All industries do it, they just do it with varying levels of sophistication and codification. AC's Super-Elite Aeroplan level offers many of the same services and it's very overt. Any firm which has variable revenue (forget cable TV companies, electric) like banks, wireless phone companies or brokerage firms all do various levels of profiling. It's no secret that when 'better' customers call, that either through caller-ID or an account #, that calls are routed with priority and to the most senior/experienced service agents. Of course, the most successful of all companies are those that can execute this profiling profitably, and find the 'diamonds in the rough' customers and give them great service. Regrettably, this means that usually only high-disposable-income get 'good service' when all customers should get a decent level of service. Matthew On 4-Jan-06, at 1:48 PM, Tyler Munoz wrote: > I don't know if this is old news or not ... > > =20 > > On a recent UA trip BOS-SFO-BOS, when I attempted to pre-board with > what = > the gate agent called "Global Service" members and I thought was > Star = > Alliance 1K, Premier Executive and Premier members I was turned away = > with the response "You would know it if you were one." I did some = > research online and found the article below from The New York Times. = > Does anyone have any other details about any of these programs? I > know = > that NWA offers higher level status based on the tickets that you > are = > buying, but they don't mention it and I have no idea what the > threshold = > dollar figure is. I also know that it isn't reciprocal on other > SkyTeam = > carriers (little actually is) as I spent over $50k with NWA last > year = > and I'm only Gold Medallion. > > =20 > > =20 > > The New York Times > > May 10, 2005 > > =20 > > A Flier Status Elite Enough to Eclipse Mere Platinum > > By CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT > > =20 > > On a recent flight from Denver to Las Vegas, Michael Silber was > assigned = > a dreaded middle seat in the back of the plane. But when Mr. > Silber, an = > executive with the Harman Consumer Group, an electronics company in = > Woodbury, N.Y., checked in at the ticket counter, a United Airlines = > employee not only upgraded him on the spot but apologized for the > lapse. > > =20 > > "You should have never gotten that seat in the first place," the > agent = > whispered to him to avoid being overheard by other passengers. > "You're = > Global Services." His membership, she added, "means we like you a > lot." > > =20 > > That may be something of an understatement. As the airline industry = > struggles to recover from losses totaling $32.3 billion during the > last = > four years, it is pursuing its biggest spenders with a rare > enthusiasm. > > =20 > > Global Services, which was quietly introduced in 2003, is perhaps > the = > largest of the new super-elite frequent-flier programs that airlines = > reserve for the cr=E8me de la cr=E8me of their clientele. And > regrets = > for uncomfortable middle seats are the least of the benefits. > > =20 > > On United and on other airlines, members of the secretive, = > invitation-only clubs are met at the airport by employees and > whisked = > past the check-in line. They wait for their flights in unmarked > V.I.P. = > lounges and are offered liberal upgrades and personalized attention > by = > airline employees. And at a time when airlines are obsessed with = > improving their on-time records, it is not uncommon for a plane to > be = > held for a super-elite member who is stuck in traffic. > > =20 > > "Super-elites are the Skull and Bones of the sky," said the = > frequent-flier expert Joel Widzer, referring to the blue-blood > secret = > society at Yale. "Don't bother asking how to join. If you qualify, = > they'll let you know." > > =20 > > Becoming a member of this beyond-platinum club is "the most coveted = > award" for the frequent traveler, according to Hal Brierley, a = > loyalty-program consultant with Brierley & Partners in Dallas. He = > estimates that fewer than one-tenth of 1 percent of elite-level > fliers = > hold super-elite status. But because the clubs are shrouded in such = > mystery (none of the airlines contacted for this article would > comment = > on them), the actual figures remain a puzzle. "Sometimes, even > program = > members don't know they're in it," Mr. Brierley said. > > =20 > > American Airlines, the largest domestic carrier, claims it does not > have = > a beyond-platinum designation. But according to consultants and = > loyalty-program experts, it informally tags selected elite-level = > passengers for special treatment. Continental Airlines offers > Chairman's = > Circle status to a group of just 21 executives from companies whose = > business is considered important to the airline. > > =20 > > Delta Air Lines, which phased out a super-elite program called the = > Flying Colonel during the late 1990's, may be about to commission a = > replacement. Just last month, it mailed letters to some of its top- > level = > frequent fliers promising to offer "unpublished incentives to select = > Platinum Medallion members." (Platinum Medallion is its highest = > published elite frequent-flier level.) > > =20 > > But the most formal, if not the best-known, of the super-elite > programs = > belongs to United Airlines. About 18,000 Global Services members > are on = > the books out of 10 million active Mileage Plus program members and > 