also called grace demotion · landing package · soft landing housing · status soft landing
A policy that drops you only one elite tier, or extends a partial tier, when you miss requalification instead of resetting to zero.
A soft landing is when an airline program, if you fall short of keeping your elite status, drops you only one tier instead of wiping you back to nothing. Some programs do this, some let you keep a partial tier, and some just reset you to zero. Knowing which kind you are in tells you how hard it is worth chasing that last bit of flying or spend at year-end.
You are short of requalifying as the year closes and are about to book pointless flights just to keep your tier. Then you check and find your program soft-lands you down only one level anyway, so the frantic spend would have bought you almost nothing.
Knowing whether a program soft-lands changes how hard you should push spend at year-end.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
An elite week or status year is the calendar an airline uses to measure your flying or spend toward next year's status.
A soft landing is the cushion if you fall short: a policy that drops you only one tier, or extends a partial one, instead of resetting you to zero.
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