A_Lee

AFAIK, it's for the tiny majority who are their best customers. I would have considered myself one of their best customers. I've flown more than 100K on TG metal for many years. Last year I flew them mostly just for leisure and even then probably flew more than 100K. But the program as described so far is completely worthless to me. I'm mainly commenting on it now given there's still a month to go before the official launch in hopes that TG reads this board and will see that me as one of their loyal customers feels completely betrayed at this slap in the face and insult for giving them so much business.

Sorry, I have to disagree about Krisflyer vs ROP. I fly TG a lot and at least with ROP it gives me some benefits. Krisflyer would get me absolutely nothing being I don't fly SQ much at all these days. I've looked into the program a great deal and even if I flew SQ a lot I wouldn't join. Not to mention SQ completely destroyed their credibility a few years back when modified their program and left left those striving for lifetime PPS just hanging.

Aussie_flyer

you are obviously not flying much paid premium class if you won't get into this new club, so you are small fish I'm afraid.

A_Lee

Have you forgotten so soon the point you tried to drive home in the past? Let me refresh your memory.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thai-...l#post13054882

I never post any of my premium class travel to ROP, simply because I did the math as you suggested and it's a horrible value to put those miles into ROP.

Let's see, if I posted 100K of C travel to ROP I'd get their new Platinum tier, which would get me two upgrades. If I post 100K to BD, being I'm over 55K, I'll get 425K miles and can buy several F tickets to wherever I want to go on whatever airline I choose, not just TG. It was and still is a no-brainer to me.

bkkman

Welcome Marah, I like you am a long term expat in Bangkok.

Wow, something interesting on the forum and seems to have awoken everyone.

If they have based on SQ PPS then not too great but if they have also reviewed earning levels then it could be really interesting. PPS has little to do with miles anymore and is more about how much you have paid for your ticket.

So unless you paid top dollar, excuse me TK, then you get little credit for flying discounted tickets even in biz class. So for people like me who pay for my own business and leisure travel this type of FFP is not good.

This latest system used by SQ and Emirates is probably too complicated for the majority of local ROP members so lets hope for better earning levels also.

I wonder if there will be other ways to get this platinum membership such as AMEXROP, CITIBANK and KTC credit cards issued locally. For example if you have the Thai American express card locally you can get a gold card for only 25,000 miles instead of 50,000 and half mileage redemptions for companions if you buy a biz or First class ticket, plus lots of other extras on top of miles to your account.

In a city where status cards are a big thing in local society, you even get best reserved parking spots at Malls and shopping centres, with the local mobile operator if you are considered a big spender !

There is usually a way to get privilges from Thai easier if you live here which is probably opposite to other loyalty programmes where the home market does not get the same offers as the away market.

A good example of the local resident rate is, I just stayed in a Grand Deluxe Suite at the Peninsula Hotel, normal rate $800 a night. If you book for 2 nights you get one free so $400 great eh, my one night stay, could have stayed upto seven nights, was just $105 !!!

Another example of how the recession is still biting are the hotel dining cards from , Marriot, Sheraton and other Starwood hotels, Accor, Landmark. These are no longer worth buying as both Amex and Citibank are offering 50% off and 2 for 1 dining.

Sorry I know I am straying a little but an example of the market locally and just to point out that local ROP members may get a better deal and I will post if I see.

Unless I change where I put my miles I would remain gold and would not get the platinum card.

Lets just hope that Thai improve ROP for everyone so they get back all the customers who want to use Thai.

I for one do think they are trying even if not there yet. One good example was I flew back from BNE in First last week and was told only one other passenger ( Westerner ) big surprise was when the door closed there was no big group of TIPs barging into the cabin, thank god so maybe things are improving.

Aussie_flyer

No i havent forgotten that point. Your making no sense?

I accrue all my *A miles into BD nowadays, Im still holding a SQ*G membership that they comped me last year until the end of this year. I don't understand why you are so angry if you are not putting your miles into ROP anyway. Who cares about the platinum plus tier, the benefits don't seem to be all that exciting so far, if you want it so bad you simply switch back to ROP.

