A couple months back, I received an email from a buddy of mine with a question. He was starting a new business that would require a good bit of travel and wanted some insights into what mileage program he should use. My friend lives near Greensboro, North Carolina and his business trips are taking him up and down the east coast as well as west to Colorado. I recommended either Delta or US Airways, and since he already had a few thousand miles with US Airways, he decided to stick with them.

I also suggested that he check out the US Airways Trial Preferred program in order to make his near term travels easier to tolerate and allow him to achieve some elite status. He successfully signed up, and has even had a few nice First Class upgrades since then. He’s easily met the requirements for Silver Preferred, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he attains Platinum Preferred with US Airways through the trial program at the rate he’s flying. I love a good story, especially when it includes flights in First Class.

Finally, I offered a recommendation for charge cards as well. I’ll be you already know what that was, don’t you? The American Express Platinum Card. Lounge access on US Airways, and all the other benefits too. Not to mention, it will probably make sense for my friend to fly Delta from time to time, and he’ll have lounge access with them too. He was just approved for that so you’ll find him soon in a lounge near you.

I love it when people travel well. (OK, it’s US Airways, but hey…they fly where he needs to fly!) 🙂