hawklx

Oops...meant to say there are many discussions / many (already answered) questions, which are the sources of my understanding.
Sorry for the confusion.

msupp

Not sure where to write this, so I'll put it here. I qualified for A3*G about a week ago, and I am flying HEL-OSL-LHR with SAS. Unfortunately SAS did not recognise the upgrade yet, so my boarding pass still says A3*S. However, I brought with me the email print out from Aegean congratulating me for getting to gold, and also printed off my account history from Aegean.

Even with no *G card, and a boarding pass that said *S, I was let into both Helsinki and Oslo lounges, and the help desk at OSL was even kind enough to call up to the lounge to notify them of my situation. From what I understand, this is a far cry from how LH operates, and I was pleasantly surprised.

darmajaya

This is great to know! I just got my *A G after last week's flight and am flying again this weekend on *A. So I was wondering about the lounge access vs not having actual Gold card yet.

Thank you for posting!

PS: is there an upgrade benefit at all as a *AG? just wondering....thanks all

msupp

I think it is highly dependent on which *A carrier you're flying with. LH for sure won't let you in without a card. It took me a bit of explaining/convincing with SAS.

As for upgrade benefit, I think you'd have to use points for that and fill out the form on the M&B site. Maybe if you fly on Aegean you'd have a chance for a free upgrade, but I haven't ever flown Aegean (yet) so not sure!

A3Fan

I was let into LH lounges on four separate occasions without the gold card (at DUS and FRA). I just showed the welcoming letter at the First Class Check In and they changed the status on my boarding pass. At the lounges, they only scan boarding pass and never ask for the physical card, if the pass clearly shows *G. Star alliance's manual even says that they must admit members into the lounges if the boarding pass shows *G or any other confirmation is shown.

msupp

That's interesting. The SAS counter insisted they could not change the status of the boarding pass (I tried in HEL and OSL, and they even showed me their computer screen to prove the system wouldn't let them), but I was let into the lounges anyway. And as for the LH lounges, that is quite surprising, judging by what I've read elsewhere on this forum. But good to know.

Xandrios

It depends on the airline and the airport. In AMS they can also manually update the status on the boarding pass without problems.

Some lounges are a pain though. I had a huge discussion with a dragon at the lounge in AMS. I showed a physical Gold card (TK) but had an A3 FF number (Silver) on the boarding pass. The guy was refusing entry because the Gold card could theoretically be expired/revoked and he was unable to verify this without having the Gold FF number on the boarding pass.

In the end a colleague of the guy let me in suggesting I file a complaint about his behaviour (!). But it still took me 15 minutes, and by that time boarding was about to start..

iamchack

Hi newbie here. Questions on earning *AG... term says you have to earn 16,000 points within 12 months of achieving *AB status. What happens if you don't acquire 16,000 points within that time frame? Your points disappear and start over again?

NWIFlyer

Your tier miles beyond Blue (*S) will begin to expire 12 months after the flight.

So, for example:

You reach 4,000 miles on 1st October 2013. You are now Blue (*S).
You fly 1,000 miles on 1st December 2013
You fly 1,000 miles on 6th December 2013
You fly 5,000 miles on 1th June 2014
You fly 5,000 miles on 14th June 2014
You do not fly again before 1st October 2014.

You have a total of 12,000 miles beyond Blue (16,000 total) 12 months after qualifying, so your miles will now start to expire because you have not met the Gold criteria.

You will lose 1,000 miles on 1st December 2014 (balance 15,000)
You will lose 1,000 miles on 6th December 2014 (balance 14,000)
You will lose 5,000 miles on 1st June 2015 (balance 9,000)
You will lose 5,000 miles on 14th June 2014 (balance 4,000)

However, if you fly at least 6,000 miles between 6th December 2014 and 1st June 2015, your balance will increase again to 20,000 and you'll be upgraded to Gold. You'll then fall under the Gold re-qualification rules.

Note that you only lose Tier (Status) Miles - your total account balance to spend on redemptions will only expire if you fail to credit a flight every two years to keep your account active.

sakura

As I understand, after achieving Blue or Gold, you need to credit a flight every 3 years to keep redemption miles.

flo-e

Any experience how many transfers A3 allows on an intra far-east return trip per way? (transfer, not stopover)

Air Rarotonga

One.

See here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aegea...periences.html

jazzmailman

I have a very newbie question, can someone else credit his/her miles to you? Or does the name have to match.

I'm asking because I mainly fly on award miles now (go credit cards!), but my mom is going to book a paid ticket to Asia soon (on EVA Airline), so I was wondering if she can just put my membership number on the EVA website and I'll get the miles.

Thanks!

NWIFlyer

No - that would be what is commonly known in the UK as fraud .

If you want Gold status, you have to pay for it yourself and put your body in a seat and fly (by and large - there are some programmes where top level members can give a Gold card or similar to another person, but A3 is understandably not one of those).

sperrgepaeck

Hi, when flying SQ does any of the booking class S, Y, B, E, M, H, W, U, L, K credited to A3 still give 100% Miles? Asking because info on A3 M&B page is from 2010. Thank you