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#960334 by camen
06 Nov 2022, 14:43
I have earnt 800 tier points in the last 6 months and my understanding is that I have now obtained gold status. Flying club are adamant that once I reach silver I loose all my tier points and have to then earn 800 points from that date to obtain gold. Anybody have any idea if I am correct?
Nicky
#960337 by mitchja
06 Nov 2022, 16:20
VS are correct in what they are saying. Your TP's do reset as soon as you hit either Silver or Gold. It's sort of explained on the VS website here

Expand the section named ' But tier points don't last forever' section:

Tier Point upgrade and renewal cycles

For each Upgrade Cycle, Upgraded Fixed Membership Period and Fixed Membership Period, your Tier Points will reset to 0. If you don't earn enough Tier Points to retain your Silver or Gold membership, you'll automatically revert back to a Silver member from Gold and a Red member from Silver.

#960368 by dmc
08 Nov 2022, 17:18
Is this definitely right? I'm pretty certain I have moved from Red to Silver to Gold within 12 months in the past, by earning just the required TP for Gold, rather than having to start again from scratch when the Silver TP threshold was reached.

I understand TP's are reset at the end of a Silver/Gold membership year, but it was my understanding that starting from Red, you could earn enough to move to Silver, and then those TP can still count towards earning Gold so long as you reach the earning threshold before the end of the membership year.

I'm in the same position as the OP - I have earned 800 TP within 6 months and was expecting to be upgraded to Gold, however Flying Club insist I have to earn an additional 800 TP on top of the 300 that got me to Silver just a few months ago.

This doesn't seem to fit with the wording on their website, which says:

"You’ll now just need 300 Tier Points instead of 400 to earn or retain Silver membership status and 800 Tier Points instead of 1000 to earn or retain Gold status.

You could earn those with three return flights in Economy* over a year. Or treat yourself to two flight in Upper Class** and glide straight to Gold."


What could they mean by 'glide straight to Gold' (with two UC flights) other than earn 800 TP to go straight to Gold tier?
#960390 by dmc
11 Nov 2022, 02:47
Hi Nicky,

This article on HfP from last December (before the tier thresholds were lowered) suggests you should not need to earn another 800 tier points to reach gold if you moved from red to silver in the same year:

"When heading from Red to Gold, your tier points are reset to zero when you hit 400 and become Silver. However, you are then given Gold when you hit 600 tier points – you do not need to earn 1,000 for the first year."

Does anyone know if this policy has changed?

David
#960391 by territt
11 Nov 2022, 11:21
I emailed Virgin about this as I was confused and got back

"Please note that you can only see the tier points earned in the current membership year, this account was upgraded to silver recently and the silver start date is 27th oct 2022 and you have only earned 240 tier points since then, the 700 tier points you have earned in the last 12 months still count towards an upgrade to gold in the background, but you are not able to see this"
#960393 by mikethe3rd
11 Nov 2022, 12:04
territt wrote:I emailed Virgin about this as I was confused and got back

"Please note that you can only see the tier points earned in the current membership year, this account was upgraded to silver recently and the silver start date is 27th oct 2022 and you have only earned 240 tier points since then, the 700 tier points you have earned in the last 12 months still count towards an upgrade to gold in the background, but you are not able to see this"


So they upped you to Gold?
#960395 by mikethe3rd
11 Nov 2022, 12:59
Once the thresholds go back to normal, VS reps are saying you'd need 1,400 tier points to reach gold.

VS 1,400 TPs = 7 UC returns to JFK (lowest fare)
BA 1,500 TPs = 5 CW returns to JFK (lowest fare) and a Club Europe+ return

Also now consider that the VS Gold benefits are most akin to BA Silver, then that difference is even starker:

BA 600 TPs = 2 CW returns to JFK (lowest fare) and a Euro Traveller return
VS 1,400 TPs = 7 UC returns to JFK (lowest fare)

Now, whilst we're reasonably sure the VS reps are incorrect in the assessment of who should be gold, it's still interesting to look at this for the future:

BA 600 TPs = 2 CW returns to JFK (lowest fare) and a Euro Traveller return
VS 1,000 TPs = 5 UC returns to JFK (lowest fare)
BA 1,500 TPs = 5 CW returns to JFK (lowest fare) and a Club Europe+ return

And of course, this completely ignores BA's double tier point promotion where you and your travel companion could get Silver in one hit just by routing MAN-JFK in a club return with a 5-night hotel stay.
#960396 by camen
11 Nov 2022, 13:31
Hi
Just an update on my original post, Flying club have agreed I am correct and both my husband and I have gone from red to gold by earning 800 TPS. The issue is trying to speak to somebody at Flying Club who actually understands that your 12 month period continues after you reach silver. My renewal date for gold is now in 12 months time.
Nicky
#960397 by dmc
11 Nov 2022, 13:41
camen wrote:Hi
Just an update on my original post, Flying club have agreed I am correct and both my husband and I have gone from red to gold by earning 800 TPS. The issue is trying to speak to somebody at Flying Club who actually understands that your 12 month period continues after you reach silver. My renewal date for gold is now in 12 months time.
Nicky


I wish I knew who to speak to so that I could get the same answer, as I'm in the exact same situation with 800 TPs but stuck on silver, and they said they escalated it with someone who confirmed their position! Did you manage to get this resolved over the phone in the end rather than by email? I have sent in an email following my last call with them, but still waiting for a response.

