AU Qualification Query

Hello

I've been an avid follower of this board for many months, thank you to all for your great advice!

I have a question relating to achieving AU status. I want to achieve AU for the first time this year and I've looked at my TP and the guidance on the VS website but i'm still a little confused!

My current and planned earnings are below:

16/10/11 - 5 TP
22/10/11 - 5 TP

24/12/11 - 5 TP
03/01/12 - 5 TP

04/04/12 - 5 TP
18/04/12 - 5 TP

04/10/12 - 5 TP
14/10/12 - 5 TP

This obviously totals 40 TP's, but I wonder if this would qualify for AU status?

On the 24/12 i'll hit 15 TP meaning I qualify for AG which will reset my TP but i've read that it will continue to count the additional TP's earned subject to them being within the same 12 months.

Can anyone help from their experience?

Many thanks,

Johan

I am not an expert... but I think you will be fine.

Moving up tiers is simply a question of accruing the relevant points in the rolling 12-13 month period. Your TPs don't 'reset' in this sense when you reach AG.

Maintaining your tier is a different matter -- your membership year is the ~12-month period in which you need to earn 15/40 TPs in order to maintain your status.

It's not the simplest system but in your case I think it will work to your advantage.

More details here: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/frequentflyer/membershipbenefits/tier_points/tierpointsmovingup.jsp

Hope this helps.

This obviously totals 40 TP's, but I wonder if this would qualify for AU status?

On the 24/12 i'll hit 15 TP meaning I qualify for AG which will reset my TP but i've read that it will continue to count the additional TP's earned subject to them being within the same 12 months.

Can anyone help from their experience?

Many thanks,

Johan

Hi Johan and welcome to V-Flyer.

Your tier point earnings - presumably in UC - may take you to AU, but it depends on the date of your Flying Club renewal. They used to show this on the "Your Account" page when you are logged in, but now they only show the expiry date for your miles. I expect they will bring this back when the current change over is complete, but that is not until August 2012.

Coming back to your situation, if you joined FC in early October you will be fine as your membership year will include all 8 of the flights you listed. If however you joined in, say, March then you could end up with 20 points in one FC year and 20 in the next. You would get to, and retain, Silver, but not Gold.

I recommend dropping an email to the FC using the flying club feedback form asking when your renewal date is.

If you keep on flying UC after October 2012 as you appear to do quite regularly, then it won't be long before you get there.

On a different note, flying UC will get you most of the benefits of having an Au card anyway. These include: UC check-in, priority boarding, use of the clubhouses. The only real benefit fo someone who flies regularly in UC is the 100% bonus on miles.

Cheers

Martin

Coming back to your situation, if you joined FC in early October you will be fine as your membership year will include all 8 of the flights you listed. If however you joined in, say, March then you could end up with 20 points in one FC year and 20 in the next. You would get to, and retain, Silver, but not Gold.

Hmm... we've given the OP very different advice.

Are you sure that's right Martin? I was sure that for tier upgrades they simply use a rolling 12/13 month period. I didn't think the membership year applies.

Hmm... we've given the OP very different advice.

Are you sure that's right Martin? I was sure that for tier upgrades they simply use a rolling 12/13 month period. I didn't think the membership year applies.

Good point at240, I see what you mean and you are abolutely right. Thanks for spotting that.

On reading the tier point qualification info more carefully, as a Red member there is no concept of a membership year, but once you move to silver they say: "As a Silver member, you need to earn 15 tier points in your 'fixed membership year' to renew your status." so thats when the concept comes in.

For FC Red they say: "As a Red member, you don’t need to renew your membership each year.". For qualification the key point is: "Your tier points are calculated from the current date of the month to the first day of the same month a year previous."

Assuming the OP is red then those 40 points in 12 months will qualify for Gold.

My principle above only applies for moving from Silver to Gold.

Cheers

Martin