Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Women in Sport 2026
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Spring Summer 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    • Digital Issues
    • Women Who Win
    1. Life
    2. Travel

    This airline has a top secret system for ranking its passengers

    And we had no idea…

    Jenny Proudfoot's avatar
    By Jenny Proudfoot
    Published 17 January 2018 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    luggage
    (Image credit: Rex)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    And we had no idea…

    With January coming to a close, the novelty of going back to work has officially worn off and most of us are already busy planning our next holiday.

    But before you book your flights and start packing your bags, you need to be aware of a top secret system supposedly used by some airlines to determine who gets special treatment.

    Yes, really.

    Much like Uber, one airline uses a ranking system to determine how valuable you are as a customer, but unlike Uber, finding out your score is near impossible.

    You may like
    • Shakira performs at Todo Mundo no Rio in Rio de Janeiro Are We Travelling to See Places, or Become Someone Else While We're There?
    • Where to find Malaysia's majestic beaches, secret snorkelling spots and luxury overwater bungalows Malaysia’s Majestic Beaches and Secret Snorkelling Spots
    • anti package holidays The Era of the Anti-Package Holiday Has Arrived—Here’s Where to Go Now

    The Helix System sees American Airlines passengers scored out of five, with passengers with a number five rating deemed the most valuable.

    plane food

    Rex

    ‘American Airlines scores its passengers and uses this score to determine compensation and when to bend the rules,’ a frequent flier, JT Gentler, wrote for The Points Guy.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    ‘While there isn’t necessarily much you can do to bump up your score, this rating system might explain what happened if you found out that another traveler got the rules waived for them and you couldn’t get the same.’

    But if you want to find out your score, apparently you should think again, with JT explaining that it’s virtually impossible.

    ‘There's no way of finding out your Helix Score - agents will have this score in front of them when you call, interact on social media or file a complaint,’ JT wrote. ‘However, agents seem to be instructed to “play dumb” if you ask about your score. While the rare customer has been able to get their score by asking, I’ve never had an agent even acknowledge the system exists.’

    Well this is scary.

    Jenny Proudfoot
    Jenny Proudfoot
    Social Links Navigation
    Contributing Features Editor

    Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. After working at Marie Claire UK for seven years - rising from intern to Features Editor - she is now a freelance contributor to the News and Features section.

    In 2021, Jenny was named as a winner on the PPA's '30 under 30' list, and was also listed as a rising star in journalism.

    Read more
    Shakira performs at Todo Mundo no Rio in Rio de Janeiro
    Travel Are We Travelling to See Places, or Become Someone Else While We're There?
    Where to find Malaysia's majestic beaches, secret snorkelling spots and luxury overwater bungalows
    Travel Malaysia’s Majestic Beaches and Secret Snorkelling Spots
     
     
    anti package holidays
    Travel The Era of the Anti-Package Holiday Has Arrived—Here’s Where to Go Now
    Mischa Anouk Smith on an astrology travel trip to Türkiye, where she got engaged less than 24 hours after a birth chart reading.
    Travel I Let Astrology Plan My Holiday—Less Than 24 Hours Later, I Was Engaged
     
     
    Latest in Travel
    Mischa Anouk Smith on an astrology travel trip to Türkiye, where she got engaged less than 24 hours after a birth chart reading.
    Travel I Let Astrology Plan My Holiday—Less Than 24 Hours Later, I Was Engaged
    Cape of Senses Hotel in Lake Garda
    Travel If Slow Luxury Had an Address, It Would Be Cape of Senses—Inside One of Lake Garda's Most Beautiful Hotels
     
     
    A child in a blue and white striped swimsuit doing a cartwheel on a beach
    Travel Last-Minute Summer Holiday Packages From TUI Include a Beach Holiday in Spain and a Relaxing Resort in Türkiye
    The Great Marie Claire Adventure
    Travel The Great Marie Claire Adventure
     
     
    Latest in Features
    The Beauty Digest
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Head Spas, Coco Mademoiselle Reimagined, and What the TPO Ban Really Means
    The long hair trend and the post-bob era
    Hair I’ve Spent Two Years Growing My Bob—Turns Out, There's a Reason Long Hair Is Trending
     
     
    @nlmarilyn in transitional autumn outfits
    Fashion Goodbye Summer Dresses, I'm in Autumn Outfit Planning Mode—These 5 Are Fresh
    Arsenal footballer and Lioness Chloe Kelly
    Health and Fitness Women in Sport 2026: Featuring Chloe Kelly, Elite Beauty Products, Grand Prix 2.0 and So Much More
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.