A new year means of reset of loyalty status clocks for many programmes. With travel returning to normal, most airlines and hotel chains have rolled back on the various pandemic-era measures to help members maintain their status. The “status bubble” is about to burst for many. On one hand, it’s a good thing as a decrease in elite members should theoretically lead to a better experience for remaining elites. Overcrowded lounges – both airline and hotel – and a glut of elites fighting for upgrades should hopefully become less of an issue. On the other hand, earning status will be a lot harder, albeit mostly similar to pre-pandemic in most cases.
For me, it’s the time to take stock and strategise which loyalty programmes I’m aiming to earn status with for the year. In this post, I’ll talk about a bit about which statuses I currently hold, which I’ll focusing on for 2023, and the rationale behind those choices.
A primer on attaining status
Earning status should always not be for the sake of it, but it should have a practical use. The path to attaining should fit individual travel plans. The status goal should be realistic. There’s no point Ideally, it should be as organic as possible, without the need for excessive and costly mileage and mattress runs. Whatever programmes I choose to build loyalty to, it must be a programme that has practical use for me, and realistic status targets that I can hit.
With airlines, generally I prefer to hold status with the airline I fly regularly, and also the one I want to spend my miles on. This is particularly so with Singapore Airlines. Their premium cabin awards are largely restricted to KrisFlyer members only. That factor, and living in Singapore, means my preference of mileage currency is KrisFlyer miles. Airline status usually involves building loads of mileage, so I rather build that balance in KrisFlyer than any other Star Alliance programme. Again, that’s about fitting the accruals with my travel plans (predominantly SQ) and also how I want to put my status and points to work.
For hotels, I tend to change programmes every few years, as my travel preference and itineraries evolve. It’s a painful process to start from scratch. However, I would rather start from the bottom than force a certain hotel chain into my travel plans. It’s also a matter of the volume of hotel stays. For example, if I feel I can only do 30 nights a year, then going for Hilton Honors Gold makes more sense than Bonvoy Gold, since Honors Gold at least gives free breakfast. On the other hand, if I feel 50 nights is realistic but not 60, then Bonvoy Platinum is better than falling short of Honors Diamond. and being stuck with Gold.
With these fundamental considerations in mind, here’s a look at my plans for 2023.
Airlines
In terms of airline loyalty, the only status I currently hold is Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Elite Gold (KFEG). I already earned it long before the pandemic. It rolled over a number of times during the pandemic, while the “Unlock Status Credits without Flying” promotions have kept my status valid till 31 March 2024. That means I’ll need to start flying paid tickets from April this year to keep the status beyond March 2024.
In 2022, I found myself flying economy and premium economy on Singapore Airlines more often. That meant my KFEG benefits came in quite useful, mainly priority checked baggage handling, priority boarding and lounge access. Since I resumed travelling in end 2021, KFEG has also come in useful for gaining access to Lufthansa Senator lounges (vs their normal business lounge) and United Clubs, which US domestic passengers usually don’t get, even in premium cabins.
Therefore, I’m in a dilemma whether to chase KFEG again. PPS Club is out of the question, since I don’t see myself accumulating the required spend in first/business class. I’m inclined to requalify given that I feel I’ve got decent mileage out of my KFEG status over the last 4-5 years, but it’ll be a challenge. I mentioned in my 2022 mid-year status review, US non-stops in premium economy were some of the best miles accrued per dollar spend. If I’m planning to requalify, I’ll probably do a couple of those. Although 15-18h in premium economy isn’t quite my idea of fun.
I mostly fly Singapore Airlines, so holding Star Alliance Gold status is the most useful. I could go for another Star carrier’s Gold-equivalent status, but the mileage qualifying requirements tend to be around the same (roughly 50,000 miles). It’s quite a lot of miles that I’d prefer to channel to KrisFlyer for redemption purposes.
The temptation to requalify is there, but it’ll really depend on my schedule and travel plans. Neither of which are certain past March 2023. I’ll probably be keeping a keen eye out for good mileage run deals once April comes around. I’d like to requalify, but I’m not going to spend and travel excessively for it. With Star Alliance being my main focus, I won’t be going after any other airline status for the time being.
Hotels
I currently hold status in the following programmes:
- Hilton Honors: Diamond (highest tier excluding Lifetime)
- IHG: Diamond Elite (highest) + Intercontinental Ambassador
- GHA Discovery: Titanium (highest published tier)
I’ll tackle each of these programmes individually below and my plans for them in 2023.
