Tag Archives for elite benefits.
If you earned Platinum (50 night) or Titanium (75 night) elite status with Marriott in 2021 you only have until January 7th to make your ‘choice benefit selections. If you miss the deadline, you miss out on benefits like suite upgrade priority and free nights.
A reader shares they have a missing stay from December 27 that would push them over the threshold to earn Titanium. And Marriott won’t take a missing stay submission for that until January 10.
The partnership between American Airlines and JetBlue started allowing each program’s members to earn miles and elite qualifying credit on each other’s flights back in the spring, and they announced that recognition of elite benefits across the two airlines would begin in the fall.
Elite benefits are here – today – and award redemption starts next month. Here are the details.
American Airlines and JetBlue launched their ‘Northeast Alliance’ early in 2021.
Until now there haven’t been elite benefits recognized between the two airlines, and there’s no redeeming miles for each others’ flights. Elite benefits, though, will begin this fall.
Back in December American Airlines announced that their Platinum Pro members would become oneworld emeralds. That will go into effect June 30. There are a couple of wrinkles to know about.
Marriott hotels were allowed to close down their club lounges and restaurants during the pandemic. Even where they re-opened restaurants they might not honor elite breakfast, claiming that they weren’t fully staffed or hadn’t fully re-opened.
The elite brown bag breakfast of apple or banana and granola was born. In some cases a credit was offered towards breakfast in the restaurant instead of covering the meal entirely. That “flexibility” ends July 1.
With the introduction of the ability for American frequent flyers to earn miles and elite status flying JetBlue, and vice versa I’ve gotten several questions about the relationship centering around taking advantage of both programs at once.
Hilton announced a new food and beverage benefit that replaces breakfast at U.S. hotels starting in July and running through the end of 2021. They will offer a food and beverage credit for use any time at the hotel, including in-restaurant, for grab and go, or for room service.
That sounds great in theory – you can take your meal as it’s most convenient to you. However the devil is in the detail of how much that credit is for.
With Alaska Airlines joining the oneworld alliance and continuing to partner more closely with American Airlines, the two airlines have introduced reciprocal elite benefits – the most valuable of which are access for elites to extra legroom seats and upgrades.
As the partnership was being developed, American Airlines Senior Vice President Vasu Raja emphasized the need for a seamless customer experience between the two airlines so “that a customer of either Alaska or American Airlines would choose us over one of our competitors’ long haul services” as a result of upgrades, seat assignments, and other benefits. And yet….
Marriott has continued to promote its elite benefit guarantees despite suspending them during the pandemic. Fortunately the cash guarantee compensation is back for when hotels fail to deliver specific promised benefits.
With Four Seasons Hotels even about to launch new elite rewards, it’s become clear: loyalty holdouts lose out. The principles of loyalty marketing apply to all travel businesses, and to other industries too.
How much it makes sense to invest in a customer depends on a product’s margins, and the extent to which elite benefits versus rebates matter to a customer depend on their profile and subjective preferences – but the basic principles are the same across customer groups and even industries. What form the program takes can vary, but recognizing and rewarding customers matters.
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 »
