Asiana Club - Lifetime DMP Card Looks

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152031061335548&set=a.10150626880350548.680962.501980547&type=1&theater

Right Click and "open in new tab" the picture should come out.

I can't get it to work. Anyone else able to see the picture?

I can't get it to work. Anyone else able to see the picture?


I cannot... On Mozilla I do not see anything, on IE I see a picture icon, but it doesn't open...

EDIT: On IE, you can right click on the picture icon and then click on Properties. You will get a link to facebook page. Copy-paste the lint to the browser and you will see this picture. (I do not want to publish the facebook link without OP's consent).

Ok, that worked for me. Looks identical to my D+ card, except for the lifetime validity vs. expiration date. I'll be joining the ranks sometime either at the end of this year or early next year. I'm trying to get it as early as possible in order to lock in my F lounge access, but my customers aren't cooperating and had some key transpac trips cancelled.

Can't wait for my blue card though (Platinum). But expect that'll be a good 3 or 4 years from now.

A side note regarding op-ups. When I first became D+, op-ups on transpac flights seemed to be more common. Recently they've not been as common. But I seem to always get a lot on my travels around North and South East Asia. I had three op-ups just last week. :) I'm not sure what the reason is, but guess it might be due to transpac customers can easily attain D+, being it only takes about 4 r/t transpac flights a year. There's lots of Koreans living in the States that make trips back to Korea, or businessmen making frequent trips to the States, etc. So back when the new program was rolled out, I attained D+ very quickly, but the masses of D+ members hadn't attained that status yet. Now after several years, the 4+ transpac/year passengers have all made it. For short/medium haul trips, my guess is that there's not so many D+ passengers, so my odds are better. I usually fly on the cheaper economy fares, and within D+, priority is given to the fare class, meaning I'm near the bottom out of the D+ passengers.

Now the big question is does OZ differentiate between D+ and lifetime D+ for purposes of op-ups? I'd love it if they do, being I'll then be in a higher status level and increase my chances of op-ups significantly.

My assumption, is it does make a difference. It says DMPL Lifetime on the Passanger Manifest.

The last 6 flights I got mistaken as a Platinum member 5 times. I found out for Korean speakers they will treat you better. Being DMP I found out that service is a hit n miss, they always start speaking Korean to me when I am unable to answer n spoke in English than service no difference than others besides meal priority.

I like to sit on the right side of the plane (assuming facing the cockpit) on trans pacific flights. It's usually a Filipino, they will pay so so much attention on you! Koreans are trained to serve Koreans especially well. 2 flights the A. Purser switch to my side, instruction from cabin manager.

Upgrades should make a difference, as when checking in prior to receiving my new card they always told me thanks for my business as a lifetime member. System indicates something. I can't say anything as most of my travels are in J or F.

In conclusion...... Service sometimes is GREAT sometimes u are not even recognized!! Please don't put too much hope to avoid disappointment!

Being greeted by last name for all my 6 prior flights.



Ok, that worked for me. Looks identical to my D+ card, except for the lifetime validity vs. expiration date. I'll be joining the ranks sometime either at the end of this year or early next year. I'm trying to get it as early as possible in order to lock in my F lounge access, but my customers aren't cooperating and had some key transpac trips cancelled.

Can't wait for my blue card though (Platinum). But expect that'll be a good 3 or 4 years from now.

A side note regarding op-ups. When I first became D+, op-ups on transpac flights seemed to be more common. Recently they've not been as common. But I seem to always get a lot on my travels around North and South East Asia. I had three op-ups just last week. :) I'm not sure what the reason is, but guess it might be due to transpac customers can easily attain D+, being it only takes about 4 r/t transpac flights a year. There's lots of Koreans living in the States that make trips back to Korea, or businessmen making frequent trips to the States, etc. So back when the new program was rolled out, I attained D+ very quickly, but the masses of D+ members hadn't attained that status yet. Now after several years, the 4+ transpac/year passengers have all made it. For short/medium haul trips, my guess is that there's not so many D+ passengers, so my odds are better. I usually fly on the cheaper economy fares, and within D+, priority is given to the fare class, meaning I'm near the bottom out of the D+ passengers.

Now the big question is does OZ differentiate between D+ and lifetime D+ for purposes of op-ups? I'd love it if they do, being I'll then be in a higher status level and increase my chances of op-ups significantly.

My assumption, is it does make a difference. It says DMPL Lifetime on the Passanger Manifest.

In conclusion...... Service sometimes is GREAT sometimes u are not even recognized!! Please don't put too much hope to avoid disappointment!


