Here’s the secret to getting elite status and all those perks
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I’ve been involved with the travel industry for more than 20 years. In all of the travel-related groups I’m in, one of the most frequently asked questions is:
How can I get flight upgrades and lounge access?
Most people will tell you that you can get those perks in one of these ways:
- The obvious way: Pay outright for premium seats and lounge access. Those costs can add up quickly, though.
- The slow-and-steady way: Earn status by flying frequently with your preferred airline or using credit card points. But that can take time, and not everyone is eligible for credit cards or travels enough to rack up the required miles.
- The special-treatment way: Some travelers think if you give the flight attendants a gift, dress a certain way, or tell them you’re celebrating a birthday, anniversary, honeymoon, etc., you’ll get upgraded. This might have worked in the past, but airlines rarely give away first-class seats these days.
Thankfully, there is another way:
You can buy elite airline status for several major airlines
and get the perks that come with it — for every trip you take on that airline for anywhere from three months to two years after purchasing it (depending on the airline and status level).
And the price is much lower than you might think. In fact, it could cost the same as what you were going to pay for an upgrade just to premium economy on just one trip.
A recent example: I was flying to Spain to walk part of the Camino de Santiago, but my flight was booked in economy. I checked prices for upgrading to premium economy and checking a bag, and the total to add those things to my ticket would have cost me over $600. I would have had to pay for upgraded seats on two legs of the trip each way, plus my checked bag each way. And that wasn’t even counting the cost of lounge access (or food if I skipped the lounge and paid to eat in the airport).
Then I checked the price to buy Gold status (which would get me access to those premium seats, the lounge, and priority boarding, plus include two checked bags and the possibility of space-available upgrades to first class).
It was just $279.
(What’s crazier is that the highest level status, Premier 1K, was $499 — still cheaper than buying the one-off perks and services).
I would only pay that price once, and I’d get the elite status benefits on every flight on that airline for the next four months.
The choice was obvious.
Flying these days is stressful. If you’ve got a flight coming up (or if a loved one does, it’s a unique and thoughtful gift!), buying elite status is a great way to alleviate some of that stress, breeze through priority lines, enjoy some extra legroom, get on board the flight while there’s still space for carry-ons in the overhead bins, and relax in a lounge before or between flights.
Now that you know the secret, let me know if you try it!