For a better overview we decided to create a comprehensive list for all airlines, hotels and car rental companies that are offering an elite status extension policy to their member during the COVID-19 period and beyond.
This list serves as addition to our regular articles and will be updated as the situation progresses and further announcements of companies taking such a step are publicly available.
We have already been posting about all those companies who are extending the elite tier status of members for a specific period and provide other forms of status relief.
For easier handling and comparison I’d like to summarize the official policies in this article and provide links to our original pieces to that interested readers can jump right at it for detailed information.
Airline Frequent Flyer Programs
- Air Canada
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- Air New Zealand
- Aegean Airlines
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines AAdvantage
- Asiana Airlines
- Avianca Lifemiles
- Bangkok Airways
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Delta Air Lines
- El Al Matmid Club
- Emirates Skywards
- Finnair
- Korean Air
- LATAM
- Qatar Airways
- Qantas
- Singapore Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
Noticeably absent from this list is Lufthansa which hasn’t published anything whatsoever as far as status relief is concerned. We shall see what is forthcoming from Lufthansa in this way.
Hotels Loyalty Programs:
- Accor Live Limitless & Accor Plus
- Best Western Rewards
- Choice Hotels
- Hilton Honors
- Hyatt – World of Hyatt
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Rewards
- MGM MLife Hotels & Resorts
- Radisson Rewards
- ShangriLa Golden Circle
- Wyndham Rewards
Car Rental Programs:
The big international players AVIS and Hertz surprisingly have so far not published any extension policy for their elite tiers. This can’t take long because the car rental industry will be really hurting from this slowdown in travel.
Credit Cards
Most credit companies such as Chase and American Express have relief programs in place offering a cold period for credit card payments. Chase has offered me a $100 discount on my Sapphire Reserve card and will definitely call every single bank to ask for a credit card fee reduction or rentention offer this year.
Conclusion
I foresee that pretty much any hospitality company that maintains a loyalty program will offer some form of relief for their customers to maintain their tier level. If they haven’t done so already this will be forthcoming in the next couple of months.
Those companies that choose to ignore it will probably not be around anymore after all this is over, respectively people will remember not to spend any more money with them.