In years past I flew mostly in business class, but in starting my own business a year ago, I switched to almost exclusively economy being I'm paying for all my trips out of my own pocket now. So any way of increasing my chances at an op-up will be great. Hopefully I will be classified one notch up from D+ with regard to op-ups.

As just a D+, I'm almost always greeted by my last name, regardless of which class. The exception is domestic flights, where I think I've only been greeted once. There have been a few times on international flights where I haven't been greeted, but it's probably less than 10% of the time. I guess it's nice of them to show their appreciation by greeting you, but I'm primarily interested in what additional tangible benefits Lifetime D+ might bring.

I'm curious about what is the 'meal priority' you mentioned? Do they take your order first before others? When in C, I've never been given any priority as D+ that I'm aware of. In fact on several occasions when I didn't preorder my C meal, they ran out of the selection I wanted and I was left with my second choice. So if they take my order first, that would be a nice touch. Wonder if there's any priority in economy.

I'm thinking of doing some flights strictly as mileage runs so that I can reach lifetime D+ before the end of my first status period. You never know what might happen and OZ decides to change the rules or something. I'd hate to get to 95% of the way there and then have them pop up with a rule change and have it all be for nothing. Like they did the rule change for some of those working towards D+ but not yet there, suddenly announcing that they couldn't use F checkin/lounge when flying economy. Thankfully I was already there so it didn't affect me (yet).

Meal Priority: I always get my first choice. My Seat preference is always the last row of J class. During meal orders they will always come to ask me first, and than back to the front to do their usual routine. They don't even care about the passenger beside me. 60-70% of the time.

The rest on a full flight they will ask me for my choice and passenger beside first and second choice. Eg Singapore routes mostly Caucasians I picked the western no body picked Korean. Caucasian male star gold beside me received a Korean meal but I got the western I wanted. I have a hunch that they do not care about partner gold or silver members.

During check in ALL my flights after making DMPL, first class priority baggage tags. Seats beside me blocked if flights not full, automatically without my request. "today's loading is pretty light we blocked the seat beside you, thank u for your loyalty...." something on those lines.

Loyalty ... Haha don't think so when 410,000 miles are with star partners n maybe 150-200 with OZ. just hope it doesn't show on the screen hahaha



QUOTE=A_Lee;19149601]In years past I flew mostly in business class, but in starting my own business a year ago, I switched to almost exclusively economy being I'm paying for all my trips out of my own pocket now. So any way of increasing my chances at an op-up will be great. Hopefully I will be classified one notch up from D+ with regard to op-ups.

As just a D+, I'm almost always greeted by my last name, regardless of which class. The exception is domestic flights, where I think I've only been greeted once. There have been a few times on international flights where I haven't been greeted, but it's probably less than 10% of the time. I guess it's nice of them to show their appreciation by greeting you, but I'm primarily interested in what additional tangible benefits Lifetime D+ might bring.

I'm curious about what is the 'meal priority' you mentioned? Do they take your order first before others? When in C, I've never been given any priority as D+ that I'm aware of. In fact on several occasions when I didn't preorder my C meal, they ran out of the selection I wanted and I was left with my second choice. So if they take my order first, that would be a nice touch. Wonder if there's any priority in economy.

I'm thinking of doing some flights strictly as mileage runs so that I can reach lifetime D+ before the end of my first status period. You never know what might happen and OZ decides to change the rules or something. I'd hate to get to 95% of the way there and then have them pop up with a rule change and have it all be for nothing. Like they did the rule change for some of those working towards D+ but not yet there, suddenly announcing that they couldn't use F checkin/lounge when flying economy. Thankfully I was already there so it didn't affect me (yet).[/QUOTE]

All sounds good. Hopefully no more ever settling for second choice in meals once I hit lifetime. I assume the meals were served in regular order, even though they give you priority in ordering?

The F baggage tags ought to be useful, assuming they do anything above *G priority. Of course I realize at times it depends on the airport and what the workers/system do, and is beyond control of OZ. I usually travel light with just a carryon, but for the few instances where I do have luggage it'll be nice.

That's funny about how you flew most of your miles with other *A carriers, just like I did, yet they thank you for your loyalty. Well, actually in my case, I flew a ton of OZ, but it was mostly in business class and I credited those miles to BD. I flew other *A carriers in economy for my leisure and credited those miles to OZ. So actually I was giving OZ a lot of business, but they wouldn't have known it if they were able to access my history of miles credited. It's just a shame I "wasted" so many miles on BD. In the end I ended up only burning about 4 out of the 5 million miles I earned via flying. Had I put my first million miles into OZ, rather than BD, I would be platinum now.

