indomie

Hey... so here's an interesting situation which I can't find a solid answer on...

I'm currently Silver & 50 points from Gold. My Silver expires at the end of the month on the same day I'm making a trip that will give me 30 points. I know that although the points are credited to your account a few days after travel that Qatar counts the points on the date of travel.

I have had a QA rep tell me that I will need to request a manual override/correction once the points hit the system AND I've had a rep tell me that they actually go by Doha time rather than the time zone I'm in & therefore the points may not actually qualify even though time zone-wise I'll be starting AND completing my travels on my expiration day.

Since I'm going to be so close to Gold, I'm inclined to make a Q-Point run next week to make up the missing points... but I don't want to spend the time or $$ if it is unlikely that I'll end up with Gold anyway.

What are your expert opinions on this situation?

A. Do you think I'm likely to get Gold in the end?

and

B) Am I crazy to spend approx $500 and a day to make up the 20 points just to move up to Gold rather than down to Burgundy? (I'm more wondering about the $$ as I have plenty of work I can get done in the air / waiting at the airport.)

remdk

indomie welcome to the Qr forum.

You have a renewal date of 30 June so you must have earned at least 135 Qpoints up to and including 29 June to requalify for Silver. You appear to have more than requalified for Silver renewal.
To reach Gold you need to earn 300 Qpoints in ANY period of 12 months. The date is NOT tied to your renewal date! Your travel on 30 June is not lost but rather adds to your Qpoint tally but Qpoints older than 12 months no longer count.

This is better seen on https://qmiles.qatarairways.com/ffpo...ierUpgrade.jsf rather than being described.


"B) Am I crazy to spend approx $500 and a day to make up the 20 points just to move up to Gold rather than down to Burgundy?" Since you have already earned enough Qpoints to requalify for Silver you ill not be downgraded to Burgandy!

TheDinge

$500 is definitely worth it if it is your last chance hitting Gold, with all the extra extra miles, OW lounge benefits, and 40 Qcredits, which can worth up to $800 if you use them properly.

indomie

Thank you remdk! Your reply was helpful... I was definitely confused about the difference between the renewal date and the point accumulation date - thanks for clearing that up. At minimum, I'll keep my Silver status... and if I make that point run flight for the missing points prior to my June 20 flight, I'll be Gold.

I went back and looked at my point history and my furthest back travel that will qualify was June 23, 2016. Since my flight is on June 20, 2017, I should not have a problem having enough points to upgrade to Gold with the extra flight.

indomie

Thanks TheDinge! It's sometimes difficult to put a value on this sort of thing, but I feel a lot more comfortable making the extra flight now... I was already leaning toward doing it, but suddenly wondered if it was silly of me to try to move up to Gold.

TheDinge

There's also a tier calculator under 'my calculator' on Qatarairways.com, simply press TP required to upgrade on the day you desire then it's all clear.

Bear in mind that QR TPs run at a rolling basis so if you miss this one, only TPs earned a year ago should expire, you don't get reset to 0.

Welcome to the club!

spec119

I've got a similar issue I can't get a straight answer from PC I currently have 564 q points so I need 36 points to qualify for platinum so I found a BA flight leaving 10th return 14th June LGW-LCA exactly 36 points and I start losing Qpoints on June 25th so I'm just hoping ba post promptly I've asked qr would they retrospectively upgrade me if the points were added late but no proper answer any other members had similar situation?

indomie

I'll let others weigh in as well since I started the thread and am (was) obviously unclear about how the program worked... but, from everything I've seen, Qatar Airways credits points and miles based on the date of travel. Since your flight is to be completed several days prior to you losing points, I don't see how you could have a problem. At worst, you may have to call in to have it looked at.

My flight is AA, and in previous AA flights the credit shows within 4-5 days. Although my silver status expires on my day of travel, my points don't start dropping off until two days later, so I am comfortable and confident that I'll be Gold by July.

spec119

I'm 18 points away from platinum guess what just completed LCA-LGW in I class with an allowance of 18 q points the suspence is killing me lol

anyway PC assured me that they would apply a manual tier upgrade if BA drag their heels on posting

indomie

Hahaha... Glad I'm not the only one in this situation (though you got a much clearer answer than I did from them).

I'll be making up 52 points on three separate trips in the last days of my plan year, so I'm really in suspense.... and am sure that I'll need to call in for a manual adjustment once the points all post in the system.

As long as it's taken care of in time for my next international flight at the end of July, I'm ok with that.

spec119

It was very difficult to get a straight answer re the manual upgrade I had asked many times however I decided to submit a claim missing miles email it was confirmed upon their reply .

still no posting 6 days after flight

makrom

I'm really unsure whether Gold status is worth $500.
If you make around 300 QP per year with flying economy, you will earn about 30000 extra Qmiles and you'll get lounge access as well as extra baggage allowance. If you primarily fly C though, it will only be around 15000 extra Qmiles and the lounge privilege will be wasted. You'll get the same extra baggage allowance, but in most cases, the regular allowance will be high enough already.
As for the Qpoints, it's true that they can be worth a lot, but their usability is extremely situational. Many people struggle to put them to any use at all, it's quite common for Qpoints to expire at the end of the year.

spec119

happy days got my platinum upgrade yesterday

purple1addict

Congrats ^

indomie

I fly economy almost exclusively, so having the lounge access, the extra baggage allowance, and the extra miles are more meaningful to me. I always buy lounge access so I can take a shower since my travels usually take 24+ hours, so the lounge access is particularly valuable to me. I think for these 3 things alone the value to me is worth the $500 I spent... and the Qpoints are just a bonus on top (if, as you say, I can even make use of them).

Yeah - congrats!! I was surprised that one of my legs on AA from yesterday (PVG-DFW) had already posted... so I am tantalizingly close at 292/300. I doubt I'll be lucky and have the second leg post (or today's flight) prior to cutoff, but here's hoping!