Crunch Time For Frequent Flyers
Anna Kendrick in "Up In The Air"
In reading The New York Times this weekend, I was excited to see a story dedicated to folks who do whacky things at year-end to maintain their airline status. Why? Well, I happen to be one of them. I was even happier to see that the article was among the most emailed of the day (Phew! I'm not alone.).
So, yes, I am one of the crazy folks who did a "mileage trip" to reach executive platinum status on American Airlines. My trip was to Honolulu for just two days. The cheapest, farthest trip I could take to achieve the last few miles I needed to maintain my queen of the airlines status. And last week it was confirmed. Executive Platinum status was again mine. And why is this significant? If you travel as much as I do for business you know it can be the difference between survival and insanity. The ability to upgrade automatically, cut the lines, arrive later to the airport, not pay for bags and receiving priority when all goes bad with delays and cancellations is a big deal.
So when I saw this weekend's article I could not help, but feel validated. While I may not be in the majority, I certainly am one of many, just trying to survive business travel one mile at a time! 