Airline Elite Status

My 2019 Mid-Year Airline Status Check

July 8, 2019By Edward Pizzarello5 Comments

Where have I been spending most of my time as we hit the midyear mark? On airplanes. Lots of them. More than I’d like to be. Here’s what that looks like so far this year.

My 2018 Airline Status Review And A Look Forward To 2019

December 29, 2018By Edward Pizzarello8 Comments

How did 2018 turn out for you in regards to airline elite status? Did you stick with the status quo or did you make a change? Here’s how 2018 looked for me.

American Airlines Makes It Tougher To Earn Elite Status With Credit Card Spend

October 23, 2018By Edward Pizzarello2 Comments

Another airline is looking to thin out the elite ranks. American Airlines makes an announcement today that will reduce the number of elite members. Is more to come?

United Airlines Makes Elite Status Harder To Achieve, Less Rewarding For Their Best Customers

September 28, 2018By Edward Pizzarello12 Comments

Is a swap in upgrade types for very frequent travelers reward enough to spend thousands of dollars more with United Airlines? Is the fact that Delta requires $15,000 in spending from their top elites a good enough reason to make this change for United? Will United actually make more upgrades available to top-tier 1K members?

Giving United Airlines Credit Where Credit Is Due

January 19, 2018By Edward Pizzarello11 Comments

I spend plenty of time beating on United. When I had a great experience yesterday, I just think it’s only fair that I share that with you to go along with the complaining.

My 2017 Airline Elite Status Recap And A Look Forward To 2018

January 1, 2018By Edward Pizzarello1 Comment

How did you make out with airline elite status in 2017? What are you thinking about in 2018? Here’s a look at my stats for 2017 and my outlook for 2018.

American Airlines Allowing Top-Tier Concierge Key Members To Gift Executive Platinum Status

December 8, 2017By Edward Pizzarello2 Comments

American Airlines is allowing some top-tier Concierge Key members to gift Executive Platinum status. That’s something of a surprise to me.

Did Boeing Promise Southwest Millions Of Dollars If 737 MAX Pilots Needed A Simulator?

A small nugget in a recent story about the Boeing 737 MAX has me wondering if Boeing made significant financial promises to airlines in regards to the training requirements on the MAX.

Cathay Pacific CEO Resigns, Presumably Because China Is Mad At The Airline

Cathay Pacific CEO resigns amid Hong Kong protests. He was most likely forced out as a sacrifical lamb for angered Chinese officials.

Marriott Rolling Out Changes That Are Likely To Hurt Many Members

With these new changes, Marriott becomes Lucy holding the football while their customers become Charlie Brown, charging down the road to a vacation they may not be able to afford.

Hong Kong Airport Shuts Down Amid Protests As Cathay Pacific Kowtows To China

Two stories about Hong Kong this morning captured my attention. First, one of the largest airports in the world was shut down due to a massive peaceful protest. Maybe even more surprisingly, China pressured Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship airline, to feed information to the Chinese about employees protesting, as well as barring them from flights to or above China.

Monthly Airplane Wi-Fi Reliability Report Card: July 2019

United performs above average in July but still below every other airline I’ve flown. Is this the start of a positive trend?

I Flew Frontier, Saved $400 And Didn’t Die. My Frontier Airlines Review

Those low-cost carriers always have very appetizing fare sales. Who wouldn’t want to pay $20 to fly somewhere? But, what does $20 really buy you? I found out exactly what Frontier does (and doesn’t) offer customers on my first flight with them recently.

How To Use New Metro Silver Line To Get Between Dulles and Reagan National Airports

People talk about how bad the traffic is in places like Los Angeles with plenty of adjectives. And, it is quite bad. But, the traffic in DC is what I refer to as “stealthy bad”. It doesn’t get the same press that LA traffic does, but a trip that normally takes an hour can easily turn into a 3-hour ordeal. With visiting dignitaries, protests and construction as variables, weather can also wreak havoc on a system that consistently backs up during rush hour. For those of us that live in […]

A Summary Of United Airlines Global Services Benefits

As travel has gotten more stressful the benefits of elite status are even more valuable. In some cases, what used to be free for everyone is now only free for those customers that fly most frequently. I value my American Airlines Executive Platinum status more highly than any status I’ve earned, including 1K service with United Airlines. However, Global Services is another matter. For those not aware, Global Services is an invitation-only status level that United bestows on their best customers. What defines a best customer? Well, United doesn’t list […]

Update: American Airlines Variable Choice Plus Pricing A Feature, Not A Bug

I have to admit, I was pretty pleased with the original announcement that American Airlines was creating bundled pricing that included change fees at a lower apparent cost. Things got a little better when American also announced they were expanding the timeframe you could request a same day change to your flight. And, then things started to get a bit screwy. It started with just one flight I couldn’t get to price right with Choice Plus as an add-on. But, then I did a bit more digging and found out […]

Is Foursquare Dead?

Venture Beat doesn’t think so, and I’m not 100% sure they’re wrong. But, before I discuss the article, a little background on why someone allergic to social media like me became a Foursquare nut. A few years ago, a company called TopGuest came up with this concept where you could earn airline miles and hotel points for checking in at various places on Foursquare. I can’t say I thought it was a terribly good business model, but they convinced a bunch of hotel chains to hand out miles for this. […]