Originally Posted by
CyBeR
It does now though - as I showed in an earlier post an occasional long-haul J on KL (which often has very reasonable fares for even very far, 36XP, destinations) will *severely* reduce your grind under this new system.
Strange would be the system whereby throwing a J ticket into the mix DIDN'T *severely* reduce the "grind".
But the "severity" of that reduction needs to be placed into context
Originally Posted by
CyBeR
For gold, having already attained silver, a 36XP round-trip J will now require only 22 EU flights (for a total of 24 that year) rather than 30. Even less if you make that long-haul J include a connecting flight. (The difference is more stark if you account for the newly increased requirement of 36 EU flights.)
Not entirely sure I understand what you mean by "a 36XP round-trip J will now require only 22 EU flights".
If I look to Millemiglia, a single AMS-FCO-SCL return in J (often available for little more than €1300)
nets a total of around 49300 miles, which leaves you only ~700 miles short of Freccia Alata, the equivalent of FB Gold. So, Millemiglia gives you "FB Gold" equivalent for one judiciously-chosen J ticket, and a couple of shorthaul extra flights. Could be done on the basis of just 2 tickets. Regardless of whether you already hold status or not.
You wouldn't even get FB Gold with 2 AF La Premiere tickets (unless one or both was connecting from longhaul P to longhaul P at CDG)!!
That makes the FB "one J, plus 22 shorthauls" to Gold - but only if you already have Gold! - look rather bad.