CX Requalification Levels
 

Somehow I lost the thread where I am supposed to be posting this message and since the CX Asia Miles is still not working - here is the next best place to post.

This message is specifically for Tedhl but all Marco Polo The Club members welcome:

After calling the toll-free number to HongKong, I have come to the conclusion that Cathay Pacific's the Club is the most expensive (US$50 join fee), and the most difficult to attain top elite if starting from scratch (requires 210,000 miles) and has the least benefits (no upgrade certificates, no mileage bonuses, no thresfold bonuses) and urge all current GREEN (applying members) to dump The Club and join some other OneWorld member instead.

After speaking to 2 different agents at the toll-free line in Hongkong today, it confirmed Tedhl's suspicions. The Club is good only if you have already attained Gold (1world's Sapphire status) and is aiming for Diamond (1world's Emerald). It is easier that way. All others - Silver (1world's Ruby) have to earn ridiculous amounts to attain their next level.

This is how Cathay Pacific calculates their miles.....

Just by joining in AsiaMiles does not qualify you to join The Club. First you have to pay an application fee of US$50. Then you will be issued with an "Entry Level" card.
There are no benefits at this level. You need to accumulate 30,000 miles to attain Silver (1world-Ruby). Once you attain this level, your mileage balance will be reset to zero, and your membership begins that month.

To get up to the next level, you need to accrue an additional 60,000 miles to reach Gold. You have one year from your membership expiry date to do so. Once you attain 60,000 miles, you will attain Gold (1world-Sapphire). Once again, your Club balance is reset to zero and your new membership expiry month is the month you attain the new level + 1 year.

Then to reach Diamond, you need to accrue 120,000 miles within that year.

For someone who is just starting out - that means you need to accrue 210,000 miles (and remember, discount economy counts for only 0.5 miles) just to reach Emerald status.

In true fact, this way of calculation is only beneficial if you already hold Gold and is trying to reach Diamond or simply retaining Gold. You have till the end of your membership to accrue the required ClubMiles to retain your status. But this is no way to welcome new members - who in my opinion is better off joining another oneworld partner and reaping Sapphire benefits when in the Cathay programme, you're only getting Ruby recognition.

I've voiced my displeasure to CX and have warned them that in time to come, there will be no new Marco Polo members once people know that they can get better deals elsewhere. Whether or not Cathay listens is another matter altogether.

[This message has been edited by Celestar340 (edited 04-19-99).]

Celestar340, yes, I agree completely with all what you said...

When I relocated to Hong Kong a few months ago, I did think about joining AAdvantage instead of Asia Miles / The Club...and I wrote to AAdvantage to check if they can offer me Platinum (oneworld Sapphire) based on my Prem Exec status with United, and my expected future travel between USA & Asia, and within Asia, with them and their oneworld partners...but they replied and said no, not even offering Gold (oneworld Ruby) or talked about the Gold or Platinum challenge...just a plain new AAdvantage card...I think Hong Kong Flyer said he wrote them too, and he's a 1K with United, but he even didn't get a reply at all...

And, since I'm now based on HK, recently more than 80% of my travel are on CX, and the rest with BA, mostly because of CX's more frequent and more flexible schedule...although it's hard to get top status with CX, I think maybe it's a bit better to be an elite flyer with the program of the airline that you're flying really the most often...

But, I wasn't that happy with the long period of time it took them to process my Marco Polo application...I first wrote them in late January, asking if it's possible for me to get a complimentary Silver membership with The Club, based on my 10+ roundtrips since December last year...and I didn't hear back from them at all until early March, when they emailed me back and said it's ok, and asked me to send in my boarding passes and ticket copies as proof...I replied to them the next day...but, it wasn't until April 15 that they finally processed my application...I had been calling them since late March on almost every single Friday (when I'm back to HK during weekends), to check whether they have received all required materials and what the progress of my application is, but the agents answering the phone do not know at all, saying that what they have in their computer for me is just my name and account number, nothing else...they all said that they would ask the one responsible to give me a call back ASAP to let me know of the status of my application, but they never did...it's not until after April 15 that I finally received a call to let me know that my application was officially processed...

The worst part is, as Celestar340 noted, the "zero-ing" policy...since they processed my application on April 15, my qualifying Club sectors and miles start from 0 on that day again...although they give me Silver status based on my travel before January, my flights between February 1 and April 15 don't count towards the next level...I have exactly 20 sectors (including the class of service bonus) with CX and oneworld, already 50% on my way to Gold...but they just don't count those at all because my Silver membership starts on April 15...

I understand that maybe it's really their rule to not retroactively count any flights before membership starts...but, if it takes them almost 3 whole months to process such a request, I don't think it's fair at all not to bend the rule a little bit...

