Cathay DM Boy!
 

Called MPC after my latest round trip. Made the mistake of calling after the trip because all I needed was only a few thousand miles, but now they have reset the whole trip I've accumulated to zero (18,000 club miles, CRAP!)

But anyway, I joined DM! As promised I will update the group when I received the "package" - but the agent said I am DM effectively tonight when the system updates, and the card will be sent later.

Woo hoo! :cool:

Congrats! You should receive your package in about 48 hours. This is probably the only time MPC ever sends you anything via courier.

For me, I am dropping to Gold in a few days:(. I wrote MPC for an qualification extension more than two days ago. I have not even received a standard reply yet. In case it was lost, I am going to write them again within the next day.

Enjoy your DM.

Don't write, cxfan1960! Call them and get an answer right away. They did extend my MPC requalification date by a few months, once upon a time ago....and its better to get it done on phone.


Congrats Cathay Boy !!

Congrats!

Congratulations!

Congrats and enjoy!

congrats! can't wait for your comparison between your boss' and your "packages" :p

Congrats! Seems that you took less than one year from GO to DM, well done!

Congrats Cathay Boy! ^
Hope to make it like you did by the end of my anniversary year :)
(still a long way to go though, just renewed GO 2 months ago)

Thanks, Guy Betsy. MPC sent me a reply a few minutes ago to extend my qual period just when I decided to call. It took them four days to reply (longer than usual, but perhaps that was due to my other question).

I shall enjoy my new Gold status :( for a few weeks.

Congrats! Now we have to fight for a lower BN# on JKF flights. :p;)

Félicitations!

I left the country never receving the package, however, my wife did and she told me it came by regular mail, not by courier.

So, I guess chalk up another budget cut for CX? Not that big of a deal, just saying I didn't get it through courier.

As you are no doubt anticipating, all of us here on the CX board are awaiting your posts on:

• Seeing the DM package for the very first time
• Opening up "the package"...
• Type of glue used on the envelope
• Comparison with the Gold Package
• Comparison with the, now famous, bosses DM+ package
• Comments on the benefits vis-a-vis the Gold package

:)

Oh..And a rare occurrence of a double op-up from Y straight to F :D

In addition to that,

• Explanation from CX on why the package didn't come from DHL (mine did)
• Comments on Katie's letter to you congratulating your new DM membership
• Comments on the Luxe travel guides
• Your comments on why XXX or YYY is missing in the box

So far reading FlyerTalk CX for many years I've only saw one post of this happening. But, one can dream huh?

As for ACORD and kchika's requests: well, like I said, I'm excited.

Yes, very rare, I suppose only when the stars are aligned. I never had an op-up from Y straight to F, but was once op-upped in two steps - Y->J at checkin and then J->F at the gate on a KA flight to PEK. It was not on my birthday, anniversary or at any milestone.

Either the gate staff was sleeping and overlooked that you were already op-upped to J, or someone must have really liked you.

Imagine getting an op-up from Y-F on a JFK-HKG flight! Think of all the possibilities...Krug, Caviar,the loo with a view...I can just dream!! The groundstaff at JFK know me very well and I dont get op-ups that often and i'm DM!!:D So if that happens especially on a long flight...You are just one lucky son of a gun!! And its almost 10000 bucks USD cheaper!! Cheers!

I don't think the GAs were asleep. I think KA's computer system liked me.:)

Is it just me, or does the CX ground staff consist of like, 5 people? I've flown enough to recognize that it appears to be the same 5 people at the JFK J/F/MPC counter, and it doesn't appear that they switch with the Y counters.

And often, we get the guys from BA. I take the night flight regularly and I pretty much know all of the staff there. Everytime they see me, they always smile :D

It's usually the same few people at the J/F counters at JFK T7 during the day as I am taking the 10:00 a.m. flight only for the last two years. But I would say more than 5. By my count there seems to be 7-8 people rotating. And yes, as another poster said it's not hard to get to know them once you fly often.

I'm thinking of switching to the CX845 in the future, however, that would probably mean I need to start making new friends again.... :)

Hey maortega. I was told by a BA crew during the morning that they rarely op-up people taking the night fly (via YVR) because all the op-up are done for pax YVR-HKG rather then op-up a pax JFK-YVR-HKG. The plane had to be really oversold and virtually no one getting off at YVR for the possibility of JFK-YVR-HKG op-up. Might want to consider switching over to CX845 if you want higher chance of op-up.

I have been opped-up twice so far on my CX 889 flight. Christmas and my birthday. I might do the new flight next month just to try it out. I want to stick with the 889 for a while because I have friends that are YVR based. Pilots and CC. I pretty much see the same faces. Very friendly.

Closure
 

Just a closure to this thread and what I exactly got.

Must say, it's nothing that any of you said.

1) It's a plain First Class Envelope
2) It's the same content as my GO envelope:
a) A letter from Katie congratulating me for making DM with a list of benefits
b) My new DM membership card
c) Two DM luggage tags (since I can carry up to 3, why don't they send 3?)

That's it. Not a "package"

More cost cutting measures in place then!

When I got mine back in the old days it came in a rather big "box" (the whole thing was Diamond card coloured too :p). Contents seem to have remained the same though. In addition to the stuff you've mentioned I had three or four Luxe travel guides but that was it.

The Lux guides are not useful anyway. The difference was that I got the package about 48 hours after I got DM instead of waiting for 3-4 weeks. The package was DHLed to my address in California.

I believe you can ask for more without paying any fee as a DM. In any event, you should get another set next year in whichever status you have at that time.

I do not use them on my checked luggage. I still think that they can get bent even in metal casings.

So far mine (the GO ones) are slightly bended after numerous travels, so it seems to be holding up well. Ironically, it was bended after it traveled on Air China rather than the CX flights.

A new set is indeed provided upon re-qualifying. And indeed, they still bend, but don`t break anymore.

After "enjoying" GO for close to two months, I got a call from MPC an hour ago. The agent told me that I was promoted back to DM. It was a very pleasant surprise. I think I deserve to wait until I complete my requalification, but she even thanked me to be such a loyal customer. I am actually already happy as a GO. I am indeed grateful (and spoiled by CX).:)

I believe MPC (and perhaps CX reservation too) does monitor customers closely.

cxfan1960 Is there anything to do with being CX Moderator on FlyerTalk? :P

I don't know. I did not disclose to MPC, but it is possible that they figured out if they went through the trouble of checking my flight activities with my posts.

There is no reason for them to afford me better treatment because I am a mod. If so, they could simply let me keep my DM when I requested for extension, or get me an INV instead. They could probably guess I would be able to make my way back to DM anyway.

Did your current flight pattern indicate a pickup in your flying at the rate of an average 10,000 miles/mth?

I was grounded in the beginning of the year. I did not fly for three months until late April. There is not enough flying pattern on the average miles/month, but I am quite certain that I shall hit the 120K mark by June.

I don't mind staying in Gold. Don't get me wrong. I do like F lounge accesses. I do like op-ups, although I am a strong believer in "if I don't pay for it, I should not be entitled to it". What I like most about being a DM are last minute bookings (I did a few <72 hr bookings) and a much higher chance to redeem awards.

I think this is a good example of how CX uses different criteria to work out who is a "real" frequent flyer and extend benefits to them.

Maybe cxfan1960 is unto something. When I was promoted to GO, at only 51K, I did three long-haul travels in 2 months (48K just on those 3 trips), I always suspect that was the primary reason why I was promoted early. It wasn't just maintaining but promoting from SL as well.