Well, these days I go out of my way to fly OZ if at all possible, even when they're not the cheapest option. This is due to how well I'm treated, getting frequent op-ups, and getting the seat next to me blocked if at all possible. So I imagine by the time I reach platinum, well over 50% of my miles will have been on OZ.

I'm making plans today for taking time off next month and doing some straight mileage runs in order to make lifetime D+ by November. I'm looking at 10 days of pretty much just flying, between the US and South East Asia, doing direct turnarounds as much as possible.

Really mileage run? Haha thats funny, which routes n how much will it cost?
But these two routes in J renewed my DMP In like 3months. Never really did mileage run before, had trip on TG- CGK to BKK to LAX on J it was only around $2900USD. Almost 25,000 miles! The other route was Singapore to Brazil via Spain.
Don't see the first tags too often, u will get a lot of stares from other paxs at the baggage claim area.

All sounds good. Hopefully no more ever settling for second choice in meals once I hit lifetime. I assume the meals were served in regular order, even though they give you priority in ordering?

The F baggage tags ought to be useful, assuming they do anything above *G priority. Of course I realize at times it depends on the airport and what the workers/system do, and is beyond control of OZ. I usually travel light with just a carryon, but for the few instances where I do have luggage it'll be nice.

That's funny about how you flew most of your miles with other *A carriers, just like I did, yet they thank you for your loyalty. Well, actually in my case, I flew a ton of OZ, but it was mostly in business class and I credited those miles to BD. I flew other *A carriers in economy for my leisure and credited those miles to OZ. So actually I was giving OZ a lot of business, but they wouldn't have known it if they were able to access my history of miles credited. It's just a shame I "wasted" so many miles on BD. In the end I ended up only burning about 4 out of the 5 million miles I earned via flying. Had I put my first million miles into OZ, rather than BD, I would be platinum now.

Well, these days I go out of my way to fly OZ if at all possible, even when they're not the cheapest option. This is due to how well I'm treated, getting frequent op-ups, and getting the seat next to me blocked if at all possible. So I imagine by the time I reach platinum, well over 50% of my miles will have been on OZ.

I'm making plans today for taking time off next month and doing some straight mileage runs in order to make lifetime D+ by November. I'm looking at 10 days of pretty much just flying, between the US and South East Asia, doing direct turnarounds as much as possible.

HKT-ICN-LAX-ICN-HKT is $820 + tax in S, so somewhere in the $1100 range all in. Yields 17,300+ miles. That's the best deal I found so far. A bit over 6 cents per mile, but if I get some op-ups and/or the seat next to me blocked, it'll be much easier than spending half that on USA domestic mileage runs, where I'll need more time and I won't get any preferential seating or op-ups. Plus I'll earn a few extra bonus miles for flying OZ. Anyways, I'll break up the monotony by alternating between LAX, ORD, SFO, SEA, HNL and different locations in South East Asia as well.

I'm probably just being paranoid, but I was shooting for lifetime *G with BD and had the rug pulled out from under me by the sale of BD to BA. So it's worth it to me to spend some cash in order to guarantee I lock in my lifetime *G/OZ D+. Not to mention, I use ICN a couple times a month flying OZ or other *A carriers and losing my F lounge access would be a big blow to me.

BTW, you didn't mention any gift from OZ when you reached lifetime D+. I guess there wasn't any?

Just about to book a mileage run for myself flying UA metal...
BOS-SFO-NRT-SIN-HKG-SFO-JFK for $1070 and 22,000+ miles. before i do book this, any advice on people who've flown UA internationally?

HKT-ICN-LAX-ICN-HKT is $820 + tax in S, so somewhere in the $1100 range all in. Yields 17,300+ miles. That's the best deal I found so far. A bit over 6 cents per mile, but if I get some op-ups and/or the seat next to me blocked, it'll be much easier than spending half that on USA domestic mileage runs, where I'll need more time and I won't get any preferential seating or op-ups. Plus I'll earn a few extra bonus miles for flying OZ. Anyways, I'll break up the monotony by alternating between LAX, ORD, SFO, SEA, HNL and different locations in South East Asia as well.

I'm probably just being paranoid, but I was shooting for lifetime *G with BD and had the rug pulled out from under me by the sale of BD to BA. So it's worth it to me to spend some cash in order to guarantee I lock in my lifetime *G/OZ D+. Not to mention, I use ICN a couple times a month flying OZ or other *A carriers and losing my F lounge access would be a big blow to me.

BTW, you didn't mention any gift from OZ when you reached lifetime D+. I guess there wasn't any?

