Actually, that might be the best way to NOT get your free gift. That's basically what I did, and I got zilch. I actually waited for a while to get my card in the mail, but hadn't received it yet, so asked at ICN for them to make my card. Got my luggage tags there, but they claimed to not know anything about a free gift. Then I'm guessing they tagged it in the system that I picked up my card in person, so never got anything in the mail.
Anyone else have experience in having your card made at the airport and whether you got a free gift there or not?
This happened for me with my initial silver card. Of course, at that stage there are no presents involved. But after my card hadn't arrived for some time, I called them to ask about it, and nothing came. I then had one made for me at the airport. When I returned home, two cards arrived in the mail in seperate envelopes So getting it done at the airport doesn't necessarily mean you will no longer receive the mailed version, presumably also including the gift for actual status cards.
Oh and btw, I also got the blow-up neck pillow for reaching D, so maybe they've phased out the leather passport holder? A real shame, since my passport is looking a bit worse for wear.
Actually, that might be the best way to NOT get your free gift. That's basically what I did, and I got zilch. I actually waited for a while to get my card in the mail, but hadn't received it yet, so asked at ICN for them to make my card. Got my luggage tags there, but they claimed to not know anything about a free gift. Then I'm guessing they tagged it in the system that I picked up my card in person, so never got anything in the mail.
Anyone else have experience in having your card made at the airport and whether you got a free gift there or not?
Same. I was passing through ICN when I got D and got the card made there so that I could use the lounge.
I didn't receive anything else in the mail, and a few months later, I called up the helpdesk. They mentioned that the system showed that I had picked up the card in ICN. I told them that I never received the welcome gift. They promised to put the package in the mail.
Got it a week later, the free gift (blow-up neck pillow) and another D card and 2 more luggage tags.
On a side note, I noticed that the cards are slightly different. The card I got from ICN had all the little text on the flip side in Korean. The card I got in the mail had it in English (I'm based in Singapore).
Programs: TG ROP Gold, Lifetime OZ Diamond Plus, BA Gold
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Another potential D+ benefit: when traveling to BKK in Y, I was given a fast track coupon! However, I've never been given such a coupon before when traveling the same route in Y using D+. So I'm not sure if this was a mistake, something new, or if the check-in agent forgot to give it to me previous times. If it's a regular thing, I might reconsider my Thailand trips and fly into BKK more often, rather than HKT, or CNX using KE. I was trying to avoid BKK due to the immigration delays, among other things, but if I get fast track all the time, it's worth reconsidering.
Another potential D+ benefit: when traveling to BKK in Y, I was given a fast track coupon! However, I've never been given such a coupon before when traveling the same route in Y using D+. So I'm not sure if this was a mistake, something new, or if the check-in agent forgot to give it to me previous times. If it's a regular thing, I might reconsider my Thailand trips and fly into BKK more often, rather than HKT, or CNX using KE. I was trying to avoid BKK due to the immigration delays, among other things, but if I get fast track all the time, it's worth reconsidering.
Thought this was a norm for ANY *gold, since my friend who is a UA Premier, I think, told me he always gets express immigration lane coupon upon arriving Sydney airport all the time since. Maybe not all airport has this kind of facility, I guess. I will ask him whether he gest this coupon only for Sydney or other coutnries too like US.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vinx
Thought this was a norm for ANY *gold, since my friend who is a UA Premier, I think, told me he always gets express immigration lane coupon upon arriving Sydney airport all the time since. Maybe not all airport has this kind of facility, I guess. I will ask him whether he gest this coupon only for Sydney or other coutnries too like US.
I don't know about SYD, but in the USA it's typical that airports give priority for outbound elite status passengers, regardless of what they're flying. For BKK, where I fly extensively on many different carriers, I've never been able to use fast track when flying in Y before, regardless of status. That includes TG, SQ, LX, and previously OZ, all when flying *A Gold. My experience is that the fast track is only for premium class passengers, and even then, not always, being frequently inbound in TG on C I'm haven't had fast track access, but do sometimes.
When I was checking in for my flight, I saw this gold card the agent was filling out, and could only see the words, "Fast Track". At first I thought, "YES! ICN finally has added fast track service", only to see it was for arrival at BKK when she handed it to me. A bit of a let-down, but will still be great if it's consistent. These days I normally only fly C when I get an op-up, or if I really need to fly and Y is fully booked. So any benefit for having status when flying Y is appreciated.
