Saint4805

Am I missing something with this soft landing thing. If we have two platinum members and member A hits 180 XP in 2018 and therefore drops to Gold from 1 April 2019 and member B only gets 10 XP during 2018 and soft lands to gold, both are pretty much starting from scratch in 2020? This doesn't seem fair.

Goldorak

thibderoc

Why would The person flying only 10 xp have no privilege? He/She wouldn't be gold ?

brunos

If you are Gold and only fly to get 10XP, it means that yoy have barely used any of the benefits of God. Costs very little to AFKL.

thibderoc

Saint4805

If I hit 300XP this calendar year but next year fail to get 180 XP, would I get a soft landing to gold the following year or does that only apply to those platinum members who don't hit 180XP this year?

I'm going to be close to 300XP and I don't know whether it's in my interest to stay just below 300 which will mean around 120 XP carried into next year giving me a head start. Or if the soft landing can be delayed a year then I'd probably be best going for 300XP this year.

Fabo.sk

Everyone gets soft landing. Simply told, you can't get down more than 1 level at the time (supposing you fly at lest one XP earning flight anyway.

So you would have Platinum (2018) - Platinum (2019) - Gold (2020).

Otherwise if you just don't hit 300 you'll have Platinum (2018) - Gold (2019) - ??? (2020)

irishguy28

What would be unfair would be to differentiate in some way between your two example fliers. One managed to do 60% of the flying necessary to maintain Platinum, while the other did 3% of the flying necessary to maintain Platinum. Therefore, it's fair that both lose Platinum.

If you ask me, it's generous that they give a soft landing to anyone* who fails to make the grade.

You seem to be advocating that some people who "miss" the target are less deserving of this generosity than others - that would be unfair. Both of your example customers had the same target - both missed. You apparently want to differentiate between them, though there is no distinction between them - they both missed their target.

You say it's unfair that both "start from scratch" - presumably you are talking about XPs here, as they are NOT starting from scratch, but starting from Gold- but that is how any FFP programme must work. It is unfair if they, as you seem to wish to advocate, should be allowed to retain all XPs and therefore effectively get a 2-year qualification period. However, what you probably fail to realise is that your example flyer, who got to 180XP and therefore "earned" Gold anyway, would now, in the new scheme, be able to keep any XPs that had been earned above 180XP, which would not have happened in the old programme. So, if instead of 180XP, your friend had earned 200XP, they would get Gold and, instead of "starting from scratch", would start their Gold requalification journey with 20XP already in the account.

(On re-reading that, you talk about "starting from scratch in 2020", but you fail to contemplate what either flyer does in 2019. The assumption here seems to be that neither does any flying at all. In that context, then yes, both would drop instantly to Explorer and lose any remaining XPs. But if you don't fly at all in a single membership year, why would you need/want to have "frequent flyer" status???)

[*at least those who have earned new XPs in the current membership year ]

Saint4805

Calm down mate. I wasn't looking to start an argument. In fact I had forgotten about the OP as it was posted some time ago. My most recent post was about whether the soft landing would also apply next year. I simply used the same thread so avoid starting a new one.

irishguy28

I'm not arguing - just pointing out why it's not unfair.

According to the wiki in the main new FB thread, soft landings no longer require any new flights during the membership year (though no-one has verified that that is how the programme now operates, as no-one will yet have been in the position of getting a soft-landing under the new rules. That cannot happen until January 1, 2019)

And you only started this thread about 3 weeks ago!

atflyer

OP points at an interesting issue though. I am Gold now but could aim at becoming Platinum by end of year, or keep things just below 300 XP and carry over say 110 XP to 2019. This gives me now two scenarios
a) Platinum in 2019, soft landing to Gold in 2020 since I am unlikely to qualify for Platinum again, but since all XPs are set to 0 end 2019 in 2020 I have to make 180 XP to retain Gold status in 2021
b) Gold in 2019 with 110 carry over XPs, say you gain another 180 XPs in 2019; then Gold in 2020 with 110 XPs to start with and easy requalification for 2021.

With the difference between Platinum and Gold limited, mainly free economy comfort seats, and a travel pattern that usually will not qualify me for Platinum, scenario b) is attractive for me. In essence by not moving to Platinum you can keep surplus XPs 'in the bank'. The carry over of XPs will help me when I have a year where travel is less and I cannot make all 180 XPs required.

Saint4805

Well put. Having around 100 XPs in the bank is almost like a benefit in itself for effectively 'foregoing' the P>G soft landing, especially for those who comfortably achieve gold and struggle to reach platinum. Each individual can decide for themselves based on preferences and travel schedule but in my case the difference between being gold and platinum isn't significant. I primarily travel short haul within Europe and so the only differences are free economy comfort seats (which aren't always available) and the platinum service desk which I call say 2-3 times per year. As things stand I am leaning towards targeting gold with the 100 XP surplus in the knowledge that I should be able to get at least 80 XP next year to maintain gold for another year.

irishguy28

True; but for the sake of the few extra XPs, you get another year of Platinum, and another year of Gold thereafter (soft landing guaranteed), and don't really need to take any more flights to maintain Gold for over 24 months.

By just "missing" Platinum, you still need to take those flights in the next year, and then do at least 180XP (less any rollover) of flying in the year thereafter - so you will need to keep flying (comparitively more) to end up in the same situation.

In short - if you're close to Platinum, you should consider if it's not worthwhile making a little extra effort in the current year, as it can extend your status for a longer period and therefore carry you through a fallow period. But if you're not flying in that period - it probably doesn't make much sense to have status; that said, if your long-term gold is to keep at least Gold, you're best not allowing yourself drop down to Silver or Ivory; getting back to Gold is harder now than before. As such, a few extra XPs to make Platinum could work out cheaper, overall.

atflyer

I think it all depends on preferences and travel patterns of an individual. Can you get Platinum in 2018 and do you expect so little flights in 2019 that including rollover you will miss Gold? Then absolutely go for Platinum now and enjoy Platinum in 2019 and soft-landed Gold in 2020. Do you fly most years close to 180 XPs but do shave this occasional year where you fly less, say 100 XPs, which will set you back to Silver? Then having 100 XPs in the bank can be a good strategy. Add to this how you value the additional perks of being Platinum (for a year) like EC and Platinum line, and you have all ingredients for a decision.

irishguy28

You've basically just re-stated what I said - if you're close to Platinum, you should consider if it's worthwhile (i.e. considering your own needs and expected travel patterns) running for Platinum, or not.

Remember that when you go down from Platinum to Gold, you lose 180XP (if you have that amount, or more), so you should carefully consider if all that flying in that year was worthwhile, given that having Platinum meant you'd get Gold anyway, even if you had 0XP from your year of flying.

(The platinum who ends their Platinum year with anywhere between 0 and 180XP has effectively "wasted" those XPs, as they will get a year of Gold anyway, for free, even if they had just 0XP at the end of their Platinum year).