on their new guest homepage they indeed now show 2 or 3 different information for the tier validity. Most are already posted above.
Let me share my experience and outcome with Etihad Guest for my question to status validity etc.
I hope this may help others who are in similar situation and will not make it even more complicated...
Before the launch of the new website I was (still be) in the situation that I would need 2 more segments (46/48) for platinum re-qualification until 31/12/2017.
For my understanding their T&C clearly stated that re-qualification is from 01Jan to 31Dec and then the status would be valid for 1 more year. (until 31Dec2018)
But also their T&C clearly stated that for NEW qualification the status is valid for the rest of that calendar year plus one year.
So I had to decide to either requalify in December 2017 and get status for 1 more year until 31Dec2018 or
not to re-qualify, get downgraded to Gold on 31Dec2017 and then fly the remaining 14 segments (46/60) in January to new qualify from Gold to Platinum and get new Platinum status for rest of 2018 plus one year (31Dec2019).
From my experience with Etihad Guest (having EY tier status since 2008!) I already knew that I better should not rely on the written information on their website...
Therefore, I requested a clear statement from them by e-mail about terms for new qualification and the validity of the new attained status.
After back and forth and many "empty" replies I finally got the below clear statement from them on 07 October 2017 confirming their same understanding of the rules:
“…Further to your query pertaining to your Platinum tier status, I would like to clarify that currently your qualification period to maintain your Platinum tier is Jan to Dec 2017.
You need to accrue 100,000 Tier Miles or 48 Tier Segments during this period (…)
In case if you are unable to maintain your tier status for 2018, your Platinum tier will be downgraded to Gold (…)
You may regain your Platinum tier status by accumulating 125,000 Tier Miles or 60 Tier Segments within any consecutive 12 months (…)
your status will then be valid for the rest of that calendar year plus one year (…)”
Due to their above statement I customised my travels and “downgraded” 2 segments of a return flight to economy to only get 2 instead of 4 segments and therefore do not re-qualify for Platinum in 2017!
Instead of these 2 segments for re-qualification I have now booked 2 J return flights for January 2018 to collect 14 segments and newly qualify from Gold to Platinum.
I hope they will stick to their word and it will not again take too much back and forth e-mails.
If they try again to “cheat” or not to deliver what they promise, in addition to all the recent cost cuttings, I guess I should finally move on to different carriers (after 10 yrs loyality with EY).
PS: Status is still valid for the extra 3 month (Jan to Mar) after expiry – I only referred to end of year to keep explanations easier 😉