Airline secret societies

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There’s a special type of membership level, but the airlines don’t want you to know about it … unless you’re dropping an easy $50,000 a year on full fare tickets with the same airline. The topic, which comes up from time to time, is in the headlines again thanks to the work of George Clooney and Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air.

American Airlines is mentioned in the flick, but the carrier won’t talk about the subject itself. No details have been released on how to attain these levels of air travel greatness, except the obvious: you need to be a rich frequent traveler or control a company where a lot of people are on the road all the time. The perks of this secret society include fantastic upgrades, bat-phones to experienced agents who answer on the first ring, priority check-in, lounge access and airport escorts when you’re layover’s about to go under. Simply, it translates to real customer service, a rarity in this industry.

Status has become a commodity, with double miles bonuses and other tricks helping frequent flyers amp up their accounts faster, a side-effect of airlines looking to make their passengers as loyal as possible. Because of this, anyone who wants to be a real player — e.g., American’s ConciergeKey, Continental‘s Chairman’s Circle and United‘s Global Services — will have to pierce the inner circle.

Only 20,000 of United’s 1 million program members were allowed into United’s program, which requires 100,000 miles or 100 segments. Delta is the most secretive, with Executive Partner status, which has been replaced by Diamond Medallion level status, requiring 125,000 qualifying miles or 140 qualifying segments.

Okay, so you can figure out all the basic benefits — just like every other status, only faster and bigger and bitter. And then, it isn’t hard to let your mind wander to such upsides as confirming upgrades 120 hours in advance (instead of 100 hours). But, this only scratches the surface. Forrester Research reveals that airlines know which planes have the greatest VIP density and use this to assign gate priority. A Continental passenger and Chairman’s Circle member — who took more than 300 flights and traveled more than 400,000 miles (no bonus miles tucked in there) — was able to finagle some time on an MD-80 slight simulator, because the airline values his business.

See, it is possible to get some love from the airlines. You just have to be ready to spend an absolute fortune … and make the airline need you.

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Southwest gains a passenger midflight

by Jamie Rhein on

When a Southwest Airlines flight took off from Chicago Midway Airport today bound for Salt Lake City it had 123 passengers. When it landed, there were 124. The addition joined the flight at 30,000 feet somewhere above Denver.

As one of the passengers discovered, the floor at the back of an airplane can work fine as a delivery room in a pinch. Luckily, there was a doctor on board who could help deliver the baby. Southwest medical personnel on the ground gave instructions via radio.

In the case of this baby, they’ll be a story to tell later. Instead of claiming that a stork was in charge of the delivery, the family can tell tales of a jet plane bearing responsibility for the speedy arrival time.

An ambulance took the mother and new baby to a hospital in Denver after the plane was diverted there. Hopefully, this is the kind of flight delay the other passengers were happy to be a part of. I can’t imagine that it would have helped matters if any grousing was going on.

I wonder if the mom can sign up the baby as a frequent flier and get any credit for the baby’s portion of the flight?

jetBlue to bring back “All-You-Can-Jet” pass?

by Katie Hammel on

This year, airline jetBlue allowed a few lucky people to take “frequent flying” to the next level. The carrier offered an “All-You-Can-Jet” pass for 30 days (September 8 to October 8) for one low price of $599. While the pass may not have been the best deal for the occasional flyer, it would have saved anyone with multiple longer flights some serious cash.

A few folks went beyond flying to business meetings or off to visit the in-laws though, and decided to see just how much they could fly in one month. According to Jaunted, these super-jetters were invited to the jetBlue corporate retreat on Wednesday, to talk about their experiences using the pass. There, jetBlue execs apparently promised that they would be bringing back the pass next year.

Could it be? Nothing has been confirmed and no dates have been released yet, but I’ll agree with Jaunted that fall seems a likely time to run the promo again. So clear your calendars, start wishlisting locations, and cross your fingers that the news is true.

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Airline elite status – does it still have any value left?

by Scott Carmichael on

When I started my frequent flying back in 1998, obtaining elite status on an airline was not really high on my list of achievements. Then, when I started to pay attention to the people around me, I realized I was wrong. Back then, elite status on an airline was the one thing that helped make flying even more enjoyable.

Forget good food or a snack at the airport – getting preferential treatment when things go wrong, or the occasional free upgrade makes a real difference. After about a year of heavy flying, I had reached top tier status on three airlines, and was on my way to a fourth.

Nowadays things are different. Elite status is not just a luxury that can make your trip a little more bearable, it’s what you need if you don’t like paying for checked bags, or if you don’t like spending an hour in the security line.
In recent years, the value of frequent flier status has plummeted –

  • Certain elite perks are now being sold at check-in or as a paid membership
  • Elite level bonus promotions are making it much easier to become a top tier member
  • Additional levels are being introduced, lowering the value of the current top tier
  • Credit card promotions are making it possible to be top tier without ever flying
  • Status matching is more popular than ever


Certain elite perks are now being sold at check-in or as a paid membership

In the past, perks like preferred seating, priority boarding and special security lines were reserved for passengers with airline status or those that were booked in a premium cabin. Nowadays, airlines are moving towards the à la carte system, selling many of those perks to non-elite members.

A good example of this is something I took advantage of on a recent flight – I was stuck in coach, and had a very bad boarding group assignment. When I checked in at the airline kiosk, I was offered an upgrade to first class for just $50. This means I was able to take advantage of priority boarding, get a decent meal and fly in comfort for just $50 more.

