henry999

We are in SK EuroBonus. There, the qualifying period (or membership year) is based on when you joined the programme; for example ours runs from October-September. However, elite status is awarded on a calendar year basis. Most recently we qualified Silver in November of 2003 and when we got the cards they said 'expiry date: 12-04'. Then in January of 2004 we qualified Gold and when the gold cards came they said 'expiry date: 12-05'. So, it looks like status is good until the end of the calendar year following the one in which you qualify.

How do the other *A schemes handle this? It appears to be about the only information missing from BlondeBomber's wonderful comparison table.

Since SK EB is not a particularly generous or attractive plan, we are thinking about changing. AC and BD both look good--does anyone know how long elite status lasts with them?

Thanks in advance.

cheers,

Henry

Kiwi Flyer

Nice idea for a thread ^

It varies by program, and sometimes by when in the year you qualify.

NZ - based on member year, which resets if you attain higher status (so only 12 months), 1 month gap between qualifying period and status period. Eg if qualify during 12 months ended September 2005 then status applies November 2005 to October 2006.

LH (SEN and FTL) - based on calendar year, status lasts 26 months (plus rest of current year), need to qualify in either of the 2 calendar years. Eg if qualify during 2005 then status applies from date qualify to Feb 2008.

LH (HON) - based on 2 calendar years (or is it 24 consecutive months?).

SQ (excl PPS) - based on fixed 12 month period ending 31 March. Status lasts until following 31 March. Eg if qualify between 1 April and 30 November 2005 then status applies until 31 March 2007.

SQ (PPS) - based on membership year (anniversary of first attaining PPS or Solitaire). Status lasts until following anniversary.

glg

UA - based on calendar year. Status earned in a year is good for the rest of the year, the following year, through the end of Feb the next year.

eg, qualified 6/2004. Status good through end of 2/2006.

The overlap is to allow time for cards to be mailed at the start of the year.

Gardyloo

This is very useful. How about downgrades, i.e., if you're in the middle of 3 tiers and don't requalify at that level? With AA, you're downgraded one step per year, so if you are EXP and only make Platinum, you're Plat for a year; then Gold if you don't requalify for Plat (or EXP.) So do Golds become Silvers, etc., or simply vanish from the Earth?

Kiwi Flyer

See *A FFP status drops one level only if fail to requalify

jjpb3

BD - gold status good one year after attaining status (i.e., attain status 15 Nov 2005, status good until 14 Nov 2006)

(Note: BD is very generous, giving 25% tier bonus on all * A flights, but the generosity is diluted by the current difficulty in getting through to their call centre to redeem those miles)

Fliar

Apparently on Asiana you get lifetime status if you reach 100,000 miles in one year (there is currently no expiry). Others will have the inside word on this.

UKFlyerWithUS

US works the same as UA.

Hagbard Viking

This is not quite true. Status lasts until three months after the end of your individual qualifying period. Since yours runs from October to September the status year happens to coincide with the calendar year in your particular case. However, for someone whose qualifying period is, say, April-March, status would last until June, etc.

TWAforever

The way I interpret Asiana, once you fly 100,000 miles (doesn't have to be in one year) you get *G. It is not lifetime, but you only need 40,000 miles every 3 years to maintain. Their highest status is lifetime, but requires 1,000,000 miles.

Fliar

That's right, I remeber now. 40,000 miles / 3 years, that's only 13,000 per year!!

I believe the 100,000 has to be on Asiana metal?

glg

UA has this as well, Million Miler status. You get Premier Exec (mid level, *G) for life. Miles must be on UA metal.

henry999

Thanks. One thing I'm not clear about, though. As I said in my original message, we qualified Silver in November of 2003 and the resulting silver cards expired 12-04. This is consistent with your explananation. However, just two months after reaching Silver, we qualified Gold in January of 2004, within the same status year. But the gold cards are good until 12-05, or 15 months after the end of our qualifying period. So that doesn't seem to fit with your analysis. (The same thing happened in an earlier cycle: we qulaified Gold in January of 2001 and the gold cards we got expired 12-02.)

cheers,

Henry

Hagbard Viking

Your qualification year ends in September, thus, your "status year" ends in December. If you qualify for higher status anytime during your qualification year it should be valid for the remainder of your current status year plus all of the following. For example, if you qualify for Gold sometime during October 2004 to September 2005, you will get Gold status until December 2006 (i.e., the remainder of the current status year which lasts until Dec 2005 + the following). So, depending on how early in the qualification year you qualify, status may be good for up to two years. Seems pretty consistent with what you wrote.

henry999

Thanks again. But I'm afraid I'm still confused.

Are the rules different for Silver and Gold?

We qualified for Silver 'sometime during October 2003 to September 2004', specifically in November 2003. Seemingly, then, the status should have lasted until December 2005 "(i.e., the remainder of the current status year which lasts until Dec 200[4] + the following)". But it didn't. The silver cards said 'expiry date: 12-04'.

The fact that we qualified as Gold two months _later_ (January 2004--but still in the same qualification year) and got status for 12 months _longer_ (12-05 rather than 12-04) suggests that there must be a difference between Silver and Gold in the way this is applied.

cheers,

Henry