Elite Status Soft Landings And Meal Service Improvement at American

by Gary Leff

News and notes from around the interweb:

  • Linens return to domestic first class on American starting April 1.

  • Peter Chang — the elusive Szechuan chef who used to cook for the Chinese embassy in DC (and has a history of disappearing from restaurants where he works) — has a new place in the DC area. Check out this review and make a beeline there before Chang disappears again!

  • 25% off sale for the Westin Heavenly Bed. There are frequent discounts for the W Hotels bed, but some ask about the Westin version and that one is rarely on sale.

  • A couple of status updates, of interest to those curious about ‘soft landings’:
    • My MegaDO-granted Club Carlson Concierge status has expired. They provided a soft landing to Gold.

    • I was an Intercontinental Royal Ambassador (and thus Priority Club Platinum) 2006 through 2013. I received complimentary Ambassador status and earned Platinum for 2014. My Ambassador status lapsed, but was still given a Platinum IHG Rewards Club card for 2015 – despite not a single qualifying stay in 2014. This is officially noted as being a result of not renewing Ambassador status.

  • Air France eliminating their 747s

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  2. I got a soft landing on my best western status. Had diamond almost two years ago. With no stays last year,they kept me at diamond, and got a soft landing to platinum. Received a letter from them to have a two night stay to get diamond again. Pretty sweet!

  3. I miss Oriental Gourmet. It was definitely of the Americanized variety, but it was good. Still prefer Hong Kong Palace over at Seven Corners for the authentic experience. They have the Americanized menu too but I’ve never sampled it.

  4. Oh nooo
    Say it ain’t so no conceirge status with Radisson hotels?:(
    No more free breakfast for one of a croissant and coffee?.
    Quickly do 75 nights a year and get it back
    Travel can never be as good without Radission elite status 🙂
    I had it free for a year when first launched and don’t even remember missing it yet when it lapsed 🙂 not very memorable but an improvement over what they had

  5. Ihg platinum status tied with club Carlson
    Even the pitiful club Carlson is better

  6. The return of linens at AA is herald-worthy? Gary, your bias is showing once again. If DL or UA did the same (though both already offer linens in F domestically) I’m sure you would have put a sarcastic spin on it, a la “Delta improves meal service…by adding linens.” I can see the snarky article now…

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