Losing the gold touch
 

Hi
Myself and wife are gold skywards for the last 9 years flying y class only,not a mean feat in itself,holidays only,no business trips.
Now it looks like we are losing gold due to this new skywards system.
When it started out flex fares were available in y, now however we can only get them displayed in j,f. To keep g:confused:old in y is now impossible without flying to Australia 5 times a year ...ludicrous.
Are skywards reviewing this system or not because it is losing two more frequent customers here etihad looks a viable option.
Anyone else fed up

Congratulations on getting and keeing Gold for 9 years flying Y. I agree. No mean feat. ^

Arguably, it was more ludicrous that someone could be top tier elite WITHOUT flying at least that much. :)

Just received my Gold Elite card from Etihad Airways today. Decided to give them a try because their fares look much better than Emirates'. Being very loyal to the Emirates Airline I still can not justify paying almost double just for the miles. Let's see how Etihad are.

Also enjoyed La Premiere of Air France this week - what a great experience! The procedures and lounges at Charles de Gaulle are way ahead of the premium check-in area and first class lounge in Dubai. The in-flight product is not as good (no suites), but the service is much better and tres chic. The only disadvantage is that Air France are much more expensive than Emirates out of Dubai. AED 97k for a return flight to Los Angeles - I still can not get over that that easy.

If I understand correctly you are yet to fly EY so did you status match to Gold Elite from skywards?

Welcome to the party, though you're a bit late.

I haven't flown Etihad in a few years, but as an FFP there's no doubt they are better. However, EK recognizes their elites onboard much better, has nicer planes, more frequencies on my main route, usually has better fares (though these are now Saver), and DXB is a much nicer experience than AUH.

Having said that, Etihad currently has a sale in J out of SIN, where their fares to Europe are half of what EK wants. If I needed to fly to Europe and could afford to pay the J fare on EY, I wouldn't bother with status and just go for it.

Not sure whether it was a status match or else. I reserved the tickets through Centurion Travel Service and received them with a note to expect a gold elite card as well which arrived within 72 hours. I believe that the Etihad experience might not totally equal to Emirates especially with the longer drive and the outdated Abu Dhabi airport, but sometimes I find it harder to justify paying almost double the fare to fly Emirates. So it turns out to be a good opportunity to give Etihad a chance.

Depending on where you live Abu Dhabi airport may not be that much further in time terms. Only about 15 mins difference from The Palm. The new section (Terminal 3) is very modern and very nice and I really enjoy their F lounge. Like you I could not justify the price differences so I switched what travel I could away from EK to EY and others some time ago - also the lack of any real benefits for a lowly Gold means allegiance means little. Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

going against the grain
 

I think i got my timing right for once, I am about to go for GOLD for the 1st time ever (probably the first and last) in November. I had a J flight to Oz earlier in year then have a F (:D) LGW-CPT in Nov. Very pleased with myself as all flights are paid for out my own purse! Just wanted to let the forum know that there are a few people making the status (and i'm not a business person).
P.S What can i expect of my first experience in F cabin and how does it compare to J?
My flights are Ek16,772,771 and 15.

Many thanks

Hi Aquitania
Nice of you to join the Club who have now transferred their Business to Etihad, Yes they may be a unknown if you have never flown with them, But at a Big saving , Well its worth a try.

I just received My new silver card from EK today saying , If your Travelling less frequently because your are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service , please contact us!!!!! You have to search for the contact details and guess what!!! I don't want to waste my time when Etihads have given me Gold to March 2013 ;-)

Malc

Good to hear that, Malc. How strict are they in regards to cabin luggage? I am infamous for having bigger and heavier carry-ons. Never had any issues with Emirates. Does anybody check the weight and size of the cabin bags in Abu Dhabi or elsewhere?

You shouldn't have any problems at all, especially if you're flying in a premium cabin. My father has flown both EK and EY a fair bit and actually much prefers the EY service and product consistency (in F & J). In Y, as a Gold, you get no recognition on EY.

I have never had an issue on any of the many flights in J and F I have taken with them - not so much as a sideways glance ...

Re ludicrous
 

B747-437b
Are you suggesting that to obtain gold we should all have to fly 108,975 actual miles which is man to Melbourne five times a year while every other loyalty programme only asks 50,000 miles to achieve gold
5 minutes on the Internet brought up man to Melbourne taking 10/09 to 17/09 as an average

Skywards cost£5344 per person for 54000 tier miles ie 4 roundtrips at 13500 tier miles while etihad brought in 43590 tier miles for 2 journeys at a cost of £2477 per person same journey
Do you not agree skywards has brought in saver fares to thin out it's elite membership leaving the lounges for it's business paying members only
I signed up for skywards because I believed them to be fair and affordable,now they seem to be reneging on these perks in the name of making the system simpler to understand
By the way the emirates flight had one way in flex so god knows how the figures would have added up all in saver... Not good reading I would have thought

Status match. Khalid
 

Hi again
Been with skywards that long I am out of it regarding other loyalty programs
What is this status match you talk about.
Does it mean that if I transfer to etihad that they will provide a gold card status,without having to go through the blue, silver card process and queueing at airports all over again?