Programs: FB Gold, DC Gold, Hyatt GP Plat, HH Blue, SPG whatever
Posts: 73
Elite and Elite Plus
I wonder if anyone has inside information on the deals and discussions within the SkyTeam Alliance on the division between Elite and Elite Plus regarding the multi-tiered Elite levels of the various programmes. For instance, Flying Blue Gold Elite members (outside of the USA) are Elite Plus members while SkyMiles Gold Elite members are Elite members, etc. And, is it likely that these divisions will change in the future?
Programs: BD *G, NW PE (back home :)), FD RW (no more), HH Gold, MR Gold, some Amex
Posts: 7,223
Europe <--> USA thing. E+ gives lounges access and US carries tend to limit this priv to their highest Elites. US elite perks are different from european Elite perks.
Programs: FlyingBlue Platinum, M&M Sen, CO One Pass Platinum, Eurostar CarteBlanche, A-Club Gold
Posts: 164
the reason :
much easier to fly 50K miles in the US domestically without spending much money, if flying 50K miles outside the US, its mostly international and much higher margin for the carriers in general
Programs: BD *G, NW PE (back home :)), FD RW (no more), HH Gold, MR Gold, some Amex
Posts: 7,223
Quote:
Originally Posted by robin.goodman
the reason :
much easier to fly 50K miles in the US domestically without spending much money, if flying 50K miles outside the US, its mostly international and much higher margin for the carriers in general
He means that airlines want people to bring a minimum of revenue before they get to Elite +. US residents often fly long distances on cheap tickets (NYC to LAX return is 5,000 miles and can cost $350, ie EUR 250, while a domestic flight in France will cost EUR 100 for 1,000 miles or less), so it makes sense to request more miles from them for privileges.
Also, US airlines want 100,000 miles for Elite Plus, so if AFKLM was giving it away for less than 50,000 miles, their US partners would not like the competition!
Also, US airlines want 100,000 miles for Elite Plus, so if AFKLM was giving it away for less than 50,000 miles, their US partners would not like the competition!
It has been going on since so many years back AF has offered its Gold members (40K qualifying miles) to be Elite Plus so I don't think it matters whether their US partners like it or not, and because AF has also made it competitive with their US partners when AF US based members could not be Elite Plus if they have US address on their profiles. In addition to the revenue criteria mentioned in the other post, DL used to tell me that another reason its Gold members cannot be Elite Plus was due to the size/population of its Gold members (which is much higher than AF's). Not sure how true it is now after AF-KLM combined and FB was in effect and with the introduction of AMEX FB.
And to me, requiring 100K miles to become Elite Plus for "non-US" based members is too harsh.