Got fast track security service at DUB too once the check in agent saw that I was *G (OZ D). Didn't have my card on me but the membership number took care of things. Was a nice little surprise since the line in the regular queue looked pretty long.
Well I just recently made Diamond+ and the two Transpacific flights I took as D+ were nothing special. I believe the flights ICN-LAX-ICN are so packed with D+ and/or Platinums that a newly D+ member like myself is very low on the list.
No personal greeting on both flights. I don't really care about this as it doesn't make or break any flight. I did see the FAs greeting other Asiana club members, just not me. I am pretty sure I showered in the morning.
Sitting in Y class, I am grateful I was not placed in the middle seat. However, I was surprised I was placed near the back of the first section of Y. Block out the seat next to me? I asked on both flights and both times they said No.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nme7
Well I just recently made Diamond+ and the two Transpacific flights I took as D+ were nothing special. I believe the flights ICN-LAX-ICN are so packed with D+ and/or Platinums that a newly D+ member like myself is very low on the list.
No personal greeting on both flights. I don't really care about this as it doesn't make or break any flight. I did see the FAs greeting other Asiana club members, just not me. I am pretty sure I showered in the morning.
Sitting in Y class, I am grateful I was not placed in the middle seat. However, I was surprised I was placed near the back of the first section of Y. Block out the seat next to me? I asked on both flights and both times they said No.
I just recently flew ICN-LAX-ICN myself, and I got one op-up. I don't think it matters at all how long you've been a member, but rather your booking class. That's what I've been told. So when upgrading, they will first upgrade platinum, then D+, the regular Diamond, and so forth. Within a status level (in your case D+), it will be based on booking class, with the D+ members in the higher booking classes getting the upgrade before the lower booking classes. If status and booking class are equal and they need to decide, I don't know what they do, if it's then based on how long you've been a member, how many miles you have, or just randomly selected. But anyways, most likely any D+ members who might have gotten an upgrade instead of you did so because they paid for a higher booking class than you did.
On the recent flight where I didn't get an upgrade, I also didn't get the seat next to me blocked because the flight was completely full, and even business class I was told was full before check-in was complete. So evidently they weren't upgrading anyone, or very few if there were some no-shows and/or they bumped a couple of business class passengers up to first and then some economy up to business class. But you also have to realize that there are some economy passengers who want to upgrade using their miles, and those always trump any op-ups. On this route, I'm led to believe there's often quite a few passengers looking to do this, and often they don't even have enough empty seats to accommodate those, much less giving out free op-ups.
In the end, it all comes down to luck in hitting the right flights where economy is oversold with lots of empty space in business to bump up the passengers. I don't think there's any good formula for selecting those flights because there's just too many variables, some of which don't reveal themselves until the last minute.
As for the greeting, I also didn't get it on my last economy flight, nor did I see anyone getting the greeting. I think being it was a completely full flight, the FA's had their hands full, and maybe forgot about it. I've also had occasions where they've skipped over me. Sometimes they have one FA handle the greetings on one side of the aircraft, and a different FA handle greetings on the other side. So if one FA doesn't do her job, you don't get the greeting. I'm not sure why the inconsistency, but like you I don't really care if I'm greeted or not.
I'm wondering about getting seated in the back of the first section - did you check in quite late? I almost always check in quite early and get a good selection. But if you check in too late on a completely full flight, then it's understandable that you won't. AFAIK, you cannot reserve those front-of-the-cabin seats ahead of time. Even as D+, I'm not given access to them when I reserve my seats. It's only at checkin where they release them, and they can only hold those seats for so long on a completely full flight before they start getting assigned. I imagine they likely have some cutoff time that they hold them until, and after that you're out of luck. It would be interesting to find out what exactly is their policy on this. Perhaps on my next trip I'll ask them and see if they can tell.
When the flight is completely full, I'm also told they cannot even attempt to block the seat next to me. Thankfully that doesn't happen too often and when it does I have a shot at getting an op-up. The Korean Thanksgiving holiday (Chuseok) was just last week, plus another holiday during that week as well, so there were lots and lots of Koreans and foreigners living in Korea traveling during that time. Plus I believe it's a Chinese holiday as well and lots of Chinese traveling, which all goes to explain why the flights were so full.
