The redemption devaluation is really bad.
In the past RT F redemption Europe to Bangkok to Australia was 230.000.
Now with the zones adding up and the OW chart taken it comes to a steep 430.000.
Or Europe to Bangkok to Seoul RT in J was 130.000. now 275.000. This is crazy.

Indeed it is crazy. The usual procedure is to have small devaluations every few years. Small enough to avoid too much protest from members.

THAI are making a mockery of the tier bonuses and small increases in some earning categories when award mileage requirements are being increasing by such an overwhelmingly large amount.

So the changes take effect Oct. 1, 2019. I already have a September trip booked. Just hope I don't get sick requiring a delay of the trip. It's hell getting old.

Lucky for me too, as I was planning to start switching over to ROP with November flights.

Cancel that plan - this is a staggering increase in redemption mileages.

you just have to book it before 1. Oct with the old mileage requirement and could also fly later, no problem!

This change clearly makes ROP much worse of a program. So my next challenge is, who do I switch to? Aside from a decent amount of domestic flying on TG I fly BKK - SEA and/or BKK - LAX several times a year, usually on EVA, plus *A airlines here and there. I really like having *A gold for the baggage help. I figured ROP made the most sense a few years ago because I have a home base here in Thailand, but really haven't redeemed any of my TG miles since, as pointed out, they are not the best value to spend.

Should I switch to EVA, since I fly their metal several times a year? I have a home base in the US but I really don't want to go back to earning on UA, because I try to avoid their metal entirely. Which *A carrier should I switch to if retaining my *A Gold with minimal effort and annual spend is my goal?

well, that is the $100,000 question for all of us! And one which probably is so personal that no 2 FlyerTalkers could ever agree.

Nonetheless, well worth plenty of discussion! Everyday I learn something new, or something I knew has changed or is changing...

There are several things to consider including routings mainly flying, booking class(es) mainly booked, etc.

Well, looking at the programs head to head, it appears EVA Air isn't any better or easier to maintain status on than the new crappified ROP.

By the way: With the changes they only have one way award charts left. Does it mean the 50% birthday award can then also only be used for a single one way award?

I already moved to TK couple of years since TG announced incremental of redemption points previously, Never regret I did that. Since I moved to TK (year 2014), already earn and redeem more than 10xRT BKK-Tokyo tickets which 7-8 tickets are in Biz class, no problem with that. I contacted TK office in BKK, no need to call Istanbul. No problem, all smooth as Sink.

I do not see any value try to keep TG premium tier membership. Already been Gold with TK for 3 cycles.

Been flying TG for more than 10+ years, before they will come to ask Gold member sitting in Y-class to choose menu first, then this service disappeared for years and years, just recently see it comes back again. But that's it.

This moves showing TG does not appreciated their loyal customers credit to their program but rather selling mileage to bank/credit card companies. Why should be care? This also means even if I have credit card in Thailand like Citibank, my point also getting cheaper when convert to mile.

Not to mention that this moves make ROP worth lesser and the fee for redemption is still expensive as usual. One of the most expensive among *A members.

This was my email sent back in June 2014 when Thai tried this...

Hi,

I am just writing to check if there is a mistake on the new award chart? It seems all of the rates for business class travel has doubled? Should the table state they are for return flights?

I have just checked other airlines in the region and if the new table is correct Thai is on average 70% more expensive than all of these carriers, they are actually more than double the cost of Singapore Airlines which is a much better airline. Using United miles it is only 60,000 points, so Thai is 326% more expensive for the exact same flight on Thai Airways planes! How is this rewarding your own frequent flyers?

Refer to the table below. This is similar to places in Europe as well with Thai being the most expensive frequent flyer program in the world.Round Trip Miles Required
(Sydney to Bangkok Business Class)Thai (old chart)98000Thai (new chart)196000Singapore Airlines93500Qantas120000Cathay140000Malaysian1060 00Emirates120000United (On Thai Airways planes) 60000

I am hoping it is just an error and should state that the values listed are for return trips. On top of this Thai Airways charges very high fuel surcharges which other airlines do not (they charge only the legitimate taxes.)

I understand Thai Airways is struggling to attract passengers at the moment. This move will just force more people to start crediting towards your partner airlines and costing Thai more money, this will in no way attract new customers or keep the ones you already have happy.

Regards,

A lot of thought in to this by Thai...comment from dajop on AFF:

The bizarre bit on the the Europe award is that if you want to use Thai, and book all the way on Thai as a connection, you use the "Beyond Bangkok" award table, and it's 175k one way. If you use don't book it as a connection, but book it as two one ways, into and out of Bangkok, you use the "One Way- Direct Bangkok" table, and it is 60K + 95K = 155K.

I have a related question if anyone could help . I have a friend who miles are expiring at march 2019 . I have tried looking for donations to extent the miles and there is none,. Then I tried to redeem for a shopping voucher and was told that was an option for overseas residences. So I finally ended up get a AVIS one day car rental voucher and now got a reply again with the same answer needs too be a Thai residences, so I have ran out of options.

