This morning I made a post about how I organize my wallets based on whether I’m traveling or not, and it seemed many of you were surprised that I carry around my elite cards, for both airlines and hotels.
I think the reason behind carrying around airline elite cards is pretty clear. They’re sometimes needed for lounge access, and they can also be used to pull your information up quickly on a kiosk when printing boarding passes (for whatever reason a credit card often doesn’t work for me).
But more of you seemed surprised by the fact that I carry around my hotel elite cards as well. My strategy is usually that when I check-in I hand the front desk agent my credit card, elite card, and ID. There are a few reasons I do this:
- Some hotels check-in elite members or club guests in the club lounge, and when that’s the case the agent can send me there before even having to pull up my reservation.
- Some hotels have “elite” check-in lines, and given that I’m young I tend to get some flak for using them, so being able to show an elite card right away prevents any issues.
- I think it’s a useful reminder of your status, since not all agents seem to pay an equal amount of attention to it. When I don’t show my card or mention my status I find many agents at US properties completely forgot about club access, free internet, upgrades, etc. When I hand them my card, on the other hand, it almost always prompts them to mention elite benefits.
Anyway, am I the only one that carries my elite cards and hands them over when checking in at a hotel? Maybe I’ve been wrong all along…
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