Companion gold or family pooling

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SimonF

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I tried searching for a thread but failed to find anything.

I am trying to work out whether to family pool miles and SC to get Gold for my partner or whether i should aim for companion gold. So far all i can gauge is that if i family pool it will only take 400 sc to renew her gold rather than the current 500 sc it takes (going forward) and the only reason i`d go for companion gold would be if they came out with lifetime status then i`d want all the SC as possible on my own account rather than being transferred. I guess the same would go for her getting Platinum too and if i did just transfer miles and sc then i could transfer the miles back to me if needed.

If this is all true then what seriously is the point of the companion gold or platinum? Fake benefit? There has to be something i`m missing here .

Thoughts?
 
Two reasons I can immediately think of - one tangible, one maybe not:
  • Companion Gold/Platinum can be given to anyone, irrespective of whether they're eligible to be a part of your family pooling group or not
  • If VFF (ever) recognises different levels of Platinum, higher earning members who've gotten to the "companion" levels might be considered for op-ups etc. before someone who's only just made it to Platinum (pure speculation of course, but not impossible)
 
No matter how your partner achieves gold they will only need 400 SCs in the next twelve months to requalify.

The chief advantage of companion gold is that there is no sector qualifications. You can pool to your partner to help them get SCs but they will still need to fly four sectors. Of course if your partner isn't flying four sectors a year, arguably gold might not be much benefit to them, so that's where there is a second benefit to companion gold - it can be awarded to anyone, not just a member who has the same address as you.

My wife and I always fly together, so I gave my companion platinum status to someone else. That person has now gone from strict BFOD to almost 100% Virgin and will probably requalify for platinum, so that's probably been a win for both parties.

Personally I would go with the companion gold route to keep all SCs in one account just in case lifetime status comes along (although I'm certainly not expecting it).
 
No matter how your partner achieves gold they will only need 400 SCs in the next twelve months to requalify.

The chief advantage of companion gold is that there is no sector qualifications. You can pool to your partner to help them get SCs but they will still need to fly four sectors. Of course if your partner isn't flying four sectors a year, arguably gold might not be much benefit to them, so that's where there is a second benefit to companion gold - it can be awarded to anyone, not just a member who has the same address as you.

My wife and I always fly together, so I gave my companion platinum status to someone else. That person has now gone from strict BFOD to almost 100% Virgin and will probably requalify for platinum, so that's probably been a win for both parties.

Personally I would go with the companion gold route to keep all SCs in one account just in case lifetime status comes along (although I'm certainly not expecting it).
Thanks for detailed reply. So requalifying for platinum and comp gold only takes 1,200 SC? Is this documented anywhere as i can`t see it mentioned anywhere?

You`re right about sectors and if they don`t fly 4 or less a year then yes probably not worth having gold.

Two reasons I can immediately think of - one tangible, one maybe not:
  • Companion Gold/Platinum can be given to anyone, irrespective of whether they're eligible to be a part of your family pooling group or not
  • If VFF (ever) recognises different levels of Platinum, higher earning members who've gotten to the "companion" levels might be considered for op-ups etc. before someone who's only just made it to Platinum (pure speculation of course, but not impossible)
Interesting. I always thought it was only for family members but good to know.
 
Thanks for detailed reply. So requalifying for platinum and comp gold only takes 1,200 SC? Is this documented anywhere as i can`t see it mentioned anywhere?

Sorry, obviously I misunderstood your original post. What I meant was that if the member you appoint as "companion gold" wishes to requalify on the merit of their own flying, they only need 400 SCs. You are correct that in order to reappoint the same person gold next year, a platinum member would need to earn 500 SCs beyond requal.
 
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Sorry, obviously I misunderstood your original post. What I meant was that if the member you appoint as "companion gold" wishes to requalify on the merit of their own flying, they only need 400 SCs. You are correct that in order to reappoint the same person gold next year, a platinum member would need to earn 500 SCs beyond requal.
I see so basically if the family member is in fact a family member and needs top up to get to gold or no where near it then pooling is best. Seems like only time worth doing companion is hedging on lifetime status or some special status band coming out or if the person you wish to upgrade status of is not family.

