• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Home  >  Editorial • Elite Status  >  Free Agent Is The Best Status to Hold
EditorialElite Status

Free Agent Is The Best Status to Hold

Kyle Stewart Posted onApril 8, 2018September 15, 2021 20 Comments

After years of chasing status (I still do), sometimes being a Free Agent when it comes to choosing your travel product is the most liberating of all. While I still hold elite status, on a recent trip my family used four different carriers for four different flight segments, three hotel chains over five nights and got tremendous value for money. 


If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support LiveAndLetsFly.com.


If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today.

I Still Hold Status, I Am Just Less Loyal

I have talked about leaving American Airlines in the past after being exclusively loyal to them since 2002 (in terms of concentrating my loyalty) and Hyatt after a decade. I switched to United which has been mostly better so far, and grabbed a ton of different hotel statuses (Hilton, IHG, Marriott/SPG) and that has opened up the world for us. But if United doesn’t deliver on upgrades, or their experience is inferior (their soft product is better, their long-haul hard product is so much worse than American) I will leave them too.

At the end of the day, you can buy the benefits you want on the flag carriers just like you can on the ULCCs. If you want priority boarding ensuring you space for your carry-on, United will sell it for $9. If you want an upgrade to first class, $45-150 upgrades are available on many domestic flights from most of the airlines where the space is available for sale. United’s first class breakfast catering has been a problem from Pittsburgh, but on the last flight it was actually loaded they offered a bowl of cheerios and a fruit cup – I opted for the cheese snack pack for sale in the back as it was more food.

UA 319
UA 319

I have status with SPG, but I won’t be at their properties exclusively due to lack of footprint and price concerns, and while IHG has the footprint in spades, they don’t have a luxury line outside of a few dozen Kimpton properties that only became redeemable a few months ago.

It feels liberating to be able to choose any place as opposed to just what’s available with my airline and my hotel chain.

They Made Me This Way

Standing in the bathroom of a Hyatt in Cartagena, my wife and I discussed how used to ride or die with American and Hyatt. We would choose our trips and destinations based on the following two criteria:

  1. Can we get there on American or one of their partners?
  2. Is there a Hyatt we want to stay in?

If either of the previous two were a no, we didn’t go. And while I loathe Hyatt’s limited footprint, I still have yet to visit all of the places that fall inside of this loyalty Venn Diagram. Places like Buenos Aires, the Maldives, Maui, and spending so much more time in Tokyo are reasons why we could have been very happy to stay with the two of them.

If it wasn't American, I wasn't going.
If it wasn’t American, I wasn’t going.

But they had other plans.

American not only gutted their program but they made eVIPs so impossible to use and saver space, a newsworthy event that I decided to walk out on them after half a decade as an Executive Platinum based purely on leisure travel. Hyatt made some nice changes to their program (space available suite upgrades or elites, free stay coupons) but also increased their top-tier status requirement by as much as 140% (from 25 stays to 60 nights minimum). Hyatt also made those coupons explode after a strange 120 days and incentivized their top-tier guests to stay less due to their new odd expiry dates (as Gary Leff aptly put) and premature requalification makes it so the guest may not be able to use their benefits as they wish.

I’m not even mad anymore about the switch from awarding flights based on distance rather than dollars spent because I think businesses should get a fair deal from their customers too. When their customers are flying a partner 10,000 miles for $400 and getting almost a free domestic ticket with status bonuses, that payout really wasn’t fair to the carrier. The revenue requirement should include anything I pay the airline in exchange for the ticket (including taxes, fees, changes, and upgrades). I think it’s fine to say that your top-tier customers should be valuable ones.

But when American made their miles impossible to use, and Hyatt increased their requirements by 140% without increasing their property portfolio the same amount, they gave me (and everyone else) plenty of reasons to shop around. Delta and United are no better, even JetBlue added change fees and Southwest increased the cost of their ancillary products along with the redemption rate for Wanna Get Away fares. Spirit is the only one that seems to be using “transfarency” these days.