And, one interesting point to note, although I'm not 100% sure about this...I think CX does all these trackings based on the date on which the travel record is actually entered into the system, not your travel date...so, for example, if you need a flight on the last day of your membership year to re-qualify, you may be out of luck, because that won't be posted to your account until a few days later and this is the date that counts...although I'm not very sure about this policy...anyone can confirm ??

Tedhl -

I can see you share my frustrations with Cathay. I hated this system of one-number to call. You NEVER get to speak to someone you know adn they know you. You are just a computer reference to them. And why is the English speaking departing always seemed to be manned by Japanese people?

Have you tried getting your 'upgraded' status with British Airways? BA UK or even US may be more generous in giving you comp. status than CX.

The question about whether CX gives you credit based on your departure date or the date they input it in their system....You get credit for the date you fly. It takes a few days for the credit to go into your account, but you get the credit based on your travel date.

Can you not get similar status with BA (or even GOLD) since you do actually fly on BA a few times a year?

What does Merry think?

Tedhl -

Yes, in theory, your membership begins on April 15.

But you have a case here - when did you receive the email to say that you will be accepted for Silver membership? I'd take all the written proof and get there ...unfortunately The Club's office is at CLK. And speak to a manager or someone ...and preferbly one who speaks proper English. ie all the top managers ARE English! I think you might have better luck there.

I think you would be struggeling to get comped with BA. I am unaware of them comping anyone except as part of an ECCCA (Executive Club Corporate Card Agreement). That is of course not to say it doesn't happened there are always exceptions.

I am not sure what AA's policy is towards comp Elite status.

I think you are quite right that there are big advantages of beihg in the FF scheme of your principal carrier, despite all the alliance hype.

I would suggest you make a higher level complaint to CX. Peter Buecking is the Director of Sales and Marketing, he and is staff are very helpfull. I would suggest you write to him at CX's Head Office.

Nick




[This message has been edited by Merry (edited 04-23-99).]

Bravo, Merry...

I forgot what Peter Bueking's name was....!
Yes - that was what I wanted tedhl to do - write to the 'foreigners' at CX marco Polo Club. They at least know what service is! And how to apply it.

well, I'm not saying that I'm not satisfied with their service in general...in fact, I must say that all the member service executives I talked to at The Club and Asia Miles were all very polite, sincere and helpful...but they just simply couldn't see anything in their computer systems about my request...and, so far I think my in-flight experiences have been very good too (well, I'm used to United's quality, so I'm not expecting too much... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif )

Anyway, my only frustration here is...why it took them 3 months to process my request and application...why they didn't give me a reply although they repeatedly promised to do so (they always said they're sending an "urgent" request on my behalf)...and, if it's really always the case that it takes them a relatively long time to process an application, whether they should bend or amend the rules a little bit to accommodate this...

As an aside, I checked my records (you would laugh if you saw the file I am reffering to!) and AA has comped people for me in the past, although they are sringy, typically comping to Gold with a Platinum challange lumped in.

Tedhl: I am gald you are pleased with the service. But do write to CX, you have a genunie complaint/point to make to them. At a senior level they are extremely helpful and are genuinely pleased to be given to opportunity to exceed customer expectations and learn from their actions which frustrate customers.

As you are pleased with their service tell them that, but also tell them of your dissapointment. It is only fair that you give them a chance to improve things for the next punter. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Merry - I'm quite surprised to learn that you're not always critical in your comments! Very well said, I must add ! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Cathay Pacific has some good PR people and they try to exceed expectations. I wrote them a 2 page letter after one of my flights from London to HK on Christmas Eve '98 when they upgraded literally more than half the Business Class cabin from economy. I was not pleased since I was one of 4 fullfare paying customers. Anyway, after cursing and swearing not wanting to travel on them again, I was surprised to receive a Registered letter enclosing an Upgrade certificate (oneway only though) for my next trip. I usually only get "apology letters - asking me to travel with them again" from other airlines like Singapore Airlines, and Thai .... (is this a STAR thing)?

Anyway - both Merry (can I speak for you) and I have the confidence that you will be comped to Gold and all your travels since the original email to you , will be included in your account.

Best of luck!

Actually Merry's comments, despite an occasional blowout, are very erudite.

A thoughtful, intelligent chap.

Celestar340, your comments suggesting me to consider joining BA's Exec Club instead of CX's The Club was very interesting...and I did a quick calculation for my travel in the past 3 months, February to April...

I had, 8 Y (full-fare), 2 J and 1 F roundtrips with CX and BA...all within Asia, short-haul...

