The Rewards of Post-Elite Life
Last month I took a radical stand, given that I produce a newsletter devoted to telling readers how to maximize their elite- program return on investment. I exhorted bottom-tier elites—those who fly fewer than 50,000 miles a year—to emancipate themselves from their loyalty programs if comfort and options are their priorities. You only have eyes for your loyalty program, but it only has eyes for mid- and top-tier elites, a classic case of unrequited love.
I’m aware this is easier said than done, and that it raises huge anxiety: What will life be like without elite status? Doing the conga line at check-in and security, subjecting oneself to baggage and whatever other fees the airlines are cooking up, and mainly, living without hope of an upgrade. Am I condemning myself to economy class for eternity?
Okay, Reality Check
So what, in fact, will you give up if you give up bottom-tier status? Here it is:
- 24-hour upgrade window (at bottom-tier level, a lost cause in most cases anyways).
- 25% mileage bonus.
- Instant upgrade on full fares, which mostly is worthless anyway, because discounted First Class fares are much lower than full fares. Case in point: NYC-Atlanta full coach is $1,758 on Delta whereas a First Class fare is $656.
- Preferred boarding and economy seating.
The Good News
You can buy these services as you need them.
Want to upgrade 24 hours before departure?
US Airways offers online GoUpgrades, which can be requested 24 hours before departure, and Delta has same-day, standby upgrades. Many other airlines offer airport upgrades.
Want preferred boarding and economy seating?
Many airlines sell these perks when you book online: United starts at $9 for preferred boarding and check-in, or for preferred seating. Some credit cards— American’s Executive AAdvantage, Continental’s Presidential Plus, Delta’s Reserve, United’s MileagePlus Explorer, and US Airway’s Premier World —come with many of these perks.
Want bonus mileage?
American, Delta, and United offer “award accelerators,” which multiply the miles you earn from flying, by as much as three times the itinerary, for purchase.
Freedom (From Elite Bondage) Flying
Now let’s look at the things you’ll gain by not being chained to one carrier’s loyalty program.
1. Freedom Flying: Start Flying International First Class
When you are an elite, your travel world revolves around earning elite qualifying miles (EQMs), so you think twice about using miles for free award travel because you don’t earn EQMs on free tickets.
This mind-set can be very costly to your comfort when it comes to international First Class travel, where fares range from $10,000 to $20,000. Sure, you could buy a Business Class ticket, which still lets you earn EQMs, and use your miles to upgrade, but you are still looking at an out-of-pocket cost of $4,000 to $8,000, depending on the route and airline. (Delta elites are out of luck in this category, since the carrier doesn’t have an international First Class cabin, and therefore its First Class partners don’t allow Delta First Class awards.)
In other words, if you’re shackled to Delta SkyMiles, kiss flying First Class goodbye.
[aside]
The Nil Value of American Elite Upgrades?
Why do I single out AA? Because it is the only major U.S. airline that still charges for elite upgrades, which makes the low tier on AA the worst place to be, from this perspective anyway.
American gives you twelve 500-Mile certificates after 30,000 miles flown. If you need more, it will cost you $30 per 500 miles. On the route I travel most frequently, Monterey-New York, I had to use ten 500-mile certificates for one round-trip upgrade. The cost to buy ten certificates is $300 and the upgrade does not get confirmed (which it seldom ever will on a route like this) until your elite upgrade window opens.
For about $855 you can buy 30,000 miles (and about $250 less if you buy them during a discount promotion) or pay nothing if you transfer the miles from Starwood or Diners Club. Freedom Flyers pay about $555 more round-trip, and the upgrade could be confirmed at time of booking. I’ll gladly pay it for flights that take about 11 hours—as that’s about $50 an hour to stay out of steerage, while keeping all my Freedom options open.
[/aside]
The single best return on award miles is using them for free First Class award travel, which you can do when you don’t have to worry about earning EQMs.
2. Freedom Flying: Work the Best Credit Card
Multi-airline cards, such as Amex Rewards and Starwood, do not tie you to one mileage-redemption program, but give you the option to transfer points to numerous partner airlines, which increases access to upgrade and free award seat inventory such as free First Class awards. That means you can forget about going for the “free elite upgrade” and holding your breath until 24 hours before departure—and get a confirmed premium seat using credit card points.
The odds are better. The anxiety is gone. Figure that a domestic upgrade costs up to 30,000 miles or a transfer of 30,000 points: Well, you’ll earn 5,000 for a long-haul flight, so it’s really 25,000; and let’s say you earn 12,500 miles on credit card purchases, leaving 12,500 miles to buy for the upgrade, which comes to $325 to $450 (more on this below). That’s not bad, considering that the Business Class ticket costs $1,000 to $2,000 more, you increase your odds of availability maybe five-fold, and you can lock in the upgrade far in advance. Plus, American elites have to pay for upgrades anyway (500-mile upgrade certificate). If you’re shackled to United’s MileagePlus or Continental’s OnePass, forget about Starwood or Amex.
3. Freedom Flying: Hustling for Miles with Multiple Credit Card Bonuses
Every airline offers a credit card and the come-ons are great—usually 30,000 miles after the first purchase or after spending $750, although British Airways currently offers 50,000 miles, and this past April even offered 100,000. (The opportunities to take advantage of BA miles, if you need to earn elite miles every time you fly, are few and far between.) 30,000 miles gets you a free domestic upgrade from a discounted economy fare—get five cards and receive five free domestic upgrades. If you’re a low-tier elite, you’re not flying very many flights a year, so a couple of credit card bonuses annually will go a long way to spending time in First Class.
4. Freedom Flying: Buying Miles Strategies
Ok, so you are not into the credit card game, or not deeply anyway. Buying miles and using them for an upgrade or free award ticket can be a really good deal—savings can be as much as 50%—on routes where domestic premium airfares are high, such as Los Angeles-New York, currently about $3,100 in Business Class on American, Delta, and United. Buying the miles will cost you $1,375 to $1,750 (grab miles when they are on sale, and reduce the cost another 30% to 50%) Alaska and US Airways allow unlimited transactions, while most other airlines allow 40,000 to 100,000 miles to be purchased per calendar year.
5. Freedom Flying: You Can Shop Around for Premium Fares
This is where a good travel agent can be helpful. In the July issue we highlighted domestic routes and airlines that offered up to 55% on First Class travel. Here are two examples: Los Angeles-Boston is $954 (plus taxes), whereas the same ticket for an elite with American or United is $2,128. The savings pays for a second confirmed First Class ticket.
New York-New Orleans is $686 on Delta, while the First Class fare for Continental elites is $1,536. Again, the saving pays for a second confirmed First Class ticket. American and United elites suffer dearly on routes like this, while Freedom Flyers reap.
6. Freedom Flying: Going for the Best Premium Seats
At times, an international airline will use an international aircraft on a domestic route. The seat offered is much better than the one you’ll get in First Class on a domestic aircraft. Not being locked into one mileage program allows you to pick and choose the best options on a per-flight basis.
Lets take the New York-Miami route, where American has one flight daily (AA613 /AA518) that uses an international wide-body B767-300 furnished with 170-degree recline seats. On the same route, Continental offers a much inferior domestic First Class seat, at an even higher price.
7. Freedom Flying: Getting the Best Flight Schedule
Why fly San Francisco-Charlotte via Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati or Dallas if you are an American or Delta elite just to earn elite qualifying miles, when you can fly non-stop on US Airways? (Use the strategies mentioned above to make direct flights cheaper.)
Flying with Freedom lets you choose what matters to you most each trip.