me Platinum status through February 2014 given I barely flew…
My Thoughts on Delta’s Likely SkyMiles Program Changes
Delta Air Lines published upcoming changes to the SkyMiles program earlier today. Whether it was deliberate or an error, the page has since been taken down from Delta’s website. But not before an astute Flyertalker captured the details, as shown below. [Updated 1/17: Delta has indeed announced the MQD portion below this morning] Earning Medallion…