Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus - Confused about ROP gold status expiry date

I know this has been discussed before and having read a bunch of threads I still can't for the life of me get my head around the rules.

If anyone has the time to offer a bit of advice it would be much appreciated.

Here are the relevant datapoints...

I qualified for gold in Aug 2010
Qualifying miles accumulated 2011/12 - 71,599
Qualifying miles accumulated in 2012 - 19,995 (so I did just over 50k last yr)

Now according to the statement I pulled to get the numbers above my gold status is valid until Aug 2012.

I am a bit confused as I thought by clocking up 50k last year it would have been extended for another 2 yrs from the point that I achieved that (December 2011).

I don't understand what I need to do now to extend my gold status :confused: I am well on track for another 50k this year but would prefer not to drop to silver in August should I not have reached 50k in 2012 by then.

I would be really grateful for an interpretation of my situation by someone who understands the rules.

I believe you just need another 8,000 miles to requalifies as gold.

Either 1 year for 50k or 2 years for 80k

I am a bit confused as I thought by clocking up 50k last year it would have been extended for another 2 yrs from the point that I achieved that (December 2011).


You have actually requalified as you clocked more than 51000 (71599 minus 19995) in 2011.

Starting August 2012, your gold status will be renewed for another 2 years. So it be valid till August 2014.

Not to worry, you will have ROP Gold for another two years, until August, 2014. I was in the same position as you, with my Gold status expiring this year, I flew just over 50K miles last year, but my Gold expiry date didn't change. I emailed ROP just to be safe and they confirmed my status will expire in 2014, even though the website still says 2012. I guess it's because my current Gold card has the 2012 expiry date, and shortly before that term runs out, they'll email me my new ROP Gold card, and the website will be updated to the 2014 date.

Best to check though with ROP about your GUP. Their rules are confusing even to them, but I believe you should have gotten one for your renewal, and one for renewing in the first year after attaining your Gold status. With the latter one perhaps being necessary to use this year, or lose it. So check for sure how many GUPs you presently have (I'm guessing one, and another one to be credited next year), and when it needs to be used by. I wasn't planning to fly TG this year, but being I've got this extra GUP, guess I will. Also have about 100K miles expiring, so need to book an award ticket as well, but don't really have anyplace I'm keen enough to go and spend $500+ for the taxes, without earning any extra miles. In the past I've used my GUPS for xxx-BKK-LAX trips, which was great, buying a cheap Q class ticket and getting upgraded to C the whole route, and earning miles for it, but the new BKK-ICN-LAX route won't work out for me.

I also have a renewal date in August 2011.
Foolishly, I accrued 50,000 miles between the end of August and the end of 2011. I was pretty sure that this would qualify me for Gold for another 2 years but apparently, the miles you accrue in the year of your renewal do not count.
So it is either 50,000 miles in 2012 or 80,000 miles from 1/1/2012 and August 2013.

As I was kindly told by the TG ladies in Singapore (it took 3 of them to look at it, so it is as confusing for them as it is for us), many TG Gold plan so that their renewal date is somewhere in December. This allows them for 2 full years to renew their gold.

If your renewal date is Feb 2011, you have all of 2012 and only Jan 2013 to re-qualify so 13th months. A bit arbitrary and one of the kinks of the TG program. This being said, the availability of award for Gold, even when you have to wait-list (I have cleared 100% of all my waitlisted flights), the Gold Renewal voucher and the GUP2 make it worthwhile to live with these little difficulties.

Did you get an extra GUP for the 50K miles you flew between August and December 2011?

Did you get an extra GUP for the 50K miles you flew between August and December 2011?

They told me nope. I was pretty pissed about that one but I guess it is the price to pay for ignorance. So for the GUP2, you need to accrue 50,000 miles in the following calendar year.

Wow, that really sucks. Makes you feel like you got nothing out of all those miles.

Wow, that really sucks. Makes you feel like you got nothing out of all those miles.

I have learned. Won't do it again. And hopefully, thanks to Flyertalk, some of us here will not make the same mistake.

If your renewal date is Feb 2011, you have all of 2012 and only Jan 2013 to re-qualify so 13th months. A bit arbitrary and one of the kinks of the TG program. This being said, the availability of award for Gold, even when you have to wait-list (I have cleared 100% of all my waitlisted flights), the Gold Renewal voucher and the GUP2 make it worthwhile to live with these little difficulties.

Absolute rubbish if I am understanding this correctly and you should contact Bangkok HO asap with all your flights. The web page also very clearly states if you travel 50,000 you should request another upgrade.

Absolute rubbish if I am understanding this correctly and you should contact Bangkok HO asap with all your flights. The web page also very clearly states if you travel 50,000 you should request another upgrade.

Thanks BKKROP.
I will try that then.
The ladies in TG Sin were adamant but it seems the ROP is so confusing even their staff gets it wrong.

They told me nope. I was pretty pissed about that one but I guess it is the price to pay for ignorance. So for the GUP2, you need to accrue 50,000 miles in the following calendar year.

The advice you got is in fact correct.

If you are ROP*G, you get GUP1 as soon as your qualify to be used within the two year ROP*G validity. If you fly 50k+ in the year after qualification, you'll get GUP2 to be used within the ROP*G validity period (mentioned on the website).

If you fly 100k in either the year you qualify for ROP*G or the subsequent year, you are NOT automatically entitled to another GUP if you are ROP*G.

Sometimes TG offers an extra GUP for every 50k miles to ROP*G members, but this is discretionary and by no means the rule. For ROP*Platinum, this benefit is formalised however.

Absolute rubbish if I am understanding this correctly and you should contact Bangkok HO asap with all your flights. The web page also very clearly states if you travel 50,000 you should request another upgrade.

