codesinvan

Sorry was just an e-mail telling me what to use still.

CanuckFlyHigh

My wife just made Platinum for 2017. I totally forget how this works. Does she get certificates for this year? Her account doesn't show Plat or Certificates yet.

Thanks

CanadaDH

If she qualified prior to September 30, then she should get a full set of certificates to be valid until Feb 28/18, followed by a new set of certificates on March 1. If she qualified after September 30, then officially she won't be entitled to a set of certificates until March 1. Of course, that is all subject to the FPC program continuing in its present form, which may change considerably once Accor is finished with their integration and destruction.

The early upgrade often doesn't happen without a quick e-mail to the FPC asking for the upgrade to Platinum.

Arthurrs

I just got platinum status, it took about 2 weeks for their system to be updated with my new status, and the additional certificates posted into my account expiring Feb 28, 2018.

Here's hoping that Accor doesn't change the program too much next year!

ptownca

I fully expect a train wreck for FPC elites.The current Accor program even with platinum status is completely uninteresting if you have been an FPC elite like I have been the past three years.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

dmodemd

I dunno... if Plats will now get access to Gold lounges that would be nice...

...and I get points I can use to make bookings to a vast array of properties in Europe...

nock

I'm a plat and I do not want them to open gold lounges to all plats. I think that the increased volume would definitely impact service and quality.

dmodemd

To some extent, yes... Marriott is a mess since all Gold and Plats get into the lounges. Hilton at least can limit access to Golds based on Executive Floor occupancy. I would think that limiting to Plats only with Fairmont should be doable. The only Gold Lounge I have seen was at least as big as the major chain's lounges.

CanadaDH

I 100% agree. I would be horrified if they started opening up Gold lounges to Plat members. That would kill the product, making the place feel like an airline lounge full of business travellers, which is not exactly the atmosphere I think they're going for. That would degrade the product immensely, which I'm currently more than happy to pay for, as a Plat member myself. The Fairmont Gold concept is supposed to be more than just free breakfast.

Arthurrs

While I have no problem with restricting gold lounge access to gold floor guests, it would be really nice to give us platinum members a couple of gold floor upgrade certificates apart from what offered with certain credit cards. I would find them more useful than the third night free certs that I hardly use.

nock

I think that would be a happy medium.

dmodemd

Really? Not my experience at Fairmont Dallas at least. Gold rooms are smaller than the typical Fairmont Kings they give me. It is more recently renovated which is nice, but I also need to be in a different tower which requires a walk through the lobby to get down to the fitness center far away.

I have gotten lounge service just as good or better for free at Hyatts, Hiltons, and Marriotts. Rarely a mob scene.

CanadaDH

I'm perfectly fine with that, as it wouldn't load up the lounges beyond the capacity of the associated rooms. I'd take a single gold upgrade cert in place of the two room upgrade certs that I rarely use!

I just want them to protect the integrity and quality of the product. Opening up lounges to more guests will most certainly have the opposite effect. I suspect that more business-focused properties may already have that 'airline lounge' feel to the gold lounges, but I would hate to see the atmosphere creep that way from the more relaxed feel in the more resort properties like Tremblant, Whistler and Lake Louise. They treat it like a separate hotel within a hotel, not just 'here, you get access to the breakfast club lounge'.

CanadaDH

I don't have a lot of experience with Fairmont Gold stays in the USA, so perhaps it's a poorer product there? I don't know. The only properties where I have stayed on Fairmont Gold are:

• Chateau Whistler
• Chateau Lake Louise
• Banff Springs
• Royal York Toronto
• Chateau Laurier Ottawa
• Tremblant
• Queen Elizabeth Montreal
• Chateau Frontenac Quebec City
• Copley Plaza Boston

Of those properties, the only time I recall the hotel selling Gold lounge access for an additional fee, but maintaining the non-Gold room, was in Boston. I didn't like the idea, since it can obviously lead to more people in the lounge.

In Whistler, Tremblant and Queen Elizabeth, I've only ever stayed on the Gold floor, so I can't compare to other non-Gold rooms. Sometimes the Gold rooms are smaller, but they have always been finished nicer. I'm often OK with the smaller room, since I have the lounge available as an additional space. But beyond the room itself, Fairmont Gold tries to offer a completely separate hotel. You arrive at the hotel, and go straight to the Gold lounge to check-in. Same thing with check-out. Same thing with concierge services. There's very little in the way of hotel services, even pre-arrival, where you need to deal with other areas of the hotel.

I'll admit that I found the lounge rather large and crowded in both Ottawa and Banff (and choose not to stay on the Gold floor at Banff anymore as a result, since it's not the sanctuary that it can be at other properties), and would like to see them scale back Gold access further, not open it up more. In other places, it's a very intimate setting, and more people crowding the place would feel noisy and busy. In Tremblant, which has less than 20 Gold rooms on the floor, we're often the only ones in the lounge, and most of the time, there's no more than 3 to 5 other couples there at once, even at breakfast when it is most busy. It's hard to beat the service levels in that sort of setting. I think I've mentioned this example before, that the staff there, which are the same year-after-year, even remember how we take our coffees from earlier visits, and have them ready for us as soon as we walk in the lounge for breakfast. Even on arrival at the hotel, instead of having to say, "Hi, I'm Mr. X checking in", we step off the elevator on the Gold floor, and the staff in the lounge already know us and greet us with a friendly hug, and take us to our room. It's harder to get to know the people as well in a larger space.

dmodemd

Thanks for the other details, nice to know what to expect. The services above I found out only after I was already there. When my key stopped working, I went all the way down to the front desk and was told I could have just gone to the lounge .

Of course we don't get a separate fitness option (other than in-room toy maybe), so at least at Dallas, the distance from Gold to fitness is the longest trek possible in the hotel.

In my last experience, the lounge was extremely quiet despite the large hotel being sold out. So I presume all Gold rooms were occupied, it's just the use of the lounge was spread out.

I would really be interested in knowing how many Platinums are typically there in a given week to see how much extra load that would put on the lounge.

Hyatt has the same approach at many higher end properties: separate check-in and concierge desk. I have found it to be very nice to have. I get that and a great lounge experience just with my Globalist status. Hyatt has recently raised the qualification level for Globalist but I haven't found the lounge to be excessively busy, yet they are quite busy I admit. I think it's mostly split between those who have bought in and those who have status.

I do think giving Golds lounge access is going too far though (Marriott and Hilton).