aster

Thought I'd bring up this thread after almost a year to see if anything's changed.

Has anyone make the switch or considering it? Any new FFPs or changes to current ones that are worth noting?

lcpteck

Since I don't fly premium airlines at premium prices, I've decided the easiest way for me is still A3 Gold for *G status.

SIN-NRT-IAD is the route I'm looking at with NH S Class fare, that would earn 100% mileage to A3 and get 20k mileage with 1 roundtrip. Been searching around and it seems S Class fare is the same price all year round. Maybe I'll do that in 1st quarter of 2015. Extra check-in luggage and lounge access is a good benefit. And A3 is easy to maintain for leisure budget travelers.

AddictedTraveller

Interesting topic - other option (if it is still going) was to status match with TK. If lounges are your thing then consider the ANZ travel card - unlimited free lounge access.

lcpteck

Yeah I have the ANZ Travel Card, however the Veloce Lounges are currently very limited. So primarily in SIN I use Veloce Lounges, then when I'm overseas if Veloce have no presence, I'll use my limited use Priority Pass. I currently have 6 complimentary visits per year (3 cards; 2 visit per card).

aster

Status matching to OW and then matching back to *A might be an option, though to be honest I haven't looked into what the current situation is with status matching and whether it's as easy as it was say 2 years ago.

Speaking of OW, it used to be much easier to get status there. WAW-HEL-SIN return in biz on AY used to be enough for AY Silver at least (extra luggage and lounge access when flying AY). If you signed up just before the first flight with them, then upon reaching Silver it remained valid for the current membership year... plus the following year.

BA also used to have much lower tiers for non-UK residents, so getting status was heaps easier.

Not sure if any carriers still have low thresholds and give decent-enough class bonuses to get any meaningful status with one return long-haul trip in biz?

jdtravels

BA silver (OWS) (req. 600 TP) with a connection through Doha. You'll need at least 4 BA/IB flights per year though, so something like SIN-DOH-LHR-DOH-SIN (140 TP x 4 = 560 TP) on QR, then 4 cheap baggage-only BA fare flights (10 TP x 4 = 40 TP, i.e. total 600 TP) should do the trick.

Alternatively, SIN-DOH-(BRU)-DOH-SIN, then e.g. (BRU)-LHR-EDI-LHR-(BRU) on baggage-only fare would be another option, where (BRU) can be another European destination, also works out at exactly 600 TP.

aster

Is it QR in particular that earns good tier points on BAEC? Once you reach Silver do you get it for a year from the day you get that status, or do you get "upgraded" to Silver for the remainder of the current membership year and then for the entire following year?

jdtravels

No. It's because BAEC counts TP by distance bands - and it so happens that most Europe-DOH flights just cross the threshold for the 140TP band, as do flights from DOH-east Asia, whereas LHR-BKK/HKG are on the upper end of the 140TP band, and LHR-SIN/NRT are just over to the 160TP band. So it's just a matter of how they set up the system for elite qualification, different from some airlines, where they count the absolute # of miles instead.

You can get similar 'earnings' by flying, e.g. RJ LHR-AMM-BKK, or BA/CX LHR-DXB-HKG, etc.


For the second question, for BAEC, they have set qualification years, different for each BAEC member depending on his/her join date, so if you join 11 Jun, your TP would reset after 10 Jun each year, etc. Once you attain a certain status in a year, you remain that status for the remainder of that qualification year, and it carries over to next year. So in the above situation, if you earn 600+TP between 11 Jun 2014 and (e.g.) 15 Nov 2014, you remain silver from 15 Nov 2014 until 10 Jun 2014. Then as on the cut off date on 10 Jun 2014 they see that you have enough points for silver, you retain silver for 11 Jun 2014 to 10 Jun 2015, although your tier points are reset to 0, and you will have to earn another 600 TP to keep silver after 10 Jun 2015. In summary, your TP are evaluated daily, and you are upgraded whenever your TP balance crosses the threshold. But you also get an evaluation on the day of year end, and although the balance will then be reset to 0, you keep the status for the coming year.

You can find a very detailed (with diagrams) explanation HERE on the BAEC page of FlyerTalk.

aster

Thought I'd bring this thread back us as we have recently been discussing other feasible options in a different thread.

Does Virgin's recent tie-up with SQ change anything here, considering *status* credits can also be gained? Also worth noting is that Velocity (Virgin Australia's FFP) allows you to do family pooling of not just regular points but also status credits: https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.co...dits/index.htm

If someone here travels a lot with the family this could be a very quick way to shoot up the status ladder and get a whole range of perks