Thanks for the info A_Lee. I will try and check in much earlier next time. As a fellow D+ member, what is your strategy for selecting seats? Before I had met any of the OZ FF status levels, I tried to select my seats online at the time of booking or through their website. However just before I hit Diamond+, I intentionally did not pick any seat in the hopes that the check in staff would assign me a favorable seat. This has returned spotty results as sometimes I get a nice spot and other times it is nothing special. So do you recommend reserving a seat online and then asking the check-in agent if there is anything better? Or do you leave it all to their hands?
In general, I believe I need to stay off the flights during the holidays and weekends!
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I try to always reserve a seat when I book the ticket, and almost always I'm given a choice to change to a better seat at check-in. If you don't reserve a seat, you may be seriously disappointed if you get delayed and check-in at the last minute. Although it does have a chance of working in your favor. On one transpac flight I forgot all about reserving a seat, and arrived at check-in just an hour before the flight. The check-in agent asked me why I didn't reserve a seat because the flight was completely full and there were only middle seats left. She went and had a word with the manager and came back with an op-up to business class boarding pass. I'm sure it was because I was D+. But I certainly wouldn't count on this happening. Especially if there's a few empty seats in economy, you might get stick in a bad middle seat.
Even though they almost always will offer you a better seat at check-in, don't take it for granted and be pro-active. Ask about the flight. How full is it? What sort of better seats are available? Tell them your preference, and see what they can do. Provided it's early enough, I've never had a problem getting a better seat. For me, I like an aisle seat, but having the seat next to me empty is the most important factor if I'm in economy, so I tell them this, and tell them I realize they cannot guarantee the seat will be blocked, but ask if they can check the request that it be blocked. It works most of the time. I don't like emergency row or bulkhead seats, but if you do, ask about them at check-in and you'll probably have a good chance of getting one. I've been offered them more times than I can remember and always decline but ask for something in the second or higher row.
On my most recent op-up, it was at the start of the Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok) holiday, so was a peak travel day. Because of that, economy was full, but evidently there was plenty of empty seats in business class, so I got upgraded. Usually on off-days that aren't so busy, I won't get an op-up because the flight isn't full, but I'll also get the seat next to me blocked. For me that's good enough, so my strategy would be to try to book on days where I think the flight won't be full. But I normally don't have much flexibility, and need to fly on the weekend much of the time. But even days you'd think wouldn't be busy might be. Best to check on availability for your particular flight regardless of the day. If you're looking to get an op-up, try to pick flights that look like they will be full and hope for the best. If you're just looking for a good seat in economy with the seat next to you empty, look for flights you think won't be full and arrive early for check-in. In emphasizing to the check-in agent that I'm really looking for the empty seat next to me, on some occasions she's told me that she's blocked the entire row for me.
I normally arrive 3 hours before at ICN and then spend my time in the F lounge. When checking in from other airports, I still try to check-in 3 hours ahead of time if possible, but if I'm on a connecting flight or have some last minute business that's not always possible. But I try my best to always be there by the 2-hour mark at the latest.
Interesting insights. On the one occasion I've gotten an op-up so far, I was the second person to arrive at the counter and it was a busy day with lots of tour groups returning to Korea in Y. I take it that's the scenario where an op-up is most likely. Generally, would you say it's better to arrive early or late? So far, I also tend to make sure to be at least 2 hours early, especially when departing from FRA (the German train service has become so unreliable, that I've almost never had a completely punctual train ride, and several times arrived significantly late, so I plan ahead). I'll likely continue that practice going out of FRA, but so far ICN has been so unproblematic that I could also arrive later should that work to my advantage.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jon503
Generally, would you say it's better to arrive early or late?
I don't think it makes any difference in your chances for an op-up in getting there early or late, except for the once instance I mentioned where I got the op-up at check-in. Normally though you'll get the op-up at the gate, at least that's been my experience. But without knowing the details of how their system works, who knows? On my last trip where I got the op-up, and I checked in about 4 hours in advance, the guy sitting next to me was the last guy on the plane. He mentioned something about heavy traffic getting to the airport and he had to run from check-in to the gate. So in that case, maybe they gave away his seat already and had no option but to give him an op-up. Though I'd think in that situation you'd run the risk of being bumped off your flight for checking in too late.
So getting it done at the airport doesn't necessarily mean you will no longer receive the mailed version, presumably also including the gift for actual status cards. 