Did you get this fare from OZ Korea website?

I'm probably just being paranoid, but I was shooting for lifetime *G with BD and had the rug pulled out from under me by the sale of BD to BA. So it's worth it to me to spend some cash in order to guarantee I lock in my lifetime *G/OZ D+. Not to mention, I use ICN a couple times a month flying OZ or other *A carriers and losing my F lounge access would be a big blow to me.

A word of warning though - lifetime D+ does not necessarily entail lifetime *G, OZ could equally leave *A in a similar fashion as BD, or OZ could do an Ansett. Either of these would mean loss of access to *G priviledges. Not that there are any inidications of either, but there given the length of a lifetime, there are plenty of opportunities to be burnt.

Did you get this fare from OZ Korea website?

No, the $820 is the published fare for S booking class. When I go to book it, I'll call the OZ call center, either in the USA or Korea to book it, and request S class. I don't think there's any way to book something like that on their lame website booking engine, and if you could, it probably wouldn't give you S class. I'm not sure exactly what the taxes/total will be, and it'll also depend on if I have 0, 1 or 2 stopovers in ICN.

UA internationally ... Be ready for boiled chicken n teriyaki sauce! Service.. Don't ASK! Similar to UA domestic ;)

It's cheap, but that is too much flying in coach :(

Good luck

Just about to book a mileage run for myself flying UA metal...
BOS-SFO-NRT-SIN-HKG-SFO-JFK for $1070 and 22,000+ miles. before i do book this, any advice on people who've flown UA internationally?

No, the $820 is the published fare for S booking class. When I go to book it, I'll call the OZ call center, either in the USA or Korea to book it, and request S class. I don't think there's any way to book something like that on their lame website booking engine, and if you could, it probably wouldn't give you S class. I'm not sure exactly what the taxes/total will be, and it'll also depend on if I have 0, 1 or 2 stopovers in ICN.

Thanks. Most of my booking class are K. Next time I will call their office to book.

trip on TG- CGK to BKK to LAX on J it was only around $2900USD. Almost 25,000 miles!

Up until about a year ago, TG had some really good prices. Now they're terrible for all the routes I've checked. I just looked on TG's website and that CGK-BKK-LAX is now $4600, unless you have some travel agent that has a special discount. Up to last year I booked some trips on TG, ICN-BKK-LAX in J for under $3000, yielding even more miles for the same cost. But in dropping the BKK-LAX non-stop, it's not available anymore, and even if it was, it would probably be priced similar to the trip starting in CGK. The majority of my initial qualifying miles for my OZ status (Gold, Diamond, Diamond +) were on TG, with some really great fares. Looks like those days are now over though. SQ though still has some good prices, depending on where you're flying to/from. Ex-ICN they're one of the best deals for *A flights that I've found since the TG price increases.

Thanks. Most of my booking class are K. Next time I will call their office to book.

I used to book mainly in K also, till I realized the S fares are even cheaper. But they don't seem to be available during the peak travel times. And of course it all depends on the route as well. For some routes I take, Q is the cheapest available. Whatever the case, I just look at the published fares for the dates I want to travel, then find which dates/flights have availability and then call OZ to reserve. At first I was stuck on wanting to book my tickets online, but it's really quick and painless to book via their call center. I've never had any long waiting time, and usually get connected right away. If booking ex-ICN though, I think they have some special internet fares at times which aren't available via the call center. So it pays to check both before booking.

UA internationally ... Be ready for boiled chicken n teriyaki sauce! Service.. Don't ASK! Similar to UA domestic ;)

It's cheap, but that is too much flying in coach :(

Good luck

Just about to book a mileage run for myself flying UA metal...
BOS-SFO-NRT-SIN-HKG-SFO-JFK for $1070 and 22,000+ miles. before i do book this, any advice on people who've flown UA internationally?

Lol! I just did BKK-NRT-SFO-YVR- on UA metal and return (from SFO) on NH, all in C

Supposedly had the newer BusinessFirst (what a name!) seat. And I swear I will never fly UA again unless I have to! Indeed horrible food, absolutely disgraceful service and lounges that you could die in and no one would notice you for a week (they are so drab!). Also seems so many op-up that C was like a zoo.

Should have seen the massive grin I had getting on and off every one of those NH flight :)

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I used to book mainly in K also, till I realized the S fares are even cheaper.

Thanks for the tip. Are these fares searchable via ita? I've always wanted to go OZ, but their website fares were never even remotely competitive.

Thanks for the tip. Are these fares searchable via ita? I've always wanted to go OZ, but their website fares were never even remotely competitive.