With The Club, I'm getting 8 * 1 * 2 + 2 * 1.25 * 2 + 1 * 1.5 * 2 = 24 sectors, just enough to make Silver (oneworld Ruby), the requirements of which is 20 Club sectors...

If I had it with BA's Exec Club instead, I would have gotten 8 * 15 * 2 + 2 * 30 * 2 + 1 * 45 * 2 points, i.e. 450 points, enough to make Silver with BA (oneworld Sapphire)...with Exec Club - Global, I only need 400 points to become Silver, and 800 points to become Gold (oneworld Emerald)...

So, with my flight patterns within the last three months, I would be either Silver (Ruby) with CX or Silver (Sapphire) with BA...

If I want to be Gold (Sapphire) with CX, I need 36 more sectors, i.e. 18 full-fare Y roundtrips...to be Diamond (Emerald), I need 36 + 80 more sectors, i.e. 58 full-fare Y roundtrips...

But if I had chosen BA, I'm now already Sapphire...and to become BA Gold (Emerald), I need 350 more points, i.e. only 12 full-fare Y roundtrips, or 6 J roundtrips, or 4 F roundtrips...

Did I do all these right ?? Seems there's a huge difference there...should I switch to BA now...

even if I start from scratch with BA now...I need 27 Y sectors to become Sapphire...and then another 27 Y sectors to become Emerald...

and, although I'm already Ruby with CX now, with 4 sectors towards Sapphire (current status does matter, due to their "zero-ing" policy), I still need 36 Y sectors to become Sapphire with them, and then another 80 (!!) Y sectors to become Emerald...

should I really stick to the airline that I fly the most often, or is alliance-wide recognition good enough ?? what do all of you think ??

Tedhl -

You must weigh the differences between The Club and Exec Club.

There is no advantage to taking out CX's Club if all you're going to get is Ruby. The advantages start only at their Gold - Sapphire level. This is in particular to the economy class seat guarantee within 72 hours of travel. This comes in very handy for peak period flights and you're always guaranteed an upgrade if you show up 'late' for the flight. The benefits for Diamond-emerald on CX extends to economy or business class seating within 24 hours of travel.

If you have a good enough travel agent in HK who can more or less pull favours to get you on CX flights coupled with your Sapphire and Emerald status of another airline (should you so wish), then you would not have that much of a problem getting anywhere.

I think the dissatisfaction here is between you and CX The Club's service centre. You MUST get into Gold-Sapphire level otherwise it will take far too much travelling just to keep up. Once at that level, you can either aim for Diamond or retain your level throughout (ie Gold).

If CX refuses - then I'd walk over to BA. Perhaps Merry can give you a good contact to call and you can discuss your predicament and maybe BA might offer you Silver right away based on your previous travel patterns this year.

Also - you must also keep up with the 4 sectors on member airline (ie BA) if you want to retain their status. HKG-TPE-HKG or MNL or LHR. But I think that is the least of your worries.

Did you have any other top status memberships prior to you being relocating to HK? These would help show that you will be switching allegiance.

[This message has been edited by Celestar340 (edited 04-27-99).]

this question should really belong to the BA forum...but since we're comparing different oneworld programs here, I guess I'll just post my question here first...

it's quick question about BA Exec Club, maybe Merry can help me on this...

so far I know there are 3 "versions" of the Exec Club...US, UK and Global...so, does it mean that members residing in any countries outside of US and UK are enrolled in the Global Exec Club ??

I asked this because...I just got a copy of the Exec Club Membership Handbook from one of my colleagues...and this handbook seems to be talking about "Executive Club in Asia"..."The benefits of the Executive Club in Asia apply only to residents of Brunei, Hong Kong, Kampuchea, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, N. Korea, People's Republic of China, Philippines, Singapore, S. Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam."

Unlike the Global Exec Club...in the handbook it says we need 700 points to become Silver and 1,700 points to become Gold...more like the US and UK versions of Exec Club...but, they don't seem to have elite bonus for Silver and Gold, so it's not exactly the US version, I guess...

And, I just found out they do have the same "zero-ing" policy, like what CX has too...that means whenever you attain a higher tier, your Points balance will be reset to 0...so in fact my calculations before were not exactly correct...

So, in fact how many "versions" of the Exec Club do they really have ??

Celestar340,

of course, I don't think I'll have only Silver/Ruby with CX...just did a quick check on my travel schedule within the next few months...since they reset my status count on Apr 15...if there's no change to my current plan, I'll have to wait until some time in mid-August to accrue the 40 sectors needed for Gold/Sapphire (otherwise I should have enough by June)...

in fact, by August I'll have taken about 80 flights with them, within 9 months, but still just barely make the middle-tier...80 more flights (or 64 more, if I choose to fly J) to make Diamond...