OH-LGG

For years I've been of the opinion that the Platinum is too easy to achieve. Yesterday, this was suddenly supported by a random conversation with the flight attendant that would point out that so many Platinums on their flights nowadays and its good to see a new Lumo tier.

This made me think is it wise to have so many Platinums and at the same time anyone can get now Gold card without flying.
Situation now is: too many Plats and too many Golds.

Ed Size

So how many Platinums are around? Last figure I heared was approx. 5000 - thats not soo much. But for sure Platinum can be easy to reach - 4 LH C returns and you are more or less done.

But I m sure the average Y customer has a different view on this.

intuition

I am guessing it was on a very specific route where FA every flight sees 10-25 high tier members? If so, then it would be more accurate to say that it is too easy to achieve status on segments, right?
On the route I am thinking of, I recently had the experience that there were more people in line for priority boarding than the ordinary line. Says something about the segment qualifications.

Purjelentaja

We also have to keep in mind how easy or how difficult it is to get emerald status with other oneworld carriers and in that comparison AY Plat definately is not one of the easiest. If getting higher tier gets too difficult, customers quite easily can change program meaning also losing alot of the business they are bringing. Nowadays reaching Plat means 3-4 overseas return trips in J, or almost living in intra-European Y (like some guys here do) which definately is not something Average Joe would do, but someone flying business trips, and very probably he/she is also flying at least some shorter trips as well. So definately a frequent returning customer, probably a good one, and someone the airline wouldn't like to lose. Having many Plats flying nowadays might also come from the economic situation: many companies are doing well and doing more and more business overseas, meaning alot of travelling, as well as AY growing fast, effects of which are the same.

Yes, getting gold card without flying is one of the perks for Plats, but what does that gold card holder use that card for if he/she is not flying? At least not occupying lounges or using other perks. Then on the other hand, if he/she is flying, then he/she would probably get the card anyway, so probably the amount of Golds onboard hasn't increased much due to it.

Purjelentaja

Yep, on the route I am thinking of as well (are we thinking of the same route? very prob), my observations are the same. But then on the other hand, thinking of the flights I have taken this year, on all other except that specific route, there have been less than a handfull of Plats, in most cases probably just one or two. Based on observations on just a couple of routes, it can be very difficult to see the whole pic.

OH-LGG

Heard from where?

Amount of top tier members is not public information so any amount given cant be reliable.

OH-LGG

I didnt talk about any specific routes but air hostesses see all of them They see long haul, they see short haul, they see Greece "leisure" flights, they see domestic and so on.

And of course I ask them how many Lumos they have met on board. Looks like this has increased too because 2-3 months ago I heard answers like zero but now it's 2-3.

And then finally I hear them talking about Platinum mile age runners. Like this week I was coming from TXL, air hostess told me how she knows few Plats made bet who is going to be owner of Lumo first. Who are they?

intuition

Well, if a FA sees 5 lumos a day on one shorthaul route and then flies a few longhauls with no lumos, she still going to remeber that as she seen many.
And surely FA will remeber meeting lumo particularly well, as it is something new.

And again, lumos do get around. With 100 lumos flying 150 segments there are 40 something lumos in the air every day.

WilcoRoger

Just guessing here, but I'd think the majority achieves Lumo on points, not segments. It took me 43 segments, not all of them on AY. So your figure should be seriously revised downwards.

napapiiri

I have had flight attendants now remembering me from other flights. One in particular remembered the route, seat number, and drink order.

intuition

Absolutely correct!

I have no idea how many does it on segments, so naturally I can't justify the number other than from theory. But when we are saying "there are too many" based on the experience tha someone meets "too many" of them each day,one should remeber that it only takes 100 members flying 150 segs/year to fill 40 seats daily.

Also, of those 5 lumos, 15 plats and 30 golds *) that are in the prio bording line but seated in economy on ARN-HEL every day, I am pretty sure most of them got their tier by segments.





*) Again, figurative numbers from my imagination

remymartin

OH-LGG quoted an FA saying there were too many Plats, not Lumos. He also quoted 2-3 (and not per flight). I don’t know where you would get 5? Last week in the Premium lounge there was _1_ seat reserved for Lumo, not more than that.

intuition

It was just meant as an example, as to why the FA observation might not be indicative of anything.
I asked if this was on a single route and LGG said no, since FAs fly all around. And I say, well I think even if someone flies on many routes, if they meet the (surprisingly high) number X of tier A on one single flight, and never again rest of that week, they will still remeber it as there are many tier A nowadays.

LGG also said "no one knows how many there are since it is not a public figure" so I don't know how we can be so sure there are too many of tier B/C/D.

NoWindowSeat

Very easy solution, kill segment qualification once and for all.

Courmisch

I have not qualified on segments for over 5 years, but killing segment qualification seems like it would be a massive damaging overreaction. Of course, there are much more tier customers on routes with lots of AY FQTV, notably ARN, OUL and probably LHR. So what? Unless you make outrageous special exceptions for those few routes, I don't see how you can reasonably fix this.

AY needs to keep the FQTV there loyal so they don't buy D8 (or SK, if it comes back?). Even more so to/from ARN.

Of course, you might not get one of the 2 or 4 aisle exit row seats on such a flight. And if AY planned badly, you might not get the Northeastern French sparkling, and priority boarding becomes meaningless. But in the grand scheme of things, I think that is a small price to pay.