Until CX takes away buggy vouchers for DMs (not until Jan 2027 based on the plan now), I don't see how the heavy imbalance of crowding leaning to TWF can be fixed in the coming months.
Gate is near, gate is undecided -> TWF
Gate is far -> TWF then buggy ride
More massage / shower availability -> TWF

It does not help that the new program revamp seems to be growing the membership base at quite a substantial pace. I may or may not have heard there are quite a handful of folks who've hit 2,400 YTD, and thousands(!) having surpassed 1,200 already.

The program revamp, and carrots/sticks approach to CX members / partner members, has been a huge success from CX's perspective. This, combined with the easier DM threshold going forward (no "ramp-up" period + rollover points), will mean substantially more DMs from 2027 I believe.

The former is a crazy amount of flying, to the extent I'm unclear how it's even useful except for the purpose of flying itself! Hitting DM by now is at least a little more understandable to me, although more than I'm doing (I'm at 800 currently) - it's basically flying every week or two.

Over a decade ago I met some people who run conferences. One of the guys was proudly commuting weekly from Germany (where he had a wife and kid) to Asia or Australia. It sounded pretty extreme and rather unproductive, I just told myself the guy either really wasn't wild about his family or was addicted to travel or both.

If thousands already hit 1200 SP by early May, then there’s no doubt that we will have a large number of DMEs in 2027, it really puts a question mark on how exclusive and effective Relationship Manager will be…

Btw F service to LAX will go from daily to 3x weekly starting Sept, CX continues to scale back F network, it’s very likely once NW26 seasons starts we will only see two daily F services to JFK/LHR. The values of DME BU gets water down as well at least for me, I use them mostly on LAX/LHR and occasionally buy discounted A to LHR.

Currently I’m at 1330 and on track to finish the year at 2800-3000, the two points mentioned above are the biggest selling points of DME to most folks, without them I’ll prob shift some flights to other airlines and just stay DM.

If short haul yes, if long haul, less so - plenty who fly long haul once a month which is 200 a month in J, 360 in F, add in the odd month where you do two and short haul here and there, I can understand how people are close to DME. And that's without considering those who connect, which does add a fair bit of extra wear and tear but also a significant increase in SP.

Agree on all counts. The issue with F, however is that it's basically not being flown anywhere anymore these days until the 779 arrives. In more disappointing news on that front, I see a poster above mentioning LAX is basically done with F too (3x weekly or something). Two years ago I repositioned especially from SF to LA for CX F (CX cut F to SFO since COVID). Even that was not ideal. I'm definitely not going to fly from California to NY just to fly F to HKG!

I think those flying this much must be putting in a painful amount of miles on CX metal.

Being loyal to CX these days basically means J class, unless you have to only fly bw HK and London or NY I guess and that's all you ever go. I'm sure there are a few niche guys at banks or lawfirms who must fill that role for a year or two, but it's definitely nobody long term! I'm really hoping CX re-expands their F destination list as the 779 arrives, because the current route network is dismal.

I definitely will have to fly less F this year to reach DME, switching it from competitors to CX J. I'm thinking about giving the new status a shot and see if it's worth this trade-off. Regardless if I get DME next year, I really hope regular DM doesnt get effectively downgraded too much. The program is too good and hopefully won't become a victim of own success. One reason I'm considering to do DME is because a nagging feeling I have that DM has no choice but to be downgraded a little bit, given there will be more DMs next year.

You can also rack up a decent amount doing short hops on OW. NYC-DC/NYC-YYZ roundtrip in business (their first) is 30 SPs for example.

There's still a decent amount of expat partners/MDs who jet back to London/Australia/Canada to see the boarding school kids the weekend/spend the weekend at their beach house/ski chalet etc. regularly. Went away this past long weekend and bumped into a few of those at the airport/on the plane. They are probably in the 1200-1800/2400 SP bucket and not the 2400+ SP bucket but point being its not just the business crowd.

The downgrading is happening and still going, at least for the inflight service.

Before Covid, DM was really something, and I got spoiled by cabin crew quite often. Nowadays, there are too many new inexperienced BC working in J. They might provide standard J service but it's far from enough for DMs. Today, when I fly J, I feel no different from other passengers, except ordering-meal priority (not every time).

