dasrflyer

I just got off 8 segments with OZ. I flew MNL-ICN-LAX-ICN-MNL and MNL-ICN-FCO-MNL. I've been a diamond plus member for about 2 years now and Diamond for about 2 years before that. Honestly, i don't see the difference between the two tiers. I have never been upgraded nor have i ever been 'recognized' or greeted onboard. I don't get my pick at any meal choices and they dont even give elites a choice of the 'premium' (bulkhead seats). I'm thinking of junking Asiana club altogether. Is it just me or is Diamond Plus not worth it nowadays? Whats your experience been like

JoeDaejeon

As a Lifetime Diamond Plus member, I can say that for me it's most definitely worth it.

It's been a long time now when I was just regular Diamond Plus, but as I recall I was generally greeted on-board back then, not that I really care one way or the other. Some, even Lifetime Diamond Plus members have reported that the greetings have stopped or been cut-back on, but for me they're the same, meaning it happens on almost every flight.

These days they reserve areas upfront for their elite members, which I can always select from, but I don't think they did that when I was a regular Diamond Plus or even initially when I was a Lifetime Diamond Plus. So I don't know if there's a difference there. But bulkhead seats these days are charged a premium, and available to any passenger willing to pay the premium. AFAIK, there's no preference based on status. It may have been at one point that status would have gotten you bulkhead seats, though I don't know, because I personally dislike those seats. I don't know if there's any difference between Lifetime Diamond Plus and regular Diamond Plus in being able to select from those seats upfront or not. For me, it's rare that anyone sits next to me, because I ask that the seat next to me is requested to be blocked, and so it's generally only taken if the cabin is completely full. That alone makes keeping my status worth it, being for me it's so much more comfortable, especially on long-hauls, to have more room next to me to stretch out.

I don't know what you're referring with regard to choosing meals. These days there's only two choices in economy, and everyone gets to pick, provided they don't run out of a particular choice. For the first meal, they start from the front of the cabin, and work towards the back, so if you're near the front you'll always have your choice of either. If a second meal is served, they reverse the order and start from the rear, so then those up front will have more of a chance of not being able to choose if they run out. Choosing a seat in the middle of the cabin I suppose would alleviate the chances of it happening in either meal. It's always been like that, and has nothing to do with status. Once I declined the first meal, and the FA asked me which my second meal choice would be, so that she could reserve it in case they ran out. That may have been due to my status, though I'm not sure. Another time when they ran out of my choice, the FA offered me one of the FA meals, being the remaining choice wasn't to my liking, but I declined, being I didn't want to take away an FA's meal. Again, it might have been due to my status I was offered that, though I don't know.

You can also pre-order special meals, ie. vegetarian, diabetic, etc., and I don't think anything has changed with that. But again that has nothing to do with status.

Op-ups are very hit-and-miss. I've gone for very long periods without any upgrades, then suddenly get a series of upgrades in a row. When I was initially Diamond Plus, I got several upgrades. From what I understand, being Diamond Plus definitely helps as opposed to being just Diamond, but if you're on a flight that's not full in economy, there's no chance at all, regardless of your status, that you'll get an op-up. OZ only does op-ups from economy when it's full and oversold, and there's space in business class. Then when they do op-ups, it's my understanding that status is the first criteria, and booking class is the second. So if you booked in V/W, all the other Diamond Plus members who booked in a higher booking class will have priority over you. If you booked in Y, then you'll have the highest priority. Traveling on peak travel days, ie. the very start or end of the big holidays, or during the peak summer vacation times, greatly increases your chances of the cabin being full and oversold, thus increasing your chances of an op-up.

nme7

In regards to op-ups, booking class is the first consideration. Then in each booking class, they will look for passengers with the highest status.

sixpaq

IMO the only real perk of sticking with Asiana Club is the lifetime *A gold at 500K. If you're not based in Korea or flying in/out of ICN often then perhaps even less reason to stick with OZ.

vprp

Is this correct?

For example, a non-member/Silver on Y fare will get an op-up over a Diamond member on a discount fare? I would be surprised by this.

Does a Gold member on a Y fare get op-up priority over a Platinum member on a discount fare?

HidyHo

It's one the easiest way to get *A gold status and to keep it. I actually never fly Asiana but have used it to get my star alliance gold status and to maintain it.

nme7

I think it is not very common where a non-member will get an op-up, no matter what fare class he/she bought.

Yes, a gold member paying Y will have priority over any member paying a discount fare.

sol95

How are you so definitively certain about this order of priority in working out op-ups? While it generally makes sense, unless you have some objective proof, this is just your opinion, and not something that's a set procedure.

