It's All About the Status

If you do any amount of travel, you know how important it is to achieve and maintain your status. Not in society, however that can be argued, but with your frequent flyer program. Mine is with Delta and its SkyMiles Medallion program.

This has happened to me before, so I am used to it. Around mid-December, I was on my last scheduled trip. When I checked my SkyMiles status with Delta, I discovered I was $32 and 2 segments (a round trip) short of reaching my 2017 member status. Crud! So while I was in Colorado Springs, I booked a quick, turn-around trip from MSP to ORD and back.

Now a few years ago when I did this, what started out as a short trip turned into a nightmare due to weather delays. However, I was confident that this time would be different since I knocked on my head for good luck.

So I flew out to Chicago with no problems. I didn't book the immediate return flight just in case of any delays. I tried to catch an earlier flight, but I was too cheap to pay the $50 to fly standby. Instead, I just hung out in the SkyClub Lounge and had coffee and something to eat. They had grits there!

As I was looking out the window, reading my Star Wars Catalyst - A Rogue One book (I highly recommend it!), I glanced out the window and saw a Star Wars BB-8 ANA jet! It was unexpected. And while I wanted to fly and see a C-3PO jet, I was happy to have seen this one. I then hopped on my flight back to MSP and scored my 2017 frequent flyer status. All in all, it was a very successful and fulfilling day. It was a nice way to end 2016.