David.
#960408 by camen
11 Nov 2022, 20:25
Hi David
It was eventually over the phone. Numerous promises of call backs but I just kept calling and eventually my account was swopped over. There seems to be a lot of new staff in flying club who aren’ t fully conversant with the rules. Just keep going and you will eventually get it - sorry I can’t give you a name as I don’t know who it was who finally put it right.

Nicky
#960429 by dmc
15 Nov 2022, 15:46
camen wrote:There seems to be a lot of new staff in flying club who aren’ t fully conversant with the rules. Just keep going and you will eventually get it


Thanks Nicky,

I'll try them again - any tips you have as to what you said that helped them understand would really be appreciated!!

David.
#960499 by dmc
24 Nov 2022, 13:40
For anyone else in this position, I gave up trying to argue this over the phone after 5 calls and 2 hours wasted and emailed instead.

I finally had a reply today confirming that from Red to Gold you should only need 800 points in any 12 month period - I have no idea why the team on the phone disagree with that (even after checking with supervisors).
#960506 by cooperman
25 Nov 2022, 15:55
dmc wrote:Hi Nicky,

This article on HfP from last December (before the tier thresholds were lowered) suggests you should not need to earn another 800 tier points to reach gold if you moved from red to silver in the same year:

"When heading from Red to Gold, your tier points are reset to zero when you hit 400 and become Silver. However, you are then given Gold when you hit 600 tier points – you do not need to earn 1,000 for the first year."

Does anyone know if this policy has changed?

David


Thats exactly what happened to me, just yesterday.
I was silver, with 200 miles earned since reaching that goal but then flew a couple of extra trips which then earned me another 400 which got me to 600 and gold.
Looks as though the policy is still in place.
#960507 by dmc
25 Nov 2022, 19:00
cooperman wrote:Thats exactly what happened to me, just yesterday.
I was silver, with 200 miles earned since reaching that goal but then flew a couple of extra trips which then earned me another 400 which got me to 600 and gold.
Looks as though the policy is still in place.


Good to see some getting upgraded automatically! After Flying Club got back to me I think the underlying issue in my account is some missing tier points which haven't yet tipped it over the 800 threshold.. the problem is that's not visible to me in either the app or the website, which shows 800TP earned, and the agents haven't been able to explain it over the phone for some reason; one said I have 600, another said I have 500 - and then the email says I have 750!!

I have another trip next week so hopefully it will get sorted one way or the other. Enjoy your gold status! :-)
#960509 by camen
26 Nov 2022, 01:52
Well done David. It really is shocking how they do not know the rules. At one point I was told it was because I had flown on a partner airline, which I hadn’t, they were just grasping at straws!
Enjoy gold
#960528 by dmc
01 Dec 2022, 20:27
Just an update that I finally got upgraded to Gold (albeit after having to complete one more sector to reach the 800TP threshold).

So this confirms you can reach Gold from Red with 800TP (until end of March 2023), and that the tier points that get you to silver along the way still count towards gold so long as you reach the threshold within the same period.

Moral of the story is ignore what the app and website (and some agents!) say that you have zero tier points and have to start from scratch when upgraded from red to silver - you only need 500 not 800 from that point. Once your silver membership year ends 12 months later, only then would you need to earn the full 800 (or whatever the threshold will change to from April 2023) to move to gold.

If you have been upgraded from red to silver in the past 12 months and the app shows you on 500TP but still on silver, check your tier point history for any that are missing or ask Flying Club for exactly how many tier points they see you have earned in that time. In my case their records were different to what the app showed.
#960540 by zjc
06 Dec 2022, 09:38
Anyone know what the best email is to use for Flying Club?

I have earned 800 TPs this year but having trouble over the phone getting my membership upped to Gold. They are arguing that when I went from Red to Silver, I lose the 300 TP I earned and have to earn an additional 800 TP from the point I become silver.

I have spoken to 3 advisors so far and they are all very rude for Virgin I must say!
#960544 by mikethe3rd
06 Dec 2022, 15:18
territt wrote:What's the cheapest way to hit 80TP?


I thought it would be a KLM business return to AMS but that's coming in at £350. A business return to CDG on AF is £282.

Unfortunately, a short hop to BOS or JFK with VS in economy would only bring you 50 TPs. Alas, that would cost £280 plus 20,000 miles anyway.
#960545 by dmc
06 Dec 2022, 18:06
zjc wrote:Anyone know what the best email is to use for Flying Club?

I have earned 800 TPs this year but having trouble over the phone getting my membership upped to Gold. They are arguing that when I went from Red to Silver, I lose the 300 TP I earned and have to earn an additional 800 TP from the point I become silver.

I have spoken to 3 advisors so far and they are all very rude for Virgin I must say!


I had the same issue when speaking to them on the phone, as though I'm wasting their time - not good at all.

You can try [email protected] or fill in one of the forms here: https://help.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/c ... forms.html

They are wrong about needing another 800TP from Silver. It's true that the tier points visibly reset to zero in the app and website, and are reset to zero for renewal purposes, but it doesn't stop those previous 300TP counting towards your 800TP required for gold.

Ask them for the total and a breakdown of your total tier points over the past 12 months. You may find something has been missed or credited with the wrong tier points which has not tipped it over the 800 threshold. Unfortunately the app and website are not completely reliable for showing the history correctly.
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