P eruse around forums for frequent fliers — such as those on InsideFlyer and FlyerTalk — and you will find how some members brag about their elite level status and what they can do with it.
No, no, no — be nice if you are actually thinking about telling them what they can do with their elite level status.
Even worse is when fellow passengers — specifically, those known as DYKWIA, or Do You Know Who I Am? — flaunt their elite level status to anyone who will listen; and they will even demonstrate how they are much more important they are than other people.
Even members of the flight crew will roll their eyes at these people of self-importance.
The Best Way to Show Off Your Elite Level Status Is…
I will defer this section of the article to FlyerTalk member Carl Johnson, who I believe did a great job in explaining in his own words the best way to show off your elite level status.
I’m a Platinum, was Diamond from late 2014 to the end of this January. I was FO in May 2012, became Gold in October 2012, Platinum in December 2012, and was Platinum all that time until now other than my Diamond year. All that means — ALL — is that I have flown on Delta a lot. It means I have flown on Delta when I would have preferred to be taking a train across Europe, it means I have flown on Delta when I would have preferred to be crossing the Atlantic by ship, it means I have flown on Delta when I would have preferred to be sitting at home watching TV. It means I have flown because I had to, whether I actually wanted to or not. That isn’t true of everybody with status, but it’s true of a lot of us. Why people think that makes them better than anybody else, I do not know.
What I try to do to show my “status” is, I show that I know how to get my stuff put away with minimal inconvenience to others by getting the stuff I want under the seat organized and getting my overhead bag put away and getting OUT of the aisle while I putter around with my other things (and taking a short puttering time too). When I’m in front and they block other people to let me out first (that vaguely annoys me when I’m in back but I HATE it when I’m in front), I show my Platinum status by getting my stuff and getting OUT so at least I won’t be holding up other people.
I’ve flown a lot, so I know what I’m doing, and I’m able to behave in such a way as to minimize the inconvenience I create for others, and to help others. One time somebody who was on my flight missed her international connection and I showed her where the help desk and waited while she got a flight for the next morning, and then I showed her where Wingtips was so she could spend the night in some comfort.
Another time, I was talking to some lady about how to get to her next flight, and the FA overheard me and thought that was good information, so she got on the PA system with it.
Don’t talk about your status, nobody cares. Use the experience that you got while accruing your status to do things that other people will value.
For me, I find improving upon what Carl Johnson wrote to be rather difficult.
Summary
Walking around with an air of confidence is one thing; but acting like you are better than other people — and actually believing it — typically will get you nowhere.
We should all do what we can to ensure that we treat fellow passengers and employees of travel companies with the utmost respect and patience while being as polite as possible.
Travel — and the world in general — would be substantially improved as a result of such simple gestures…
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