Any suggestions ?

Well... It was good while it lasted. Used to be good with all those promotions, but once you got ROP Gold, there was no reasons to fly with TG anymore, since you didn't get a mile bonus for flying on TG's own metal rather than another *A airline (like BR, which used to have a very good value for money in J).
So now, I transferred all my ROP credit cards points to ROP and will book as many J class and F class tickets as possible before 1st Nov...

How many points are we talking about? If you have a friend in Thailand who could accept the voucher, send it to him/her? Maybe it's even possible to google a mail-forwarding company in Thailand? Apart from that, Thai does have a few magazine subscription awards that may be interesting. I.e. TIME and Fortune.

Agree with the other posters here. This makes ROP really bad value for money. Used almost all my points for two EU-AU award tickets in J a few months ago, so fortunately don't have many points left anyway.
The 50% discount on award redemptions once a year was a good thing, but with the new points requirements for awards, even at 50% it's poor value.

Contemplating switching my next, already booked, *A flights to use something other than my ROP FF number now. TK seems to have decent connections from where I'm often departing now, as no longer based in Thailand anyway, though still flying there more often than other places. Will need to calculate whether it looks like I will make enough flights on TK to get *A gold before my TG gold expires, or whether I should stick with TG till I've got enough points to renew my TG *G for another two years before switching though.

Will say TG was good about air awards in my experience however. Did not have any of the problems with lack of availability or problems finding dates I've seen other here complain about in regards to other airlines. I also like that they've given ample advance notice for the points increase, unlike e.g. SQ who recently announced something similar with just a few weeks notice.

its about 30k expiring . I have tried mag subscription but it is only for Thai residence.

I think only some (Thai-language?) magazines are for Thai resident only. TIME, Fortune, and perhaps others are delivered outside Thailand, or at least I had no trouble redeeming them even after my address was no longer in Thailand. Maybe an air award is possible? Assuming you know from/to, you could try to book one now, then pay the change fee later once you know the dates.

If you're desperate, send me a PM and maybe I can give my friends address to use, preferably for some voucher she can just scan and send me later.

Should be fine doing what you want:

accruing into program A on the booking
show physical *G card of program B

Air NZ wont now allow this. So I cannot accrue to NZ (no status) and show my TG *G card for alliance benefits - very grumpy as it seems to defy the point of *A rules. However, Air NZ are fine if I want to accrue to another (*A) program.

Friends have told me *A want to ‘fix’ what is seen by some as double-dipping. I see it as the benefit of *A, otherwise what is the point?

Question for ROP veterans: I just reached ROP Gold this year and sadly this change has taken effect. Are ROP upgrade redemptions in the form of vouchers or do you have to have a qualifying paid fare to redeem?
Also, generally speaking, are most of you in agreement that TK is the best programme now that these changes are to take effect? Versus say, Asiana or Eva... I noticed that the renewal thresholds are lower (for example, 30K status miles within one year or 45K status miles within two for a two year extension). Cheers, thanks everyone for the previous replies and info.

I do this all the time, I am trying to maintain at least 2 qualified Gold member from 2 programs, for just in case. This year alone already doing this about 50K miles, which include one at the NZ lounge at Melbourne without a problem.

Cool, thanks! So you just need to present your hard printed Gold status card to the lounge, and they would accept it?

Damn, 1 trip more i get my Gold card with TG, i use BR from LHR, maybe i should change to EVA when i get my Gold card after my next trip in one months time

According to Star Alliance website, yes. See the seconf point below. This is why I am so annoyed with Air NZ’s decision not to comply.

https://www.staralliance.com/en/lounge-access-policy

US, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Germany, Dubai, Myanmar, Australia, that I travelled for last 12 months so far accepted, no problem. In Australia's Melbourne at NZ lounge, no problem also.

Thank you so much for the feedback, guys!

Qualifying fares need to be K class or higher for upgrades, the hierarchy is as follows Y, B, M, H, Q, T, K.
Fare classes Y-Q are 100% mileage earning, T-K are 75% earning.

Importantly not all of these are upgradable as there are various Fare Basis for each fare class, so you need to check the terms very carefully or contact your local THAI office.

For example, I wanted a fare AKL-BKK-ZRH in a fare class I could apply my GUP to. The website provided a Flexi-Saver fare (T and K class), so at first glance this looked suitable. However, checking the fare conditions on the 'more details' link for FlexiSaver, the fare was not upgradable (the fare wasn't a 'sale' fare or part of any special promotion).

I needed to call the local THAI office and pay a much higher prices for a K fare with an upgradable fare basis (around $600 NZ or $US 400 more).

So in the end:

FlexiSaver K Class KM3MNZE $1750 Cannot use GUP (fare as sold on website)
FlexiSaver K Class K1LENZE $2350 Can use GUP (fare basis only avail from THAI office)

The slow rise in YBMHQTK fares, and increasing restrictions on the exact fare basis have also degraded the ROP benefits.