SYD/YYZ

Hello,

I wonder if any Diamond Plus members can help? I will soon cross the threshold for Diamond Plus on my next flight with OZ.
I wondered how long the OZ system takes to recognise the tier change?
Also re the tier benefits listed (I am not a lifetime but new Diamond Plus member) do I qualify for the mentioned below benefits?

Provision of two discount coupons (mileage redemption coupons)

1. Following the date of being upgraded to 'Diamond Plus' member (lifetime membership), two discount coupons will be provided if accumulating 100,000 miles when using Asiana Airlines and Star Alliance or if boarding Asiana flights 100 times for every 24 months.
2. You have the option of redeeming 10,000 miles to issue award tickets for Asiana flights or getting a 50% discount for seat upgrades. It is not possible to transfer miles to others.
3. Award tickets can be issued from your own account by redeeming the miles you have earned or using the aggregated miles of family members.
4. Discount coupons are valid for one year from the date of membership upgrade.

Does above mean a 10,000 mile discount for award tickets or 50% off upgrade redemption?

Any perks of D+ members have noticed? I am SYD based and most flying to SYD-USA or Europe.

Cheers

SYD/YYZ

ttuna3

You get 2 coupons every time you start a new qualifying period until you get to Lifetime D+. Then you get them every 100,000 miles with OZ and *A before your D+ class bonus but with whatever percentage multiplier is put on them by the airline you fly with (some have 50% of miles flown, some have 200%). You might end up with four if you get D+ before your first evaluation period 2 years after joining since you get an early promotion from Diamond a couple of days after the miles are credited.

Each coupon is either 10,000 miles off an award ticket or 50% off a mileage upgrade and they're only good for a year after they've been issued.

Published benefits are on the website.

Unpublished are you'll likely have an empty seat next to you if the plane isn't full, the FAs will almost always make sure that you'll get a choice of meals wherever you're sitting in the cabin, you'll likely also get multiple (extra) passes with snacks if you're awake. It used to be that you'd get a visit from the Purser sometime after the first meal service and usually a visit from your cabin's purser before the plane left, now it's been about 50/50 on even getting one from FA in your section. You will be very high up on the upgrade list if your cabin is full (sometimes even if it isn't (very rare). Also if something doesn't go quite right on board (and they don't deal with it then) they'll almost always get a manager if you mention it in the the club (my experience was cold food and a Purser who didn't show up when I asked to speak to them). I haven't made Lifetime yet but that's been my experience as an ordinary D+.

sol95

OP, you do not qualify for the 50% discount on upgrade vouchers, as that is only a benefit for lifetime D+. It used to be available for regular D+, but I believe OZ ceased issuing those about a year ago.

These vouchers can be applied to 50% discount on upgrades, or as an extra 10,000 miles for award redemptions.

Usually, the new status takes effect when your miles post to your account, which is the next day after OZ flights.

JoeDaejeon

I've only experienced that one time. I generally sit up near the front, and for flights where there are two meals, the first meal starts at the front of the cabin and works it's way back, and the second meal operates in reverse. So on the second meal I was one of the very last to be served and they ran out and I didn't want the alternate choice. The FA offered me one of the meals reserved for the flight attendants. I didn't realize the flight attendants got their own meals separate from the menu the rest of the passengers got. Anyways, I declined as I didn't want to be taking away a meal from a FA, and I can easily go without a meal and function normally. Actually that situation happened to me not once, but twice. A few other times when they've run out they managed to 'locate' the meal of my choice.

I got that a few times. But these days I tend to sleep most of the flight, and even if I'm awake I'll pass on the snacks completely. But snacks seemed to have changed a lot since the days when I did take them and was offered seconds. These days it seems it's either pizza or a sandwich. In the old days there was a choice of fresh fruit, chocolate bars, and several other options.

