Originally Posted by
Xandrios
Looking selfishly at my own situation I'd rather not get another extension. I had already requalified between Nov 2019 and March 2020, so for about a year already all status miles earned have been going straight to the bin - as there is no carry over on those. And while my flying has decreased, I did switch to mostly paid business fares so the mileage earning has not gone down too much.
Being able to get new upgrade vouchers would be nice, and (for me) a bigger benefit than having another status extension. I'm pretty positive on being able to collect 12K miles in the 12 months prior to May 2022.
I think this covers perfectly all the reasons why A3 does not want to, and will not, make any further extensions to "help" the flyers that are no longer flying; A3's programme works in a way that such a move would now actively penalise those who are actually flying and/or would have re-qualified without assistance, just to placate those who are now not flying, and who would further be "incentivised" not to start flying again for another extended period.
There comes a time when you have to put your actual flying customers ahead of those who are no longer flying enough (regardless of the reasons why those can no longer fly!)
And A3 needs its customers, so it's counterproductive (at least in the immediate term) to once more "encourage" a further period of non-engagement with the airline.
Instead of a new/further status extension, I would instead expect offers aimed at encouraging flights (double miles again perhaps, on top of the already-reduced thresholds). Better to let those flying more easily attain/retain status, than to keep all non-flying status members on the books, and further provide them with a further fresh incentive to delay flying for another long period.
(And yes, I am among those non-flying members that looks set to lose Gold in May)