How to Get Elite Status Without Flying
Imagine you’ve been a frequent flyer over the past six months. Two or three times a month you leave your house in northern New Jersey and take that reliable car service to Newark Airport to catch a flight to a client meeting in Denver. Since you’re always flying to the Mile High City, you’ve been racking up the miles on United Airlines – you’ve even made their Premier Executive status, giving you 100% bonus miles on every flight. That sure helps when you’re trying to save for a family trip to San Diego.
You also like the other perks that come with Premier Executive status – the upgrades; the quick check-in at your own special line; bypassing the long security line (suckers!) and gliding over to the faster queue for elites; and getting to board first to you’re guaranteed a place for your carry-on bag. Sure, it’s difficult to be away so much, but those elite benefits make the hardship a bit easier.
Yes, life is good for the business traveler with elite status.
Until your boss calls you into his office and tells you that you’re no longer working on the Denver project. No, your new client is in Dallas and they expect you to be on site every week.
Uh oh. United doesn’t fly nonstop from Newark to Dallas. And the idea of connecting through Chicago or Denver every week is making you queasy. But what’s making you even more queasy is having to start over from scratch with American Airlines or Continental Airlines. Goodbye special security line. Goodbye mileage bonuses. Goodbye upgrades.
That’s where the frequent flyer status match comes in. Airlines certainly don’t publicize it, but in many cases if you have elite status on one airline, other airlines will match your status – for free!
That’s right, airlines need business travelers to keep their flights profitable, and they’re willing to give you all of the perks of elite frequent flyer status without making you drag yourself back and forth across the country accumulating miles.
If you already have elite status with an airline, you are certainly aware of how incredibly valuable that status can be. Continental Airlines, for example, gives unlimited domestic upgrades to their lowest level of elite flyer. Even if you’ve only flown 25,000 miles, you can be upgraded every time you fly. Considering that a roundtrip first class ticket from New York to LA can run more than $2,000, that perk alone can be worth tens of thousands of dollars each year.
This site will share how to get airlines to match your status with little-to-no effort. And we’re share lots of ideas about how to earn Elite Status without ever stepping foot on a plane. We’ll also let you know how the benefits in the new airline’s program differs from those perks you’re accustomed to getting. In fact, you may decide that it’s not even worth getting a status match once you learn more about how other programs work.
Learn about Earning and Using Miles on Continental Airlines
Learn how to get Northwest Airlines to match your elite status