Aer Lingus Gold Circle - Useless?
 

Hi,

So I just qualified for EI gold in the Gold Circle scheme, however I'm unlikely to be flying GLA-DUB for business again so I don't really have a use for it. I know I should've put those miles into Avios, but hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, from taking a look around the EI website, it doesn't seem like my status is of any use (even lounge access would be nice) when flying with other airlines, is this the case? Are there any other FF programmes who'll status match me?

Doubt you can get a status match anywhere. Gold Circle is pretty worthless other than the lounge access at gold level.

Welcome to FT z3rb ^


EI GC is pretty much a niche programme only useful for those flying EI.

I figured as much... Thanks anyway guys.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

The only benefit I can think of from Gold Circle when flying another airline requires you to be Elite (top tier), in which case you may use the lounges at DUB and ORK even when not flying EI.

That's news to me.

Is it going to motivate you to try to go up a level?

You have to be flying EI at ORK to use your Gold Circle card to use the Airport lounge there.

You have to be flying EI (or perhaps BA now as well?) at DUB to use your Gold Circle card to use the Aer Lingus lounge there.

That's not what the signs at the entrance to the lounges say (or more precisely, said when I last saw each of them). There is a different line for Elite. Prestige and Gold members do have to be flying EI.

I am at ORK again in a few weeks so will see if it's changed.

OK, perhaps you are correct.

I photographed the access rules at the Jack Lynch Lounge just over a year ago.

There is a contradiction between the Aer Lingus sign (Elite must be travelling on an Aer Lingus scheduled flight) and the lounge's own interpretation (Elite can be travelling on any scheduled flight).

http://i50.tinypic.com/wus7zb.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/mh7c6v.jpg

While BA used to have an open doors policy for their Gold card holders, even they got rid of it. I have never heard of that being the case in Dublin - and if the Aer-Lingus supplied sign at ORK says Elites only get access when on EI flights, I would have thought that was the rule in Dublin, too.

I wonder if the Jack Lynch lounge misinterpreted the rule, but that the number of Elite flyers passing through Cork is so small - and even then, they would mostly be flying on Aer Lingus anyway, one assumes - that the "loss" to Aer Lingus of having to foot the bill for these passengers is so low that the discrepancy has never been caught.

The EI-supplied sign was in a random cardboard box last time I went through ORK. As you say, with the tiny number of people affected (only three other airlines in ORK these days, and an EI Elite isn't likely to be on them), it probably isn't bothering anyone.

Chances are good you're right on DUB.

Sorry for the bump here, but to answer my own question, KLM are offering a status match until the 30th of May. Seems to have worked with my EI status anyway.

http://statusmatch.campaignafklm.com/dk/

Well that is very useful, seeing as my amazing FB Silver will be expiring soon...:p

Despite the "Congratulations! You are now FB Gold!" message you receive once you've submitted the completed form, your application still actually has to be verified before your account is actually upgraded. (Unless you've logged into your FB account and actually seen that your account has been upgraded - but no-one has reported this occurring yet. Reports in the FB forum show that uploading ANYTHING - in one instance, a photo of a teddy bear - bring you to the same placeholder text).

There is also some uncertainty over what appears as if it was intended to be directed to residents of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland only will actually result in status matches for Flying Blue accounts having an address registered in other countries.

But good luck!