Southwest has to pay for those new winglets somehow...
Southwest has to pay for those new winglets somehow…

How I Use It To My Advantage

I am more apt to shop where I want to go now and find a way to get there. Sometimes that means cash on airline tickets, sometimes it means AirBnB, but mostly it means that I will cobble a trip together in whatever way makes sense for me. On a recent trip (my wife wrote a primer to this and we will begin to post more about it in the coming weeks) we freelanced all over the place. For example, we flew:

  • OneJet – Pittsburgh to Florida
  • Spirit – Florida to Colombia
  • JetBlue – Colombia to Florida
  • Southwest – Florida to Pittsburgh

We stayed six nights during our trip in a mix of Hyatt, Hilton, and Marriott properties as it suited us. In the past, this would have been 100% Hyatt, and we would have used more points and money than booking the way we did. Here is our per person cost breakdown for our week in Florida and Colombia booked a day before we left:

  • $370.53
  • 10,000 True Blue points
  • 12,000 Ultimate Rewards points (transferred to Hyatt)
  • 16,000 Hilton Honors points
  • 5,333 Southwest Rapid Rewards
  • (1.3) Promotional certificates

As a result, we got a chance to try out the ultra-Luxurious Conrad Cartagena resort as well as the new Hyatt Regency Cartagena. We were able to fly Spirit’s Big Front Seat (comparable to a domestic first class product) for just $45 premium on a $132 one-way ticket (I am a big fan at this point). We got to use my wife’s companion pass and points when it suited us but weren’t pigeon-holed to their availability and (lately) sky high prices.

We were able to burn a ton of promotional certificates that we usually wouldn’t be able to, including a pair of one-way car rentals on National, and two free hotel nights (one from our Hyatt credit card, and another from a Marriott promotion). In the past, we would have shopped our primary carrier only (American) and let that dictate our destination choices. Hotel stays would have been solely on Hyatt to continue to build stays and utilize points. We wouldn’t have had other options other than cash and perhaps that would have meant we didn’t go at all, but now, the whole world is open to us.

Am I wrong on this? Do you still prefer to fly just one carrier or stay with just one hotel chain? Have you also become a Free Agent?

Previous Article Review: Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort
Next Article Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: April 08, 2018

About Author

Kyle Stewart

Kyle is a freelance travel writer with contributions to Time, the Washington Post, MSNBC, Yahoo!, Reuters, Huffington Post, MapHappy, Live And Lets Fly and many other media outlets. He is also co-founder of Scottandthomas.com, a travel agency that delivers "Travel Personalized." He focuses on using miles and points to provide a premium experience for his wife and daughter. Email: sherpa@thetripsherpa.com

Follow us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter

Related Posts

  • pirate shipping

    It’s Cheaper/Faster To Fly To Buenos Aires Than Ship A Box

    January 29, 2023
  • summer travel

    Conflicting Information Creates Cloudy Summer Travel Picture

    January 29, 2023
  • Waldorf's take on eggs Benedict with truffle sauce and caviar

    Extending Hilton Diamond Status For Three Stays (Or Less)

    January 29, 2023

20 Comments

  1. Lorrie Carr Reply
    April 8, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    Given the business you are in, you have this option. For those of us who fly total miles in the neighborhood of 150k/year and accumulate maybe 50-100 hotel stays, we can’t get enough ‘minor’ status with any airline or hotel property to make it meaningful. Most programs only start to reward at minimum Silver or equivalent, but really, even with Gold you might get some extra leg room or a better view. No upgrades on flights or any other major perks. And with your approach, I would not accumulate enough miles on any one airline to pay for more than a one-way trip in most cases. My 2 cents.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 17, 2018 at 11:20 pm

      Lorrie, thanks for your comment. At 75 nights you could still get to Hilton Diamond (30 stays), SPG Platinum (25) if you do it this year and make some headway on Hyatt with the remaining nights for the rest of the 45 nights if you like.