It's very rare that I don't get a special greeting from one of the FA's, and I'd say more than 80% of the time I get one from the purser. I've only gotten a second greeting from the purser rarely, and normally it would be at the end of the flight to ask if I had a good flight. But then I sleep after the first meal, so the purser wouldn't have a chance to greet me at that time.

Really? That's the first I've heard that upgrades can happen, albeit rarely, if the cabin isn't full. I've never seen that happen once in all my flights. Any idea under what condition they happen? I've always assumed that if an IFE system is broken and there's no available seats to change to, they might possibly shift you to the next cabin up, but I've never seen it happen. Also I could see perhaps that happening if someone got sick. I once saw a sick passenger put up in business class, I guess to avoid creating a commotion in economy and being there were a lot of empty seats in business class. But I don't really consider those cases to be upgrades, rather just solutions to problems after take-off.

On the new A350 aircraft, I understand they have economy plus seating. I'm wondering if any unused of those seats will be given to Diamond Plus members. I've not yet flown on OZ's A350 to know if they do or not.

ttuna3

A little extra info

My OZ flying patterns are normally LAX-ICN-NRT,OKA,MNL usually on the late flight which accounts for a lot of my experiences. If I can get it I'll try to sit on a window as far forward off the bulkhead as I can on the side away from the sun (R westbound, L eastbound) and upstairs on an A380.

That being said I've probably been lucky ever since I got D+ on meals but I'm very rarely picky on the second one anyway or I'll let the FAs know beforehand if I really don't like(or allergic to the seafood ) one of them and maybe that does it.

Missing FA greeting has only been in the last six months or so but I've also had a lot of fellow PAX that needed special help around me which might be the reason the FAs haven't got to me. Also the LAX security people at the gate have had issues a couple times with getting in the early boarding line after Business on the A380 so I need to talk to an OZ GA to straighten them out, never an issue at ICN.

I've never got an upgrade with Economy not full on the Transpac leg, usually it happens on the NRT legs about half the time and a couple of times to MNL always at the gate right before boarding(might be a cancellation so they've got an extra meal). Business is usually full to OKA so upgrades aren't going to happen.
Also I got one to Premium Economy(even had a row to myself) when they were on the MNL run, probably 10-12 empty seats behind me. There were no Premium Economy seats taken on that one when I checked in and maybe four other people up there .Hopefully it's an unpublished D+ benefit. Only time I've been on the A350 so I don't have a good reference.

sol95

JoeDaejeon

I've found the gate security people at LAX to be some of the best at any of OZ outpost stations. They do mess up on occasion, but usually they get it right. At some other stations the boarding process is completely messed up. I don't blame OZ too much in these cases being they probably have little control of the situation when dealing with non-OZ employees. But if it's something that annoys me, I do mention it to OZ so that they're at least aware of it and can do something about it if possible.

I've been on a few flights within Asia where they were using a B747 or A380 and they moved all the business class passengers up to F, and put some of the elite economy passengers into the C cabin but with economy meals. These days I think they're trying to see if they can sell those F seats at an additional charge to the C passengers, so don't do this anymore. But when they did, it was a seat upgrade only, so not I consider a real op-up. I've flown extensively within Asia, including many trips to NRT and MNL, but never had a regular op-up without economy being full. Though in all honesty I haven't checked 100% of the time to verify that indeed economy was full after receiving an op-up and boarding the aircraft. I do though almost always ask at check-in how full the flight is in economy, thus I know ahead of time if there's any chance of getting an op-up or not. If they say at check-in the flight is completely full in economy, and I get the op-up, I just assume it's because economy is completely full.

I can't find any rhyme or reason as to why sometimes the op-up happens when I check in, but usually doesn't happen till the gate. It doesn't matter if it's transpac, within Asia, or elsewhere. Perhaps it's due to how full the flight is. If it's so full that they absolutely sure it's oversold, then I guess it makes more sense to op-up passengers early at check-in. But if they're not sure, then it makes more sense to wait. I generally check in quite early.

That's good to hear, even if it's only one data point. I'll likely be on the A350 a couple times this later year and see how it goes.

