Home this week and next

With the Labor Day holiday coming up, I don't have to travel for work this week or next.  Yeah!

One drawback to not traveling so much is that I'll lose my high status with American Airlines and with it no more automatic upgrades.  I have been very spoiled getting to travel first class even on the short flights. 

I fly Delta more now because there are direct flights to Denver where American does not.  Delta did partially matched my AA status and Delta has a more liberal upgrade policy.  I have been upgraded to first class a number of times on Delta where if I had similar status on American, I would not have been.

I need some more miles to re-qualify for a decent status on American and I have a long way to go to re-qualify on Delta for my existing status.  American and Delta are in different frequent flyer programs though the requirements are pretty much the same.

There is more to having the status than just the first-class upgrades.  The higher your status the more matching points you can make and, therefore, the easier it is to qualify for the next year.  It is kind of a vicious game but with the amount of travel I do, airline status makes things more comfortable.