The pluses, minuses of being an elite flier

Pluses, minuses of elite status

Regarding “Elite Fliers, Is It Worth It?,” by Eric Rosen, Dec. 6: I just returned from a disastrous trip that taught me the value of elite status. It began with a huge mistake on my part: forgetting my passport, which caused a cascading sequence of disasters.

Without going into the gory details, I discovered that my bottom-level elite status was the only way to get competent help. When I worked with desk personnel at the airport , agents either were unable to help or wound up charging me outrageous change fees . The last straw came when I was in Toronto and trying to get home. The desk agent spent more than 20 minutes on hold, trying to find out how to solve my problem. Finally, I asked whether I should call the elite line. I figured that because the agent was already trying to help me, the answer would be no.

But instead, she said, “Of course! The elite desk has way more power than anybody else.” She hung up, and indeed, the support people on the elite line were able to resolve my difficult situation quickly and at no cost to me.

The lessons I learned: Don’t forget your passport, and no matter the situation, call the elite line right away.

I’m probably going to lose my status this year, but in the future, I plan to work very hard to resurrect it so I can get that help when I need it.

Geoff Kuenning

Claremont

Many of the points in this article are informative, but the biggest impediment to elite status is the paid qualifying-dollar requirement. Regardless of how many or in which way you accumulate miles, if you do not spend a certain amount, you will not be elite on United. You also must buy tickets with united.com. In the past, if you bought a ticket on a Star Alliance member, the miles you accumulated counted toward elite. Not now. So you are limited in your choices when flying out of the country. To remain elite, you will be forced to take extra-long flights, albeit in more comfortable seats.

The biggest benefit of elite status is getting a seat that is tolerable, as there is no room for anything under the seat in front of you in regular economy. Also, getting a carry-on on board is more difficult for the nonelite flier. I am very sorry that the airlines do not honor their alliances nor care about customer loyalty.

Harlan Levinson

Los Angeles

Trip insurance

Regarding “Insurance Waste,” Letters, Dec. 13: The letter writer who didn’t get reimbursed for shipboard medical costs has to look at the big picture. Cruises are paid for well in advance. If he had to cancel before he left on the cruise because his wife became ill, or she had to be evacuated from the ship and had to come home, his costs would have been much, much greater than two visits to the ship’s doctor. Not purchasing trip insurance, especially with a chronic illness, is foolish.

Sandra Borak

Los Angeles

Conversion fees

A warning should be given to those traveling with a credit card to many parts of the European Union. During our travels for three months this summer, we discovered that the machine offered the waiter or establishment employee a choice to convert the transaction from euros (or British pounds) to U.S. dollars.

If he or she punched the “Yes” button (which they invariably did), the receipt showed a clear warning that I “had agreed to the conversion of the transaction from the local currency to US dollars and it was irrevocable.” It also informed me that an additional 3.5% had been added to the conversion rate as a service charge.

This became such a problem that I taped a notice on my credit card that read in large letters: “No euros, only $.” Even after doing this and telling the employee in advance that I did not want to convert to U.S. dollars, it happened many times anyway. I made them reimburse the charges and redo them correctly.

This ploy will add an additional $3.50 to every $100 you spend. A trip with $10,000 in expenses on your credit card will cost you an additional $350.

Kenneth J. Hoffer

Santa Monica