Hmmmmmm
 
Other point on family pool is that it may enable a comp renewal if you are only likely to get halfway there...

eg. last year I family pooled to a member who had Gold via status match, and they were renewed with 300 SCs or so
(they transferred the points earned back to me)
 
Other point on family pool is that it may enable a comp renewal if you are only likely to get halfway there...

eg. last year I family pooled to a member who had Gold via status match, and they were renewed with 300 SCs or so
(they transferred the points earned back to me)
Yeah that`s a good point too. Have to suss out how close she is likely to get to renewing gold and see what is my best option.
 
By the end of June I will hit 1000SC and make platinum.. the way I see it to be able to give anyone the companion gold I will need to hit 1500SC. The problem for me is as soon as I hit 1000SC my status balance will start rapidly falling as the flights earned 12 months ago will start to roll-off. With the rate my status credits drop off I will need to earn about 800SC in the next few months in order to actually hit 1500SC.

I plan to family pool to my partner as soon as I hit platinum, in which case I only need 500SC for him to get Gold, and there isn't a rush to get there before mine drop off. Due to the reward seats currently earning status this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get Platinum. I will comfortably maintain gold for years to come, but to earn 800 SC every year for me to retain is beyond reach. I'm happy to soft land back to Gold after enjoying a year as a Plat *(and if I'm lucky they might comp me a second year at that!)
 
I prefer family pooling.

Reasoning: I want my partner to ALWAYS have lounge access. If you go with Partner Gold/Plat they get that level from the day you assign it to them until 12 months later. That day you assign it is likely to be before your requalification date. Which means that from the day your partner's GOLD/PLAT expires until you requal then re-instate their level, they will be without lounge access.

With family pooling you can control who get's the status credits when (and that often means that your partner gets longer than 12 months). But with partner Gold/Plat, you get all credits until you requal, then you need 500/1000 credits and then and only then, can they have thier Gold/Plat and they get it only for 12 months.
 
You will need to retain platinum status first, so 800 more Sc's, then another 500 Sc's on top of that for companion gold or 1,000 Sc's on top of the retaining 800 for companion Plat. Basically once you hit plat you need another 1,300 SC's or 1,800 SC's for companion Gold or Plat.


Platinum members who earn an additional 500 Status Credits over and above the required number of Status Credits to maintain Platinum within their member benefit period can gift Gold membership to a companion of their choice.

By the end of June I will hit 1000SC and make platinum.. the way I see it to be able to give anyone the companion gold I will need to hit 1500SC. The problem for me is as soon as I hit 1000SC my status balance will start rapidly falling as the flights earned 12 months ago will start to roll-off. With the rate my status credits drop off I will need to earn about 800SC in the next few months in order to actually hit 1500SC.

I plan to family pool to my partner as soon as I hit platinum, in which case I only need 500SC for him to get Gold, and there isn't a rush to get there before mine drop off. Due to the reward seats currently earning status this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get Platinum. I will comfortably maintain gold for years to come, but to earn 800 SC every year for me to retain is beyond reach. I'm happy to soft land back to Gold after enjoying a year as a Plat *(and if I'm lucky they might comp me a second year at that!)
 
Wouldn't it be after your re-qualification date?

You can only get companion Gold or Plat after you retain Plat with 800 Sc's then earn either and additional 500 or 1,000 SC's respectively.



I prefer family pooling.

Reasoning: I want my partner to ALWAYS have lounge access. If you go with Partner Gold/Plat they get that level from the day you assign it to them until 12 months later. That day you assign it is likely to be before your requalification date. Which means that from the day your partner's GOLD/PLAT expires until you requal then re-instate their level, they will be without lounge access.

With family pooling you can control who get's the status credits when (and that often means that your partner gets longer than 12 months). But with partner Gold/Plat, you get all credits until you requal, then you need 500/1000 credits and then and only then, can they have thier Gold/Plat and they get it only for 12 months.
 
You will need to retain platinum status first, so 800 more Sc's, then another 500 Sc's on top of that for companion gold or 1,000 Sc's on top of the retaining 800 for companion Plat. Basically once you hit plat you need another 1,300 SC's or 1,800 SC's for companion Gold or Plat.


