Can't comment on the booze/food portion as I'm not a 1K. However, as a lowly Gold I have taken advantage of the free same day changes. In particular, I recall being on the beach in Honolulu at OLCI and thinking to myself, why the heck do I want to leave paradise so soon? I ended up SDC'ing to a later flight to YYZ (via DEN). Had this been AC or another airline they would've wanted an arm and a leg for the privilege of changing such an international itinerary.

Truth be told, I'm torn on this whole AC vs UA debate. There are clearly merits to both airlines. In terms of the quality of the J cabin, it's hard to argue that AC has the upper hand (supposing their pods don't defate :p). This dormitory style that UA has on their jets in J is insane - no one wants to play footsie with their seat mate when they're forking out thousands on fare! AC also clearly has the upper hand when it comes to lounges - most have actual food to eat and working showers. OTOH, when you look at how elites are treated by the airlines, I would argue UA has the upper hand here, be it complimentary extra leg room seating for elites, free same day changes, complimentary upgrades, free SPMarriott Gold status, etc. They are also decent when it comes to earning milage on fares, basically all fares on the major * airlines (UA,AC,LH,NH) earn 100% milage save for Economy Basic. Also the fact they have wifi on their fleet is something that makes a 14 hour experience on UA in Y+ enjoyable.

If there was an airline that combined both benefits of AC & UA I would jump ship in a heartbeat!

Safe Travels,

James

The only thing certain is that they are both "lightyears behind" industry leaders.

The point of the thread is to highlight how various * partners (in particular SQ) treat their top tier customers vs AC. I started the thread based on my observation of how far out of the way SQ goes to treat their loyalist customers regardless of cabin they're travelling in. You would think that if you're writing a cheque to AC for $20,000 each and every year you can count on them going the extra mile but the reactions from fellow FTers suggests that this is not always the case.

Safe Travels,

James

Safe Travels,

James

Its some premium stuff, you have to spend $X annually (something like $25-250K) on J and F products w SQ flight numbers to qualify (Y class does not count into PPS status).

And SQ PPS Solitaire is like their higher level of VIP..... Best part Mrs GHT Sr gets Solitaire status too and you get a catalogue to choose gifts each year..... The best one I saw that we still have was a wine fridge. Can you imagine AC gifting you that?!

No but I can see them gifting complimentary wifi which only works on a small fraction of their aircraft :p

-James

I was hoping posters like yourself would get my gist... :)

I'm referring to the treatment of said pax, as the OP was alluding to this... not necessarily how such PPS/VIP status was attained. :)

I've seen Ben Smith personally escort a VIP onto a flight (the same flight I was on, and the VIP sat next to me in J)... so I stand by my statement above that PPS is "more like" AC VIP (or vice versa), especially since VIP is an official (or unofficial, how you want to view it) unpublished tier that is also strongly correlated to spend. Yes, there are differences w.r.t. "term", "benefits", and the such, but the thread title is "PPS Service on AC", and I've seen VIPs get similar/better service than a PPS, so to me, they are comparable.

Didn't know AF was this desperate to attract AC elites to their program ;)

-James

I think there is a distinctive difference between SQ PPS vs AC VIP vs UA GS.....
1. PPS & Solitaire are published benefits (above and beyond your 100K level and solely based on J/F class revenue qualification only)
2. VIP and GS are mysteries IMO (from how you qualify for them to how services are prioritized etc)......

For Singapore - you basically use the First Class check in facilities & lounge
https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/c...class-checkin/

For outside posts -
- you use first class check in
- Station Manager or Supervisor will usually greet you

On board
- your listed as PPS on their manifest and usually the crew/flight manager will intro themselves
- you get offered a drink
- you get to choose your newspaper
- you get to choose your preferred economy class meal

IME - SQ is less lenient with deviating from SOP to offer you extras or do something unique (i.e. Op-ups, first class wine etc), cause they are rule sticklers lol.

Then there's the third part, where you've traveled so much on premium classes on several routes and they simply know you and treated differently. At one point, the UA ground staff in SIN and HKG would just know Mr GHT Sr and same w the HKG/PVG/PEK SQ ground staff.

I don't necessarily disagree with your assessment, but I was simply equating to level of service with a PPS vs VIP.

As for VIPs, I learned recently from a well-respected forum member on how one becomes VIP.
And I (and others here) have known this for awhile, but there is a very specific list of internally published benefits available for employees to see. So it's not really a mystery like "anything they wish for goes" per se. They are subject to their status rules, but bending them is arguably easier than it would be for a "run-of-the-mill" S100K. Also everything you list for SQ PPS on-board benefits look similar to what VIPs get, AFAIK, but that level of in-flight service is not published like the status rules. However, having been seated next to VIPs quite often in the last several years, the SD clearly knows who they are (also on the PIL) and treats you better than the SMs in J (everything from the greeting to PDB to choice of meal... and this is done quite discreetly, from my own personal data point experiences as a eye/ear witness).

And I still stand by that PPS and VIP are more similar than a comparison between, say, PPS and S100K.

But hey, getting escorted onto your flight by the (former) President, Passenger Airlines (paraphrased title) would beat PPS in my books any day. :D :p

So if a station manager comes on board to greet you, you're above SE?

Everything mentioned is given to me in J on AC. Most based on my ticket. I think the only thing status gets you from that list on AC is meal priority.

And I just can't imagine there are too many people AC cares about who are sitting in mainline Y on a regular basis.
If you're important enough to matter, you're in J. Because you paid for it, or the airline upgraded you.

Out of everyone here, I would expect you to know the difference between a one-way implication vs. a two-way equivalence... I was referring to the latter, not the former. :p

But let me guess though, I'm sure you've also been escorted onto a flight by Ben Smith, and I don't mean that sarcastically...

I was actually replying to ght, not you :p

Oh, right. Ok. :p

(you should use the quote function more often... or as much as possible, when possible) :)