Using Status for Family

As a business traveler, status can make a giant difference when it comes to the overall quality of the flights. Sometimes that means getting a spectacular upgrade, having free same day flight switches in order to get home earlier or just free checked bags. What most people don’t realize is how status can benefit your family, and I am not just talking about upgrades.

As an American Airlines Platinum elite, my dad gets a number of benefits when he travels for work and for family travel as well. Not only do we get to check our bags for free, we get priority boarding, lounge access and occasional upgrades. The feature that more recently became a huge benefit to us is the ability to select Main Economy Extra Seats.

After booking flights back from Hawaii nine months in advance on points, flying Honolulu (HNL) to Dallas (DFW) to Washington-National (DCA), we were able to select Main Cabin Extra seats for free for all five of us on the reservation. Not only did this mean that we got additional legroom on the flights, which is always appreciated, we got first pick at our seats on the seven plus hour flight which is operated by a 777-200 from HNL to DFW.

We picked the window-side bulkhead and the row directly behind it (seats 17A-B and 18A-C). This plane has the first economy row with two seats across. The row behind it has three seats across. This will be beneficial to our family throughout the red eye flight on our way home from Hawaii. It is not a lie flat-seat, but it is a great improvement over regular economy seats.

Our entire family gets to sit together in more comfortable seats without having to sit next to anyone we are not related to, all because of status. This value alone would have cost close to $500 if we had chosen to pay for the extra legroom seats. I am thankful for the status. In summary, if you have any sort of status, make sure to use it to benefit the flying situation for your family travels, even in economy.