      For flights, you could also be selective in some cases. I would grab British Airways status if you can snag some cheap prices on American first class. Sometimes the coach price is just as cheap but BA usually awards a lot more tier points for these, then credit to Turkish when flying United to get both access to the club and Star Gold status faster. You can still hit two programs for both your nights and your flights if you have some involvement in the choice of who and what to book. If someone else decides that for you (internal travel booking service/restrictions) then I would try some combination of that when available and consider a good old fashioned mileage run.

      Side note, the “business” I am in is separate from blogging full time. That business puts me in a lot of hotel rooms, granted, but flying is enough to qualify for about 3rd tier for revenue annually but only 35,000 miles flown for business. To maintain, I am still status running these days.

  2. J Reply
    April 8, 2018 at 2:03 pm

    I agree. I’ve been chasing airline statuses for years now and decided to give it a break once my current status ends. The main benefit that I valued the most were F upgrades but with DL’s paid F fares being competitive, it’s better that I just pay for the F tickets instead of spending $6K+ and my time on MRs (I don’t do 4+ hr flights in Y).

    On the hotel side, I’m still going to retain status as I enjoy SPG Plat status from the suite upgrades to the breakfast benefits. Only time will tell how the new Marriott/SPG program will be in a year.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 9, 2018 at 9:24 pm

      I wonder if your SPG loyalty will change, I know that if the rumors that came out today are true, mine probably will.

  3. 121Pilot Reply
    April 8, 2018 at 4:28 pm

    Becuase hotels won’t give any loyalty benefits to airline crews I don’t do a lot of paid hotel stays. As a result the vast majority of my points accrual in the hotel space is with credit card spend. Hilton has been my go to for years because I could get gold status through spend or holding the premium card. For a customer like me no one else offered as good a deal because of the high earn Hilton cards give you. About a year ago I acquired the Amex Starwood card mainly as a transfer currency but also because with the 1-3 transfer into Marriott that program offered slightly better access to top tier properties.

    When we buy rooms we almost always look Hilton first because that’s where the majority of our points are. I’ve looked at Starwood properties but generally have been able to score a better deal from Hilton. I’m strongly considering the new top tier Hilton card for the Diamond status and the other benefits but I haven’t decided yet if I can make it pay. The loss of bonus categories for gas and grocery spend means that we’d end up splitting our Hilton spend between my wife’s account and mine to maximize those benefits.

    On the airline side we usually fly standby on my benefits but when we don’t since we live in a United Hub they tend to get our spend. My wife has a medium size cache of points with them from company travel and we both have the United Cards though they get little to no spend since we got the Sapphire Reserve when it came out. I wouldn’t say we are loyal to United but if all else is equal or close to it they will get the sale. I also have a small cache of points with the carrier I work for but we don’t live in base so a lot of times they don’t make sense if we are buying tickets.

    In general our spend goes primarily to Chase for Ultimate Rewards Points with the rest to Hilton and Starwood.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 9, 2018 at 9:29 pm

      We too put most of our spending on Ultimate Rewards cards with some American Express Membership Rewards sprinkled in.

  4. Tony Reply
    April 8, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    Well the only way for me to get First Class lounge access with CX or QF is to buy a first class ticket. So lets see, do I want to spend $12,000 a year chasing EXP status on AA or spending $15,000 for a CX F ticket on LAX-HKG? Tough choice there.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 9, 2018 at 9:32 pm

      I guess, for my money, as much as I love The Wing lounge in Hong Kong, it’s not worth $12,000 or $15,000. Easy choice for you, easy choice for me. I’d rather sit at the gate for that kind of money or simply better time my arrival at the airport.

  5. DaninMCI Reply
    April 8, 2018 at 5:39 pm

    I agree with your post. I do think Spirit miles are no joy to use either though. There are some sweet spots but they work hard to keep you from redeeming them on connecting itineraries in my experience. At least they will let you buy up to “big front seats” which is about as good as United First on many domestic routes.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 8, 2018 at 9:53 pm

      Spirit miles are dead before you can use them usually, so I make no assumptions that I will ever be able to use them, but I would gladly forfeit any mileage earning in exchange for a last-minute $170 first class seat on a 2.5 hour flight.

