Eightblack, Qantas Platinum kicks in at 1400 status credits and Platinum one at 3600 status credits, i.e. a multiple of around 2.57 or lets say 2.5 for rounding off. Assuming EK's platinum comes in at 100K miles, shouldn't the platinum one equivalent be more like 250K miles odd rather than 300K miles?

Speaking of which, I was just thinking what are the chances that EK introduces two more tiers instead of just one as is being expected by most people. A Gold+ at 100k which matches Qantas platinum and a Platinum at 250K+ or higher that matches Qantas Platinum One? I think the equivalent mileage requirements for EK may be lower as Qantas does not have the saver/flex concept in J and F - they only seem to have discounted economy which earns half the miles as a regular economy/ premium economy....Maybe 200K tier miles for platinum

You're right, but I think its semantics because while initial qualification for Platinum is 1400, it's only 1200 to renew. And Plat One is 3600. Whether it be 250K or 300K tier miles - it will be a stretch for many.

And it's impossible when flying solely on X/T tickets.

What are X/T tickets????

tickets booked in X and T class.

Sorry my poor attempt at humor! I know what they are. Just never flown them...

Isn't X an Economy Award via an EK Partner - hence, no tier miles anyway?

Do you have any idea how hard it was to convince EK to even start a 4th tier. No way would they EVER agree to 2 more tiers. This alone was like pulling teeth

Well, if it is a single tier coming then setting the bar at 100K miles wouldn't solve anything. Probably, setting the qualification at 150k+ miles would make more sense - a tier that combines the benefits of Platinum + Platinum one?

Agree with you 100%. Making the qualification level 100K simply moves the goalpost forward one notch. I vote for making it 300K+

All they need to do is introduce a single higher tier, and then have additional benefits (a la QF Plat One) for over achievement of tier mile targets.

Settting the bar that high might make it even more exclusive than IO, i think

I doubt it, there are many of us that are 300k+ right now, annually, and don't have a hope of becoming IO.

A tier that recognizes the achievement of somebody flying 300k+ tier miles annually sure would be nice, as of today people that fly that much on EK are treated the same as somebody that just has 50k tier miles, which could be from just a single F return.

Most other FF programs have tiers to recognize their high-spend overachievers, but EK doesn't, as IO is not oriented towards that. All you need to realize this is to look at the post where chinatraderjmr has mentioned his travel expenses for the past 10 (?) years and only now being invited to IO after the intervention of somebody he spoke to at EK. IO is primarily oriented at people that can influence the travel patterns of many other people.

I really wasn't trying to imply that 300K should be qualification for IO or what the actual qualification criteria for IO should be or what it is at the moment.

What I was trying to say (with a little tongue in cheek )is that the jump from 50K to 300K is so steep, that I doubt most people who have achieved 50K will be motivated to actually try and hit 300K. Currently, the biggest issue with the skywards program is that there is little incentive to continue flying EK once you've hit 50K miles. The primary reason for a 4th tier is to 'push' these folks who hit 50K and who have more flying to do (lets say another 50 or 100k)for the remainder of the year, into continue flying EK so that they actually go out and attempt to reach the higher tier. If that tier has some good benefits associated, then that translates to more value for the flyer and because more people will now try to now achieve that tier, more revenue for the airline.

If the bar for the fourth tier is set at 300K then I doubt very few of the folks who are around the 50K+ mark will even try and attempt to go for 300K primarily because their flying pattern doesn't warrant so. And because it is like a pyramid, there are several times more people around the 50K+ mark than there are around the 200K+ omark. If only the 200K+ mark people increase their flying to reach the 300K tier, while the 50K people stay put then it wouldn't have served the purpose - not much revenue gain for EK and only very few people benefit from the tier. Similarly, if the qualification is kept low at around 100K so that most people people who hit 50K also, with just a little bit of more effort, go and hit 100K, then again it wouldn't serve the purpose as all the issues associated with the current Gold will have just moved up to the 4th tier.

My point is this: Don't keep the qualification for the 4th tier to be too low so that most Golds can go out and achieve it and at the same time, don't keep it so high that it comes in the reach of only a select few.

My personal opinion is that all tier levels should be changed. Top tier of Gold, currently at 50k, doesn't make sense in that somebody can do return F from the USA to China and hit top-tier with just a single flight. It should take at least 3-4 flights of that sort to hit top-tier in EK, and that would be 150k - 200k tier miles.

So, perhaps 35k for Silver, 75k for Gold, and 150k or 200k for the top tier. Before anybody comments on 100k typically being the threshold for top-tier in many other programs, keep in mind that EK tier mile earning is quite a bit higher than other carriers. 150k - 200k tier miles on EK are closer to the equivalent of 100k elite miles on other programs.

With reciprocal FF benefits with Qantas, it would make sense to have programs that are reasonably similar in earning levels, otherwise it would drive customers to the easier-qualifying FF program.

Are we also sure about not being able to earn tier/EQM miles between both carriers? I know with EK's relationship with AS, you do earn Elite miles in the AS program when flying EK.

I think 60K for Gold would be plenty.

AS is a totally different animal in FFP world. Can not use AS as a generalised example...lol