jamesteroh

As a diamond are you going to do the same thing next year since the SkyClub membership will no longer be a standard benefit or do you have access through another means? I was thinking of upgrading one of my plats to a reserve the entire year for the skyclub membership and using the $200 voucher as my third choice gift to offset the additional membership card.

Problem is my flying will be down next year and I was thinking of getting the $50K spend in on both cards and upgrading them to a reserve for the additional boost so it will mean I'll be without Skyclub access for at least one month while holding two reserve cards (I usually get the spend in the by January 31 on both cards).

dilbertsdaddy

Thank you.....

Here is another thought - with the change in choice benefits do you think they will run an end of year promotion to get people to upgrade?

turnpike17

It would be nice if a mod could/would change the title of this thread, or add an edit to it. For unfrequent guests to FT.com with reserve or platinum cards, it would be easier on them to not see that title or see an edit saying "nothing's changed" or something like that.

iflyalexair

My current plan is to keep doing as I have been doing as my YTD spend is usually over $220k. I will be milking those MQMs to ensure DM even in years of lesser flying and higher award redemptions.

Looks like you could easily get to those numbers too. I will probably choose the skyclub membership and upgrade it with cash to executive. I routinely fly with my spouse or friends, and we drink our fair share of Stolichnaya to make it worth it. Remember that for the platinum cards, you only need the spend to be in the calendar year and for that statement cycle to close. So, if your cards close on say the 5th of the month and you get get 50k in spend on each card before that date, you could be skyclub less only for a few days!

erasmusmrr

And if you upgrade/downgrade, you have the same credit card number, you would still get all the boosts?

iflyalexair

Yep. For the Platinum boosts, you just need to be sure they post after the relevant cycle closes. If you upgrade after you've reached the spend, but before that month's cycle closes, you will screw yourself out of the boost.

FWIW, I have heard from another FTer who does the opposite direction, meaning s/he earns the Reserve boosts and then downgrades to the platinum and then earns those boosts. I have never done it this way, but assuming that's true, it could be an effective way of ensuring that you hold a reserve card all 12 months of the year.

I would like to get that in writing from the DL team, and it could be the perfect way to maximize on the new choice benefits/skyclub situation.

iflyalexair

So happy to see official representation on the forum again!

Can you confirm if the "upgrade" scenario also works in the opposite direction, meaning you first earn the Reserve bonuses then downgrade and earn the Platinum bonuses? I know of at least one FT member who claims this is his/her regular practice.

If true, this would be a great opportunity to take advantage of the new choice benefits/skyclub situation because we would be able to hold a reserve card at all times.

BusTrav8yrs

What still is not clear is if you have both the Personal and the Business Reserve card whether you can still get 4 boosts.

Zorak

I submitted a mod request. Reminder: the best way to get mod attention for whatever reason is to use the red ! icon on the left (full web site) or the triangular ! icon (mobile site).

I also created a wiki quoting the official SkyMiles response.

jamesteroh

Maybe I'll do that then. I'll have one Reserve and Plat card at the first of the year so I am assured SC access and the upgrade one and downgrade the other.

So if I have a Plat card and say I'm at $49K in spend and put another $10K on it and call to upgrade after charge posts I will get the 20K Mqm boost and the remaining $9k will carry over towards my $30K spend towards the reserve MQM if I do it before the statement closes correct?

gooselee

It's not explicit, but the inference from this line about Plat cards seems to clarify that you would get 4 boosts.
The only way to get 40k RDM/MQM out of those two cards is with four 10k boosts, or two per card.

Yes, with two clarifications:

1. I'm assuming by "20k MQM" boost you mean your second 10k MQM boost (bringing you to 20k total for the year). So in the scenario you described, you would need to spend another $21k after upgrading in order to get your first 15k Reserve boost.
2. You would actually need to upgrade *after* your statement with the $10k spend closes. So that statement would close with $59k total YTD spend. A day or so after that statement closes, you'll receive your second 10k Platinum boost. Then you call in to upgrade. On your next statement, you'll have a Reserve card and it will show YTD spend toward your first Reserve boost as $9k plus whatever you spent in that statement cycle.

My brain works better in lists:
- April 30 - Plat statement closes with $49k YTD spend
- Month of May - Spend $10k
- May 30 - Plat statement closes with $59k YTD spend
- June 2ish - Second 10k Plat boost posts to DL
- June 3 - Call to upgrade Plat > Reserve
- Month of June - Spend $12k
- June 30 - Reserve statement closes with $21k YTD spend
- Month of July - Spend $13k
- July 30 - Reserve statement closes with $34k YTD spend
- August 2ish - First 15k Reserve boost posts to DL
- etc.

jamesteroh

Thanks! One other concern is what happens if I can put another $30K before the statement closes? Say my statement closes on the 8th. January 20th I have put $50K on the card. If I manage to put $80K total on the card before I call to upgrade on Feb 8 will I receive the 2-10K bonus MQM boost on Feb 8 and then the $30K extra I put on the card carry over towards the reserve MQM? Or should I keep the total spend on the card to under $79K until after I call to upgrade?

gooselee

This is probably a better question for iflyalexair. IMO it would be *safer* to keep it to $79k, just so Amex/DL don't get confused somehow and you get screwed. That's not to say it wouldn't work the other way, just that I've only seen it work when there's a clear statement break between the required spends for the Plat Boost and Reserve Boost.

I don't consider myself a particularly small spender, but I've never had the opportunity to roll more than $30k in a month through a card, so there's always a month or two between when I earn my boosts. Y'all are leading a slightly different lifestyle than I am! (Or maybe you just have more stuff to expense than I do.)

iflyalexair

You need to have the platinum boosts awarded before you upgrade. Once you upgrade, you are no longer eligible to earn a platinum boost. The boosts are not awarded until the statement closes.

I am not sure if there has been a published data point on this site, but logic suggests that if you held the platinum card and spend 110k in one purchase, once the statement closed, you'd be awarded both platinum boosts. If could then call in and upgrade, and once that next statement closed, you'd earn the two Reserve boosts. I say this based on the fact that any spend over the 50k Platinum spend rolls over, you get the extra as counting towards reserve after the upgrade.

jamesteroh

Thanks! I have a lot of items I can charge between my January closing date and my February closing date that can easily amount to well over $50K in spend. I didn't want to put that much spend on the card to find out it didn't count towards the reserve spend to only get 1 skypeso per $ spent.

I wish I would have known about this trick last year. I had a lot of manufactured spend and the rollover MQMs would be great