I'm worried about status. It would be nice if airlines and hotels recognised my importance and rewarded me with the level of attention and premium services I so clearly deserve. I don't just mean first or business class services. I want to peer over the Purser's shoulder and see the magic letters VIP next to my name on the passenger manifest.

At least, I'd settle for that. Even better would be to see the letters CIP—Commercially Important Person. VIP, like that other once purposeful acronym, POSH, is now just part of our common language. In a celebrity-driven world, anyone that makes it under the rope is a VIP. It's CIP that carries real cachet.

It's a bit like the choice between a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley. The visible icon of success used to be a Roller, but those in the know prefer its sister marque. Identical cars in all but a few areas, but the Bentley was never as showbiz as the Rolls.

So it is with travel. VIP lists are compiled by the PR department and include any celebs who may bring publicity to the airline or hotel. The true elites are on the CIP list, which is compiled by the sales department. These people bring hard cash. Typically they are top executives in large corporations who dictate travel policy or can create business opportunities and partnerships.

Until now, CIP has been an über-status, awarded and rewarded discreetly, but now it looks as if CIP is losing its prestigious billing with the opening of the luxurious Jetquay CIP terminal at Singapore's Changi airport. For a fee, passengers can live the CIP lifestyle, with check-ins performed on their behalf, use of a "premium lounge" and business centre and limousine transfers across the tarmac. But surely the point of CIP status is that it has to be earned, not bought? Before long, executive travellers will expect CIP upgrades everywhere, and airlines will start marketing it as a perk. Once that happens it'll be as good as worthless.