I don't think you're understanding this correctly. The website states you may request another GUP on accruing 50k+ miles in the next calendar year (see below). This is a very different issue to accumulating 100 or 150 etc in the SAME calendar year and receiving extra GUPs. Contacting your local/BKK office is a good idea, however.

If you are a very frequent flying Gold member, a second upgrade can be requested on accruing 50,000 Qualifying Miles or completing 40 international sectors on THAI, within the next complete calendar year after Gold status is attained or retained. [Emphasis added]

The advice you got is in fact correct.



I don't think you're understanding this correctly. The website states you may request another GUP on accruing 50k+ miles in the next calendar year (see below). This is a very different issue to accumulating 100 or 150 etc in the SAME calendar year and receiving extra GUPs. Contacting your local/BKK office is a good idea, however.

Gee thanks hgp, I should pass onto you the name of the boss of ROP, maybe you you should be so kind as to pass on your decision:). JohnSIN is a very busy FF in the Asian pacific area and you may have missed it but we were chatting about the arbitrary decision of the Singapore office not to renew his Gold status. He travels twice as many miles as I do and has been a tremendous supporter of TG. So can we have your input on this please.

The advice you got is in fact correct.

If you are ROP*G, you get GUP1 as soon as your qualify to be used within the two year ROP*G validity. If you fly 50k+ in the year after qualification, you'll get GUP2 to be used within the ROP*G validity period (mentioned on the website).

What about the GUP3? Everytime you qualify for ROP *G, you get a GUP. When you qualify in the year immediately after attaining ROP *G, you get an extra GUP ("GUP3"?).

I've been a long-time ROP *G member. My *G was expiring at the end of 2010. During 2010, I flew the required 50K miles, and my status was extended until the end of 2012. I used all my GUPs early last year, which was confirmed in a call to the ROP center, when they told me I have no more. I flew 50K again last year, which means I requalified in the year immediately after my previous ROP G status was earned. I was informed that I now have a GUP that must be used by the end of this year, which I'm assuming is this extra GUP. In addition, I am expecting I will have my regular GUP for the 2013-2014 period, but that GUP won't be available to me until my current ROP status enters the next renewal period at the end of this year.

Gee thanks hgp, I should pass onto you the name of the boss of ROP, maybe you you should be so kind as to pass on your decision:). JohnSIN is a very busy FF in the Asian pacific area and you may have missed it but we were chatting about the arbitrary decision of the Singapore office not to renew his Gold status. He travels twice as many miles as I do and has been a tremendous supporter of TG. So can we have your input on this please.

Actually the discussion I was responding to was about JohnSIN's comments on the extra GUP for going 100k miles, not renewal of Gold status.

Re my post, it's not my "decision"... it's just my reading of the published ROP information. Nothing more. I have nothing to do with TG other than taking flights now and then.

BKKROP, we all know you have some very important contacts with TG and that you get super special treatment because you're such an important flyer :D Frankly, it's great you get this treatment... it's what customer service is all about but please don't misrepresent my post.

Happy travels.

What about the GUP3? Everytime you qualify for ROP *G, you get a GUP. When you qualify in the year immediately after attaining ROP *G, you get an extra GUP ("GUP3"?).

I've been a long-time ROP *G member. My *G was expiring at the end of 2010. During 2010, I flew the required 50K miles, and my status was extended until the end of 2012. I used all my GUPs early last year, which was confirmed in a call to the ROP center, when they told me I have no more. I flew 50K again last year, which means I requalified in the year immediately after my previous ROP G status was earned. I was informed that I now have a GUP that must be used by the end of this year, which I'm assuming is this extra GUP. In addition, I am expecting I will have my regular GUP for the 2013-2014 period, but that GUP won't be available to me until my current ROP status enters the next renewal period at the end of this year.

In your situation, you "qualified" in 2010 (let's say Nov) which gave you GUP1 to be used by Nov 2012.

Now, you said you also flew 50k+ in 2011 - the year following your qualification in 2010. So this means two things: (1) you rec'd GUP2 to be used before Nov 2012, and (2) your Gold will be automatically extended from Nov 2012 to Nov 2014.

This extension is effectively automatic re-qualification in Nov 2012. On this automatic qualification, you'll receive GUP1 - this is the regular GUP to which you refer.

So GUP1 is the GUP on qualification. GUP2 is the GUP on flying 50k+ in the year following qualification. The re-qualification GUP is GUP1 again. There's no GUP3 :D

Happy travels

Well, got my answer from TG BKK office.
And I got the textbook answer as mentioned by hgp.

"If you are a very frequent flying Gold member, a second upgrade can be requested on accruing 50,000 Qualifying Miles or complete 40 international on THAI, within the next complete calendar year after Gold status is attained or retained"

Still believe it is a great program if you can avoid the little traps and kinks. From a customer perspective, it shouldn't matter if you do 50,000 miles in 6 months on year 1, 2 or 3, you have done 50,000 miles anyway... but there are so many great things about the TG program that I am more than willing to overlook that little peculiarity.

"If you are a very frequent flying Gold member, a second upgrade can be requested on accruing 50,000 Qualifying Miles or complete 40 international on THAI, within the next complete calendar year after Gold status is attained or retained"

This is the GUP2! Flying 50k+ in the year following qualification

Still believe it is a great program if you can avoid the little traps and kinks. From a customer perspective, it shouldn't matter if you do 50,000 miles in 6 months on year 1, 2 or 3, you have done 50,000 miles anyway... but there are so many great things about the TG program that I am more than willing to overlook that little peculiarity.

I'd refer to them as "quirks" rather than traps, but I do agree with your point. TG offers some excellent ROP benefits. Crumby earn rates, but these are somewhat offset by very good award availability, the GUPs, 50% redemptions. Credit card point partners also help a lot.

Happy travels.