  6. Richard Reply
    April 8, 2018 at 5:42 pm

    for leisure (or nearly all leisure) travelers it’s not worth it unless you can easily get status “by accident”

    For business travellers it is probably still worth it as long as it isn’t coming at the cost of lots of your time

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 8, 2018 at 9:52 pm

      I can agree with this Richard and this is kind of the place I find myself in. I will requalify on United from business travel alone to 1K, but on American, unless I found some great fares that trick the system (last year I could have requalified on just three trips in Qatar business to Asia for $4000) – I doubt I will even bother.

  7. Lukas Reply
    April 8, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    “Hyatt also made those coupons explode…” Hope they didn’t explode in your pocket!

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 8, 2018 at 9:49 pm

      No they did not… though my eVIPs from American Airlines did. I haven’t forgiven them for that yet.

  8. Dave Reply
    April 9, 2018 at 12:01 am

    I, too, used to be hostage to airlines, hotels, and a car rental company. No more. I now fly or stay with whom I want to. I do have slight preferences and a slight rank order but it’s a good feeling to give up slavery.

    True, I do lose out to some elite status but I also get flexibility. On one airline, they only have a red eye. Why would I want to be a slave to points or miles just to be forced to take a red eye?

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 9, 2018 at 9:34 pm

      Dave, this is my exact point. Before the carriers devalued their programs so much, we would have both considered that red eye – that was the whole purpose of the loyalty program. Now, the shackles have been broken.

  9. Isaac Reply
    April 9, 2018 at 2:09 am

    Another article completely biased to the American market.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 9, 2018 at 9:53 pm

      Well Isaac, while we certainly strive to create relevant content for readers all over the world, most of our readership is American, our writers are American and factually, the most frequent flyers are Americans. In the most recent study I have seen, America led the world with the most flights (just shy of 10 million per annum), the next closest competitor was China with 65% fewer flights and given that this is an English language blog, the next closest English-speaking country was Canada (3rd place) with 85% fewer flights than the States. Further, load factors in the US are at an all-time high even as more and more capacity hits the market, especially from low-cost carriers Spirit, Allegiant, and Frontier. In fact, the fourth largest carrier in the US (Southwest) would place third in the world by themselves.

      But to your point, what’s this picture look like elsewhere? Europe carriers certainly aren’t doing any better to distinguish themselves from low-cost carriers, just this week British Airways was TESTING giving away free water to guests, Michael O’Leary would be so proud. Finnair moved their top tier requirements to an unattainable 300,000-mile quota. And an upgrade to intra-European business class is not worth being loyal. It would be cheaper in most cases to just buy a row on an Easyjet flight instead.

      How about in Asia? Cathay’s awards are difficult to use, most carriers add fuel surcharges and Air Asia makes it easy and cheap to buy every perk you’d get with status, save the lounges which you can still buy from the carriers anyway.

      In South America, Avianca made some improvements recently to their award chart and they sell miles cheap, too bad they didn’t improve their website or call center making them redeemable. Is LATAM secretly ruling the world of aviation loyalty?

  10. MeanMeosh Reply
    April 9, 2018 at 10:56 am

    Welcome to the dark side. 🙂

    I’d also add that being a hotel “free agent” opens up a whole bunch of smaller, boutique-type properties in destinations everywhere, which often offer better pricing, free breakfast for all guests, more personalized service, etc. Hilton’s given me good service over the years, so I generally still try to stick with them where it makes sense, but it’s nice to not stress about passing up on a great deal at a non-chain property just to stay on the loyalty hamster wheel.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 9, 2018 at 9:57 pm

      I am with you… almost. We would love to book more boutique hotels, but too often our needs really do require a chain.

