Tag Archives for status.
The end of status? Airlines that once promised loyal flyers free first class upgrades now sell those seats for as little as $40, leaving even their best customers stuck in coach.
While United Airlines doesn’t have a formal, published program to support status extensions, calling or emailing with a request for status extension worked for many last year. If you’re about to see your status drop February 1, you might reach out to MileagePlus.
Since a majority of miles are earned via credit card, and American’s U.S. co-brands earn 1 Loyalty Point per dollar spent, a lot of status is being generated by credit card.
And that means not just more people earning status overall than before, but different people earning status.
Last week I posted a promotion code to receive instant Gold status with Hilton just by calling them up. It turns out that there’s a website where you can enroll with HHonors Gold status online. No phone call required! If you’re an existing HHonors member you still have to call with the promotion code to get the status… or you could open a new account with Gold and then merge the two. Once you’ve created the new account, log in online, choose ‘member services,’ and select ‘combine multiple accounts.’ Add your existing account into your new Gold one.
As discussed at Flyertalk.com, Hilton is offering complimentary Gold status (details of Hilton status here). Just dial 1-800-HHONORS, ask for a customer service representative, and tell them you are calling about promotion code CTCH. This seems to work for most folks, and provides or extends Gold status instantly. The promotion is apparently with Citibank, with elite HHonors membership offered to Citibank members with special Chairmans status of some kind. However, the promotion code is currently mentioned in the main recording on the Hilton 800 number so it really isn’t a secret. This is likely just a mistake on Hilton’s part to publicize it this way. Some folks report problems signing up for the promotion, with representatives saying you need a letter from Citibank or asking whether you have a Citibank credit card, so your mileage…
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 »
