I believe not needing to fly is more luxurious life than flying. If your job requires you to fly, than business class is there just for that purpose :) (company pays)
Worked out pretty well.
It's the best deal ever, not only for travel between U.S. and Canada, but also from any other destination to/from U.S. and Canada and within the U.S. and Canada domestically.
I travel regularly from U.S. to Europe and I get full GE and Precheck privileges through Nexus. I usually clear customs in less than 5 minutes as opposed to 1.5 hr line at larger airports like ATL.
Really the only value I care about from the status is premier check in desks across star alliance, which isn't that enviable.
More than signifying anything enviable, top airline status basically just means you get a crap ton of extra radiation exposure every year (e.g. SFO to Tokyo is a chest x-ray per hour, 20 microSv, if you didn't know). Really not worth going out of your way to get.
I get upgraded transatlantic with just Gold occasionally so not sure why you are being so unlucky.
All depends on how busy chosen routes are.
I'll shill caniupgrade.flights which has info on which flights can be upgraded using various instruments. I need to update it for PlusPoints, but otherwise it's accurate.
I'm making up an extreme case to make the point, but let's say the plane's business / first cabin is 100% empty / unbooked, and the economy cabin is full (even overbooked) and the standby list is 30 deep.
Even though UA is reluctant to give out free INT upgrades, if it means they can put 30 more people on that plane and collect the revenue, they'll do it. There's more to it than that, I'm sure there's a heuristic, in fact one day I hope there will be an AMA "I code the conditional logic for airline XYZ's algorithm <for Global Services> <for INT upgrades> <for domestic upgrades>" but until that time, we can only discuss what we've observed and speculate on the rationale.
Me, I'm still wondering why when I'm first on the ugprade list and there are 8 unsold first class seats, why do I have to board (in my economy seat), settle in, unpack and decompress before some gate agent comes waddling down the aisle 30 seconds before the door closes to tell me I've been upgraded. It was clear 30 minutes ago that was the case. First world problems, I know.
From Wikipedia, .02 mSv for chest x-ray [2]
[1] https://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oam...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose#/media/...
https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=safety-xray https://www.health.harvard.edu/cancer/radiation-risk-from-me...
Most sources seem to put it at 0.1 mSv for a chest x-ray.
The FAA link for a Tokyo to LA 9 hour flight would be about 0.0206 mSv, or approximately 2 chest x-rays for the total flight.
However the FAA research you linked would put a New York to Seattle flight at a total of 0.112 mSv, whereas this CDC link says a trans-continental flight is only at the order of mangnitude of 0.035 mSv...
https://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faqs/commercialflights... - summarizes more sources that contradict the raw FAA numbers.
This FAA calculator also seems to give numbers that agree with the lower radiation levels: http://jag.cami.jccbi.gov/cariresults.asp
To each their own. A lay-flat seat is like a mini-vacation strapped onto work trips. I’ve never done a mileage run, but I’ve certainly increased spend on a route (e.g. buy buying a nicer ticket upfront) to hit thresholds because those thresholds are meaningful to me.
1) Has someone ever flown in a premium class on a non-US carrier?
2) Has someone taken advantage of the end-to-end amenities? E.g. premium lounges, etc.
Personally, first class on American is an order of magnitude worse service than business on ANA or Cathay. So I could see someone saying "What's the point?" if they primarily fly domestics.
I assume the marketing is really just to convince you they're less terrible than the (at most one) other competitor for the direct route, and aspirational for a bunch of leisure travelers who aren't going to spring for it anyways.
What the air on a plane is is less dense and less humid, which has its own problems, but it's not stale.
I'd still rather just be at home, and have to provide my own food and drinks, than on a plane being waited on.
Elsewhere the ride to the airport is a quick cheap train. Electronic boarding so no need to checkin. But even if you do you’ve got a dedicated counter with someone waiting for you. Controls are under 2 minutes. Less than that if you have status you essentially walk through. (Fuck the American tsa those incompetent fools). And lounges overseas at a decent airline are like high end spas or better.
Checkout cathays first class lounge in hk. Or Singapore’s lounge for pps.
Then again, status at airlines that are not American come with some pretty excellent perks that are not found in America.
I’d take a long haul to retain status. The routes I fly and the frequency makes it a necessity. Taking a hot shower the minute you step off a plane before you meet a client is worth every dollar.
When you have preauthorization from the government for security the controls are not time consuming, and means less variance in how long you need to get to your plane
So that means much less waiting, but if you wish to wait then you typically have several lounge options to choose from if you desire
And with status you board earlier which also means less drama regarding getting on or whats going to happen to your carryon bag
It requires some finesse but its a much more parallel experience to casual travelers subject to the full stress of air travel
Also with the points you are more frequently booking convenient flights that would otherwise be economically irrational
Packing can be easy. For example, I roll everything, makes it much easier to tetris them into the bag and they don't come out as wrinkled on the other end, they also compress a little better.
Similarly TSA PreCheck is a must, yes, I hate effectively paying a bribe to bypass the security theatre, but I also hate dealing with getting undressed at the checkpoint - the fact is, the security theatre exists to keep the infrequently flying public feeling safe - and if that results in more relaxed travelers, that also makes my life better.
I mostly focus on Hotel Status over airlines, thats gonna change, I'll likely try for status this year or next at American.
I'd rather stay in a convenient location than do unnatural acts to stay with a specific chain. There also tend to be much bigger cost differences among hotels than airlines.
The thing I do like about Hotel rewards programs are that:
They are more likely to let you transfer your points to other services such as airlines
The points themselves can get your rooms at the tier exchange rates that are totally decoupled from dollars
And you still get progress towards your next status even while using the points. Something that airlines do not do.
Sometimes the status can be matched between other services. I like the MGM Resorts status match with Hyatt.
I worked for a guy once and when we traveled together (pre-9/11) he'd get a cab from our downtown location to the airport planning to arrive 30 minutes or whatever before the flight. Drove me crazy.
But then you have to deal with once-yearly flyers in Zone 72 bashing their rollon over your feet and into your chair.
Personally, I fear the day airlines force me to board first. I'll enjoy the gate while everyone else boards a plane that will depart at the same time for everyone.