There really aren't enough experienced FAs anymore. Never mind special DM treatment; just the way some of them ask for your meal preference shows how much more customer service training they need.

Many of us on FT have probably spent more time in the air than the FAs working the CX J cabin these days, so we just have to adjust our expectations. If we're going to stay loyal to CX, let's do our part too — be polite, gently 'train' the FAs on the spot with skillful, constructive 'guidance', while enjoying the flight!

My feelings as well. I think they’ll roll out the red carpet for DME first two or three years so more DMs are incentivised to climb.

I’ll get there from flying between EU and HK every month but on the fence whether to split and rollover or all in to see what the pilot year would be like

I agree, its about adjusting one's expectations as the service airlines provide has changed over the decades and will continue to change. I personally remember service on commercial airplanes was much better in the early 1980s when I first started flying. Of course, the hard product has improved by leaps & bounds. Soon enough, FAs may be robots (literally) and I wonder what their service will be like. At the end of the day, we're talking about mass transport companies whose main goal is to maximize profits (at least for most of them).

As for some others here, the new program is a bit of a dilemma for me. As a connecting DM, 2400 would require a lot of inconvenience for me swapping into CX/OW from better routing options.

Is it worth it? For me, I think no and sadly the changes are a disincentive to fly CX. I comfortably do 1200+ year in year out but whereas the bugs and companion gold were an incentive to do 1800 they no longer exist.

But just as importantly I think standards have slipped and are likely to keep slipping for regular DMs as others have noted. On top of this, as I get older I find myself increasingly frustrated with the inconsistency of the hard and soft product and aspects of the HKIA transit experience (long taxi times, delays, transit security queues). Award availability seems to have flatlined and call centre service remains wildly inconsistent. Yes some of this is the impact of the pandemic still playing out but also some unfortunate decisions have been made.

As I now need to fly less to maintain DM, there aren’t meaningful incentives between 1200 and 2400 and CX’s competitors of relevance to me have improved in relative terms - the changes are likely to see me on CX metal less. This is a bit sad for me having had such a long association with the airline as pax and with close family/friends as crew over the years.

But that’s life and I understand the focus on HKG based pax who do LH every month.

I stopped by the Wing F in the morning finally. 3rd visit. Back dining room full, of course, and front area open dining room close to full. Lounging areas not full at all. I wanted breakfast but flight was boarding in 10 minutes, just left.

Increasingly I have the feeling they've erred by making so much of the space dedicated to dining and yet somehow not having enough space for dining? Because of the dining room in the middle, the whole lounge has somewhat the feel of just a dining space with some random chairs elsewhere. Well intended but maybe not quite right.

It could just be that everyone is treating it as a restaurant to start. But I don't recall feeling this way about the Pier F when it first reopened in 2015 or whenever that was. The Pier is more clearly divided for functionality, north and south side.

Old Wing used to be like that too, south was for f&b and north was for lounging (plus the champagne). I really love the idea of them trying to mix it up but so far in my visits, it hasn't translated. It's just so odd how parts of the lounge are packed to the gills and others a ghost town.

Did the designers forget that CX planes are outside?
The interior designers nicely included model airplanes at the front, but completely ignore the real airplanes outside!. I'll gladly be the first to petition to at least get the back space better for watching the apron / airplanes! (Yes a silly request I know, but so what!) In the old Wing, the bar counter thing was long and had a lot of seats, 10 or so people (more?) could sit there if they wished. Feels like a wasted opportunity given how open and airy the Wing lounge naturally is, and the tarmac is something most airlines lean into with their lounge spaces. CX planes and the Cathay emblem are literally splattered all outside the window and the lounge designers can't be bothered to embrace that sense of harmony! (The lounge is a very nice spot regardless. That's for sure.)

The back lounge space still have plenty of seats to lounge about, but I think the chairs are not as comfortable as Pier F.

By the way, I managed to drop by Pier F few days ago at around 12nn, and it's a real ghost town...LOL...such peace and tranquility... (to be fair at that time even Wing was quiet)

the owe plebs are banished to that ghost town corner 🤣

I will gladly sign the petition. That long counter was the best spot in any of the lounges IMO.