A loyal customer is valuable, which is why airline and hotel loyalty programs offer increasing perks for those who give them repeat business. The best perks are reserved for those who are most loyal to a particular brand. However, for the most part, you have to show continued loyalty over the years to keep enjoying the perks (in other words, you need to requalify for status year after year). But, things happen. For one reason or another, your travel patterns may have changed (perhaps due to a new baby or other medical reason, a job change, etc). If you simply had an “off” year and you lost elite status, it could be worth asking for an extension. View from the Wing reports that United Airlines has been offering an extension once every five years to those who don’t requalify, but only to those who ask for it.
Gary points out in his post that a number of programs (such as Alaska Atmos and Hilton Honors) have formal policies in place to extend status for new parents or as a once-in-a-lifetime exception. However, the point of his post is that even programs without a published policy may still offer an elite status extension as a one-time exception. Apparently, United has been allowing for this once every five years for a while now, with Loyalty Lobby recently reporting success for some United 1K members being extended after requesting it.
I expect that you may probably need to call (or perhaps email?) to ask for an extension, and that you may be offered the opportunity first to buy an extension. If you turn down the offer to buy status back, you may be offered an extension for free. Be aware that, as is the case any time you ask for any favor, you shouldn’t expect your request to be granted. Still, it is better to allow them the opportunity to help you than not. In other words, don’t call the program feeling entitled to an extension, and be willing to hang up and call again (or accept defeat) if you don’t get one (there’s no sense in arguing over it with an agent who isn’t going to do it). I would also assume that there may be some internal metrics at play as to who they extend based on past activity, location, etc. Maybe a program is less likely to offer an extension in a market already crowded with elites or to someone whose airline status was “earned” by virtue of having hotel elite status, but I would think it is reasonable to at least ask for an extension if you have a pattern of loyalty and a good reason for why that temporarily changed.
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