FlyerTalk - Frequent Flyer Discussion Boards

My favorite travel web site these days is FlyerTalk. The site has a wealth of information for airline travelers. I have learned so much just by reading discussion threads and asking occasional questions.

I am traveling a lot for my new job. I will be heading to Hartford, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Phoenix before the end of 2006. And there will likely be a couple of other trips squeezed in.

Most of my flights are through Dulles and on United Airlines. Dulles is a United hub airport. I heard some statistic indicating somewhere around 43% of Dulles flights are by United or one of its partners.

My goal is to make Premiere status by the end of 2006. That means 25,000 "elite qualifying miles" (EQMs) flown or 30 "elite qualifying segments" (EQSs) flown on United or one of its partners. Thus far, I've got about 12,000 miles and 11 flight segments. Hitting the 25k mark is an attainable goal.

I learned about "Mileage Runs" on FlyerTalk. The basis of mileage runs is taking a flight for the sole purpose of earning enough EQMs to qualify for Premiere, Premiere Executive or 1k status. Premiere Executive requires 50,000 EQMs and 1k requires 100,000 EQMs. There are discussions with people talking about taking trips as far as Singapore just to rack up the EQMs.

If I come up short, I have found flights out to San Francisco for under $260 round trip that would allow me to earn 5,000 EQMs. Not bad. But there are several other ways to earn EQMs that I learned about through FlyerTalk. Certain credit cards offer EQMs. For the last couple of years United has offered customers the option of buying EQMs. And EQMs can occassionally be transferred from one United Mileage Plus member to another.

What's the benefit of getting Premiere status you ask? Better treatment. Upgrades to better seats. Customer Service agents who treat you as a more valued customer. Telephone service agents that are in the U.S. and are knowledgeable about the various cities around the country.

Basically, when you achieve Elite status, United treats you as a very good customer and takes extra measures in taking care of your needs. There are complaints from Elite status customers about poor service on FlyerTalk. But by-and-large, most frequent flyers try to attain Elite status to reap all the rewards associated.

In a better world, everyone would be treated wonderfully. In a realistic world, companies try to take care of their best customers first. How different is the treatment? I'll provide a few examples in future posts. Until then, check out FlyerTalk!