Hilton Honors
Hilton Honors has been my main hotel loyalty programme for the last few years. It’s frustratingly not the most consistent with benefits, as individual hotels seem to be able to grant upgrades and other “subject to availability” benefits as they seem fit. Still, I have gotten relatively decent treatment since attaining Diamond, especially in Asia.
Honors Diamond requires 60 qualifying nights, or 30 qualifying stays, or 120,000 base points (USD1 qualifying spend = 1 base point) for 2023. In 2022, the requirement was 30% less. In Singapore, there’s no shortcut to Diamond status through credit cards. Last year, I only hit 46 nights, so that’s quite a bit less than the 60 required this year. Because the nights requirement was 42, I have 4 rollover nights in 2023. That’s a tiny bit of help to retain Diamond.
Currently, I’ve got 11 nights planned for the first quarter of the year. That’s not a sufficient rate to requalify for Diamond. I’ll probably still give it a good go at requalifying for Diamond in 2023. If I don’t hit it, then I’ll reassess for 2024 what my preferred programme should be, based on the number of hotel nights I actually do this year. If I can reasonably do around 50 nights, then Marriott Bonvoy Platinum may become a better choice.
IHG
Thanks to glitch by IHG last year, I (and many others) managed to get instant IHG Diamond Elite status. This was supposed to be a private promotion, but the code got leaked and IHG didn’t put in sufficient controls to prevent the wider public from taking advantage. To be fair to them, they rather generously allowed those who signed up retain Diamond Elite status. It was supposed to be valid till end-2022, but signing up for Intercontinental Ambassador extended the validity of the status to end-2023 instead (some lucky folks got it extended to end-2024).
In terms of benefits, the main benefit I enjoy from this status is the free breakfast as a welcome amenity. I’ve already put the status to good use on a few stays, namely at the Hotel Indigo in Hakone, Hotel Indigo Singapore and InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay. The revamped programme with milestone rewards is an improvement, but the brand portfolio is unattractive to me, Hotel Indigo and InterContinental aside. I don’t really stay at IHG properties unless a matter of price or convenience, or lack of other choices. I’ll never accrue enough nights to get useful milestone rewards such as the annual lounge pass.
For the reasons above, I’ll continue to make use of Diamond Elite + IC Amb status while I have it, but I definitely won’t be requalifying for Diamond Elite. After all, it takes a whopping 70 nights. If I can’t even hit 60 with Hilton Honors, 70 with IHG definitely won’t be possible. I’ll probably renew IC Ambassador at end of the year to retain at least Platinum, but that will also depend if I see a use for it in 2024.
GHA Discovery
GHA Discovery is a slightly oddball, but useful backup programme in my opinion. For us in Asia, attaining (published) top-tier status is easy enough. It only takes staying at 3 different brands to attain, which is how I earned it in 2022. In Singapore alone, we’ve got several Parkroyal and Parkroyal Collections, a Pan Pacific (and another on the way), and a Capella and Kempinski each. The benefits aren’t the strongest, there’s no lounge access or free breakfast even for Titanium, but I do value the double upgrade.
I’ve already completed 1 brand/stay this year – at Parkroyal on Beach Road – and I’ve got a stay the Kempinski Bali in a weeks’ time. That’s 2 brands done for 2023, which alone is good enough GHA Platinum. I’m certain I’ll pick up the last brand at some point, maybe the aforementioned new Pan Pacific Orchard when it opens.
Others
Given its massive footprint, Marriott Bonvoy is the obvious omission from consideration. However, my loyalty and focus will still be on Hilton Honors for 2023, so I won’t be considering any other major chains for this year. Bonvoy is on my radar for 2024 though, depending how 2023 goes. I was a fan of Starwood Preferred Guest before it was discontinued with the Starwood-Marriott merger. I held Bonvoy Gold for a short while post-merger, but the benefits were, and still are largely useless at that level. Bonvoy Platinum does offer roughly similar benefits to Honors Diamond. If Bonvoy Platinum is more attainable for 2024, then I’ll likely switch.
Conclusion
Earning loyalty programme status, if desired at all, is always about picking the right programme that fits one’s individual travel profile. With the short-lived era of free status rollovers and reduced qualification requirements now over, it’s going to be harder for many people to attain status with loyalty programmes, myself included. Personally, it’s going to be ‘more of the same’ for me, as I focus on requalifying for the existing statuses I hold.
What are your loyalty programme plans for the year? Share your plans and strategies in the comments!