Silver Benefit?
 

Sometimes I just don't understand CX. The lounges in Hong Kong are already crowded as it is. Why do CX still provide lounge access benefits to Silver members when the general industry norm these days should be only for 50,000 miles per year flyers? I know, I know....I'm a silver as well but still I think maybe CX could instead provide 1/2 lounge access coupons like they do with Asiana? Or is that something totally unfeasible?

Rather than cutting benefits to solve capacity issues I for one am happy that CX prefers to increase lounge capacity to cater for this demand.

I agree. Please don't encourage CX to cut benefits, because the axe usally doesn't fall on just one segment of members. Once CX falls in love with cutting they will cut off something from everybody, DM, GO, SL, GR, etc.

As for lounge, I am still in the camp that CX should try to enforce "capacity control" on OW members to solve capacity issues. CX has does its best to try to increase lounges but that only go so far.

I would be interested to see the data (which probably are proprietary, alas) on how many pax using CX lounges at HKG are actually on CX/KA flights vs how many are "interlopers" from other oneworld services. And how many are oneworld elites vs CX elites.

By design, the oneworld rule limiting access to sapphire/emerald is supposed to serve as a form of capacity control. But I think we suffer for the fact that there is a huge difference in quality between the CX lounges at HKG and any other oneworld option. I gather the BA/QF lounge is nothing to write home about, although I'll give it a try later this week just to see for myself.

I guess its due to the $50 dollars that MPC charges its initial members, as well as the higher fare that it charges its pax to reach 30,000 miles before using the lounge. I know...now days many people can get that silver status without paying the 50

I thought MPC Silver may use the CX lounge only when flying CX or KA but not other OW flights?

yes, thats right.

i guess CX needs to offer some benefits to each category - if SL doesn't offer lounge access (when flying on CX/KA economy), then it's really not that much different from GR apart from 10 kg baggage and priority baggage.

keeping lounge access for SL is quite fair. i was lured from GR to SL because of lounge access. then got lured to GO (don't really know how that happened) ... and now to DM!

As a SL I too am glad that CX maintains the lounge access benefit. I agree that it is generous for an entry-level elite level, but I also agree that it does provide some form of differentiation from GR. Furthermore, us SLs only fly at most 60K miles/40 sectors per year (on average I'd say 40K/30 sectors), so I don't think we'e adding much to the crowding. :cool:

Sorry....I'm not quite understanding what you're trying to say? :confused:

+1 Can JALlover kindly explain what does that $50 have to do with lounge access? :confused:

I rather like the BA/QF F lounge. The food offerings aren't as substantial as The Wing, but there are a few nibblies of decent quality. The wine is a step above the CX F lounges. After the redesign I've rarely seen it crowded. I'll often go even before a CX flight.

If you apply directly with MPC Green you have to pay application fee of $50 USD. If you apply for Asiamile it's free.

This is exactly my experience. I was quite happily flying AA most of my life until a decade ago AA couldn't find a space for me, so I was put on CX instead, happened twice in the same year, and then CX sent me this SL card that I realized has lounge access. As you said, the rest is history and now I'm DM with CX.

Another good point. The lounge access for lowest-tier elite is unusually generous. But at 30k, the threshold is slightly higher than for many programs' equivalent. And, crucially, there are no tier bonuses for mileage earning. The lowest tiers on AA/UA/BA etc don't come with lounge access, but they offer 25% RDM bonuses.

I agree with Cathay Boy and others who don't want to see a devaluation in elite status. But would a trade be acceptable? I'd probably forgo lounge access at SL if instead we got RDM tier bonuses. A guy can dream, anyway.