I have received that coveted email with the simple message that speaks a thousand joyous words, "Your upgrade is now confirmed."
This will not be my first trip in first class. I have purchased first class tickets before, and I have also been upgraded as a medallion member before. However, this will be the first time I've been upgraded in these set of specific circumstances: It is a 6:15am take off flight, a 1 hour and 30 minute flight duration, and I am being picked up at my destination so it will not be necessary to operate a motor vehicle after landing.
Since I am a fairly low ranking medallion member I thought I would query the other members of this forum and heed to any advice the more seasoned members of this forum are willing to give me.
Here are my questions: 1) What should my drinking strategy be? 2) To ensure that I continue to keep getting upgrades and even more upgrades in the future, what is the tool to best raise my medallion level, miles, segments, or credit card points?
I will now give you my initial thoughts on those two questions.
Drinking strategy: A lot of you probably think that a cocktail at 6:15am is a little extreme. I would agree with you if I was the one paying for the alcohol; however, when it is free..bottoms up, bottoms up, and cheers my friend! I don't plan to become unruly and inebriated and I will politely keep to myself. I just want to enjoy a few cocktails. What was that line that Toby Keith sang? "It's five o'clock somewhere..." Only in this instance, if I were to propose a toast to anyone living in the area where it is 5:00pm when it is 6:15am in my area I am almost certain there would be a language barrier that would prevent either party from understanding each other; but, I digress...
My plan is to start with a Bloody Mary when I board, and continue with that splendid concoction of tomato juice and vodka until I decided to transition to gin and tonics. I plan on making this transition around the time we reach our cruising altitude. I will probably stick with gin and tonics for the remainder of the flight (remember it is 1 hour and 30 minutes in duration) because I don't want have too many different types of liquor in my stomach that early in the morning.
Segments vs. Miles: I have this debate with a frequent flyer friend often. He says miles are the way to achieve premier status and that will insure future upgrades; however, because of my flying arrangements I think the most effective way for me to reach premier status is through segments. I never fly long distance trips i.e., "corner to corner." (Think MIA-SEA). I fly to smaller airports located around the country and always make a connecting flight, often two. By earning these segments it has allowed me to finally achieve some status and earn some upgrades. Because my traveling situation is not going to change in the near future and I will be making flights with lots of connections, segments will be the most beneficial to me in the long run. I am curious what other user's thoughts are on segments vs. miles. To me, it seems that it is fact specific dependent on each individual flyer's situation.
This will not be my first trip in first class. I have purchased first class tickets before, and I have also been upgraded as a medallion member before. However, this will be the first time I've been upgraded in these set of specific circumstances: It is a 6:15am take off flight, a 1 hour and 30 minute flight duration, and I am being picked up at my destination so it will not be necessary to operate a motor vehicle after landing.
Since I am a fairly low ranking medallion member I thought I would query the other members of this forum and heed to any advice the more seasoned members of this forum are willing to give me.
Here are my questions: 1) What should my drinking strategy be? 2) To ensure that I continue to keep getting upgrades and even more upgrades in the future, what is the tool to best raise my medallion level, miles, segments, or credit card points?
I will now give you my initial thoughts on those two questions.
Drinking strategy: A lot of you probably think that a cocktail at 6:15am is a little extreme. I would agree with you if I was the one paying for the alcohol; however, when it is free..bottoms up, bottoms up, and cheers my friend! I don't plan to become unruly and inebriated and I will politely keep to myself. I just want to enjoy a few cocktails. What was that line that Toby Keith sang? "It's five o'clock somewhere..." Only in this instance, if I were to propose a toast to anyone living in the area where it is 5:00pm when it is 6:15am in my area I am almost certain there would be a language barrier that would prevent either party from understanding each other; but, I digress...
My plan is to start with a Bloody Mary when I board, and continue with that splendid concoction of tomato juice and vodka until I decided to transition to gin and tonics. I plan on making this transition around the time we reach our cruising altitude. I will probably stick with gin and tonics for the remainder of the flight (remember it is 1 hour and 30 minutes in duration) because I don't want have too many different types of liquor in my stomach that early in the morning.
Segments vs. Miles: I have this debate with a frequent flyer friend often. He says miles are the way to achieve premier status and that will insure future upgrades; however, because of my flying arrangements I think the most effective way for me to reach premier status is through segments. I never fly long distance trips i.e., "corner to corner." (Think MIA-SEA). I fly to smaller airports located around the country and always make a connecting flight, often two. By earning these segments it has allowed me to finally achieve some status and earn some upgrades. Because my traveling situation is not going to change in the near future and I will be making flights with lots of connections, segments will be the most beneficial to me in the long run. I am curious what other user's thoughts are on segments vs. miles. To me, it seems that it is fact specific dependent on each individual flyer's situation.