On the 2nd flight back to the states this year I tipped into the lowest tier of frequent flier status of "Premier Silver". The biggest kick-back is that it puts you on a standby list for cabin upgrades if there are spaces available.
I got 1st class on the flight from Des Moines to Houston, and Economy Plus (in an apparently empty plane) from Houston to Sydney. Sweeeet!! Normally the LAX to MEL flights are packed, so this IAH to SYD might be the new favoured path.
"Sorry about the crudity of these *screenshots* Marty, I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it!"
"That's OK Doc."