I never use ITA, but rather ExpertFlyer, and they always show up on that. So I imagine they'd show up on ITA as well, but not sure. Try it and see, and if it doesn't show up, you might want to call OZ and ask them if an S class fare is available and how much. S class fares are not available for all routes. But when they are available, that's usually what I book.

Am I correct in saying that DMP only earns 15% bonus mileage?

Lol! I just did BKK-NRT-SFO-YVR- on UA metal and return (from SFO) on NH, all in C

Supposedly had the newer BusinessFirst (what a name!) seat. And I swear I will never fly UA again unless I have to! Indeed horrible food, absolutely disgraceful service and lounges that you could die in and no one would notice you for a week (they are so drab!). Also seems so many op-up that C was like a zoo.

Should have seen the massive grin I had getting on and off every one of those NH flight :)

United's service Intra-Asia, where there flight attendants are not based in the States is noticeably much better than when there flight attendants are based in the States. Though I wouldn't choose them over an Asian airline because service still doesn't compare unless it was significantly cheaper.

I'm I correct in saying that DMP only earns 15% bonus mileage?

Yes, DMP earns 15% bonus mileage.
http://chkin.flyasiana.com/English/Fly2007/Contents/club/membership/intro_membership.jsp?CAT=SYSTEM

I'm I correct in saying that DMP only earns 15% bonus mileage?

Yes, correct, 15% when flying OZ. No bonus if flying non-OZ.

Edit: looks like vinx beat me to the reply.

United's service Intra-Asia, where there flight attendants are not based in the States is noticeably much better than when there flight attendants are based in the States. Though I wouldn't choose them over an Asian airline because service still doesn't compare unless it was significantly cheaper.

Not quite sure if it would be classified as an intra-Asia route, but when I flew GUM-NGO on UA, I got probably the worst FA I've ever had in Asia. She was chewing gum quite aggressively as she went through the cabin. And this was in business class. In my mind it was completely unprofessional. To top it off, she had a scowl on her face and spoke in a most unfriendly manner. Most definitely not better behavior than US-based FA's in my experience. NGO-GUM wasn't as bad, but still nothing to distinguish it from FA's on US domestic flights.

Just was wondering today whether or not I should save up for lifetime D+. Cost/benefit aside, what do you guys think the chances are of the program disappearing? Obviously, nobody can peer into a crystal ball, but perhaps someone has some indications? I'm kind of worried about making the investment considering how the status isn't really advertised in the membership guide and Asiana might easily consider it too cheap a buy-in to lifetime benefits. (PS: my apologies if there is another thread on this already. If so, I'd be happy to move the question).

Just was wondering today whether or not I should save up for lifetime D+. Cost/benefit aside, what do you guys think the chances are of the program disappearing? Obviously, nobody can peer into a crystal ball, but perhaps someone has some indications? I'm kind of worried about making the investment considering how the status isn't really advertised in the membership guide and Asiana might easily consider it too cheap a buy-in to lifetime benefits. (PS: my apologies if there is another thread on this already. If so, I'd be happy to move the question).

OZ's financial side of things are much better looking than some of the European or even American airlines(eg AA Chapter 11...). So the company would probably survive for quite some time...

However, with such a low qualifying lifetime elite threshold, they will have increasing number of lifetime elites over time. Then we also need to take into account the stiff competition with KE. In the past, OZ has been following KE on their moves. So OZ is probably not going to increase this 500K LT*G threshold before KE does it.

I'm kind of worried about making the investment considering how the status isn't really advertised in the membership guide and Asiana might easily consider it too cheap a buy-in to lifetime benefits.

The lifetime D+ is a published level. Look in the latest membership guide under the 'Qualification criteria for Elite Members' section. They clearly show both Platinum and Diamond Plus with over 500,000 miles or 500 OZ sectors as having lifetime validity.

I personally don't think it's likely the Korean government would let OZ fail and be left with a single airline having a virtual monopoly. There was such a thread about that subject a while ago and several other posters also felt there was little chance. Of course you never know. I'm taking the chance myself and should be reaching lifetime D+ within the next 2 months. For me there's two main reasons for striving for it. The lifetime aspect (both *A Gold and OZ Diamond Plus with it's unique benefits), and because it will allow me to continue to access the OZ F lounge at ICN even when flying economy. Regular D+ doesn't have that benefit, or that benefit will be expiring soon for those who got in early with D+. If the only benefit was was just lifetime *G, I don't know that I'd be in such a hurry to reach that level.