Platinum members who earn an additional 500 Status Credits over and above the required number of Status Credits to maintain Platinum within their member benefit period can gift Gold membership to a companion of their choice.

aha! so family pooling is definitely the go for me!
 
Make sure you work towards retaining your plat though, before you start family pooling.

There's no way that I will be able to make 800 SC next year to retain plat, so I'm just going to family pool as soon as I've made it and then happy to just soft land back to Gold the following year
 
I prefer family pooling.

Reasoning: I want my partner to ALWAYS have lounge access. If you go with Partner Gold/Plat they get that level from the day you assign it to them until 12 months later. That day you assign it is likely to be before your requalification date. Which means that from the day your partner's GOLD/PLAT expires until you requal then re-instate their level, they will be without lounge access.

With family pooling you can control who get's the status credits when (and that often means that your partner gets longer than 12 months). But with partner Gold/Plat, you get all credits until you requal, then you need 500/1000 credits and then and only then, can they have thier Gold/Plat and they get it only for 12 months.
Makes sense. Good summary of the pros and cons of both.
 
Not really as this part is not correct;

Reasoning: I want my partner to ALWAYS have lounge access. If you go with Partner Gold/Plat they get that level from the day you assign it to them until 12 months later. That day you assign it is likely to be before your re-qualification date. Which means that from the day your partner's GOLD/PLAT expires until you requal then re-instate their level, they will be without lounge access.

You can't grant companion status until you re-qualify Plat with 800 SC's, then earn the required 500 or 1,000 SC's on top to grant companion Gold or Plat respectively. You will therefore always assign after your re-qualification date.

Not sure what this means either or how you would get longer than 12 months? With family pooling you can control who get's the status credits when (and that often means that your partner gets longer than 12 months).

I think you should always re-qualify yourself before you decide to family pool to someone else. If you believe there will be some sort of lifetime status achievement then maybe family pooling to yourself, using the companion membership method, is the best way of assuming that you could gain a head start for lifetime status if they did retrospective counting of SC's from a certain date. Otherwise once you maintain with family pooling and switch the pooling back to say your wife, there is the benefit of achieving regular earned status over companion status such as; a soft landing from Plat to Gold (maybe that is what you mean by longer than 12 months but only applies if you get Plat) or Gold to Silver, plus the re-qualification SC level is less than the companion re-qualification level, there would be bonus points for longer, baggage guarantee for longer and some other little bonuses not mentioned.

Makes sense. Good summary of the pros and cons of both.
 
I should also note that there is no sector count for companion membership either.
Not really as this part is not correct;

Reasoning: I want my partner to ALWAYS have lounge access. If you go with Partner Gold/Plat they get that level from the day you assign it to them until 12 months later. That day you assign it is likely to be before your re-qualification date. Which means that from the day your partner's GOLD/PLAT expires until you requal then re-instate their level, they will be without lounge access.

You can't grant companion status until you re-qualify Plat with 800 SC's, then earn the required 500 or 1,000 SC's on top to grant companion Gold or Plat respectively. You will therefore always assign after your re-qualification date.

Not sure what this means either or how you would get longer than 12 months? With family pooling you can control who get's the status credits when (and that often means that your partner gets longer than 12 months).

I think you should always re-qualify yourself before you decide to family pool to someone else. If you believe there will be some sort of lifetime status achievement then maybe family pooling to yourself, using the companion membership method, is the best way of assuming that you could gain a head start for lifetime status if they did retrospective counting of SC's from a certain date. Otherwise once you maintain with family pooling and switch the pooling back to say your wife, there is the benefit of achieving regular earned status over companion status such as; a soft landing from Plat to Gold (maybe that is what you mean by longer than 12 months but only applies if you get Plat) or Gold to Silver, plus the re-qualification SC level is less than the companion re-qualification level, there would be bonus points for longer, baggage guarantee for longer and some other little bonuses not mentioned.
 
Was hoping that someone may be able to answer a question, I have around 1140 SC. At about 850 they made my partner companion gold. Now they have just made my partner Platinum. My understanding is that I should have hit 1300 SC for gold to happen, and 1800 for Platinum to happen. I am nowhere near this. Am I not understanding or is Virgin just being generous? Could someone help me with this please.
 
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