End of the year, time for budgets and plans: my loyalty programs
2021 was supposed to be the year of return to normalcy, but instead we all know how it turned out. This summer [...]
Star Alliance
SkyTeam
Oneworld
2021 was supposed to be the year of return to normalcy and instead we all know how it turned out. This summer intercontinental travel for us Italians was a dream with very few destinations accessible due to bans, some Italian and some imposed by foreign governments.
In this article:
With autumn, things began to change, first Canada. and then slowly other nations reopened their borders, the United States on Nov. 8. In the meantime, the Italian government has also relaxed the bans with The establishment of tourism corridors. Then when things seemed to be going well, Omicron variant has arrived To jeopardize the Christmas vacation overseas.
In this scenario, loyalty programs, almost all of them, Have decided to renew the statuses to their members unable to travel and thus unable to earn the points needed for renewals, as well as to use benefits.
Personally This year for me has been a year full of satisfaction, I have been trying to take advantage of every opportunity to obtain status in airlines and hotel chains, obviously trying to aim for statuses useful in obtaining benefits in the trips I plan to take in 2022.
The year 2021 will go down in history for being the year that saw the demise, almost total, of loyalty cards physical in the name of lower environmental impact and savings, a loss for all gadget enthusiasts and serial accumulators of such items.
Status lost in 2021
The first was the Winged Arrow level with Alitalia, technically the status is still in place, but the company no longer exists and the loyalty program is for sale. After almost 15 years I was forced, therefore, to say goodbye to the program with which I began to take my first steps In the world of reward travel.
TAP Portugal Gold: had obtained this status through the status match made in the summer of 2020. The Portuguese carrier renewed the statuses to its members, but not to those who had obtained the status through the match campaign. I received a renewal proposal, but it was absolutely not convenient, so I let it expire even though I had two flights scheduled with this company.
Status earned in 2021
Not only loyalty programs have renewed the levels to their members, but they also simplified by a lot the requirements to get the Elite levels. So I have been trying to scale some loyalty programs and get the level with a 2022 perspective.
The first card obtained this year was that of Virgin Atlantic: In early 2021, I took advantage of the match offer by starting from my level in British Airways, thus obtaining the equivalent in the company founded by Sir Branson.
The first status obtained "in the field" was. The Gold level in Singapore Airlines' Krisflyer program.. Thanks to the offer Infinite Journeys, with only 3 trips I was able to obtain the level that, in addition to giving advantages with Singapore, opens the door to all the lounges in the world of StarAlliance companies.
Obviously when trying to get a level in a specific loyalty program it is always very important to check the various rules of accumulation, partner companies, and level expiration terms. There are programs that expire at the end of the year, others that have expiration tied to when you enrolled or when you achieved status.
One of my goals for the next few months is to travel (without paying) first class with Air France. Premiere, that's the name of the first class in the French company, however, is very difficult to book with Flying Blue points. Moreover, it is not enough to find a free seat, you also need to have at least Gold level in the French loyalty program. That's why I aimed to take advantage of the offer that allowed Accumulate double XP points in 2021; thanks to flights to Thailand and to those to and from the U.S., I have come to obtain the Silver level and to date I find myself at very few XP points from the coveted level that opens the door to first class.
I started 2021 with the Bronze level in the British Airways loyalty program and today I managed to get up to the Silver level, the one that allows access to the lounges of BA and the OneWorld companies.
Always via a status match via Millemiglia, I achieved the Gold level in the Emirates Skywards program.. The Dubai-based company is not participating in any alliance, but status is useful to take advantage of a couple of flights I will have next year and especially to improve the amount of miles to add to my piggy bank.
Finally, the Death of Alitalia with the birth of ITA Airways led to the latter's predictable status match offer, which I obviously took advantage of. Today, waiting to take advantage of the benefits, I am premium in the Flying Club, a status that should also give Elite+ privileges with SkyTeam, but there are currently still youthful problems here.
That's all as far as airline loyalty programs are concerned, whereas as far as hotel chains are concerned, my situation is very much related to the privileges connected to my American Express Platinum.
The only difference is that this year, thanks to the combination of the nights given away by Hilton and the lower requirements to obtain the levels, I went up from Gold to Diamond for the first time.
With Marriott Bonvoy instead I close the year with 29 nights and still remain Gold because the status was renewed ex officio, in any case I would not have lost it since it is tied to the Platinum card.
What will happen in my 2022
Definitely I will leave the status in Virgin Atlantic to its fate., I have a flight scheduled with this company but I will aim to accumulate miles and XP points on the Air France program.
As for the Emirates Gold level, which will expire at the end of 2022, I will not make any special strategies to renew it. I have a number of flights scheduled with this company and thanks to Gold I will accumulate 50% of extra miles, miles that will be useful for the next EK award ticket.
I will definitely aim to renew Singapore's status., I do not have any flights scheduled with this airline but, covid permitting, I have a number of flights with other Star Alliance carriers. The Gold level will give me access to lounges when I travel economy and allow me to accumulate the miles needed to renew the level, quite easily.
With British Airways, I don't have big goals, although I have several flights with One World airlines scheduled in the next 12 months, starting with a flight to Hawaii with a ticket that will have me flying with British, American and Iberia. If Hong Kong opens its borders, I hope to be able to use my Finnair ticket in the spring, and at the end of the year I should be going to Japan with Qatar. All these flights will allow me to renew Silver and probably upgrade to Gold.
The real goal in 2022 will be to Accumulate the last 31 XP points needed to advance to the Gold level in Flying Blue, Air France's program, and then detach a first-class seat on an AF-branded flight.
As far as hotels are concerned, I don't think much will change in my situation, I will definitely aim to renew the Diamond Hilton since the privileges it gives are definitely a big step up from the Gold level you get through American Express Platinum.
