Originally Posted by
kitesurfer
A friend and I both travel back and forth from Canada to Africa for consulting. We are both platinum members. We fly every 6-8 weeks J tickets. We were just discussing the other night when i picked him up at the airport that we weren't seeing the benefits of Platinum besides using the FC lounge in DXB vs gold. Infact, we received upgrades in gold and none since reaching plat even though there are empty seats. The whole experience has just become so routine. We are thinking about moving to other airlines to see if the experience is any better or different. There are definitely noticeable cutbacks in service compared to last year. The hardest part is giving up the shopping in DXB through transit as DDF has some of the best selection ive seen in airports.
You need to understand that most airlines outside North America do NOT upgrade status passengers when there are 'empty seats'. Upgrades are given when operations require it (that's why they are called op-up's), typically when there is overbooking in the lower cabins.
It's a different business model from the NA operations. I personally like it, but YMMV.