Star Alliance’s marketing department is savvy and I don’t just say that because I know the folks in it…
Take a look at the latest Star Alliance Gold advertisement–
What I love about this commercial is that it simply yet accurately and convincingly shows the alliance-wide benefits of having gold status. As upgrades dry up on United, at least I am closing in on MMer status and with that will come Star Gold status for life (for me an a companion).
I spent a lot of time in Star Gold lounges last week–Los Angeles, Honolulu, Guam, Tokyo, Singapore, Rangoon, and Bangkok–and I find lounges quintessential for working/eating before a plane trip. That truly is the beauty of global airline alliances.
But there are other important perks too, which the commercial nicely highlights. An extra checked bag, priority check-in, security, boarding, waitlisting, and baggage delivery.
With gold status to be had for as little as 20,000 miles (with Aegean Airlines), it makes no sense for a semi-frequent Star Alliance traveller not to have it.
I’m going to start crediting towards A3 Gold summer when my travel picks back up again in late spring – given that my US (soon to be AA) status wont mean much with UA and LH this time next year.
Matt, did you have any issues flying back from RGN?
What airline was the plating carrier?
@OG: No problem. I’ll have a full trip report, but flew RGN-BKK-LHR-JFK on a round one Delta issued ticket. Originally booked RGN-SIN-HKG-LHR-JFK (SQ + NZ + DL) which would have been great, but NZ cancelled the HKG-LHR flight in early March.
Matthew – could you provide a little more detail about:
“With gold status to be had for as little as 20,000 miles (with Aegean Airlines), it makes no sense for a semi-frequent Star Alliance traveller not to have it.”
How do I go out about doing this? I have Priority Pass Select with my AMEX Platinum. Same thing?
@Julian: Each Star Alliance program has its plusses and minuses, but but if you are traveling about 20K miles per year on Star Alliance planes, I recommend Aegean Gold status for the Star Gold benefits, including lounge access on domestic flights.
You can sign up here:
http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/enrollcheck/
Priority Pass Select does not give you access to United Clubs, which the A3 Gold card would give you.
I love how the gold ball has priority check-in thus bypassing the crowd, which is all silver balls. This scene only reinforces the notion that silver is a meaningless status now in the age of credit card entry-level statuses.
Indeed–silver still is better than nothing, but that’s not saying much.