A_Lee

I normally fly business class when flying on business, and fly economy when flying leisure on my own dime. Last year I flew about 600K BIS miles, of which about 500K was in business, less than 20K in first, and the remainder in economy. I earned over 2,000,000 miles for those flights. The year previous I did similar, though maybe 20% less in each area. I know, as you say I'm just a small fish that TG doesn't care about. Anyways, I put 50K of my economy miles into ROP to renew my ROP Gold status for two more years. I put the other roughly 50K of economy miles into Asiana Club being I'm working towards a million miles with them to get lifetime *G. Almost all the remainder of my mileage earning flights (business & first class) went into BD, with the exception of a small handful of Sky Team, One World, and other non-alliance flights. Being BD doesn't give any extra mileage for economy, other than the 25% silver/gold bonus, and the converting of status miles to destination miles, using them to get ROP gold I felt was making good use of them, being I fly TG a lot.

So this is my whole point. I bank my economy miles with ROP and my premium class miles with BD. Give me a top-tier ROP level that requires 100K miles in any class, and some real benefits (F lounge + fast track) and I'll be a happy camper. Give me some decent earnings when I fly business or first and I might even consider banking some of those miles with ROP. One additional point, I flew a ton of domestic TG flights, which all earn at least 500 miles in ROP. In any other program, most of those flights would have earned considerably less. If it's only a few flights it's not worth even mentioning. However I probably flew on the order of 30 round-trip domestic flights last year, or 30K just there.

Nothing's changed with ROP Gold it would seem. It would probably still be worthwhile to renew my ROP Gold status when the time comes. However at the moment I'm quite pissed off at ROP (not TG in general), because I've been waiting for years for them to introduce a top-tier level with some very usable and rewarding benefits that would make my trips on TG more comfortable and enjoyable. I was extremely disappointed in seeing what is the apparent outcome. Benefits which they want to keep top secret, but based on the only plausible rumors, they won't be giving me any real significant benefit. To top it off I have to bank my business class miles with them and earn a measly 125%. If what I read here is all we get, it ain't gonna happen for me.

Of course I could simply keep quiet and not say anything. I feel though it's worthwhile to voice my extreme disappointment with what ROP did with this new Platinum level, in hopes that if enough people voice similar complaints, maybe they'll reconsider. Of course if I'm the only one that sees it as being useless, they'll simply ignore my single dissenting opinion. I don't necessarily expect you or anyone else to agree with me. If enough do to affect a change in ROP's decision, then fine. If not, I'll still fly TG but will seriously consider simply dumping all my miles into non-ROP programs in the future. And I won't go out of my way to fly TG being they are not giving me any real incentive to via superb FFP perks.

bkkman

Hey guys lets keep it friendly.

As we do not have the full info on the new platinum level lets wait and see the details.

As for BD it is great but alas its day will come when it merges into M&M and again as we do not know when d-day will happen and any potential divorce settlement details yet.

All regular contributors have some valid points but we all have different agendas on what floats our boat, from mileage sales to companion deals or earning levels to upgrades.

Lets all remember we are all different.

Aussie_flyer

yes BD will most likely go soon but I still don't see why you would dump 50,000 miles into ROP when they are worth 112,500 miles on BD. If you are almost always puting your BD number into your reservations TG probably don't know you are ROP Gold anyway.

What you need is something like SQ's PPS where you can double dip. You can accrue points to BD on SQ but PPS value to SQ all at once.

A_Lee

Agree that we have to wait and see until we pass final judgment. However, extremely significant in the one news release so far is that TG is saying the benefits are to be kept top secret. If this holds, we won't know for sure what are the benefits even after it goes live.

It may seem like a big waste of time and energy to discuss something that hasn't been completely officially announced, but I think intelligent businesses monitor the chatter about their doings and use this live feedback in making their decisions.

I know I tend to be quite vocal in situations such as this. No offense is meant to anyone and it probably sounds like I'm more worked up about the situation than I really am, only because strongly worded opinions I feel are necessary to communicate effectively back to the company when a customer is dissatisfied. A timid and simple one line blurb that says "I'm disappointed" isn't going to give any usable feedback to TG.

The old saying, "it's the squeaky hinge that gets the oil" is often quite true in the business world. If you don't complain, don't expect the company to be a mind reader and give you what you want.

Sorry for being so verbose on this subject. At the moment it is probably the single most important subject to me with relation to my flying TG (which is a significant part of my flying), which is why I'm trying to express myself as much as possible.

