Losing Silver

I have been a member of Freeway/Flying Club for 9 years, all in Silver apart from one year in Gold.

As I recall, it used to be the case that they didn't take away Silver status once they had awarded it (unless you totally stopped flying). When they changed the rules I complained about it and was told that they would apply the rules flexibly. Guess what? This year I fell just short of the number of tier points required, and they automatically changed me to Red.

The daft thing is that I get no benefits from Silver membership (well, OK, I did once fly in Economy and check-in at the PE counter, but I think that's it). So it costs Virgin nothing to continue giving me Silver status, and yet by taking it away they are making me less likely to continue being a loyal customer.

Should I care? Should Virgin care?

[Decker]

Firstly - whilst I can sympathise with your loss of status (I recently lost my AA Plat and my Marriott Gold because of now favouring flying exclusively VS where possible and preferring Hiltons these days) regretfully this isn't likely to be a totally sympathetic forum to this point of view. In the "Clubhouse section" there are frequently discussions about the best way to achieve and keep higher levels of status. Most people here tend to take the view that the membership levels are worth having and thus worth earning.

Allowing people to continue keeping silver without earning it devalues it for those who do earn it. There are only three levels of public membership and to suggest that only the top level should require requalification seems a little strange.

I totally agree that gold status is valuable, and I wouldn't expect to get it or keep it unless I had earned it. Silver Flying Club status, on the other hand, is not especially valuable (as far as I am aware) so I'd thought that there might be some flexibility. I can understand people taking extra flights or adopting other strategies to get Gold status, but surely no-one would bother with Silver (at least not in FC).

Does anyone else remember the old rules, or did I imagine them? I believe that the old silver cards had no expiry date on them.

[Decker]

This has been discussed here quite extensively.:)

OK, good, I didn't imagine it!

I've got no argument with Virgin for taking away silver membership from people who never fly (or only fly in Economy), but I question the wisdom of taking it away from customers who fly regularly but not always frequently enough to get the tier points every membership "year".

My other point is that I don't see any benefits that have been added to justify the change of policy. Or at least none that are any use to me!!

[HighFlyer]

quote:I don't see any benefits that have been added to justify the change of policy.

I do agree with you there. The benefits of Silver are not really very useful. The train vouchers would be nice if i didnt live so close to the airports, but me for none of the benefits are ever used as i always fly PE.

I do think that it would be nice if they added another couple of things, nothing to devalue Gold, but say, one entry to Clubhouse on renewal of Silver, something that would give Silver members a taster for why they are in the club.

Ct, why not write to Flying Club with your views and ideas and see what they have to say? If you came up with some good ideas for change within FC Silver they may implement them?

Hi ct & welcome to V-Flyer

quote:I've got no argument with Virgin for taking away silver membership from people who never fly (or only fly in Economy), but I question the wisdom of taking it away from customers who fly regularly but not always frequently enough to get the tier points every membership "year".

I do understand how the membership rule changes have affected you, but ISTR that they've been that way since at least the time I joined 3 years ago.

With the greatest of respect, the 10 Tier Points required for renewal of silver is equal to 2 x UC one ways, 3.3 x PE one ways, or 5 Economy one ways. Now, that isn't really regular or frequent flying is it?

Granted, the benefit list for Silver isn't thrilling, and won't suit everybody, but it's better than Red! If you're going to have some sort of status level, then it should be requalified each year, otherwise there's no point to it (and this is really only the same as other airlines):

FC Red
5% off parking at BCP at LHR/LGW
FC Silver
10% off parking at BCP at LHR/LGW
20% off long-stay parking at Parking Express at LHR/LGW
2 x 1st class upgrade vouchers for each of the LGEX & LHEX services
Global assistance membership
Priority waitlisting
PE check-in (+ 1 guest)

As I live in Reading and there's a frequent shuttle bus service to LHR, about the only thing I use from the benefits is the PE check-in - but heck, that's almost worth it alone - have you seen the Economy queues? Since I'm not likely to fly to the US with anyone else but VS (unless they royally P*&& me off), it's something for nothing. I do think that the Silver level needs some improvement, but at the moment, it just encourages me to go for Gold

Like HighFlyer says, why not write in to FC and put forward your suggestions for improvement?