BD's lifetime requirement was simply being 10 years at their Gold level. A pretty good deal. But unfortunately they were sold to BA, and BA isn't honoring the lifetime commitment in any form. So I think OZ is probably the best current way of trying to attain lifetime *G. However, something similar could always happen with OZ, and for whatever reason it leaves *A, leaving you with nothing or something that's not worth anything. But I think being in *A is a huge advantage to OZ and brings them a lot of business they wouldn't get otherwise. So I think the chances of that happening are somewhat remote given the current situation with the airline alliances.

The lifetime D+ is a published level. Look in the latest membership guide under the 'Qualification criteria for Elite Members' section. They clearly show both Platinum and Diamond Plus with over 500,000 miles or 500 OZ sectors as having lifetime validity.

I personally don't think it's likely the Korean government would let OZ fail and be left with a single airline having a virtual monopoly. There was such a thread about that subject a while ago and several other posters also felt there was little chance. Of course you never know. I'm taking the chance myself and should be reaching lifetime D+ within the next 2 months. For me there's two main reasons for striving for it. The lifetime aspect (both *A Gold and OZ Diamond Plus with it's unique benefits), and because it will allow me to continue to access the OZ F lounge at ICN even when flying economy. Regular D+ doesn't have that benefit, or that benefit will be expiring soon for those who got in early with D+. If the only benefit was was just lifetime *G, I don't know that I'd be in such a hurry to reach that level.

BD's lifetime requirement was simply being 10 years at their Gold level. A pretty good deal. But unfortunately they were sold to BA, and BA isn't honoring the lifetime commitment in any form. So I think OZ is probably the best current way of trying to attain lifetime *G. However, something similar could always happen with OZ, and for whatever reason it leaves *A, leaving you with nothing or something that's not worth anything. But I think being in *A is a huge advantage to OZ and brings them a lot of business they wouldn't get otherwise. So I think the chances of that happening are somewhat remote given the current situation with the airline alliances.

Ah, just checked on the website and, indeed, lifetime D+ is on there now. I should really get my hands on a new membership guide. I still like to have a nice booklet over browsing through their horrible website. I even entered the changes to the *A miles accrual chart by hand on mine just to have to deal with the website less.

While there is obviously no guarantee, I feel somewhat more assured now. I'll only be a fifth of the way there come the end of my first qualification period with OZ Jan 31 2013, but I guess I'll just hope it will still be around way down the line. It just seems like once I have lifetime status, I'll have much more liberty to book flights with other alliances when opportune, plus who knows whether I'll always be flying as much as I am lately going forward.

I'm taking the chance myself and should be reaching lifetime D+ within the next 2 months.

Congratulations in advance.

While there is obviously no guarantee, I feel somewhat more assured now. I'll only be a fifth of the way there come the end of my first qualification period with OZ Jan 31 2013, but I guess I'll just hope it will still be around way down the line. It just seems like once I have lifetime status, I'll have much more liberty to book flights with other alliances when opportune, plus who knows whether I'll always be flying as much as I am lately going forward.

It sounds like it will take you 10 years or so to get 500,000 miles. A lot can happen during that time - lifetime status abolished (with grandfathering eg SQ or without eg BD), increased threshold (say 1 million miles), changed terms (eg only miles on Asiana count), airline failure (eg Ansett).

It sounds like it will take you 10 years or so to get 500,000 miles. A lot can happen during that time - lifetime status abolished (with grandfathering eg SQ or without eg BD), increased threshold (say 1 million miles), changed terms (eg only miles on Asiana count), airline failure (eg Ansett).

More like 5-7, but yeah I'm acutely aware that all sorts of things can change even in that time-span, which is why I'm nervous about committing to OZ to that extent (especially with their terrible earn/burn ratio). That said, I don't really know where else to park my miles. I'm also a member of UA, and using miles is infinitely easier with them, but I don't like them as a status program, plus I rarely fly anywhere they service lately.

Congratulations in advance.

Thanks. I'm in the middle of some MR's now which should bring me to about 460K. Then I just need another 40K by the end of next month so I can reach lifetime and have continuous F lounge access. Ought to be easy, except for a little thing called work always gets in the way of flying.

Thanks. I'm in the middle of some MR's now which should bring me to about 460K. Then I just need another 40K by the end of next month so I can reach lifetime and have continuous F lounge access. Ought to be easy, except for a little thing called work always gets in the way of flying.

Congrats!! Welcome to the club.. !!

Been flying quite a lot of KE recently trying to reach the 500,000 mark. Their prices are much more reasonable than OZs :)

Thanks. I'm in the middle of some MR's now which should bring me to about 460K. Then I just need another 40K by the end of next month so I can reach lifetime and have continuous F lounge access. Ought to be easy, except for a little thing called work always gets in the way of flying.