SYD/YYZ

Thanks for the responses, I will hit D+ in June and my qualifying period ends late January 2019, so maybe early recognition?

Confused that I will not earn 50% off upgrade points as it seems a good benefit and is not clear this is a D+ Life only benefit. Not sure why they do not separate online these 2 obviously different membership levels to avoid confusion.

I also found online: Starting July 1, 2018, elite members may use the highest class lounges at Incheon International Airport only when traveling on regular flights operated by Asiana Airlines.

So is that D+ can use OZ First Class lounges? For a lot of extra flying over Diamond there does not seem a huge amount of benefits offered or am I missing something? An extra 5% bonus miles on OZ , no high season surcharge and First Lounge in ICN as above. Also of course the option of being higher on any upgrade list.

Thanks again

SYD/YYZ

ttuna3

OP

I was using the old D+ benefits list with the coupons since it looks like OZ is only giving them out at Lifetime and 100,000 every miles after that. If you do get them you need to use them with in a year after they're issued.

Lounge at ICN for Lifetime D+ is the First Class Lounge (for now) and one class higher than you're flying in (minimum of course is the Business Lounge). The First Class Lounge when you're not flying on OZ is inline with most of the rest of the airline world, The examples of LH First Class Terminal in FRA, BA with the Concorde Room, and what's coming with DL at the end of the year for SkyClub members if you're not on their metal as well. You'll still get the Business Lounge on any *A flight at ICN no matter what class you're in since D+ is *G.

jon503

It really seems that YMMV on this one. Every single op-up I've gotten happened at check-in. Those were all oversold economy flights btw and it's only happened a handful of times in over 6 years (for reference, I'm regular D). That said, I didn't fly that much intra-Asia in the past, but have done more so lately and the frequency of op-ups has increased a lot. This matches what I've read on this forum in the past.

sol95

There really is no noticeable pattern for op-ups. The only reliable likely factor is oversold Y, but I've been upgraded without oversold Y cabins before.

Short-haul/inter-asia flights: I get an op-up around 70-80% of the time. The Y cabin on a lot of these flights have not been full.

Long-haul: very rarely, although period of travel significantly boosts your chances. For example, this past Christmas/new year's period, I was flying Y on SYD-ICN. That time of the year is notoriously busy, and on both legs, I was upgraded to C. At check-in on the SYD-ICN leg, and at the gate on the ICN-SYD leg. Prior to that, I haven't scored that many long-haul op-ups, although I did have a memorable SYD-ICN-JFK trip where I was op-upped 3 out of 4 legs ( Op-ups still happen... ).

Gasolin

Aha you're that guy! I remember that thread.
I just pay at least business now... too tired to wait for an op-up in a flight that is too difficult without it (JFK / ICN R/T).

truncated

On the greeting front: just made Diamond Plus this year and was the only D+ in Y on JFK-ICN last week (snuck a look at the manifest that the FAs left lying around the rear galley) and no greeting or special treatment (or snacks) the entire flight (was awake for most of it as well) — so basically no difference from the many other times I've flown the route as an ordinary diamond. Of course this is only one data point — have 3 more sectors (two intra-Asia and ICN-JFK) coming up so let's see if anything changes. Flights all seem to be pretty empty so not expecting any op-ups either (which is fine; interestingly I've been upgraded more times as an OZ*G flying NH than OZ).

Gasolin

That's weird, even as a Diamond, my wife and myself always get a greeting, even in Y (that was a couple of year ago now but still). Nothing more though.
It's a bit worrying that the flight is empty... hope that OZ doesn't go out of business, I very much like them.

jon503

That used to be standard policy for Diamond until two years ago or so. I used to not pay too much notice to the greetings, but now that they're gone, I kind of miss them xD It's not a big deal though and soft service in general has remained consistently good. I just flew AC last week and even though service was completely ok on 3/4 segments, I was reminded of all the subtle differences that make me like OZ.