To me, this is a win-win; I get a better seat, and the airline makes $50 it normally would not have earned. To the people up front that paid full price for their seat, it would appear unfair, and it means there is one seat less for elite passengers hoping for an upgrade. On some airlines, the upgrade systems prefer to sell the seat to anyone willing to pay for it before giving it away for free to elites.

Elite level bonus promotions are making it much easier to become a top tier member

When you chat with frequent fliers, you’ll often get a feeling for their sense of entitlement – many of them will also mention how they reached their elite status. Terms like “I made it the hard way” are thrown around to make it clear they reached the top tier by actually flying a lot.

Take for example the newest promotion by US Airways – their reduced qualification levels mean you can be “elite” after just a couple of flights. More elite members = more people fighting for perks. We could be sitting next to each other on a flight and have the same status, but only one of us had to actually fly all year to earn that status.

Additional levels are being introduced, lowering the value of the current top tier

On United Airlines, the top tier in their mileage plus program was always “1K”. 1K passengers flew 100,000 miles or 100 segments. Once they reached this, the airline would hand over a bunch of nice perks. Then, back in 2003, the airline started a non-published level called “United Global Services”. The program is not part of their Mileage Plus program, and is offered on an invitation only basis.

The reason behind this was simple – too many people were making the 1K level without actually spending as much as the airline wanted. Clever travelers could become 1K with just a few thousand dollars in tickets – which is lower than the price of a single business class international ticket.

With the 1K level came an envelope containing several upgrade vouchers (these are now electronic), and smart travelers could convert those into thousands of dollars in premium cabin trips, far exceeding the value of the tickets they purchase to make 1K. On frequent flier chat boards, it became a sport to make 1K for as little as possible.

The new “UGS” level aimed to reward those passengers that actually spent a lot of their money with United Airlines.

The UGS level didn’t have any of the documented perks of 1K, but it is obvious that UGS members get preferential treatment. What this meant to 1K members is that they were suddenly no longer at the top of the pecking order. If someone was eligible for an upgrade, they airline would pick the UGS member first.

Credit card promotions are making it possible to get closer to top tier without ever flying

Very few cards actually offer “EQM’s” (elite qualifying miles), but there are a couple of them that give a decent EQM bonus upon reaching certain spending levels.

Granted, you won’t become top tier with the average household spending pattern on a credit card, but heavy business spending can often contribute as much as 25% or more towards elite level qualification.

Status matching is more popular than ever

A status match is what you can do if you are currently flying airline A, but wouldn’t mind switching to airline B, without losing your elite status. The game of status matching means you really only need to earn status the hard way once – and after that, smart people can continue holding on to elite status on multiple airlines for several years.

What this means to elite passengers, is that in every line of elites, there could be several people who are “just as elite”, but have never actually flown the airline.

This is all fine and dandy if there is a decent balance (ie. the same number of people defecting to from Airline A airline B as those moving from B to A). In the real world, this doesn’t always work – and when the quality on one airline begins to decline, an unfair number of new elite members might flock to a new airline. Obviously, the more elite passengers an airline has, the more people will need to share the perks. On a busy Friday afternoon at the airport, this could mean longer queues at the elite security lines than at the “commoners line”.

Free status

On some airlines, top tier members will be allowed to nominate friends and family for certain levels in the frequent flier program. These levels are usually “entry level”, but in some cases it means the difference between a bad seat and a good seat, or $300 in luggage fees or free luggage. If you know someone with elite status, ask them if they have any nominations available.

The bottom line

The bottom line is simple (as far as I am concerned) – elite status is not as valuable as it used to be. Don’t get me wrong though – being a top tier member on a decent airline is still very valuable, but I’m convinced that the lower tiers are the ones that suffer the most – they are the ones that have to share the few remaining perks with a lot of newcomers.

This really only applies to US domestic airlines, as international carriers have managed to keep the most important parts of their programs protected from too much devaluation. Though, even those carriers have removed quite a few of their perks.

Travelers put JetBlue all-you-can-fly deal to the test

by Katie Hammel on

When JetBlue announced its All-You-Can-Jet Pass in August, many frequent flyers scrambled to purchase one before the airline pulled the plug on the popular promotion. Those who didn’t have much flying planned let the deal pass them by. And others decided to view the offer as a challenge – a reason to fly as much as they possibly could over the course of the month for which the Pass was valid.

Two of those travelers are Clark Dever and Joe Dinardo, who will take 49 flights in the 31 days between September 8 and October 8. They’ll visit 29 cities – spending 12 hours each in city – sleeping on planes, showering at the gym, and relying on friends to meet them in New York with fresh clothes every few days. They’ll also be blogging about their adventures at Twelve Hours in a City.

Jennifer Milano also took advantage of the Pass, and created a website to help other All-You-Can-Jetters connect, share their stories, and help each other out with places to stay and travel advice. Another traveler, Greg Krause, is using his Pass to help raise money for a charity. He’ll be visiting 24 cities and collecting money for a school in Zambia that his parents created. The money will be used to fund the purchase of a vehicle that will bring supplies to the school. Krause is documenting his travels and accepting donations on his website, 30 Days on JetBlue

If you weren’t able to drop everything to see how much you can fly in 31 days, at least you can follow along with the adventures of these non-stop flyers as they push the limits of the All-You-Can-Jet offer.

[via CNN]