Taking stock of status

I know its been a couple of weeks into 2014, but (and so) I thought I'd take stock of my status on the loyalty programs important to me. To be honest, almost all my travel is official (read: paid for by clients), which means I don't get to decide what airline I fly or where I stay, as often as I'd like to. Also, there are no co-branded credit card programs in India that will offer you status with airlines or hotels (in fact, it is usually the other way - airline status gets you fee waivers on high-end credit cards).

Therefore, much of my status is through special promos or status matching, or in one case, simply good fortune in 2013. Also, you'll find that where I do have some level of elite status, it is usually mid-tier and not top-tier. This is a natural consequence of relying on promos. Read on, see if you've missed something, and equally importantly, see if I've missed an offer for elite status (in which case, do leave a comment; my thanks in advance!).

Airlines

Jet Airways - Platinum during 2013, Gold in 2014

In late 2012, Jet Airways' systems messed up, and while I retained my Gold status for 6 years in a row (the honest way - by flying), they erroneously upgraded me to Platinum. In fact, they did this for a number of members, which resulted in an upgrade to the next tier in the JP program.

And because they had already sent out the welcome kits, they chose to honour the upgrade for the entire year. In 2013, I flew just enough to continue to be eligible for Gold, but failed to re-qualify for Platinum. However, I was able to use the Platinum status in 2013 to get some status matches done.

Air France / KLM Flying Blue - Gold

Flying Blue ran a promo for a status match to Gold, for residents of Nordic countries, some time in the first half of 2013. I admit I cheated on this one - all it took was a small change of address. I then used my JP Platinum status as proof of higher status elsewhere, and left the rest of it to fortune. Thankfully, this worked, and I've got Gold on Flying Blue.

I rarely fly Air France or KLM, so I use this more to either status match, or combine with other promotions. After all, this one was a fluke, and was valid for a limited period, so I am not too fussed about having status without much use, or indeed losing it later on this year.

Air India Flying Returns - base level member

This is a very difficult program to go up the tiers, if you don't fly them all the time. They don't do status matches generally (though I haven't tried a few tricks that some others have reported as being successful).

However, I do like some of the benefits they give even to base level members. Not too long back, I was flying AI and had close to 22 kgs of baggage to be checked in. I was asked to pay for the additional 7 kgs that was over limit, when I told them I was a Flying Returns member (it wasn't added to my booking initially). This changed things almost entirely, because simply by being a member without any elite status, I still managed to snag free extra baggage up to 10 kgs (normally reserved for Silver status).

Cathay Pacific - Silver

This one was strange - in mid 2012, I travelled to Beijing via HKG on Cathay Pacific and Dragonair. Six months after this, Cathay offered me complimentary Silver status. I asked if they would hold this offer for some more time, as I had no plans then to fly CX (and haven't since then).

They said no, and so because this was effectively been a one-time offer, I had no choice but to take it up.

Misses

I did miss out on some other promos, particularly the offer for complimentary Ethiad Guest Gold. I was denied this offer, but with only 500 of those on offer (and notwithstanding my Platinum status at the time with Jet), I didn't feel too bad about the rejection.

Hotels

Hilton HHonors - Gold

Hilton ran a promo for complimentary HHonors Gold for Visa Infinite cardholders resident in Australia. This was a major offer at the time, and virtually every blog on BoardingArea was talking about it. BTW, it was withdrawn later, as were similar programs for some other countries.

Again, a bit of cheating was involved - an Australian address and using the Luhn's algorithm to get a valid credit card number - and HHonors Gold was mine.

SPG - Gold

Some time in July 2013, SPG offered complimentary Gold status on the SPG program, if one registered for the promo, and completed one stay in Asia Pacific which was paid for on a World MasterCard credit card.

Fortunately, I had no reasons to cheat on this one. I do have a World MasterCard credit card, and an official stay came up soon after I signed up for this promotion. It took a week after my stay for the Gold status to be reflected in my account.

Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) - Free Platinum

GHA offered complimentary Platinum status (which BTW isn't their highest tier - that's Black) just for signing up for the GHA program. This was / is valid till February 2015, and because it was virtually instant status, I signed up for this.

The status reflected in my account immediately upon signup, but I had to wait a further 6 months before I could stay at a GHA property (the Kempinski Ambience Hotel in New Delhi, which stay I will write have written about separately).

Club Carlson - Gold

This was easy, and I didn't have to do anything for this, except sign up. Club Carlson partnered with Jet Airways to offer Gold and Platinum members on the JP program, complimentary Gold status with Club Carlson, valid through March 2014.

I managed to use this to gain some points during a stay at a Radisson hotel in Mahabalipuram near Chennai, India. So, in all, it was worth it!

Accor Le Club - Platinum

Accor frequently runs offers like this one, for Platinum status on signup. In fact, my post on this (linked previously) is one of the most read posts on Miles&EvenMore!

I signed up early in 2013, and got instant Platinum status. However, I was able to use this only in November 2013, during a stay at the Pullman Central, Gurgaon.

Marriott - Silver
I initially had no status (though I was a base category member with some points) on the Marriott Rewards program. Then, in September 2013, Marriott came along with an offer of Silver status for Accenture employees (which they don't really verify; but I actually qualified for this one on a technicality, so no cheating was involved).

I signed up for this, and was even able to successfully combine this account with my previous one, and had the points transferred to the new account with Silver status.

Misses

There were none, really. As I mentioned before, I rarely get to decide where I stay, so having status often turned out to be useful - complimentary upgrades to suites at Hiltons, same for my SPG stays plus additional benefits, and room upgrade at the Pullman. But to my mind, the score of the year was retaining my points while getting complimentary Silver status with Marriott Rewards.

Conclusion

So that's about it, then. Most of the status that I've written about above is valid through 2014 or later (except where I've mentioned otherwise). In my spirit of "any status is good status", I don't think I really missed out on anything, or did something I'd regret. But let me know if I did.