Personally, I have experience where this simply could not have been the case. Most recently was on a return SYD-ICN trip in the Christmas-New Years window late last year and early this year. I was on the cheapest economy ticket which accrued 50% that I got very early on in the year, and was no longer available by mid year. So in essence, apart from award tickets, I was probably on one of the cheapest fares. However, as a OZ Platinum, I was upgraded on both legs to J. I was travelling on the return flight with a cousin who is OZ Gold, and had a more expensive, 100% mileage accrual fare than me who was not upgraded. So clearly, there were others who had a booking class greater than mine, but were not upgraded. In this instance, it's clear my status was the first consideration in the op-up.

nme7

There are always exceptions to any rule. The duty manager can give an op-up as they please, regardless of fare class and/or member status. But more often, the general rule is higher paying fare (Y,B,M) customers are given first consideration regardless of member status. This information comes from OZ management.

I tested this over multiple years during peak summer travel between Korea and the US when economy cabin is usually oversold. Tickets with fare code Q,K,S,V,W,T..... don't count on getting an op-up. But when I've purchased full fare Y or B fare codes.... boom automatic upgrade at check in or at the gate. Is it possible a Plat with lower fare codes such as V, W, or T can get upgraded? Sure. But will it happen every time? In your case, it may be possible they already upgraded Y,B,M full fare customers, if there were any that paid for such fare.

JoeDaejeon

Not sure why you mentioned specifically Y,B,M. Originally it sounded from your post that it went strictly down the line of booking classes, from highest to lowest. But if it's just Y,B,M that are given a priority, and then all the lower booking classes are lumped together, that would make more sense. While I haven't had any hard proof of exceptions to the original claim, as sol95 did, I know I've received numerous op-ups on tickets in S, which is the lowest booking class that earns 100% miles. I'm lifetime D+, not Platinum. Just based on that, I have doubts as to it strictly going down the order of booking classes.

Y is very expensive on most routes, and I doubt many people buy those tickets. Discounted J is often cheaper, but of course if you need the full flexibility that Y offers, or it's all that's available, then you might not have a choice. But if I just needed to fly, without regard to restrictions, I'd always choose discounted J over Y. B and M are cheaper, but still quite pricey, and in my case, again I'd most likely choose discounted J, if available over those booking classes. So if just Y,B,M are given priority, then people like myself would have a much greater chance of getting an op-up on tickets of a much lower booking class. But if not, and with the huge number of passengers who would have at least Gold status, I don't see how I'd be getting op-ups as often as I do.

Certainly I appreciate you passing along the information, as you've heard it, and I'm not trying at all to say you're wrong. There's nothing worse than someone sharing potentially valuable information and then to be belittled in saying they're wrong. But I question if that information you received was precise and unambiguous with respect to going down the line of all booking classes, or if it was general and could have been interpreted as it was in some tiers, rather than each separate booking class, or limited to only the highest booking classes? Or, it could be as you suggest, that the duty manager is just frequently overriding the system in favor of me and others.

vprp

I had an op up for HNL-ICN last year at check in. The check in employee directed me to the manager and I was able to see a document that had a list of passengers with status with highest status at the top of the list. I was flying on a discounted economy fare back then. From this, it was my impression that status was the most important factor in determining op ups.

nuff

Club rules changed from October 1st 2018.

Asiana Airlines (English)

Asiana Airlines (Korean)

You can keep Diamond Plus membership with 60 segments or 75k miles or 50k miles + 25k miles from credit card

JoeDaejeon

Interesting.

On their website, they have the English pages for the benefits for each level also updated, though not a comparable announcement as you linked.

To my liking, it's already too easy to get status. With the new easier requirements, it'll mean more D+ members, resulting in more people using the F lounge, and more using the F check-in. Well, at least it's now restricted to those D+ members flying in C to receive that benefit, and with new lifetime D+ members reaching it after the end of this year, they won't get F lounge access when flying Y, perhaps it'll even out somewhat. Just hope I don't see the F lounge due to too many members qualifying and not enough space.

Jaenks

Achieving is same amount of miles, 40k but maintaining is now 30k for Diamond. Diamond Plus 100k achieving and 75k maintaining. Easiest(miles/period)Star Alliance Gold now?

jon503

I just created a new thread on this because I didn't see that the new rules were already being discussed here. You are both right and wrong about the 40k for achieving. It's still 40k, but now only 30k of those need to be flown and the rest can come from OZ affiliated credit card spending. Getting 10k miles from credit card spending is really easy to achieve, especially over two years. This means that now say, someone flying ICN-JFK once a year and flying somewhere to SE Asia or even someone just flying between Europe and Australia once a year could get Diamond status. I mention JFK because the number of Koreans doing that is quite large. I'm afraid that the value of OZ Diamond has just gone down quite a bit. I predict very full lounges and as per the discussion above about upgrades, I think it will take Diamond+ soon to have any shot at an op up.