LupineChemist

IB has a year that ends 31st of March....seems like all the avios might go to a single program.

It would certainly make sense given IAG is the odd one out compared to Lufty group and AFKLM of running separate programs for each airline.

FlightDetective

Well, you'll be extended to 31 March 2025, which is an extra four months.

They will also calculate your TPs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, so your 845 since November, plus anything you earned April to November last year will all count for your tier.

andymcdonnell

I think the point here (as is being discussed on the BA forum & elsewhere) is that you’ll be able to have an EI account, IB account, BA (and probably QR) with a single avios balance between them. How tier points are earned will depend on the different airline & how you credit but they’ll all have a single start & end date

Teplane

Does anyone know how they'll deal with Concierge upgrade vouchers? I have 4 right now that are set to expire at end November. It looks ike I'll requalify at the end of March based on flights last year, so I expect a further 4, with expiration in March 2025. This would mean I'll have 8 total - four to use by November and four to use by following March.

I've sent Concierge line a mail to ask them about it, but is above how others are reading this? I'd be mighty upset if they give me four new vouchers in March and cancel the previous 4 that are not due to expire until November, esp since I was on track to requalify in June in any case and get another 4 vouchers!

Pete_23567

The FAQs (12) on the website state the current vouchers or companion ticket etc will be extended to March. Therefore I would expect your current upgrades to expire in March if not used and then replaced with new ones once you re qualify?

Edit: sorry I re-read your post now and I get what you mean… maybe the concierge team will explain.

Teplane

well spotted, thank you. I think I'm still a bit confused though. Re-reading 12 and 13 and 5 together for my specific case suggests:

1. (as per 12) the existing 4 vouchers and Concierge status will be extended to March 31st 2025
2. (as per 5) There will be a recalculation of tier status on March 31st 2024 based on trailing last 12 months activity. For me, this is about 1500 TPs (march 2023 to March 2024), so would result in me re-earning status for another year to March 2025, which doesn't matter as I've already been extended to March 2025 (Is this different from a 'mere' extension? I don't know!)
3. (as per 13) I will not get new additional upgrades if I merely got an extension to March 31 2025, but I do get new upgrades if I earned Concierge again by March 31st. As per item 2, it's not clear to me have I re-earned Concierge status in the revaluation on March 31 based on trailing 12 month TPs (which gives me new upgrades) or is that recalculation simply another opportunity to to be extended?

Here's the counter argument that fleshes out this ambiguity a bit more. Say if I were currently Silver with a collection year ending November. On March 31st, AerClub will extend me to March 2025 (great news) as silver. However, when they do the 'look back' calculation for the previous 12 months on March 31st (as per FAQ 5), hoorah, it turned out I even earned enough between March 2023 and March 2024 to move to Platinum, so now I get upgraded to Platinum for next year and earn an upgrade to use by March 2025! Great news.

So what happens to people who already have status in that same scenario above? Do they get penalised by not getting the upgrades, or do they get treated the same as the above case?

I'll post when I hear back from AerClub, as I've a feeling this isn't covered by the FAQs. (please correct me if I'm not understanding this right!)

Oshkosh105

I'm in the minority that I think is negatively impacted. Only started flying EI Q4 last year and my old year started in mid-Dec. I'm up to 200 TCs in 2024, but it sounds like all of that will be lost at the end of March, so I'll stay green for an extra few months until I can get back up to 300

Teplane

You might be a beneficiary - the recalculation they do at the end of March to work out your status from April 1 2024 will take in all credits earned since April 1 2023 to calculate your new status. Will that be enough to get you over the 301 bar for Silver?

FlightDetective

You're correct with your Silver example above.

If you are already at Concierge, Platinum or Silver, you are extended to 31 March 2025. If your look back calculation does not result in a higher tier, you will remain at your existing tier. There is no penalty, as you are being extended anyway.

There are also no downgrades, so if your look back calculation from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 has you with zero Tier Credits and you're currently Concierge, you'll still be extended as Concierge through to 31 March 2025 and have 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 to earn whatever you need to maintain the status.

You would only earn a new set of upgrade coupons if you go up to a new status level. That's my understanding of it, with your existing upgrade coupons extended to the 31 March 2025 date.

Teplane

I suspect you're right. This effectively means that, for EI's most loyal flyers, depending on tier date, up to 9 months of earning for upgrade and companion coupons will be effectively discarded.

It's a little disappointing as they appear to have tried to design the process to ensure everyone gets treated well (in fact generously), but inadvertently accidentally created something that only affects their most loyal customers and actually hits them quite hard. In my case, I'm a November anniversary, so I only lose out on 1/3 year of benefits (ie 1.33 upgrades and 1/3 of a companion voucher), but for people with anniversaries earlier in the year, this will be a serious blow, considering that the main benefit of Concierge over Platinum is those vouchers.

C'est la vie though. At this stage I'm used to AerClub being quite generous and well-meaning, but the implementation being quite sloppy. For all its faults and frustrations, I get great use out of it, and across the board the front-line people at EI are just amazing.

Will report back if Concierge email comes back and says something different than what you (and me) suspect FlightDetective.

BristolTraveller

I could be stuffed or not stuffed and I can't work it out. I joined AerClub in October 2023 and have just hit 295 TPs. My next EI flight is on 12th April.

Have all those TPs that get me within touching distance of silver now.. gone to waste? Reset and deleted on 31st March 2024? Or will they pro-rata the earning and set my status as Silver from 10th April?

FlightDetective

You're not stuffed.

Your conclusion that you will be set to Silver from 10 April is correct.

Teplane

how is that? Under the lookback on March 31st, would BristolTraveler not only have 295 TPs of the 301 needed for Silver and hence be set to Green?

FlightDetective

On the face of it, that is correct.

However, this kind of situation has been taken into account and allowances will be made. I can't say anything more than that, but BristolTraveler will be upgraded to Silver.

Teplane

Understood, and thanks for sharing what you're able to. Good to see EI will look after people who are close to status like that. If you're in touch with anyone over there, please do let them know their Concierge customers would like the 1.33 upgrades they've earned too!

Thanks FlightDetective for the contributions on this forum generally, learned a lot about getting the best from EI from you.