HON "enhancements" getting closer [HON bonus reduced from 50% to 25%] [merged]
Sep 6, 2007, 5:52 pm
#106
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
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Sep 6, 2007, 6:22 pm
#107
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: A Sight For Roll Eyes
Programs: :enrolleyes:+, :drôleyes:
Posts: 5,461
BTW which of the two do you mean is the MonoHONist 
Sep 6, 2007, 6:40 pm
#108
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Sep 6, 2007, 7:11 pm
#109
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, SQ PPS Solitaire
Posts: 3,600
OK, I always spent more than EUR 12.000 annually (on LH metal, that is), and I always renewed SEN (mostly on LH metal), sometimes along with 1K (also on LH metal). I guess this made me "one who is flying regularly", right? Strangely enough, nobody ever offered me any kind of discount, not even in the form of relaxed fare rules.
Hence, about than a year ago, I approached my regional sales office in LAX and asked for a discounted fare (or relaxed fare rules) for my frequent LAX-MUC trips on LH. If granted, I'd have increased my travel and most likely made HON within 2 years.
They kindly laughed at me.
I kindly laughed back, stopped all my ticket payments and began to fly exclusively on awards.
Hence, about than a year ago, I approached my regional sales office in LAX and asked for a discounted fare (or relaxed fare rules) for my frequent LAX-MUC trips on LH. If granted, I'd have increased my travel and most likely made HON within 2 years.
They kindly laughed at me.
I kindly laughed back, stopped all my ticket payments and began to fly exclusively on awards.
If you are SEN: FRA-SFO return gets you 25.5K miles, do the same with as BD Gold and you get 51K miles... Unfortunately, you cannot upgrade with those points but the cash&miles awards are unbeatable and I am sure that I know someone who is using that excessively... Don't you, flysurfer?
Sep 6, 2007, 7:20 pm
#110
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Sep 6, 2007, 7:29 pm
#111
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, SQ PPS Solitaire
Posts: 3,600
LH discounts do not depend on the size of the company but on the annual ticket sales volume. If your company is spending heavily on LH and you are willing to actually shift your business to another airline, talk to them. They might not offer you upfront discounted tickets but offer you a certain tiered kick-back - the more you spend the more you save, something like that.
Sep 6, 2007, 7:37 pm
#112
Join Date: Dec 2005
Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold
Posts: 6,913
Nothing wrong with this approach. If LH is actually raising the HON threshold to 750.000 miles, I think that many will sign up for BMI's program: Every mile you collect over 55.000 miles doubles and you have the same earning scheme that LH has:
If you are SEN: FRA-SFO return gets you 25.5K miles, do the same with as BD Gold and you get 51K miles... Unfortunately, you cannot upgrade with those points but the cash&miles awards are unbeatable and I am sure that I know someone who is using that excessively... Don't you, flysurfer?
If you are SEN: FRA-SFO return gets you 25.5K miles, do the same with as BD Gold and you get 51K miles... Unfortunately, you cannot upgrade with those points but the cash&miles awards are unbeatable and I am sure that I know someone who is using that excessively... Don't you, flysurfer?
The same applies to SEN status as well and I would rate Sen way about BD DC Gold if it comes to service and perks.
Sep 6, 2007, 7:40 pm
#113
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,422
I agree with that statement but I bet that most HONs actually enjoy large scale discounts (and Luigi is one of the few exceptions).
LH discounts do not depend on the size of the company but on the annual ticket sales volume. If your company is spending heavily on LH and you are willing to actually shift your business to another airline, talk to them. They might not offer you upfront discounted tickets but offer you a certain tiered kick-back - the more you spend the more you save, something like that.
LH discounts do not depend on the size of the company but on the annual ticket sales volume. If your company is spending heavily on LH and you are willing to actually shift your business to another airline, talk to them. They might not offer you upfront discounted tickets but offer you a certain tiered kick-back - the more you spend the more you save, something like that.
I accept your point that a business need not be large to spend enormous amounts on travel, but the thresholds for discounts are rather high relative to spend for businesses with no more than a few regular flyers.
Sep 6, 2007, 7:48 pm
#114
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: A Sight For Roll Eyes
Programs: :enrolleyes:+, :drôleyes:
Posts: 5,461
I agree with that statement but I bet that most HONs actually enjoy large scale discounts (and Luigi is one of the few exceptions).
