Ok thank you cxfan1960. ^

If you want a match to Diamond (quite rare), the miles you've flown are going to be irrelevant unfortunately. You'll need to show how much you've spent on tickets in the last few years and how much you'll spend on CX metal in the next. I don't know what the threshold is, but given that it very rarely happens I'd suspect you're looking at 75k to 100k USD. I have heard of instances where large organizations do have deals with CX that enable executives who have moved to the region to obtain Diamond easier, but again that's presumably based on an understanding between CX and the organization about how much $ that individual will be spending on CX.

Unfortunately coming over to CX is going to be a bit of a rude awakening in terms of ease of accruing miles, compared to the North American carriers. No "Challenges," no double or triple-elite miles promotions, no elite bonus miles, no extra miles for full fare Y class, etc.

QRC3288 summarised the situation very well. You and/or your company have to convince CX. For example, if you and colleagues have been flying Asia Pacific regularly, then it may be easier for CX to comp you upon your relocation to HKG. Note that CX used to "encourage" CX flyers in US to join AA in the past, although I don't think this is the case anymore.

I have an active reservation but it's a F class redemption with BA miles from sfo-hkg, I don't think that'll count for much huh?

ah, gary my man - I missed this one. I'm not sure how to say it otherwise, but MPC SLs indeed ARE worth something, and absolutely a lot more than a UA 2P. Your post is a bit misleading here.

You realize MPC SLs get lounge access right, at any CX operated lounge? I'm sure as most people who fly CX can attest, the HK lounges - particularly the new J Wing and The Cabin (have you ever been?) - are excellent lounges, especially for a J class lounge. F fliers indeed have somewhat of a complaint now: one lounge is closed, and the other (in my opinion) is pretty lame....

......BUT the J class lounges are killer and options plenty. This is obviously something you would know well if you had used them just 2 or 3 times. I am not Silver, but even as a DM I was actually in The Cabin a few days back eating pork and applesauce heated-to-order paninis, some tuna/potato salad and dried ham from this walk-up food stall thing. To me, that food stand thing is the best food option of all the HKIA lounge-food possibilities. I proactively skip "The Pier" F side to go there. Silvers have access to this lounge. To me, that's not exactly "not worth anything". Yes, the lounge is packed. Yes that's somewhat of a problem. But it doesn't outweigh the benefit for SLs.

While I do agree that this benefit significantly is weighted towards HK-based Silvers (because every time they fly, no matter how short, they can use the lounge) instead of overseas ones, HK-based SLs no doubt make up for the greatest proportion of SL members! Any SL (I was accompanied by two of them last week into The Cabin, and we went to The Cabin over The Pier F) is going to love the fact that they can get into those great HK J class lounges. There is also the G16 lounge, which although isn't nearly as good as the The Cabin and The Wing J, you would most certainly know had you visited that their noodles are surprisingly tasty, and it offers hands down the best view of the north runway. When the landing sequence is going east to west, it is an amazing place to sit if you enjoy watching airplanes.

I don't believe you are an MPC SL, am I correct in that? Or you might be one but based in North America? The whinging you hear on FT all the time does not always count as always honest information to be repeated. I don't mean to be overly rude here, but sometimes posts like these help turn fiction into fact. SL has plenty of problems. But to blanket say it's worth less than UA 2P is just a ridiculous statement, from someone who has been both.

Thanks QRC288 and cxfan1960. Your insights are greatly appreciated. Looks like I have a steep hill to climb. Thanks.

You can try - but it is best if it is a revenue.

QRC3288, you are considered one of the nicest guy here. For the record, I was no longer a SL. And I have been both UA 2Ps and CX MPC SL.

My rationale of UA 2Ps worth more than CX MPC SLs are based on the following:

1. Recent complimentary GO to AMEX Platinum in selected countries

2. Mile expiration policy (18-month non-activity vs. 3-year regardless)

3. Ease of earning and redeeming miles

4. A contact method that you can really reach a real person when needed

Despite the crowded situation, I was in fact impressed with CX lounges in HKG for its premium offering (Well - I never saw a J lounge has Champagne available).

I did not put lounge access as one of the element to compare because CX MPC SLs is one of the rare that allow lowest tier to have lounge access by status (usually this benefit is only given to OW Sapphire/Emerald, *G and ST E+). It is in fact unfair to whatever used to compare CX for something that is not even offered at all (and that's why I did not add elite bonus miles, E+, etc to compare).

* New information - OP is in North America, probably SFO, especially OP is traveling on F award. So I don't see how SLs can have more value here than flying premium.

