Airline and hotel status have both historically been highly coveted, and by some they still are. I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying top-tier status with various programs in the past, but as of this year, I won’t be going out of my way to earn status anymore. Here are four reasons why:
Mid-Tier Hotel Status Can Be Earned Through Many Credit Cards
The Hyatt Credit Card, the IHG Rewards Club Card, and the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card are among credit cards that are available and offer mid-tier hotel status as long as you are a cardholder. In a lot of cases, the benefits of top-tier status are pretty marginal over mid-tier, especially considering the fact that I often had to mattress run half of the nights needed to earn top-tier status.
Airlines Are Slashing Redeemable Mileage Earning Benefits
A lot of the time when I decide where to go, it’s because there is a cheap fare. I’ve snagged $300 round-trip fares to the other side of the world before, and when I do that I want to earn the miles! As a base level member of American, Delta, or United, you currently only earn 5 miles per dollar spent. That $300 fare would only net me 1,500 redeemable miles. If I credit to foreign programs, there is the possibility to earn more miles. For example, Singapore Airlines will credit United flights at 100% of miles flown. If I fly 20,000 miles on that $300 fare, I could earn 20,000 Singapore Airlines miles or 1,500 United miles — that’s a pretty easy choice if I don’t have to consider trying to earn status with United!
U.S.-Based Carriers Have Spending Requirements for Status
Gone are the days of qualifying for airline status on cheap fares, because the U.S.-based carriers now require spending a certain amount on fares in order to earn status. Even if you pick up a few cheap fares, you still have to hit the total spending requirement, which ranges from $2,500 to $10,000 depending on the status level. In some cases, it is possible to get around this by spending a lot on the airlines co-branded credit card, but overall I don’t think that it is worth it for the time and energy required.
You Can’t Buy the Cheapest Fares and Still Get Upgrades
A lot of airlines are introducing a low-cost-carrier-like fare which makes you ineligible to get upgrades even if you do have status. You will have to pay for higher cost fares even to have the chance to get an upgrade, and even if you do that you are far from guaranteed that upgrade.
When that upgrade is really important to me, I’ll just budget for it in 2017 – whether it be money or miles – instead of spending extra money to earn status I may or may not get the benefits I want out of. I’ll stick with my mid-tier status that I get through hotel credit cards and my free checked bags from airline credit cards.
Are you chasing status in 2017?