42 = > million registered frequent fliers. Of the 18,000, roughly 10,000 > made = > the grade because they had spent at least $20,000 a year on United, = > while about 8,000 got on the list in hopes the star treatment would = > entice them and their companies to do more business with the airline. > > =20 > > When they make the cut, Global Services members are issued a black = > Global Services card, a leather-bound welcome kit and phone numbers > of = > agents trained to see after their needs. Then the fun begins. The > chosen = > ones are escorted through the security line and ushered into secret = > waiting lounges so concealed from the public that United executives = > themselves have trouble finding them. They receive confirmed > upgrades at = > the time of booking (rather than having to wait until 100 hours > before = > the flight, a burden that highest published elite-level travelers, > those = > at the 1K level, must bear). Should they leave a jacket or cellphone = > behind, they can ask the airline to have the item delivered to their = > home by an airline employee. > > =20 > > United isn't the first company to issue a black card. American > Express = > introduced its Centurion card, which came to be known as the black > card, = > in 1999. Among the benefits are a concierge service, a personal > travel = > counselor, automatic elite-level memberships in airline, car rental > and = > hotel loyalty programs, and access to invitation-only events like = > special concerts. And, like the super-elite status conferred by the = > airlines, the American Express Card is granted to those deemed > deserving = > - never in response to a customer's request. > > =20 > > Beyond all the perks, the real bonus is "the 'Wow!' factor," > according = > to Mr. Brierley, the loyalty expert. "It's those times when you > land in = > a snowstorm in Denver, and your connecting flight is canceled," he > said. = > "There are long lines at the airport, and you'll probably be stuck = > overnight. But when your plane arrives, there's an airline employee = > holding a boarding pass for the next flight out - and you have a > seat in = > first class." > > =20 > > Some frequent travelers are skeptical about the new elite levels. = > Vincent Petty, a law student at Stetson University in St. > Petersburg, = > Fla., and a Platinum Medallion-level member of Delta's SkyMiles = > frequent-flier program, recently received a letter from the airline = > promising new benefits that exceeded his elite level. "But things = > haven't gotten any better," he said. "If anything, they are worse. I = > wait for an upgrade, and even though I'm the only Platinum-level = > passenger, the first-class seats go to the Silver Medallions who > maybe = > paid more for their tickets than I did. I don't see how a new > program is = > going to change that." > > =20 > > Airlines have always gone out of the way for certain passengers, = > including celebrities and dignitaries. But the emergence of more = > codified super-elite programs that are tied not only to social > status, = > but also to the amount of business a passenger gives an airline, has = > left frequent-flier experts wondering if this represents the > beginning = > of a formal fourth level of frequent-flier program. > > =20 > > "In a psychological sense, there is a mechanism whereby one is > always = > looking to the next level," said Tim Winship, who edits the Web site = > Frequentflier.com. "But in a practical sense, these super-elite > programs = > are not as much about rewards as they are about ego gratification." > > =20 > > Strictly speaking, none of the new super-elite clubs are traditional = > rewards programs because they emphasize special services over > tangible = > benefits like first-class upgrades or award tickets. But at least > one = > program, Global Services, last year considered making its program > public = > and formally incorporating it into its Mileage Plus program. Some > United = > Airlines employees and consultants say the airline may make Global = > Services official in 2006. > > =20 > > But that could create more problems than it solves. Mr. Winship > notes = > that the moment a super-elite program goes public, passengers will > begin = > looking for something better. (That is what happened in 1993, when > the = > 1K designation, once a secret program for top-tier fliers, was = > declassified.) > > =20 > > United's current super-elite program, which now adds about 1,000 > members = > a year, would then grow at an even quicker pace, and could lose > some of = > its distinctiveness, perhaps forcing the airline to create a new > elite = > level. Indeed, the people involved in awarding club memberships find = > that the most difficult part is not determining who is in, but > deciding = > who is out. "How do you tell someone you're not in the club > anymore?" = > Mr. Brierley asked. > > =20 > > In the case of Mr. Silber, the electronics company executive, you > do not = > bother. Just before taking a recent trip to China, he phoned United > to = > ask for an upgrade. While he was talking with a representative, he = > inquired about his Global Services status. "I was told that I'm not > a = > Global Services member any longer," he said. "The representative I > spoke = > with suggested that I write the airline to find out what was up. So > now = > I have a black card, and all my reservations show that I'm a member > of = > Global Services, but I'm not. It's kind of weird." >