My apologies for sounding rude. I am indeed quite disappointed with some of the devaluation of benefits (one of the biggest ones I thought, which may have happened before you joined, was when they limited upgrade awards to Y,B,H,K only...and now with the introduction of Y+, it's just devalues them further. Someone wrote a good analysis the other day about this which really hit home. Such a bummer).

I suppose I'm just a tad sensitive towards some of the vitriol that occasionally gets directed TOWARDS GR and SLs, as well as the concept that SL isn't worth much. For fliers based in HK, I really think GR and SL are some of the best frequent flier values around. And it really doesn't bother me at all as a DM, because I was once a GR and SL working up the ladder and greatly appreciated the paid benefits I got for priority lines (as GR) and lounge access as SL. While it's true that those Silvers won't probably be accumulating miles at nearly the rate of a GO or DM, I'd say this makes the lack of mileage earnings power even more relevant - since the bulk of the SL "benefit" really comes through lounge access in HKIA. Obviously for North American based folks like yourself, that doesn't count for much given the relatively average/lame lounges there, and the fact that most of your flights on CX will be long-haul (which would put more weight on the in-flight experience, where obviously SL doesn't count for a whole lot). Versus a HK-based SL, who might do 8 round-trips on KA a year to China, having lounge access in HKIA (and biz class lines, tags, etc.) is really a spectacular value for only 30k!

As to the devaluation of miles, that itself is really a joke for CX. Although with all the griping we do, CX is paying for this via my $$ - I do admittedly frequently fly to Singapore on SQ, am agnostic when flying to Japan, and have experimented with the Middle Eastern carriers for connecting Europe flights and and happily patronize QF and BA, even on competing CX routes. The only flights where CX is guaranteed to get my $ are on monopoly routes (including many of the KA routes, LAX and JFK), or when I need to fly last-minute for vacation and use my DM guarantee to get a cheap Y seat.

Another way for getting comped to DM that I know of: A company negotiating a [I assume substantial] corporate point-to-point fare discount deal can get a status match program thrown in. For example, in Canada, one such deal would comp any Air Canada Elite to Gold and any Air Canada Super-Elite to Diamond - irrespective of the miles flown on CX in the past or in the future. This was 6 year's ago but such an arrangement might still exist.

I should add this was the YYZ/HKG route where there is an effective duopoly.

I don't realize you are DM until now :D

There is no need to apologize. If I were you, I would criticize as well, given that I haven't explained anything.

Without doubt, as a standalone program, CX's MPC is fine. But when you start the comparison, well, you know the world is not perfect.

An SL can access a CX- or KA-designated lounge any time when flying on CX or KA (which is every port for CX and most for KA). It does not have to be operated by CX / KA, so I don't think it is weighted towards HK-based members in the way you said.

Since you're in Canada, you'll get Diamond if you can get an Amex Centurion card.

What QRC3288 means is since most of CX/KA flights are ex-HKG. A overseas SL will have a lesser chance to use it.

Thanks for pointing that out. But yea, what garykung says above is more my point. I still believe it overwhelmingly favors HK-based fliers. Since most European and North American MPCs will almost ALWAYS have part of their itineraries being long-haul, a.) they use the lounges less (since they earn SL faster due to longer flight segments), and b.) their "on the ground" segment value of the MPC program (lounge benefits, early check in, etc.) is less valuable to them since it makes up a smaller component of their time interfacing with CX.

A.) Long-haul fliers will use the lounge less
*Theoretical SL based in JFK: only have to make 2 round-trips a year to HKG to make Silver. So that guy does 4 flights a year on CX, and hence uses the lounges 4 times (2 in North America, 2 in HKG).
*Theoretical SL based in HKG who does regional flights: Earning on sectors, TEN round-trips a year, hence using the lounges 20 times (10 outport, 10 in HKG).


B.) On the ground value is higher for HK-based flier
*JFK long-haul guy spends approx 2 hours checking in/lounge time per flight, and an average of 16 hours on the plane. So only 11% of his time with CX is on the ground, and 89% of his time spent interfacing with CX is on the plane...where SL benefits are rather superficial.
*HKG-based SL outlined above does 3 hour average flights. So 2 hours checking in/lounge time per flight, and an average of 3 hours on the plane. So 40% of his time with CX is spent on the ground, while only 60% of his time is on the plane. So that SL can whinge less about the superficial treatment he receives on the plane, because already 40% of his time interfacing with CX (aka his MPC "value") he had great treatment in the form of lounge access.

wow...! one of the best insight I've read on this. I would have to say I totally agree with it.