Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - MPC: Moving on to the next tier...

I just logged on to my MPC account this morning, and to my surprise, I'm now a silver member. What's puzzling me is that my membership year started mid Nov last year, and therefore doesn't end till Nov 30 of this year. What's even MORE puzzling is that I didn't even reach 30,000 miles yet... I was at approximately 26,000, and have two long haul trips planned (one for Aug, one for Dec) Has anyone had a similar experience? I don't see the reason for CX to move me onto the next tier so quickly??

as I noted in another thread, they're lowering the re-qualification requirements by 15% for my uncle, so I guess in general they're already somewhat less strict about the 30/60/120k requirements this year, although only unofficially and in a targeted manner. and in your case, does your 26k come from mostly expensive fares or cheap fares ? if it's expensive fares, I think there's even more reason for CX to do this for you...

it sounds like what happened to OP was a bump from GR to SL, and wasn't a re-qualification.

my partner had that done once .. he was a long time Green member using the account more for asiamiles than anything else .. then he flew in F YVR-HKG-YVR, and a couple months later, he was comped to SL.

i think its just an MPC marketing gimmick.

Just wondering.. do they reduce the qualification by Miles only? How about the sectors if travellers are usually flying intra-Asia short haul routes like HKG-TPE v.v.?

they were mostly inexpensive fare classes (except for one J sector). i would understand if they lowered their requirements and moved me up in november, but i'm still half a yr away from my "end of membership year". hrmm maybe it was a bump...

they were mostly inexpensive fare classes (except for one J sector). i would understand if they lowered their requirements and moved me up in november, but i'm still half a yr away from my "end of membership year". hrmm maybe it was a bump...

Nice to hear someone got bumped. Last year I was at 56,000 Club miles and I wasn't "bump" to Gold. I called MPC and they pretty much, in a polite way, say either get on the plane or shut up.

My mom went back to green card member last October. She credited about 12.5 sector (all J class between Taiwan and Hong Kong/Xiamen) between last November and this May, and CX moves her to Silver, too.

My mom went back to green card member last October. She credited about 12.5 sector (all J class between Taiwan and Hong Kong/Xiamen) between last November and this May, and CX moves her to Silver, too.

12.5 to silver is much lower than 85% of 20 sectors, which is 17 sectors.. WOW...

In terms of pure revenue, I suppose she might be even surpassing what some Golds acheive given all her J class trips...

In terms of pure revenue, I suppose she might be even surpassing what some Golds acheive given all her J class trips...
And in terms of benefit, if she flies J there's not much perks (which she has the longue access anyway), and the silver is kind of "feel-good" for her to fly cathay more

In terms of pure revenue, I suppose she might be even surpassing what some Golds acheive given all her J class trips...

Haha, I do some EX-TPE J flights, but not as often as her definitely, other times, EX-SIN flights in Y. Hopefully I can be pumped up too. ~

I earned 19.5 club sectors from Jan. only 2 sectors in Y all others by J class, but not so lucky to move to Sliver. :p

Just wondering.. do they reduce the qualification by Miles only? How about the sectors if travellers are usually flying intra-Asia short haul routes like HKG-TPE v.v.?

in my targeted letter, both were reduced. i was about 7 sectors short (with 3 months remaining) of requalifying for silver, and they reduced the requirement by 4 sectors.

i can't remember how much my miles requirement was reduced by. probably around 4 to 5,000.

in my targeted letter, both were reduced. i was about 7 sectors short (with 3 months remaining) of requalifying for silver, and they reduced the requirement by 4 sectors.

i can't remember how much my miles requirement was reduced by. probably around 4 to 5,000.

Oh well, must depend on who you're talking too or Cathay's really desperate for business. Like I said last time I was 4,000 miles off of Gold and got the cold shoulder.

Oh well, must depend on who you're talking too or Cathay's really desperate for business. Like I said last time I was 4,000 miles off of Gold and got the cold shoulder.

That's pretty bad, especially in these times I would've expected you to get bumped up just 4k short.

CX had made things quite hard to get points from them. The difference in fare can be twice as much, ie $1150 HKG-BKK during specials for points earning ticket was about 2300-2500.
My mother which usually qualify by flying the 30K miles for her silver, this year she just scrap past the 17 sector a month before her silver expires. Bye bye long haul.
I can also here nag about how much cheaper it cost for a 2-7 ticket (S/O) to a ticket that was same day return or with 1 night stay. Its quite annoying when doing her ticket planning for business trips.

CX had made things quite hard to get points from them. The difference in fare can be twice as much, ie $1150 HKG-BKK during specials for points earning ticket was about 2300-2500.
My mother which usually qualify by flying the 30K miles for her silver, this year she just scrap past the 17 sector a month before her silver expires. Bye bye long haul.
I can also here nag about how much cheaper it cost for a 2-7 ticket (S/O) to a ticket that was same day return or with 1 night stay. Its quite annoying when doing her ticket planning for business trips.

In the past, there are more fares on the expensive side. Now airlines are trying to keep the flights full. So they are offering more economical fares.

By offering economical fares that do not carry mileage, airlines actually lower their operating costs. Mileage is a liability item.

In the past, there are more fares on the expensive side. Now airlines are trying to keep the flights full. So they are offering more economical fares.

By offering economical fares that do not carry mileage, airlines actually lower their operating costs. Mileage is a liability item.

