Changing status half way through a trip

[Chuq]

Hi everyone,

Is anyone familiar with what happens when enough status points are earned to reach the next status level halfway through a trip?

In my case, I'm on 190 status points now; my wife is flying HBA-SYD-HBA in a few weeks, which is another 20 points; the whole family (5 people, including 1 infant) is flying HBA-MEL-PER-MEL-HBA a couple of months later.

I'm hoping that the first HBA-MEL legs for the four paying tickets will earn the extra 40 points needed to reach silver; then the 50% points bonus will apply to our MEL-PER, PER-MEL and MEL-HBA legs. We don't fly a lot (I would never get to silver at my usual rate, but I had an unexpected international trip last year) so every bit helps

If it works as I expect above, then our MEL-PER-MEL-HBA leg would gain us (20+20+10)*4 = 200 points, enough to keep me at that level for 24 months?

I haven't set up family pooling yet, obviously something I need to get onto before my wife flies!

 

[leemin]

It depends on timing. The status credits will probably appear in the account 2-3 days after your first flight and your status will be changed a day after that again.

To save confusion, just keep in mind that you're talking about 'status credits' (SC on AFF) in relation to achieving Silver.

The 50% bonus relates to points which don't have anything to do with getting status.

To answer you question though; you will receive the benefits according to the status at the time you fly, so if you're made Silver while in Perth, you will have the benefits for the trip back.

You might like to check out the discounted Lounge membership offered to Silver members!

 

[markis10]

The 50% bonus relates to points which don't have anything to do with getting status.

Not quite right, with the bonus increasing as status levels increase, so point haul is very much part of status level differences, and as the OP states, every little bit extra.....

 

[Chuq]

Not quite right, with the bonus increasing as status levels increase, so point haul is very much part of status level differences, and as the OP states, every little bit extra.....

Thanks jlm and markis10!

I was hoping to earn status not just while in Perth, but while in Melbourne (at the airport for a couple of hours!) But if it takes a few days then I may be out of luck.

Regarding SC/FF points, yep, I was referring to reaching the status level in order to earn the extra points. The HBA-MEL and MEL-PER legs are within a few hours of each other, and the return flights are a week later, so it looks like I may be out of luck in hoping to get the 50% bonus points applied to the MEL-PER leg. Hopefully it all works out

 

[jajappamon]

Given recent changes about the only real benefit of Silver is some extra points earn and free baggage.
No longer do they offer priority check-in for Silver, and never have offered priority boarding either as far as I am aware.

The discounted lounge access is a nice perk.

 

[highflyingkiwi]

Silver still does get you Priority Check-in International as well I've just redirected my family pooling to the wife, so that she has Silver for this perk alone (when she isn't flying with me, or on a flexi). Flight from Auckland to PNG now nets 60SC for a flexi (rather than 40SC prior to Sabre), so Wife and 3 kids = 240SC + the 30 she had - instant Silver

 

[gaffa]

One thing to watch out for is a dropped block of SC's that don't count towards retaining your status, due to the two day lag between earning and crediting. I had a run MEL-SIN-FRA with an overnight stop over in SIN, so earned 60SC's on day 1, and 80 SC's on day two. On day 3, the first 60SC's were credited to me, and that tripped me into gold. On day 4, the 80 SC's were credited, and counted towards the earn towards platinum, but didn't count towards the earn towards retaining gold (where 80SC's represents 20% of the total earn to retain gold, so a decent chunk).

The Virgin velocity system doesn't seem to take into account the 2 day processing delay, so doesn't apply the SC's correctly. A quick email to Virgin did sort it out though.

 

[Chuq]

One thing to watch out for is a dropped block of SC's that don't count towards retaining your status, due to the two day lag between earning and crediting.

Thanks for the advice gaffa!

So after I get to silver, the next 200 SC go towards retaining silver, and then once I reach 200 - what happens - does that lock me in to silver for another 12 months (= 24 months after I first achieved silver?) And then I keep those 200 SC to use as working towards gold?

Getting a bit ahead of myself here, I should just worry about silver first