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Recent Posts

  • Hong Kong Plans Tourist Blitz With 500,000 Free Airline Tickets February 2, 2023
  • British Airways Social Media
    British Airways Clarifies Sensible Social Media Policy For Employees February 2, 2023
  • American Express Centurion Lounge 2023
    Live Report: American Express Centurion Lounge Crowding February 2, 2023
  • Roadside Dining Jordan
    Roadside Dining In Jordan February 2, 2023

Categories

Popular Posts

  • Casting Couch? Kuwait Airways Forces Prospective Flight Attendants To Undress For “Research Purposes” January 4, 2023
  • Spirit Airlines Captain Runs Out Of Cockpit After Woman Yells “I Hope Y’All Crash And Die!” January 17, 2023
  • Hotel Worker entered room
    Woman Demands $3,000 In Compensation After Hotel Worker Walked Into Her Room At Midnight January 24, 2023
  • SWISS First Class Awards Bookable With United Airlines MileagePlus January 5, 2023

Archives

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jan    

As seen on:

live_and_lets_fly

The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles is the most beautiful of all Polaris Lounges. Stay tuned for a detailed look and many more photos on the blog tomorrow. Well done @united.
@malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire i @malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire its A380 fleet. While not surprising, it is sad to see the growing list of carriers retiring this superjumbo jet. On Malaysia Airlines, I flew the #A380 once from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to London (LHR) and had the entire first class cabin to myself (full review on the blog). It was a beautiful flight that I will always remember.
Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited tha Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited that a new carrier, Avelo, has launched, especially from an airport just 12 minutes from my home!
I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxair I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxairport. Hopefully this summer it will return.

.
.
.
.
#Lufthansa #FirstClass #747 #747-8 #StarAlliance #Miles #Points
I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. This is not only a lovely, all-inclusive resort, but one of the best properties to use your @hyatt World of Hyatt points.
.
.
.
.
#Hyatt #BigSur #California #WorldofHyatt #CA-1 #Points #Hotels
In terms of a spacious first class product, the @E In terms of a spacious first class product, the @Emirates suite on a 777-300ER is hard to beat. My preference is Suite 2K.

.
.
.
.
#Emirates #777 #firstclass
Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from I Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from Instagram ahead of the birth of my first child. Goodness, how time flies. While I’ve enjoyed catching up on others over the years, now it is time for me to return to Instagram. In this first post, I highlight two joys in my life, my two children, whom I trust will grow up to be prolific travelers that circumnavigate the globe as ambassadors of love and respect.

.
.
.
.
.

#travel #airplanes #airlines #miles #points #familytravel #human #integrity #honor
United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improv United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improvement over UA's current business class seat. Check out my blog at liveandletsfly.com for 70+ photos of how @united is transforming its entire business class experience starting this December!
The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben! The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben!
Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen - Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen -- oh, and I love 40°F summer weather!
One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure of flying with in all my years of flying. Thank you @flysas SK940 on 11 Aug 2016
Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I a Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I assign a window seat months in advance, don't move me to a center seat "for my convenience" with no way to get my original seat back... 😞
Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be rac Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be racing the #Delta flight to JFK at the gate next to us, which also departs at 12:45p. With @onemileatatime
Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregenc Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregencycasablanca #cassablanca #hyatt
Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the i Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the inside of the @grandhyatt_shanghai ... It is 40°C outside! 😓
From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minut From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minutes flat. I ❤️ #bur #burbankairport
@malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in se @malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in service at #kul -- beautiful livery!
View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful bran View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful brand new @parkhyattguangzhou -- look for a full review coming soon on the blog #hyatt #parkhyatt #guangzhou #parkhyattguangzhou
Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, which closes tomorrow and the Queen of the Skies #747 which will be retired in 2018.
The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. If you're ever here, get up at 5am and have a walk around the city before it gets busy. You can hear the birds instead of honking horns.
Load More... Follow on Instagram
facebook twitter instagram rss

This site is for entertainment purposes only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

 

Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. While we do try to list all the best miles and points deals, the site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners.

 

Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.