4 ms·

I'll gladly trade a single weekend for ~2 years of priority boarding and automatic first class upgrades.

potatolicious 12y ago
It's ~1 year of priority boarding and automatic first class upgrades (you have to re-qualify yearly), and it's several weekends at the very least - there is no way you can hit 50K miles in a single weekend. You're looking at spending 5-10% of all of your weekends in a plane to maintain this status.
- goatforce5 12y ago
  If you're already travelling a lot for work, an occasional mileage run to push you up in to the next tier can make a lot of sense. Being up in the next tier can earn you multipliers of the miles you actually fly and other perks, so it can be a fairly rational decision. The only time I did an explicit mileage run (as opposed to taking a longer route to get to where I had to go anyway) I did a short hop from London to Madrid in First Class on a really cheap ticket, spent the day walking around being a tourist, and then probably paid for the ticket in the amount of booze I guzzled at the rather excellent Iberia lounge on the way back. That was to keep good status with American. Having good status with American can making flying - gasp! - pleasurable.
mhb 12y ago
What's the appeal of "priority" boarding? First one on the plane? Yay!
- isamuel 12y ago
  It's a reasonable question, and it's one of the things about airline status that I actually value a lot, so here's an attempt to answer it. First, if you have carry-on luggage and the flight is full, this guarantees you access to overhead space. That can be a big deal. Having to gate-check your bag can be irritating if you've got things in there that you need, and the longer the flight, the more important this is. Second, at least on Delta, the people who board priority have a separate line. That line continues to exist even after general boarding starts. The upshot is that, even if you board with everyone else, you can cut the line and not have to stand around waiting. If you prefer sitting down to standing in a line, then this is valuable and good. Third, and related to #2, boarding early means you're likely boarding with other frequent travelers. Those people are better to board with because they are quicker and more efficient, on average, about things like clearing out of the aisle, getting settled, etc. This means less waiting around and being jostled in the aisle. All of this adds up to a much more pleasant experience.
  - mhb 12y ago
    Thanks
- potatolicious 12y ago
  isamuel explains it well - there are other benefits though. Priority boarding is usually handed out along with priority luggage, priority check-in, and sometimes priority security. All of those are hugely valuable, especially stuff that saves you time at the airport. A huge problem with air travel is that airports are located usually far away from anything of consequence, and the requirement to arrive absurdly early (to navigate luggage, check-in, security, etc) adds huge chunks of time to a flight. I have priority with United, but I still try to board late - I hate being stuck in a shitty tin can - but the rest of the benefits are enormously pleasant.

It's ~1 year of priority boarding and automatic first class upgrades (you have to re-qualify yearly), and it's several weekends at the very least - there is no way you can hit 50K miles in a single weekend. You're looking at spending 5-10% of all of your weekends in a plane to maintain this status.

goatforce5 12y ago
If you're already travelling a lot for work, an occasional mileage run to push you up in to the next tier can make a lot of sense. Being up in the next tier can earn you multipliers of the miles you actually fly and other perks, so it can be a fairly rational decision. The only time I did an explicit mileage run (as opposed to taking a longer route to get to where I had to go anyway) I did a short hop from London to Madrid in First Class on a really cheap ticket, spent the day walking around being a tourist, and then probably paid for the ticket in the amount of booze I guzzled at the rather excellent Iberia lounge on the way back. That was to keep good status with American. Having good status with American can making flying - gasp! - pleasurable.

mhb 12y ago

What's the appeal of "priority" boarding? First one on the plane? Yay!

isamuel 12y ago
It's a reasonable question, and it's one of the things about airline status that I actually value a lot, so here's an attempt to answer it. First, if you have carry-on luggage and the flight is full, this guarantees you access to overhead space. That can be a big deal. Having to gate-check your bag can be irritating if you've got things in there that you need, and the longer the flight, the more important this is. Second, at least on Delta, the people who board priority have a separate line. That line continues to exist even after general boarding starts. The upshot is that, even if you board with everyone else, you can cut the line and not have to stand around waiting. If you prefer sitting down to standing in a line, then this is valuable and good. Third, and related to #2, boarding early means you're likely boarding with other frequent travelers. Those people are better to board with because they are quicker and more efficient, on average, about things like clearing out of the aisle, getting settled, etc. This means less waiting around and being jostled in the aisle. All of this adds up to a much more pleasant experience.
- mhb 12y ago
  Thanks
potatolicious 12y ago
isamuel explains it well - there are other benefits though. Priority boarding is usually handed out along with priority luggage, priority check-in, and sometimes priority security. All of those are hugely valuable, especially stuff that saves you time at the airport. A huge problem with air travel is that airports are located usually far away from anything of consequence, and the requirement to arrive absurdly early (to navigate luggage, check-in, security, etc) adds huge chunks of time to a flight. I have priority with United, but I still try to board late - I hate being stuck in a shitty tin can - but the rest of the benefits are enormously pleasant.