I know the feeling. The trips I have in the next several weeks should bring me to about 460k. I'm not sure where/when I'll fit in the last 40k.

I know this is a bit of an old thread, but thought I'd put my updates here rather than starting a new thread for some minor points.

I reached lifetime D+ some time ago, and received my new card in the post along with the D+ pack. There is no special Lifetime D+ pack, it's just the same thing I got when my regular D+ status was renewed last year. The same kit and all, just my card now says lifetime validity.

When you reach lifetime D+, your qualifying period gets reset. There's been lots of posts that talk about the qualifying period, and how it never changes once you register, or the starting date of the new rules (Oct. 1, 2008) for those who were members prior to that. Well, it does change. At the moment you reach lifetime D+, you start a new qualifying period, although I guess it doesn't really matter much, being you're lifetime so there's no requalifying for anything. I think the only significance that new qualifying period has is that you get the discount e-coupons for awards/upgrades every time you "requalify" for D+, i.e. fly another 100K miles. Not sure if those 100K miles need to be in this quasi qualifying period, or if the coupons just come automatically every 100K miles. Doesn't really matter to me being I haven't used any of the coupons yet anyways.

On-board I cannot say I noticed a whole lot of difference in the way I've been treated so far as lifetime compared to regular D+. On one flight I was just barely given a special greeting, without the usual spiel. On another I was given the full thank you, blah, blah twice - once by a regular FA, and once by the cabin manager. Then asked at the end how my flight was, which was more than I got as regular D+, but nothing really significant. Didn't notice anything else different about the service.

With regard to op-ups, I haven't had any flights which were full since reaching lifetime D+, so haven't had any op-up opportunities. Thus I have no idea if they're more common than with regular D+ or not. Perhaps some of my flights this summer will be packed and give me a chance to gauge if there's a difference.

I was considering shifting some of my flying to KE after reaching lifetime D+, but gave up on that idea after experiencing KE's horrible outsourced customer service line. Not that it alone was enough to get me to not go with KE, but I was very borderline to begin with so it was enough to get me back to 100% with OZ/*A. Was also thinking of shooting for Platinum with TG, which isn't any lifetime status, but rather needs to be renewed every year. But TG still haven't gotten their act together with that level, so I'm holding off. As a result, still crediting all my *A flights to OZ, and if I continue I'll be Platinum in a few years.

Anyways, nice to be back in with the F lounge check-in and F lounge access regardless of whether I'm flying Y, C, or F. In between I had a couple times where I needed to use the C lounge, and sorely missed the calm and spacious F lounge.

Thanks for the input and please do keep us posted when some full flights do come around. On a semi-related note since you mention the F lounge. Is the food on offer any different, particularly in the morning? Since I mostly fly to FRA I barely have time to take advantage of the hot meal in the C lounge, and the salad bar always has exactly the same stuff. I just was in the THY lounge in IST on Saturday and was blown away by how it was leagues ahead of any lounge I had previously been to. That reinforced my opinion on the rather poor quality of the food selection in the OZ C lounge (way better than most UA lounges though, so I don't want to complain too much), so I'm wondering if they do any better in F.

Actually I rarely take morning flights out of ICN, and have only visited the F lounge a couple of times, and I don't think ever the C lounge in the morning, except for once a long time ago. So I don't know how correct any comparison I do would be. But if I recall, they had scrambled eggs and a good selection of bread in the C lounge, which hit the spot for me, whereas they had more of a selection in the F lounge...eggs, baked beans, and some other dish, but very limited selection of bread. I found myself almost wanting to go hit the C lounge to see if their bread selection was better. There was also several different single serving sized cereal boxes in the F lounge, as well as yogurt, and I think there was some sushi as well. Soup was also available, but I don't recall which type as it didn't look appealing to me. I'm sure I'm not mentioning all that was there, but definitely overall there was a bigger selection in the F lounge. And of course the selection of drinks is much better in the F lounge, and if you're up for ice cream in the morning (I'm not), the F lounge's Haagen Dazs is always available vs. no ice cream at all in the C lounge. Strangely, sometimes when I'm in the F lounge in the afternoon/evening, I get a craving for the tortilla chips with salsa/sour cream that the C lounge has but which the F lounge doesn't. But in figuring it's not good for me anyways, I quickly try to put that thought out of my mind.

