V-Flyer

A little grumble about the functioning of the year-end/tier promotion aspect of FC. Upon promotion silver to gold, FC rules state that balance will be reset to zero meaning that all tier points are deducted. If a pax is on 39 TPs, their next TP-earning activity will take them to gold. If that activity is PE/UC, this means that Virgin 'steal' between 3 and 5 TPs (on a LHR-SYD flight it'd be even worse, VS thieving up to 11 TPs.

Surely it would be a much much fairer system if the rules were adjusted slightly to deduct 40 TPs from the current balance rather than resetting to zero? TPs are expensive to earn so it seems rather asymmetric that VS get to keep the overshot TPs for free.

This strike anybody else as grossly unfair?

it may be me but I cannot see where you think they are sealing them from.
When you go from Silver to Gold you do not then go to zero TP. You only get zeroed at the end of your earning year.

<< If a pax is on 39 TPs, their next TP-earning activity will take them to gold. If that activity is PE/UC, this means that Virgin 'steal' between 3 and 5 TPs (on a LHR-SYD flight it'd be even worse, VS thieving up to 11 TPs.>>

you need to explain this really slowly for me to grasp please.

Oh calm down dear they're only tier points. "Thieve" really, do you think they're actually your's to start with?

I agree with Slinky on this. Tier points have no value - you can't spend them - they are simply a vague representation of loyalty. If you could keep the excess, then someone who earned 120 in a year would be Au for 3 years even if they never flew again.

JCBR, upon promotion from Ag to Au the earning year is reset, meaning that VS nicked an extra five points because I happened to have accrued 39.

And yes, 'thieve' was deliberately inflammatory language in the interests of piquing interest and promoting discussion. I take your point about sb. earning 120 TPs in a year, but if they never flew again they don't redeem the benefits. Given how hard-earned TPs are, the asymmetric nature of hte system bugs me.

Surely the trick here is to be a lifetime Gold? No need to worry about tier points anymore.

Is there such a notion as 'lifetime gold' for VS?

Yes. I believe the last time they were issued was near the 25th anniversary to Gold Card holders who had retained AU for 10 years running - that's how I got mine - though I still fly VS enough retain Gold outright despite not needing to really care about tier points. It came with a letter from Ridgeway saying it was due to exceptional loyalty or something.

The other way is to have an Amex Centurion which is renewed for as long as you have the card.

my understanding is that tier points are valid for 12-13 months from your point of earning them. so once you make it to gold from silver yes your 'earning year' re-sets. but in the tier points from the last trip to made to make gold where you think you lost the x points - still actually can be counted towards renewal for your next year. the thing to remember is that it's in a rolling 12-13 month window.