Tybio

I might be flying from WAS to JNB the middle of Oct...right now I'm 1500 miles short of gold. If I were to book a quick MR for next week...that would give under two weeks before the long trip. I have just a few questions for the gurus around here:

1> would the extra bonus miles still apply if Gold is earned so close to the flight?
2> Flying a code-share (Air France), do you need the skymiles CARD to get lounge access? (Worried that the card will not show up before the trip)

rwoman

1. You will receive bonus miles on any trips after qualifying.
2. Typically, you do not need your card as long as your status shows on your BP, but some have had issues in the past.

Tybio

If I book it on the air France website, will my skymiles status show up on the BP?

Delta.com doesn't show the cheap PV seats, so it looks like I'll have to book direct with air France.

Hoyaheel

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I've book on Air France twice in past year and once they got my account and once I had to call to get it added properly. On that trip, I also had to fax in my boarding passes to get credit for a couple of the segments of my flight (also not uncommon - always save boarding passes)

[ETA - ah, status, not skymiles number, which is what I had issues with. As reported above, I've heard it both ways - sometimes depending on where you print the boarding pass eg at home, at kiosk, at counter....]

I'm gold now, flying PV on AF in November, so I'm happy about the lounge access. I've read of inconsistencies with AF lounge access (it's always at their discretion, no matter your Delta/ST status, so....)

Good luck!

dgxoxo

Yes, I frequently book with AF, and when I get my boarding pass, it denotes "ElitePlus". The only station where it did not denote status was in Beirut

MSPeconomist

It can be worth trying to remove and reapply the FF number to the reservation after the account shows the new status. Also, print copies of your account showing the status to carry with you since DL doesn't have an option of printing the new card on line while waiting to receive the real thing. Sometimes the check in counter can issue a lounge invitation to avoid problems, since they are more likely to be able to verify status than lounge dragons.

thirtyfour

1. In my experience it usually takes around 2 days for your status to be recognized. Roughly one day for the miles to post and then one more for the system to realize you've passed the mileage threshold.

2. I think this depends completely on the dragon you encounter. At CDG, for example, I haven't been asked for my card at the lounges, but others on here have had troubles. Printing out your status page or if you have a smart phone, you might be able to log into the app and show your information on there.

bethechange

This just happened to me over the weekend. My Thursday flight to Costa Rica put me past the PM threshold. Miles showed up on Friday, and my status changed Saturday. I was happy to learn that they process status adjustments over weekends because my return flight was yesterday (Tuesday). I was upgraded out of SJO and ATL. The SJO - ATL upgrade was confirmed on Friday before my status change (and interestingly >3 days out although I was officially still GM at the time), and I attribute my ATL - SLC upgrade to having PM status which kept me ahead of the 35 folks left on the waitlist at the gate.