At the crossroads, and my priorities and strategies for 2015 - airlines

10 days into 2015 means most loyalty programs have reset their earnings clocks. However, my personal situation on the loyalty front is a bit more complicated. You see, I've had a role change in the organisation I work for, which means I don't expect to be flying and staying as much in hotels as I did in 2014 or earlier. That's going to make it a whole load tougher in the points and miles hobby.

I briefly thought about making a graceful exit entirely from chasing points and miles, but that'd be quite impossible! So I've decided to stick on, but I guess it'll be more of watching from the sidelines. However the final truth is, that it is a sort of partial goodbye to the points, miles and statuses I've had and earned in the last 12 years or so.

So being at a sort of existential crossroads, what I'd like to do through this post is a public self-assessment of what I have on elite status, points and miles. More importantly, I'm putting out my priorities and strategies for 2015, and I seek readers' inputs on whether my plans make sense and what I could do differently. Because there's a difference in my needs and priorities, I'm breaking this assessment up into two posts - this one on airline status, and another one on hotel loyalty.

What I have

I currently hold only one relevant status - Jet Privilege Gold. I met the Gold re-qualification requirements in December, so I'm set till January 2016. I'm not entirely sure at this stage if I'll be able to requalify for Gold by then, but I hope my spends on the HDFC and Amex co-branded credit cards with JP will be sufficiently useful. JP is also a sentimental favourite, being the first loyalty program I enrolled in.

I've currently got no status with Air India. Also, AI's thresholds for the higher levels of the Flying Returns program are rather high, which rules out any sort of future status on AI for me, unless I start using the AI-SBI credit card, more so after the recent devaluation of the Citibank Premier Miles (the Citi PM card was my other go-to card, particularly with their 2x bonus offers in the last couple of years).

My "high point" in 2014 was a short-lived blaze of glory when I got Star Alliance Gold, thanks to Aegean's Miles and Bonus program. Changes to the program terms just a few days after that, means this is valid only till September 2015. I could still continue to credit 48,000 or more miles worth of flights on AI to Aegean in order to retain my status for another year, but given my personal context, I don't see that happening.

In terms of points, aside of smaller balances in various programs, I have a shade over 15k Asia Miles from a trip I took two years back on Cathay Pacific. I'm looking to liquidate that before it expires in mid 2016, with a short trip within Asia. I know 15k CX miles doesn't take you a long way, but this just might come in handy. The other small balances - earned mostly through promos and not flights - I'm happy to let lapse. Sure, that's a minor crime in this hobby, but I think I'm a point in time where I'm willing to let go a little bit. 

I'm also recollecting some mistakes I made along the way - like crediting 6k miles worth of accrual on Thai's Royal Orchid program, when I could have added that to my small pile of points with Air India. Same goes for Aegean, though in all fairness, I didn't see the program change coming. Oh well...

What I look for

The key benefits that I look for when I fly are:

• lounge access to (a) catch a snack/meal/drink if I need one and (b) have a sit down and check emails (complimentary wifi is always welcome!)
• preferred seating and advance seat assignments
• a generous baggage allowance, which helps especially when I'm traveling with family.

Within India, I usually fly Jet, Air India or Indigo for work, and I try and stick to Jet for personal travel. This means that I need some reasonable status with Jet (and possibly AI/Star Alliance) to get the benefits I look for. On international routes, I usually travel business class for work which generally eliminates the need for elite status. However, I do admit I'll lose those benefits when I fly in economy (for personal travel or the rare work travel that I fly economy internationally).

Strategy

I'd like to try and retain JP Gold so that I continue with the above benefits. In terms of strategy, I'll be flying Jet Airways as far as possible, over other airlines. I'm hoping to accumulate enough tier points to be able to retain JP Gold. And I can try and top up any further tier points required, using a Jet Airways co-branded credit card. Aside from the additional baggage allowance, this will help me with lounge access, as also 3 upgrade vouchers!

I'm not going to even try and retain Star Alliance Gold - that would require posting 48,000 miles worth of travel on partner airlines (24k miles on Aegean) to the Miles & Bonus program, which I don't foresee, particularly with my strategy to fly 9W more than anyone else. I'll use Star Alliance Gold, as long as it lasts, to help with some of the smaller benefits - like lounge access and priority boarding, and enhanced baggage allowance. As it is, I'm able to get a 10kg extra baggage allowance on AI, simply for being a Flying Returns member (with absolutely no elite status), so the way I see it, I don't lose much except lounge access (which may be a good thing for my weight-watching!).

Of course, I'm always on the look out for a good deal, and so I'll continue writing about all the good ones I can find. Also, friend and blog contributor Vinay and I are forever scheming on best prices, most effective use of miles, strange routings, etc. So with my constrained situation, I'll be looking forward to more of those in 2015!

What do you think? Any particular advise for me?