Y'all still have points left? I redeemed all of mine and am weighing my options as to which Start Alliance program to use to bank a big trip I have coming up at the start of January,

Just 37k to burn......

I’m down to 16,000 points, ie useless and effectively orphaned...I didn’t manage the rundown very well, LOL. I’m off to TK, at least for a trial period.

About 400k remaining and nearly 30k earned in the last 8 days.

I am in awe!! But I typically don’t pay for premium cabins ...

I went to OZ after the ROP changes were announced.

Goodbye Thai Airways, I wish I never knew ye...

Me too......I am almost 100% loyal to TG but without ROP I would buy every ticket on price from a list of about 6 airlines.......

I am probably too loyal to TG, but I hate stopovers on long flights whether for business or leisure and much prefer TG's (or for example ANA's) service compared to those of Middle Eastern Airlines whose staff sometimes don't seem to understand that the customer does not always want to eat and drink everthing that is available; rather have some peace and quiet.

I'm down to 35k thanks to flying my family to BKK using the 50% miles + cash deal a few months ago. I'm thinking of moving to another FF program but can't decide which. I doubt I'll fly enough this year to retain my gold status, since it runs out in Aug and I haven't done ny miles since last August. I have an SQ flight coming up in a few weeks but if I change to Tk I might move this flight to that proram rather than TG.

I was in the same boat last year. Wish I'd decided to switch sooner, right after they'd announced the devaluation to ROP. I stupidly kept accumulating ROP miles for several longhaul flights before ultimately switching to OZ. You can switch now and most likely continue to enjoy your Gold benefits in the meantime, while you start working your way to TK Gold.

Yep, I signed up for TK yesterday. I've got a flight in 10 days that already has my TG number in it but I shoul be able to swap that at check in. Couldn't do it online for some reason. I was going to switch to SG but the points requirred for Gold are silly, around 70k.

Edit: I just checked Australian Airlines (OZ), they only require 35,000 miles for a frequent traveller card. Is this the lowest milage for a card that gets business check in and lounge access?

I am sure you meant Asiana Airlines (OZ), based in South Korea. :)

I fly a lot of longhaul to Africa via TK. I'd be curious if you could share your reasons for swapping to TK? I want to ditch TG thanks to the horrible redemption rates, but looking at the TK redemption charts, they don't look any better. Any advice would be appreciated!!

Ha ha, yep got that wrong. I didn't even mean Australian Airlines, don't know why I typed that. I was refering to Austrian Airlines, just got the code wrong on that as well.

Yesterday was a holiday so it feels like Monday, I must have Mondayitis.

It was purely on the milage to get to a status where I can use business class check in and the lounge. TG is 50k. TK is 40k but today I found Miles & more, which is LH, Austrian, Swiss. They have 35k. TBH, trying to redeem points for tickets these days is just becoming a hassle. I also travel mainly for work and I generally don't buy the tickets, the companies I work for do. I don't have a huge say it the flights but do occasionally fly with TG. Problem is, now that they have changed there redemption policy it's impossible for me to upgrade any flights, the tickets are usually the cheapest available.

I managed to use a lot of points last year to fly my family to Thailand on the 50% points + cash deal, so I only have 35k left. I also haven't flown on *A since mid-August and my 2nd year on my gold card started a week later. Hence I need 50k by mid-August to retain my gold card. If I switch over then I get 1 year to get gold status again.