mikem004

FB Silver with 151 XP. If I reach 180 XP before 31 May 2024, I will become FB Gold.
Question: I know that the 180 XP will be "wiped out" if I reach FB Gold. But what if I have more XPs than 180 XP?
For example, if I reach 250 XP, will the extra 70 XP carry over to the next year?

irishguy28

When you reach or exceed the Gold threshold, then to obtain Gold 180XP are deducted from your account.

It is not that your balance is "wiped out"; to process the upgrade, 180XP exactly are deducted from your balance.

Anything over 180XP in your balance at that time remains in your account

ivosak

I would like to ask different question, but on same toppic.

Once mikem004 reach Gold (let say April 1st) what condition he need to fulfill to remain Gold after April 1 2025?

a) "Only" 180 XP
b) 280 XP (100XP for Silver, 180XP for Gold)
c) something else

Thanks!

irishguy28

To *retain* Gold, you just have to have a minimum of 180XP at the end of your membership year.

As such, in each of your scenarios a), b) and c) above, mikem004 will retain Gold [in c) so long as his end-of-year balance of XP is greater than 180XP and less than 300XP]

However, in b) you've shown you don't understand the system. Starting out in your first year as a newly-minted Gold, you do not have to first requalify for Silver (100XP) and then also requalify for Gold (an additional 180XP) to keep Gold for another year.

If mikem004 ended his first full year of Gold with a balance of 280XP (which is only 20 short of getting Platinum, so it would be worth considering if a status run should be undertaken to secure platinum), then at the end of that first full year of Gold they deduct exactly 180XP - the price of another year of gold - and he starts his 2nd year as Gold with a starting balance of 100XP.

ivosak

Thank you, irishguy28.

Your explanation means, that most difficult is to reach higher level in one year, but to retain it is not that hard.
100+180+300XP to become Platinum in compare 300XP to retain Platinum (let's imagine I want to become Platinum in 1 year).

Cool, that is better than was expected, cause I realy was wondering, that I start each year with "zero".

How does it work with degradation from higher down? ie. I will not fly anywhere for 1 year, will I start with explorer again? Or fall one level down (Platinum -> Gold)?

Thanks a lot!

mlin32

Yes, with Flying Blue, it's easier to retain status than to climb up.

If you do not fly enough to retain status, you have a "soft" landing. So the XP needed for the lower level are deducted, and you drop one level.

So if you are Plat with the 300 XP requirement and you obtain 0 XP => Gold level.

NickB

It is only "difficult" if you want to go from zero to hero in just 12 months. If you do it step by step, if it not more difficult since you have a full 12 months to do it each step; it just takes longer.

hhdl

Also worth noting that if you use the soft landing, you still roll over the XP above the level you soft landed to (e.g. if you're Gold and get 120 XP, you are Silver with 20 XP; if you're Platinum and get 120 XP, you are Gold with zero XP). One way to think about it is that if your present elite (non-Explorer) tier has a requirement X and the tier (poss. Explorer) below has a requirement Y, the first Y XP you earn are wasted every year unless you earn a subsequent (X-Y) XP.

If you earn a consistent 25XP per month (or fly such that there's not a rolling 12 month period where you earned less than 300XP), you are assured of eventually qualifying for Platinum and of continuously retaining Platinum:

Month 0 (starting a new status year with zero XP): Explorer earning 25XP
Month 1: Explorer earning 25 XP (50 XP ending balance)
Month 2: Explorer earning 25 XP (75 XP ending balance)
Month 3: Explorer earning 25 XP; qualify for Silver (-100 XP) status year now runs through Month 15 (0 XP ending balance)
Month 4: Silver earning 25 XP (25 XP ending balance)
Month 5: Silver earning 25 XP (50 XP ending balance)
...
Month 10: Silver earning 25 XP (175 XP ending balance)
Month 11: Silver earning 25 XP; qualify for Gold (-180 XP) status year now runs through Month 23 (20 XP ending balance)
Month 12: Gold earning 25 XP (45 XP ending balance)
...
Month 22: Gold earning 25 XP (295 XP ending balance)
Month 23: Gold earning 25 XP; qualify for Platinum (-300 XP) status year now runs through Month 35 (20 XP ending balance)

irishguy28

Except in that scenario, you really haven't "soft landed" at all. You had more than enough XPs to "pay" for the status being extended to you. You've earned it through flying - and lost the full amount of XPs that that status costs.

A "soft landing" really only occurs when you fly so little that you don't have enough XPs to pay even for the status one level below your previous status - which is the status that you actually are awarded when a "soft landing" occurs. So, the Platinum who ends their membership year with a balance of <180XP but still gets awarded Gold has been "soft-landed" (their XP balance was, at best, good enough only for Silver; but they got Gold); likewise, the Gold who ends their membership year with a balance of <100XP but still gets Silver has been "soft-landed" (their XP balance wasn't good enough to earn status, but they got Silver).

ivosak

Thank you all for great explanation!

So if I would be able to reach >3 280 XP in some "short time", let say 3 years (getting XP for SAF), I will be Platinum for life?

Fabo.sk

Unfortunately, you only have until... some time between November 2024 and October 2025? to do that? Depending on when you first qualify for Platinum.

Since there is an upcoming change in the rollover XP - Platinum members will only be able to roll over 300XP per year. If you do have in excess of 600XP at that point, any extra 300XP over the maximum, will advance your PfL counter by 1 year instantly.

hhdl

Not quite. Platinum requalifications between October/November '24 and September/October '25 will convert excess rollovers into years toward PfL, potentially destroying up to 299 XP in the process. From the October/November '25 requalifications onward, no more than 300 XP can be rolled over from one year to the next.

​​​
In short, starting from nothing, if you got 3280 XP in the next 19 months of which at least 580 XP came before September 30, 2024, you could make PfL. Missing that target will mean taking dramatically longer and/or requiring more than 3280 cumulative XP.

irishguy28

No.

Last November, FB announced a big new change.

Starting from November 2024, the maximum possible rollover that any Platinum can carry over to the next year is 300XP. As each group of members comes to the end of their membership year (FB membership years are not aligned to the calendar, so there will be various people coming to the end of their membership year each month) between Nov 2024 and October 2025, they will suddenly have a new rule enforced - only 300XP max can be carried over into any following year.

So while in the past it would have been possible, as of 2025 it will be possible to have a running balance of 3,280XP.

In any event, you would not have been awarded "Platinum for Life" (PfL) upon getting to 3,280XP. You can only get PfL at the end of a period of having Platinum for 10 consecutive years; it's a status that is awarded AFTER the fact. As you now know, the rules can change at any time. Even before this rule change, they never awarded this status "prematurely".

Will XP rollover become limited in 2025?
https://www.flyingblue.com/en/news/surplus-xp-capping

CJ99

Thanks for this explanation. Can you please clarify whether a Silver who earns some XP but fails to requalify will keep any XPs once he is downgraded to Explorer?

hhdl

Nope. Explorers always start an elite year with 0 XP.