Been Gold for a several years now as have been commuting UK-Japan. Renewal is October, but there have been times when Gold would have expired on renewal but due to be reinstated with December flight under 13 month rolling qualification system. (The December ticket is usually booked August or September.) Whenever expiry has been due to happen I've received an email from Emirates about a month before Gold expiration to say that Gold membership had been extended until the end of December.