Marah

Thanks for the welcome Bkkman - that's exactly why I've stuck with ROP all these years.....the priviliges & perks are virtually free flowing when you're a subscriber to the local market. Yes, the lifestyle can become somewhat George Clooney-esque but hey, if it means I'm able to redeem points for flights in F several times a year because I used an ROP-aligned credit card, then why not.

Its still early days but I too am watching intently to see what further revamps/overhauls/improvements the new TG President will make in all areas of operation. Given the gamut of 'challenges' he inherited (not to mention the old school politics), I'd say so far so good......let's see.

A_Lee

I agree that the additional 62,500 miles for banking them with BD as opposed to ROP is tempting. But being I fly TG a lot and ROP Gold does have some specific benefits to flying TG, I felt it was worth it. In the past I was able to use the GUP on very long PNRs, such as SYD to Europe return, or similar distance itineraries. So that alone was a pretty good exchange for the 62K miles, assuming the upgrade was something I really wanted to do. In addition, ROP Gold entitles you to squeeze onto fully booked flights, provided the waiting list isn't closed. I've used that feature numerous times to my advantage. Lately it seems they've been giving preferential treatment to ROP Golds in giving them priority in op-ups. The birthday award in years past also made up somewhat for TG's stingy earn/burn rates, if one could use it. If one doesn't fly TG much, then I'd agree ROP Gold is a poor value. Devaluating miles and watering down the birthday award though in recent years has made ROP less attractive than it was.

I'm definitely not looking forward to the day BD's Diamond Club is swallowed up by M&M. However, I suppose I'll continue to bank my premium miles with M&M at that point, even if they don't give me as good of a deal as BD does. I believe it'll still probably be much better than ROP's stingy COS bonuses. Lack of any significant bonus for economy miles though will make ROP look even better for those who have a significant number of economy miles and who fly TG metal a lot.

bkkman

Hi A_Lee,

No problem I agree with you about being vocal when complaining and I too am waiting for all the details of ROP Platinum and BD being merged with M&M .

Hi Dazz81

Your point again is valid but every now and again Thai decide to do a 50% reduction in miles needed so 50,000 becomes 100,000 and makes me think that at times ROP can be ok.

As far as PPS is concerned I tried to get that last year and after a flying start with biz tickets it turned into a damp squib as they changed the model to reflect the price you paid for your ticket and not the miles flown. I booked 14 international biz class mainly SIN-LHR or SIN-SYD or AKL with some BKK-SIN but all my return sectors scored zero or little PPS value.

I did complain and also via biz traveller mag but to no avail.

Lets hope all changes to ROP and BD work for us all.

bkkman

George Clooney-esque

That is funny............. but a cool idea

jcowle

Just had my invitation today.
Will update when more info is sent.

Regards
JOHN

brunos

Just to insert my pinch of salt in a heated discussion. I was wondering about the big picture.
As mentioned above, there is a big distinction between TG and ROP. You can be very loyal to TG and bank all your miles in BD Diamond Club (DC) or M&M. Frankly, a frequent premium pax on TG has no rational for choosing ROP over DC (or M&M). It just makes little sense. DC is a money-machine that attracts members from all over the orld even if they never fly on BD.
So that raises the question of why TG (which fully owns ROP) decides to introduce a new level and what kind of benefits it should offer. "Why" must be to induce pax to fly more often on TG and at higher prices. NOT to attract premium pax to switch from DC/M&M to ROP. Many other *A FFPs offer better earning/spending rates on TG with lounge access and excess baggage. So I would suppose that the inducements have to be of a different kind that cannot be achieved using other FFPs. Just making ROP "better" will not induce high-flyer pax to both move to ROP and spend more money on TG. By making ROP more "attractive", it will cost money to TG; so it'd better be offset by higher revenues. For example, top status in a *A FFP does not give access to F lounges; maybe the new level will. Maybe there will be other monetary benefits. The benefits have better be excellent to induce many TG high-spender to move to ROP and then be induced to spend even more on TG. Or even to influence existing ROP member to spend more in the hope of achieving the top status.

In addition to PPS, there are many examples of top-tier cards. For example, BA has the Premier card, AF has the Club 2000. But these are given out subjectively. They are destined to very-high flyers but also to "influential" people. A worry when TG introduces a somewhat confidential card given out after careful "review", is that the Thai influential people will progressively all get it.