Flounge

Hi everyone. I've been lurking around for a while. But finally decided to become a member of flyertalk. I really enjoy the forum with so many experienced participants. I've been flying a couple of paid first trips in the last 12 months. I've got 1430 TP at the moment. My membership year ends on 8 Dec. Is it worth the cost of booking a return CE trip from OSL to LHR in order to acquire the points needed for gold?

ABax

I think that that's very difficult for us to say - the question is whether you would value the various benefits of status (lounge access, the Gold line, GPR, etc.) more than the cost of achieving that 1500TP threshold.

Oh, and welcome to FlyerTalk!

headingwest

Also the 50% extra Avios are not to be sniffed at.

At the end of the day it all boils down to your travel plans for the next year or so.

TravellerFrequently

Welcome to FT, Flounge!

Although not always easy to find, there are number of threads on this topic.

Have a look at the sticky within the Dashboard:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...os-2016-a.html

You will probably have looked at ba.com to see the benefits?

I have enjoyed Gold for many years as I like the additional benefits and the GF access.

In the end, the additional cost to achieve higher status must be balanced against the frequency that you will enjoy the benefits.

If I was a close as you are to achieving Gold status, I would be booking the trip now, even if you might not be able to renew!

ahmetdouas

If you fly a lot, like over 10 trips a year, then yes its worth it. If i were you Id make a weekend out of it in London = )

Cymro

Assuming that you fly 70k a year on BA as a reasonable baseline, you'll be getting an extra 35k avios per year - plus whatever you'd earn on the CE ticket. You should be able to make the ticket pay for itself with those Avios.

Plus you get more availability in economy, better lounge access, mildly better treatment on board (can be quite variable), better access to seat selection, the Gold line, arguably better chances of an op-up... Of course none of those benefits apply if you're *only* doing paid First, but even so, that's still six or seven segments per year and at an average of 4k miles per segment, you'd be getting at least half the price of the CE return back in avios. If you're ever further down the back, or even in Club Europe occasionally, those benefits do count.

To me it seems clear that it's worth going for it, unless your travel will tail off dramatically over the next year (to the extent that you wouldn't even renew silver, or would only do so thanks to one QR trip and very little else).

rossmacd

If you are that close, then I would say that it would be worth it, especially when travelling on other airlines.

AA: Flagship lounge access and other interesting lounges in North America (LAX, specifically)
CX: Stunning first class lounges at HKG, additional onboard recognition without fail (for those interested in this kind of thing)
QR: Seems to help with onboard service being better than it already is (crew dependent, however) - no better lounge provision as class of travel determines this mainly
QF: Again, better lounges domestically and sporadic recognition delivered through additional drink top-ups etc

The additional Avios bonus is of course nice, but if you have a large stash already then less lucrative.

All in all, I'd say worth it

mrvincent

My wife is 150 away, so we booked EDI-LHR-HEL-TLL this coming weekend. She won't get a huge amount out of it but for the cost of the flights (less £100 AMEX credit) and a weekend away together, we thought we might as well.

ppp909

It all depends on how much you are going to be flying throughout the next year, and which lounges will be available to you. I spent 18 months as gold, and got a lot of benefit: not just using GF at T5 but access to One World First lounges worldwide. I flew a lot during my year as gold.
Now I've dropped to silver, I'm not bothered. I fly a lot less and other than LHR, the vast majority of the places I have been to have only had a single lounge.
Of course, there are other gold benefits, but other than collecting more Avios, I barely used them.
In summary, if you're going to fly a lot next year, and you won't be flying first, it's probably worth doing. I'd never do a back to back personally and would always make a holiday out of it, but each to their own.

NWIFlyer

That close? Absolutely I would, for all the reasons outlined plus the soft landing to Silver if you happen to have a lot of Avios to burn and want to take a year out from earning.

Whilst you'll find complaints about the F lounge at LHR in here, the reality is that it's a step up from the vast majority of other lounges across both *A and Skyteam, and indeed from the Galleries Clubs (although less relevant if you only travel F). Equally, the knowledge and 'can-do' attitude of the team picking up the Gold Line calls can be absolutely invaluable when you need help - which I know personally having needed them to resolve a ticketing issue preventing check-in for a BA-ticketed CX flight when I was in Australia earlier this year. You can't put a price on the peace of mind that can give you.

lavajava

Welcome FLounge! I was 60 TPs short of gold last year, but had more planning time and grabbed a bargain CE fare to AMS before my year end.

The above posters have outlined the pros and cons very well, as usual

I value reward flight saver and the additional avios on revenue fares most.

Fitch

The FLounge is a definite benefit - can be a nice way to spend an hour or two before starting a cheap as chips RFS weekend

The Gold Line is a major plus - on the whole you get excellent service.

MCE and a free drink on AA are worth having too.

Given you're close, I would say go for it !

CKBA

I would say yes - being that close it's worth giving it a try.

i) the Flounge experience is better (and use of AA commodore (?) lounges);
ii) more reward seat availability;
iii) AA MCE (although also available as Silver) - but the flight attendants tend to swoon more that you're exec. plat.
iv) AA free food/beverage (not available as Silver);
v) more Avios (which should offset the cost of 70TPs to get to Gold in your case).

Afterall, if you dont' like it, then nothing really lost - particular since you would have Gold next year, and drop to Silver the year after.

T8191

As we only do long-haul in J, a lot of benefits come with the ticket.

But BAEC Gold does bring added advantages to us, even when much of our travel is now with AA:
Gold line ... valuable if doing complex trips, even when they're on AA
Avios earning increased to 100% bonus ... valuable for 'affording' the BAEC 2-4-1 voucher.
Better BA lounges, and AA lounges, where they exist.
First check-in/bag-drop ... useful when encountering holiday queues at LGW
On-board recognition/service ... more likely on AA as OWE/Exec. Platinum.
Baggage allowance ... for serious shopping trips

But, it all depends on future travel plans. I would suggest the OP tries it, and if not felt valuable just slides gracefully back to Silver ... as CKBA said

JackFlash

Lounge-wise, I find it hard to distinguish the difference between GC and GF at T5. Perhaps at one point there was a clear distinction but aside from access to average champagne you can pour yourself, there is none.

As others have noted, real benefits come when flying partners - particularly CX.

JF