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TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ELITE BUY-UP PLANS
By Joe Brancatelli
August 8, 2012 --The travel industry long ago abandoned the claim that their frequent-flyer and frequent-guest programs have anything to do with business travelers. Despite the moniker, frequent-travel plans are profit-generating marketing vehicles aimed at selling you credit cards, dining, phone service and just about anything you can imagine.

But travel executives haughtily continue to insist that their elite levels, the programs-within-the-programs status tiers where the richest benefits reside, are all about rewarding frequent business travelers for loyalty. And to outsiders, the carefully nuanced layers of elite status are protected by daunting levels of required activities. To qualify for the special status each year, you apparently must fly tens of thousands of miles, spend dozens of nights in hotels, and rent countless numbers of vehicles.

Unless, of course, you simply bribe your way in.

If you carry the right credit card or lay out enough cash, program managers will happily waive their published travel requirements and usher you into their elite levels, which are almost always named after a gem or a precious metal. In exchange for the appropriate form of baksheesh, you'll be showered with status benefits: car upgrades, free airport club access, free breakfasts and WiFi, room upgrades, and, of course, a bonanza of bonus miles and points.

Many business travelers abhor buy-your-status gimmicks, the naked financial cousin to the status-match opportunities we discussed in the spring. I look at it differently. I think business travelers should embrace buy-up programs and purchase as much elite status as we can afford and potentially use.

After all, no matter how frequently a business traveler hits the road, we can never travel enough to earn elite status in enough airlines, hotels, and car-rental firms. To maximize our benefits, we have to focus on a select number of airlines or hotel chains. That means we're just part of the madding crowd whenever we need to patronize other carriers or lodging groups. Unless, of course, we have been smart enough to buy into elite status from those companies we don't normally patronize.

Here are some of the best ways to spread some cash to earn status. Figure out which ones make sense for you. Then concentrate your own travel elsewhere to get the most bang for your actual travel spending. That'll give you the best combination of earned and purchased status and the best chance to be treated like an elite.

Gold status at Hilton for $95
I no longer take Hilton HHonors seriously. Hilton has abruptly and surreptitiously devalued HHonors so many times in recent months that serious loyalty to the 3,800-property chain is counterproductive. The benefits of Diamond status, the program's highest elite level, which requires 60 nights or 28 stays a year, has been especially downgraded this year. But the Gold level, which normally requires 16 stays or 38 nights a year, is worth having in your back pocket. Gold HHonors members receive free Internet access, room upgrades, late checkout times and free snacks and/or breakfast. You can score Gold status for just $95 a year if you take the new Citi Hilton Reserve credit card. You'll also receive two free weekend nights the first year you have the card and an additional free night each year you keep it.

A bundle of elite benefits for $450
The American Express Platinum Card offers a fabulous bundle of elite status and tangible benefits for business travelers. Yes, the $450 annual fee is high, but the payoff is equally substantial. A proprietary Amex (NYSE: AXP) program offers free breakfast, room upgrades, and late checkout at 700 luxury hotels and resorts. The card also gets you Gold level status in Starwood Preferred Guest. That means room upgrades, free Internet access, and 4 p.m. checkout at 1,100 Westin, W, Sheraton, and St. Regis hotels. You also get a $200 airline credit annually to offset fees for checked bags and other incidentals. The card also comes with free admission to Delta, US Airways and American Airlines airport clubs and 600 other airport lounges around the world. You'll receive elite benefits from the Hertz, Avis, and National rental-car chains. What may be the best elite perk of all: Amex Platinum cardholders get a rebate on the $100 fee for the Global Entry program. Global Entry permits you to bypass customs and immigration lines when you return from overseas, but you're also eligible for the Transportation Security Administration's new PreCheck system.

US Airways status for sale
Love it or hate it--opinions divide along those poles--US Airways is the most transparent carrier in the nation when it comes to what's for sale. Everything at US Airways is available for cash, including the elite levels of Dividend Miles. The carrier's Buy Up program allows you to purchase anything from silver status (free checked bags and some first-class upgrades) to Chairman's Preferred status, the most exclusive tier, which normally requires 100,000 miles of flying a year. Prices range from $249 to $3,999. Is the Buy Up program a good value? There's no definite answer. But since US Airways is the only carrier that offers elite buy-up on an ongoing basis, it's worth keeping in mind for tactical needs.

Status for the literal road warrior
Priority Club Rewards, the frequency program of InterContinental Hotel (NYSE: IHG), isn't as rich in perks as Starwood Preferred or Hyatt Gold Passport. But InterContinental has 4,500 hotels around the world, including the well-regarded Holiday Inn Express chain, which seems to have a location near every exit on every Interstate highway. Chase's PriorityClub Select Visa card is bundled with Platinum Elite PriorityClub status, which normally requires 50 nights. (Platinum Elite customers receive room upgrades and early check-in and checkout.) The card is free for the first year and just $49 annually after that. In the first year, cardholders also receive enough points for as many as four free nights and then a free night each year they carry the card.

A final note for status seekers: Most hotel chains now offer a credit-card tied to their frequency programs that offers some elite treatment. For example, the $75-a-year Chase Hyatt Visa is bundled with Platinum status, which offers late checkout, room upgrades, and free Internet access. And while it technically isn't an elite-status product, American Airlines sells Five Star Service to all comers. Five Star Service offers curbside meet-and-greet, airport club access, escorts to the gate, preboarding privileges, and luggage assistance. Prices start at $125 a person per trip.

ABOUT JOE BRANCATELLI Joe Brancatelli is a publication consultant, which means that he helps media companies start, fix and reposition newspapers, magazines and Web sites. He's also the former executive editor of Frequent Flyer and has been a consultant to or columnist for more business-travel and leisure-travel publishing operations than he can remember. He started his career as a business journalist and created JoeSentMe in the dark days after 9/11 while he was stranded in a hotel room in San Francisco. He lives on the Hudson River in the tourist town of Cold Spring.

THE FINE PRINT This column is Copyright © 2012 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. JoeSentMe.com is Copyright © 2012 by Joe Brancatelli. All rights reserved.