Back when I first reach D+, not long after they introduced the level in October, 2008, I really liked the food selection at the F lounge. Lobster Tail Thermidor was a regular menu item, available about 50% of the time. And when it wasn't available there was some other meat dish which was excellent. The food quality has definitely gone way down from those days. I never see lobster anything these days. I'm guessing that once a lot of members starting hitting D+, and the numbers in the F lounge increased, they cut back on the quality of the food. But regardless, the one thing is that there's hot food there throughout the day, unlike the main terminal C lounge where it's only available at certain very limited hours, and then not replenished after it's gone. It used to be that way in the concourse C lounge as well, but I believe they now replenish it due to likely getting complaints from the partners using that lounge when customers complained to them at the poor hot food availability.

Anyways, I hope that with the numbers now going back down for people in the F lounge, maybe they'll up the quality back to what it used to be.

Outside of breakfast time, there's some personal-sized salads there, some sandwiches (which in my opinion are horrible), and there's a good selection of fresh fruit (changes according to the seasons), salmon, sushi (sometimes), duck (sometimes), dimsum, porridge, and a selection of three hot dishes. There's also a selection of desserts, but Koreanized western desserts don't cut it for me. And the Haagen Dazs I already mentioned, with cups of various flavors, and various bars, as well as those oval shaped "bars". A selection of nuts and Hershey's mini-sized chocolate bars.

Not out on display, but always available on request are udon or ramen hot noodles which they will prepare in the kitchen and bring to you at your table.

Almost forgot...they very frequently have a cook's special corner in the F lounge from something like 6PM - 7PM. Not sure if they also have it at lunch time or not. Anyways, the menu varies all the time, but they have a cook right there at a portable cooking station and will prepare the special of the day for you, cooked to order. Would be nice if they had that at breakfast time with cooked to order eggs/omelets, and a good selection of bread to go with it, but I guess Koreans aren't real big on western style breakfasts.

I've also heard lots of good things about the IST lounge, but I've never been there so haven't had the chance to try it. Hopefully I will someday.

Thanks for the detailed info. I should have specified that I'm not really there in the morning, but in that awkward time between breakfast and lunch where all they have is the salad bar with that weird tomato-noodle salad, the probably same horrible sandwiches you mentioned and ramen. I never saw any scrambled eggs or any bread other than toast, but that's perhaps due to arriving there around 11 PM. In any case, the F lounge sounds much nicer, and I hope I'll be able to go there sometime.

Thanks for the detailed info. I should have specified that I'm not really there in the morning, but in that awkward time between breakfast and lunch where all they have is the salad bar with that weird tomato-noodle salad, the probably same horrible sandwiches you mentioned and ramen. I never saw any scrambled eggs or any bread other than toast, but that's perhaps due to arriving there around 11 PM. In any case, the F lounge sounds much nicer, and I hope I'll be able to go there sometime.

Oh, in that case, yes, the F lounge is MUCH better. My two biggest gripes with the main terminal C lounge is that it's way overcrowded (in the evening) and that they only have hot meals during extremely limited windows, three times a day. I think the overcrowding issue may be resolved, at least somewhat, due to the lounge no longer being a Priority Pass lounge (I think). The hot food problem though I think is still the same, so unless you just happen to be there during that time, AND rush to get some food as soon as it's put out, you're out of luck. It literally disappears within just a couple minutes when there's a bunch of hungry passengers there waiting for it. Even observing it being put out from the opposite side of the lounge, by the time you get over there, and the line at the front takes their servings, it might be all gone. It's really that bad. Almost completely worthless to have the hot food under those conditions. I complained about it numerous times back before I was D+, but to no avail.

Anyways, there will always be hot food available in the F lounge, regardless of what time it is, unless perhaps it's just before closing time, or they just opened and haven't yet brought it out.

If you're going to be there mid to late morning, I imagine the lounge will be almost empty. Back when I first became D+, I was often the only one in the F lounge, even in the evening time. About the only time there were other passengers there was when it was just before an OZ flight with F was departing. Then the numbers slowly started increasing, as D+ members did. It finally got to the point where it was getting crowded enough in the evening to make it a bit less pleasant for the paying F passengers. Such as all seats in the business center being occupied, all seats in the dining section being occupied, all the showers being used, all of certain hot food items being consumed, and some needing to wait for the cook to prepare more and bring it out. They then changed the rules so that only lifetime D+ members can always access the F lounge, and regular D+ members can only if they're flying C (or naturally F). It took a while for it to have an effect, because it was only applied to newly qualifying D+ members, or to D+ members after they requalified. But now most of those regular D+ members are back to the C lounge when flying Y, so the F lounge is again much more pleasant, though still busier than it was back prior to the D+ level being implemented.