Hi all,

Booked my first EK flights about 3 weeks ago. Flying BKK-CHC return over Christmas in J. Upon booking, I was prompted to join Skywards which I did stupidly. The reason I say stupidly is that now my year appears to end on the 20th March next year. I'm not taking any EK flights between now and December but am highly likely to take multiple flights next year. What are my options?

1. Ask Emirates if they will change my year end?
2. Create new skywards account just before the flight and then add the new number to the booking.

Are there any other options?

Thanks,

I can understand your concerns, although equally I'm not sure how justified they are in practice.

You will not gain any Skywards status (ie other than standard entry level Blue membership) until the necessary tier miles are added to your account ; and those tier miles will not be added until the relevant sectors are actually flown. And in your case, this will happen in two stages :
a) at the completion of your outward sector, ie arrival at CHC and
b) on your return to BKK.

A similar process will follow with any other qualifying EK flights you take.

The 12 month validity period of any higher membership level only begins from the date on which you actually attain that level - NOT from the date you first joined Skywards. (and I believe there is also a further goodwill period of two months should you later drop a tier, say from Gold to Silver ....).

In summary, I don't see the need for you take any 'corrective' action at all. BUT ..... others with more detailed Skywards knowledge will hopefully confirm.

Thanks for this. So, am I correct in thinking that as long as I achieve say 25,000 tier miles in any given 12 month period, then I would achieve silver status or 50,000 tier miles in any 12 month period to achieve gold? There is no fixed year end date as in other FFP programs?

Correct - the evaluation periods for tier promotion happen on a monthly rolling basis and it looks backward for 13 months, and even if you fail to requalify there is a grace period of an additional 2 months, so is actually quite generous in that regard.

As you are starting at blue tier, there is nothing to worry about if the future flights are within a 12-13 month period. Once you reach the required tier miles for silver, you will then be silver for a minimum of 12 months. In that following 12 month period if you once again earn an additional 25000 tier miles you will renew silver at the anniversary month of when you gained silver - however, the rolling monthly evaluation period for gold (and then platinum) still carries on as normal.

So if it turns out that at some point in the 12 months you are silver, you have earnt 50000 tier miles in the 13 months preceding, even before you became silver, you will get a promotion to gold, and a new 12 month Gold period begins.

Rinse, repeat for Platinum

Hi again.

Well .....yes and no.

Yes.....you will achieve the respective status (Silver/Gold/Platinum) provided you gain the necessary tier miles within the 12 month qualifying period.

However, there IS a 'fixed' year end date, in so far as your membership ends exactly 12 months after after the status is first won, UNLESS you take enough flights to earn renewal. But perhaps you meant a 'fixed' end date that does not relate to you personally, but to all Skywards members .....? Apologies if I've misunderstood or am telling you basic stuff that you already know .....!

Two other points :

- you might find the FAQ's on the Skywards membership section of the official EK website very helpful

- you will see a sliding graph/bar on your own Skywards page (you need to log in of course) which is constantly updated, along with ongoing targets for renewal or next level status, as & when any qualifying sectors are flown

HTH !

EDIT : crossed with eternaltransit's post - which is probably more informative !

Perfect, thanks both for the clear explanations!

I think the OP is used to BA where they have a fixed date for reset of tier points on a yearly basis, instead of the monthly rolling basis of EK.

Oh ....and just to be clear .....my "yes and no" comment was NOT directed at eternal's detailed explanation, but to the question posed by the OP in post # 3

Well described for the Tier Miles & reaching different tiers! ^^

When talking about Reward Miles (valid for about 3 years) on Skywards the date you joined Skywards is also irreverent, the time earning them & month of your birthday is what counts:


from the FAQs:
How long are Skywards Miles valid for?
Your Skywards Miles are valid for three years from the date your earning activity is completed. Within the calendar year that Skywards Miles are due to expire, they will be removed from your account at the end of the month in which you were born.
For example, if you earned Miles in June 2012 and your birthday is in August, these Miles will expire on 31st August 2015.
You can set automated messages from your My Account pages to remind you when Skywards Miles are due to expire.