Close to Reaching Gold - Worth It?
 

Hello,

I have started flying EK a lot more and reached Silver for the first time (since I started flying EK 3 years ago) two weeks ago. By November 2007, I have journeys planned that will bring my tier miles to close to 44K. Does it make sense to aim for Gold and hit 50K+??? I have read around FT that there are too many Gold anyways, and the benefits aren't anything superb.

To help explain, I mainly fly DAC-DXB-JFK-DXB-DAC and I am HOPING that eventually I just switch to DAC-DXB-YYZ-DXB-DAC after October 29th. I guess the only benefit at the moment, would be using the Emirates Lounge at JFK as there isn't a dedicated lounge at DAC and I can use one at DXB with Silver anyways.

Also, if I hit Gold, with my annual flying requirements, I should be able to easily maintain Gold with 40K+ so that shouldn't be a problem...

Any thoughts?!? Thanks in advance!!!

-t.

While I agree with you that there are a lot of "Golds" on Skywards relative to other carriers, and as a premium member on a number of other carrier programs, the benefits that Skywards provides to its Gold members still outweighs those of others. Aside from the easier mileage requirements to reach/maintain tiers, I believe Emirates offers a good all round package in terms of benefits -- and I have personally had a more beneficial experience from these more on Emirates than other carriers.

In particular, wait list priority/guaranteed seat reservations in Y is something i have actually seen work for me on Emirates than on say BA. As a BA Gold I had to change flights recently in Oslo back to LHR, and I had to wait for 3 flights -- or the best part of a full day at OSL airport before getting on the last flight of the day in Y, despite having being ticketed in a full fare business class reservation. This is not the first time, I've often found myself having to wait 1 or 2 flights in similar situations in the past to even get a Y seat to get back home from Europe.

Operational upgrades is a bit of a hit and miss issue, but I've had a higher proportion of op-ups on EK than on BA for example.

Now I know American's Gold status doesn't count for much, i rate it more akin to a silver status on other carriers, i don't think this carries much worth for a frequent traveller like myself, with 2nd priority boarding being just about the only benefit.

My 0.002.

Rgds
Emirates777

Yes there are lots of other golds, but IMO this doesn't really dilute the benefits. I think the most recent example I can think of was at LHR check in. The economy check in line was snaking right down the terminal and took 1h 15m to get through. The Skywards silver / gold counters remained empty the entire time except for maybe 2 or 3 passengers checking in there. I think Gold is only worth aiming for if you fly in Y. A lot of benefits such as priority baggage, lounge and extra allowance aren't as useful to pax already flying in a premium cabin.

I have had good success with opups on EK (though not as many as with BA, % wise) and Golds often get treated better.

Try and earn those 6k miles by taking a vacation or something to justify it. Since it will help you keep gold for the years to come, I think it is worth it.

AA Gold is similar to EK Silver in terms of # of miles needed to qualify and benefits. AA Platinum is closer to EK Gold.

Cheers

I assume the OP travels in Y since the DXB-JFK-DXB roundtrip alone can get one to Gold fairly quickly in a premium cabin. In this case, I would definitely go for Gold. Good luck!

This is the first time that I have flown the JFK-DAC sector on EK and, yes, it was on Y; usually I will interline YYZ-LHR/FRA/MUC on AC and then LHR/FRA/MUC-DXB on EK, 75% in Y, 25% in J.

Most likely, however, further travel will be Y, with a rare trip in J.

-t.

Ya, I fully agree with that. I will already get Silver for sure, so that's not necessarily a concern re: check-in, etc. Just seeing if the extra miles are worth the Gold! :-)

Weird. I too have had excellent OpUps with EK. I fly the DAC-DXB sector frequently and get upgraded just a bit less than 50% of the times. Mind you, this is a high-density (J, Y) and is usually has high load factors, often overbooked tremendously in Y.

Thanks. I think I will aim for those. Out of DAC, my only real option is DXB and I really, really, really hate DXB.. Sigh!!! LOL

-t.