comfyincouch

I would have two questions regarding how the status validity is determined.

a)

Let's say I have accumulated 39,000 status miles and I have until the end of February 2017 to get the 1,000 more in order to reach the 40,000 required to qualify for Elite.

I take a flight (worth of 2,000 status miles) in July 2016, BUT won't show my Miles and Smiles (Classic Plus) membership card either upon booking nor at check-in. In November 2016 I use the 'Claim Missing Miles' feature on the website to claim the 2,000 miles. What will be the 'valid thru' date of my upcoming Miles and Smiles gold card, will it be 07/2018 or 11/2018?

b)

Let's say I have accumulated 39,000 status miles (and until February 2017 to get the 1,000 more), with the last flight having been in July 2016. In November 2016 I use the 'Buy Status Miles' feature on the website to buy the 1,000 status miles for 70USD. What will be the 'valid thru' date of my upcoming Miles and Smiles gold card, will it be 07/2018 or 11/2018?

Rescmajster

a - if you have 39k you should be Classic+ already, not classic...anyway...not sure if the retroclaiming process will give you the status miles at the time of the request or at the time of the flight. i wouldn't risk anyway to miss these miles by playing with the months and show my card stright away at cehck in in any case (also you might need osme exptra luggage...)

b - when you buy miles you get credited immediately (few seconds) so your status starts immediately and expires at the end of the same month 2 years later ( 11/2018 in your example). not sure you can buy status miles to upgrade your status if you're classic+ or if you need to be elite already. this was discussed elsewhere you might search

craigthemif

I believe you have to already be "Elite" in order to buy status miles to help requalify.

comfyincouch

Does not have to be Elite.

But I correct my original post in the regard that it should read Classic Plus and not Classic as the current tier.

Classic members can buy status miles (up to 5,000) to upgrade, and Classic Plus members can do that as well (up to 10,000). I can state this as a fact.

comfyincouch

Thank you for the b answer! The miles can be bought for upgrading, I am not guessing, I know this.

The original post should read Classic Plus and not Classic, I will edit.

airoli

The answer to a) is that your miles will be posted with the activity date = flight date, so the effect will be the same as if you had shown your card when travelling in the first place.

PVDtoDEL

Not necessarily. TK does card upgrades in sweeps, so it is quite plausible that the expiration date would depend on the date of the sweep.

OP, it wouldn't hurt to try it, as there's no disadvantage for not having the card upgrade before you fly again. If you do try it, please report back.