Posted on 11/16/2008 5:56:48 PM PST by Maelstorm
A few years ago, I dragged my carcass into a swanky Hawaiian resort, presented my credit card, and watched the front desk clerk turn ashen after entering a few keystrokes into her terminal.
"Who are you?" she asked.
Confused and exhausted after more than 20 hours of flying from London, I answered prosaically: "Joe Brancatelli." Then I tried a lame joke: "It's a common Hawaiian name."
"No, I mean, who are you?" she repeated before turning her monitor toward me and pointing to my guest profile.
Next to my name were six V's in front of V.I.P., about a dozen stars and the capitalized notation: "Maximum upgrade. Triple-A amenity. Alert G.M. and P.R. on arrival."
"I've never seen that," said the clerk. "You must be one important guy."
Obviously, I ain't. But I certainly didn't complain about the gigantic oceanfront suite or the cornucopia of fruit, flowers, chocolates, cookies, and red wine. The ultra-deluxe treatment was a perk from the hotel's public-relations woman, an old friend who'd convinced me to fly halfway around the world on short notice to give a speech.
You and I don't normally get V.V.V.V.V.V.V.I.P. attention. Only a select few rate: Celebrities, politicians, royalty, financial masters of the universe -- and the ultra-frequent travelers who are ushered into the unpublished, unpublicized, hush-hush secret societies operated by the airlines, hotels, and car-rental companies.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Business was nice and I even slept on the plane (which I never can do in steerage) -- but that totally messed up my usual routine for getting on local time the following day, and I paid for that.
I got upgraded to first class and my supervisor had to stay in coach during several weekly flights we made together!
It sucks.
Not the perks... it's the amount of time I spent away from home to earn them this year.
Well I flew a lot so the TSA screeners finally started using some vaseline on the rubber glove.
....SSShht! I tried that, didn’t work for me...
I believe the treatment was due to my appearance. I was returning home from a deployment and wearing desert BDUs.
Some of the airlines will admit active military to their club if you show a copy of your deployment orders (DD-24 sound right?).
I've bought a meal for people in uniform several times while waiting in an airport. I just ask the server to add their bill to mine.
Yeah the time away from home sucks but for me it has balanced out. I usually have about 3 months off a year but I travel a lot. The first year was the most difficult but it has really normalized. The perks for me are about making the traveling as comfortable as possible. Also it is nice to have no arguments when a flight is delayed or canceled and always to be certain of a hotel a paid dinner when sometime goes wrong. Bypassing the line is also priceless.
United 1k is the best I’ve discovered. I almost always get what I want. Also I don’t have to pay any pesky baggage fees, get all kinds of free upgrades and free adult beverages. Also the miles rack up. I was able to take my family of four to California for the price of one ticket which is something I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.
I don’t know about you but I’ve found that treating those who wait on you with respect and dropping a few lines to commend those who do a good job for you is a good way to win some perks that you wouldn’t usually get. Especially when you have a long term contract.
That is great. It is good to see our Military treated with respect.
currently:
President’s Circle - Hertz
Executive Platinum - AA (1.5 million miles, 200,000 this year)
Platinum Premier (not Elite — Premier) - Marriott
Do *I* have travel stories.
I didn’t know Hertz had a Platinum level — holding out on me, are they?
I have a Home Depot Platinum Card. They upgrade me from warped 2x4’s to straight ones.
The brown dog barks at midnight but the canary doesn’t sing.
And here I was hoping for robes, rituals, conspiracy, and... MURDER! ;)
(Ref. Psych)
I just read the article (sometimes I do that).
I am pretty sure Platinum Premier is one of the non-published levels.
I usually get high service, frequently the Hotel GM calls me when I first show up at a Marriott property I don’t usually stay at.
And of course other perks.
>I don’t know about you but I’ve found that treating those who wait on you with respect and dropping a few lines to commend those who do a good job for you is a good way to win some perks that you wouldn’t usually get.
A long time ago, there was something called courtesy, which that sounds a lot like.
Also, have you noticed it’s a lot easier to berate someone for poor service than commend them for excellent service? (Human nature, I think.)
Cheap and clean is the best I can hope for.
A couple months later, we went to Vegas on R&R and were staying at Ceasars. We landed at the airport and one of those drivers with a sign was standing there with my name on it. Again...my boyfriend was called Mr. -my last name-....and once we got to the hotel....forget it!!!! HAHAHA!
I am out out of the biz now so I travel like everyone else....
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