Tag Archives for elite status.
Hilton’s new promotion: is double points on all stays with checkouts by December 31 plus 2000 bonus points for checkouts on a weekday. In addition Hilton is offering double elite night credit for nights stayed October 11 – December 31, 2022. You need to register for both, award stays count, and the offers tell us something about business travel and loyalty right at this moment.
Delta is doubling down on the requirement that you not only fly a minimum amount to earn elite status, but spend a minimum amount with the airline, too. There are no changes to how much you need to fly – just how much you need to spend. And they’re updating choice benefits for Platinum and Diamond members.
Airlines are about to downgrade the elite status of 25 million frequent flyers. At the start of the pandemic loyalty programs extended elite status. Customers who earned their status in 2019 weren’t flying. Borders were closed, businesses weren’t sending people on the road.
Flights to and from California, along with intra-California flights, earn a 50% bonus towards elite status on Alaska Airlines in October and November. Registration isn’t required.
Southwest Airlines quietly counted award travel towards the flight segments needed for award status for travel January 1 – September 19 of this year. They’ve finally emailed members to say they’ve done it, and they’re doing two more things to make status qualification easier.
Status passes both engender loyalty and protect the loyalty relationship. That’s a strategy more programs should think through.
American Airlines’ own data shows that following devaluations of the AAdvantage program elite members moved flying away from the program. AAdvantage itself generated more revenue, because its credit card deals became more lucrative. That earn-burn program grew, while the most engaged members stepped back.
That may even be the right business decision! Flying has frequently been unprofitable for American while net revenue has been driven by selling miles to banks. Maybe they should reward flying less if they’re not making money on it.
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards will never be the stuff dreams are made of. There are no first class upgrades (Southwest has no premium cabin). You can’t redeem your miles to the Maldives or Seychelles (no partner airline redemptions). But there are some simple changes that could supercharge the value of the Rapid Rewards program.
Cathay Pacific will retire the Marco Polo Club brand. Instead of having a separate elite program (Marco Polo Club) and points program (Asia Miles) the two will be combined in July. This means big changes for the entry level status of the program, and potentially for their U.S. credit card as well.
2022 is a weird year. Travel is booming, but only in certain places and only certain kinds of travel. What’s more, the Omicron surge meant the year started off slow for many members. So while we’ll see plenty of frequent flyers earning elite status, there are many still on the sidelines.
Aeroplan is out with a way for members to keep their status through 2023: earn 30,000 points with an Aeroplan co-brand credit card between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. This is on top of elite status accelerators announced in February.
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 »