Cheers

Michael

Since its unlikely you'll do 3.3 PE or 5 Y's a better indicator would be
a) 1 UC Return
b) 2 flights (1PE 1Econ Round Trip)
c) 3 Flights in Economy Round Trip

Option 1 is the least trips (but most expensive)
Option b or c are fairly cheap if you wait for specials!

There are London Specials from HK that are for Y or W and qualify for FC miles and TP

As long as you do two/three hollidays a year and fly VS retaining silver isnt a chalange.

I know that 10 points is not that hard to reach, but it is more of a challenge if you live in Hong Kong - currently the only Virgin flight from here is to London! However, I can earn tier points from Singapore Airlines (and even the odd one or two from Malaysia Airlines).

Anyway, my main complaint is that Virgin originally promised that Silver was "for ever" and now they have changed that. Most of the new benefits are of little use to a Hong Kong resident (I don't think they issue us with upgrade vouchers for the Heathrow Express, and discounts on long-term car parking at LHR are only useful if you live in the UK).

The only Ag Benefit I ever used was the Premium check in..
I appriciate thats not very handy if you travel in Premium anyway!

To retain Silver on VS/SQ you need to fly twice (once in premium)

Since VS works on frequency and SQ Miles VS Silver is probably easier to Retain
(by doing one VS London Econ (4TP) and one short haul SQ business (6TP) but it would depend on ticket fares etc)


Silver doesnt offer that much - I guess otherwise no-one would want Gold!!

I'ts just a sampler to encurage continued custom!

I am another one who is about to lose silver, so i called FC to ask if they would keep me silver as i would be flying again very soon with VS and they said no. So i booked NCW in protest to ANU next march (what a child i am) . Then I came to my sences and booked MCO in december, had i booked ANU with VS i would be back to silver by next year. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ct

quote:Anyway, my main complaint is that Virgin originally promised that Silver was "for ever" and now they have changed that.

Understandable - but then again, companies change Ts&Cs all the time. I'm not quite sure how long the change has been in place since - like I said, ISTR that it was the current situation when I joined 3 years ago.

Good point about living in HK (didn't notice that in my first reply, sorry [:I]). Like you say, you could earn the required TPs to retain silver via SQ - or do 3 Economy trips per year to London on VS.

As part of your letter suggesting improvements, you could ask them to do some regional benefits (although you've got to remember that they're a UK-based airline)

I do have to ask though (and please don't take this the wrong way - it's a genuine enquiry) - if there are no benefits to you as a silver member in HK, what did you expect to get out of it under the old "never expire" rule and what benefit would it give you to keep silver now?

Cheers

Michael

You're right that there's no real benefit for me - it's just a point of principle.

I just feel mildly aggrieved that Virgin appeared sympathetic when I complained about the change in the rules but then did nothing about it when I fell a couple of points short of the level to re-qualify. I just think that's poor customer relations! If they'd said at the time that there was nothing they could do it about it then at least I'd have known (and could possibly have ensured that I had enough tier points at the renewal time).

I know I'm not currently a frequent flyer, but I am a loyal customer who will probably carry on using Virgin for many years - unless they do something to upset me.

[HighFlyer]

Its sadly the way with many companies that the incentive is to attract new members and the loyal mid-spender often gets overlooked. One family flying to MCO each year may not be target customers for an airline, but if they fly the same airline every time for the next 10 years its certainly a missed opportunity.

I also didnt notice you were from HK, so i would definately write to FC and say that while you acknowledge that FC is UK based, you feel that its unfair that international members get no useable benefits. I would be interested to hear what they say. Do you get any benefits with partner airlines, like SQ? As they may be more useful for you?

I guess we all need to be greatful that the scheme is not like BA's, at least we do get instant rewards for our travelling. I will be in UC next year thanks to my trips, a concept that amazes me, considering that i havent done anything extra to get that reward, just take the flights i was going on anyway. Thats where the real reward lies.

I agree that the Flying Club rewards scheme is generous, so I won't stop flying with Virgin just yet!

Yes, there are some benefits from SQ if you have Gold (you can use the lounge if you take an SQ flight in any class), but nothing for Silver! If I lived in Singapore rather than Hong Kong I could probably get Gold status relatively easily, but I live in HK and currently have no reason to fly to Singapore.