Originally Posted by
KingCanute
You qpoints for the first sector should post whilst you are in the air, and hopefully your tier upgrade too. So if you value the extra avios and departure airport lounge access for that sector at more than the US$50 that the two qpoints will cost, go for it!
Yes, that's very true. I recently left Amsterdam as a lowly burgundy, needing 30 points to be elevated to Silver. On arrival at Doha they had been credited and I had a text to confirm the upgrade. My forward flight from Doha included the 25% Silver status bonus Avios.
So far as status upgrades are concerned, my PC dashboard shows two significant dates. The earliest is the one by which I need to earn the necessary points to be elevated to the ultra dizzy heights of Gold, and the later one the date by which I must accumulate the required number of points to retain Silver tier. I'm going for Gold.