Airlines offer waivers of their often incomprehensible rules all the time. Robert Lytle wants this to be one of the times, and he’d like me to help him make it so.
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Tag: ELITE
You’re not so special! The hidden messages of the airline industry
Sometimes, airlines reveal their true feelings about you with a simple word or phrase.
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I have until Friday to cough up $14,000 – should I pay?
But as you’ll see in a minute, this is a highly unusual problem with an imminent deadline. At stake? The highest-level elite status and several million frequent flier miles.
Oh, and the fate of our republic.
I’m kidding.
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3 tips for handling upgrade guilt
Do you suffer from upgrade guilt when you fly in first class? You probably do — and if you don’t, you should.
The woman seated in the last row of first class on my previous flight did. As I boarded the aircraft, our eyes locked, and I smiled as I shuffled back to seat 25D.
She looked away. I could tell she felt sorry for me.
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A few miles short of elite status on United Airlines — now what?
No one likes to start the New Year on the wrong foot, especially if it means you’ll be treated a little bit less special by your preferred airline. But that’s exactly what Matin Nazir is facing.
He didn’t qualify for Premier status with United Airlines for 2012, after five straight years of elite-ness.
Perhaps most frustrating, he’s only a few miles — and a few hours — from renewing his Mileage Plus status.
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Ridiculous or not? Airline rules were meant to be broken (by elites)
You don’t have to fly frequently to know the airline industry has some of the most ridiculous rules in the travel business. But if you fly enough, you may not have to follow all of them.
For example: Most passengers are herded through boarding areas in large, disorganized groups. Unless you’re an elite-level frequent flier; then you skip through a “breezeway” or over a red carpet, away from the long line, directly to your preferred seat. Frequent fliers also get to shortcut the lengthy security line at some airports, and they don’t have to pay many checked luggage fees and other surcharges.
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Your turn! The other side explains why we’re so wrong
I’m frequently accused of using this site as a bully pulpit, which is, of course, completely true.
I leverage this little corner of cyberspace to advocate for travelers who don’t have the clout of an elite-level frequent flier or the power of a corporate travel department to support them when they’re on the road.
Still, there’s something to be learned from listening to the other side — the folks responsible for inventing the fees and silly rules you have to put up with, the ones whose elite status affords them god-like treatment, the people who, let’s face it, don’t see the world the same way we do.
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Do-good passenger slams elite seatmate in open letter
“I’m sorry your Silver Elite status on Northwest Airlines didn’t qualify you for a first-class upgrade on your recent flight from New York to Minneapolis,” Kevin Winge quips. “All of us, your fellow passengers, shared in the incredulity you expressed so vocally to the gate agent when informed that you would be flying coach.”
Winge is the executive director of Open Arms of Minnesota, a nonprofit organization that provides nutritious meals to people living with diseases, so he knows a thing or two about entitlement. And I think he’s succeeded in writing an open letter that could apply to every annoying airline passenger we’ve ever shared a plane with.
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