Guess you are right about the price... my uncle used to pay 11K HKD per HKG-MEL during the good time, now he fly on the fare just under 6K HKD each trip.
I just don't enjoy doing planning for them on short trips like TPE,BKK,PEK and PVG purely everytime I have to think about the cost ($) vs benefits (elite sector/miles).
O well, keeping family members (2) as CX silver had been ok for the past 2-3 years, this year really struggling with the slow down in business. The third one qualify silver without any plannning.

That's pretty bad, especially in these times I would've expected you to get bumped up just 4k short.

I wish. But to be fair to Cathay this happened BEFORE the economic crashed, so I guess they didn't need my "Silver-tier" revenue.

I wish. But to be fair to Cathay this happened BEFORE the economic crashed, so I guess they didn't need my "Silver-tier" revenue.

How often do you fly?

I joined MPC as Green member last Aug and have just accrued 25.56K club miles last week after the flights to Australia. I didn't plan to have any trips from now to Aug anniversary date. Should I ask MPC to upgrade my tier to Silver now, or just wait until the anniversary date and see if they do the pump?

I joined MPC as Green member last Aug and have just accrued 25.56K club miles last week after the flights to Australia. I didn't plan to have any trips from now to Aug anniversary date. Should I ask MPC to upgrade my tier to Silver now, or just wait until the anniversary date and see if they do the pump?

Generally with CX, it's not good to ask ;). And you technically don't have enough miles to qualify, so cx would probably reply with a "you haven't reached 30K yet" letter.

Generally with CX, it's not good to ask ;). And you technically don't have enough miles to qualify, so cx would probably reply with a "you haven't reached 30K yet" letter.

Not really. I know of a friend short of 3 sectors to get to gold and he wrote in to MPC. His qualifying period is extended by one more month.

Mentioning that you are elite members of other programs help ;)

Good luck!

Not really. I know of a friend short of 3 sectors to get to gold and he wrote in to MPC. His qualifying period is extended by one more month.

Mentioning that you are elite members of other programs help ;)

Good luck!

I believe the original question was not about extending the qualifying period, but whether the member should call a few months in advance for qual/requal even though he/she was a few thousands miles short.

I joined MPC as Green member last Aug and have just accrued 25.56K club miles last week after the flights to Australia. I didn't plan to have any trips from now to Aug anniversary date. Should I ask MPC to upgrade my tier to Silver now, or just wait until the anniversary date and see if they do the pump?

Rule of Thumb: it never hurt to ask.

My mom went back to green card member last October. She credited about 12.5 sector (all J class between Taiwan and Hong Kong/Xiamen) between last November and this May, and CX moves her to Silver, too.

Another data point.

My dad was gold member, and he credited 70.25 club sectors and 82612 club miles within a full membership year (October 2008-2009). He just told me that he is upgraded to DM tier. His travel patterns with CX are primarily between Taiwan and Hong Kong/Xiamen in J class. However, this year he also traveled long-haul J with BA for Europe trip once and long-haul F with CX for North America trip once.

Another data point.

My dad was gold member, and he credited 70.25 club sectors and 82612 club miles within a full membership year (October 2008-2009). He just told me that he is upgraded to DM tier. His travel patterns with CX are primarily between Taiwan and Hong Kong/Xiamen in J class. However, this year he also traveled long-haul J with BA for Europe trip once and long-haul F with CX for North America trip once.

It has been posted that loyal paid J passengers, even when they are substantially short, gets promoted to next tire. I guess it's true. Smart business in my opinion as the profit margin is significantly higher for J fare fliers than Y fare fliers. He probably pays more money flying 82K miles in J than a Y flying 300K a year.

I recently spoke to one of the CX insider & he was telling me that they start the revenue accumulating base program, which is similar to the SQ PPS, they will accumulate your paid J & F revenue & determine whether you are valuable to them or not.

I'm also a CX Silver but much of the 5 hours or less flights were all on Y so I don't want them to copy whatever SQ was implemented...!

I recently spoke to the CX insider & they were telling me that they start the revenue accumulating base program, which is similar to the SQ PPS, they will accumulate your paid J & F revenue & determine whether you are valuable to them or not.

I'm also a CX Silver but much of the 5 hours or less flights were all on Y so I don't want them to copy whatever SQ was implemented...!

I think they have been tracking revenue all along.

That will not work well for me too, but I don't mind if they keep the current SL/GO/DM levels and benefits. If the major difference is op-up, I don't mind giving that up. While I like op-ups, I do believe in getting what I pay for.

CX and SQ are different. SQ has a quite steady source of J/F passengers. I am aware of a few companies using CX as their preferred airline who can switch airlines and flying patterns anytime. For CX's sake, they should implement such a programme, but I don't know if they can rely on that for a steady source of premium passengers.

I think they have been tracking revenue all along.

That will not work well for me too, but I don't mind if they keep the current SL/GO/DM levels and benefits. If the major difference is op-up, I don't mind giving that up. While I like op-ups, I do believe in getting what I pay for.

CX and SQ are different. SQ has a quite steady source of J/F passengers. I am aware of a few companies using CX as their preferred airline who can switch airlines and flying patterns anytime. For CX's sake, they should implement such a programme, but I don't know if they can rely on that for a steady source of premium passengers.

Agreed. If they are doing this to provide the extra touch, while not changing the current system, then that is fine. I think it's good business to give them a break on the mileage accumulations (gets promoted while missing 20% of the miles or sectors), high priority in op-ups (tie-breaker amongst the same tier), personal recognition, etc.

However, if this is a prelude to alter the CX FFP and make it more like SQ then I think in the long run this will be a mistake. A solid airline needs both the rich on top and the average folds at the bottom to round out their revenue stream. Focusing exclusively on one and forsake the other is a recipe for disaster.