LH discounts do not depend on the size of the company but on the annual ticket sales volume. If your company is spending heavily on LH and you are willing to actually shift your business to another airline, talk to them. They might not offer you upfront discounted tickets but offer you a certain tiered kick-back - the more you spend the more you save, something like that.
LH discounts do not depend on the size of the company but on the annual ticket sales volume. If your company is spending heavily on LH and you are willing to actually shift your business to another airline, talk to them. They might not offer you upfront discounted tickets but offer you a certain tiered kick-back - the more you spend the more you save, something like that.
In the first paragraph you make a wild guess (a bet).
In the second one, you take your 1st paragraph guess as a given, and then go ahead and talk about the discounted tickets and kick-backs everyone out there enjoys...
Fine... ^
Sep 6, 2007, 8:01 pm
#115
Moderator: Asiana & Qantas Frequent Flyer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: STR/SYD/SMF
Programs: QF Lifetime SG, LH HON, OZ Lifetime Diamond +, HH Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Platinum
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As implied by flysurfer, a business with only 1 or a few frequent flyers, no matter how frequent their travel is unlikely to get a discount. Compare this with a business with say 1 (or 10 or ...) million a year to spend on travel.
I accept your point that a business need not be large to spend enormous amounts on travel, but the thresholds for discounts are rather high relative to spend for businesses with no more than a few regular flyers.
I accept your point that a business need not be large to spend enormous amounts on travel, but the thresholds for discounts are rather high relative to spend for businesses with no more than a few regular flyers.
Sep 6, 2007, 10:29 pm
#116
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, SQ PPS Solitaire
Posts: 3,600
Yeah, I like this game... My company has 300K+ employees and spends $$$ on LH. :-) We are getting substantial discounts for fully flexible tickets in C - however, as mentioned, we are getting money back at the end of the year, so that the actual ticket price is not a good basis for comparison...
Sep 6, 2007, 10:34 pm
#117
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, SQ PPS Solitaire
Posts: 3,600
Please review and try again - the first paragraph is a speculation about the % of HON flying on discounted tickets (and is explicitly marked as such) and the second paragraph is stating the fact that LH is giving discounts to heavy spenders - and honestly I do not see how that is related to the first paragraph. Whether the first paragraph is correct or not, the discounts are still out there... 
Sep 6, 2007, 10:39 pm
#118
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, SQ PPS Solitaire
Posts: 3,600
Actually I doubt that. As you probably know it's not all about miles. At least for me it's not all about miles about also the hard and soft perks you get e.g. HON award booking guarantee, use of FCT and FCL's, Partner Sen card and and and...
The same applies to SEN status as well and I would rate Sen way about BD DC Gold if it comes to service and perks.
The same applies to SEN status as well and I would rate Sen way about BD DC Gold if it comes to service and perks.
Sep 6, 2007, 11:12 pm
#119
Moderator: Asiana & Qantas Frequent Flyer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: STR/SYD/SMF
Programs: QF Lifetime SG, LH HON, OZ Lifetime Diamond +, HH Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 14,375
Yeah, I like this game... My company has 300K+ employees and spends $$$ on LH. :-) We are getting substantial discounts for fully flexible tickets in C - however, as mentioned, we are getting money back at the end of the year, so that the actual ticket price is not a good basis for comparison...
And most of my international travel is RTW tickets at the moment.
Sep 6, 2007, 11:18 pm
#120
Moderator: Asiana & Qantas Frequent Flyer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: STR/SYD/SMF
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One of the big questions for me is: What does LH actually want to achieve with this?
Given that the goal is to maximize profits and also given that they realize that HON status and FCT access always need to remain an exclusive product I still don't get what they want to achieve.
HON already is a difficult level to achieve. It is very difficult to achieve for people like Kiwi and myself. Even so we have close 600k BIS miles in two years across many airlines.
LH would get so much more business from me if HON could be achieved at 400k in two years.
Given that the goal is to maximize profits and also given that they realize that HON status and FCT access always need to remain an exclusive product I still don't get what they want to achieve.
HON already is a difficult level to achieve. It is very difficult to achieve for people like Kiwi and myself. Even so we have close 600k BIS miles in two years across many airlines.
LH would get so much more business from me if HON could be achieved at 400k in two years.
Last edited by DownUnderFlyer; Sep 7, 2007 at 12:48 am