taupo

I am interested to read the opinions of others and AC if they wish to chime in, on the pros and cons for customers and company alike to buy SE100K with a $20,000 up front payment that is credit toward future travel in that year.
I would like to move back to AC and into their top tier in 2019 (I have NZ Gold Elite through until November 2019, with a soft landing to Gold until November 2020) but not have to wait until surpassing 100,000 bis miles to receive the benefits.
The advantage to me in being able to buy SE is I receive the benefits from flight 1.
The advantage to AC is that they receive the money up front. The disadvantage to AC is that they will incur the cost of giving benefit to someone who wouldn't have otherwise gotten it.

The SE benefit if bought would be the exactly the same as if earned BIS and carry over to the next year as well. The idea being that one would keep flying AC to enjoy the benefits.

I already fly AC quite a bit but accrue to NZ's AirPoints. I also have two TD Infinite Visa's that accrue about 550-600,000 miles a year through spend. These miles are used on copious quantities of Sport Chek gift cards among a few others. With SE, the use of those miles could change to AC seats. Travel patterns and limitations have made using AP miles for airline seats unrealistic for us.

Thoughts?

RangerNS

Apparently you get miles and AQD on flight pass purchases the moment the CC clears.

That is close to what you are proposing, but unless you know the region you are flying in, and it maps to an offered region, it likely there will be lots of waste.

Oh, and CC miles mean nothing to AC status. I'm strongly of the view it should not. One can always buy features, offering features because you show loyalty to something else makes no sense to me at all.

TravellingGypsy

taupo

My travel pattern is not flight pass friendly. Destinations would be Europe, domestic, South Pacific, Asia.

KDS777

I'd assume the terms of this deal would be non-refundable. If he never flies, AC still wins.

taupo

No.
AC receives $20,000 up front as a credit toward travel in that year. If I do not burn through the full $20,000 credit then I am the one who is SOL.

taupo

Exactly

YEG_SE4Life

You get AQM, AQD, and if selected, bonus AQM when you purchase an unlimited flight pass. Segment FPs do not credit AQM and AQD until they are used.

TravellingGypsy

chekmanirov

This would be incredibly unfair to other frequent fliers. I finished last year with close to 20K AQD but AC wouldn't even credit me E50K because I only had 45 AQS/25K AQM.

taupo

AC gains the $$ upfront and bought loyalty if you will.

In my case I receive some of those benefits already as a *G. They also get my spouse and five children some of the time, that can be taken as a good or bad thing depending on the day! The kids are flying are pre-teen or teens now so flying alone more often, as well with me/us.

Concierge, IKK and eUps would be where AC gives something up.

skywardhunter

To those asking what does AC get, certainty of revenue is a very major concern especially in airlines, that is why businesses often give you a discount if you pay a year or whatever up front instead of the minimum period, same reason cell phone contracts exist and you get a fancy phone for a small monthly payment that barely adds up to the phones retail cost.

Such FF benefits in my view seem roughly in line with the type of incentive a business might offer for such a financial commitment, and AC can only win if the full 20k isn't used up.

It being "unfair" isn't really a business factor unless it'd seriously jeopardize the business from those other members, and those who earned status the regular way aren't losing anything so it isn't really of any consequence.

TravellingGypsy

Sean Peever

$20,000 upfront != $20,000 AQD.

KenHamer

It'll never fly because:
- privacy concerns
- Transport Canada rules
- not FDA approved
- too complicated for some posters too understand
- RoHS
- too hard
- too expensive to implement
- AC IT
- customers have no interest in product
- AC is competing with CX, EK, Spacex, etc and not RyanAir
- it's too good an idea.