Is Gold worth it ?

I see from most of the posts on here that a great many members are gold card holders.

My question is, is it worth going for it?

If I can elaborate slightly.

I have attained Silver (can't see too many benefits on that one, but that's a different story) through flying P/E approx 3 times a year to MCO (please don't have a go at me - I just like the place !).

Through 2 U/C trips to BOM for work, I will be 2 TPs short of Gold when I return from MCO in Feb. I will need to get these by June.

Should I sneak a cheapy to NY (with my 19 year old son) to get the 2 TP's - I did suggest to Mrs S to go, but 'it was too far to leave our youngest with my son in charge for the first time' - Don't agree, but that I suppose is a mother's view.

Of couse, that means spending at least 730 on 2 returns in the current sale (May Bank Holiday)- and travelling at the back of the bus.

So, I am already 730 out of pocket even without accommodation / food etc if I do this.

Should I bother? Seems that upgrades are almost mythical so it will only be lounge access and extra miles if I get Gold?

Or should I be content to be a lowly Silver and whistfully look to what might have been?

Thoughts would be much appreciated from you Gold holders (and anyone else of course).

Many thanks

[Nottingham Nick]

Ah, the old chestnut. [:D][8D]

If you do a forum search you will find many discussions about this.

This one, and this one are two, but there are lots more.

My view, I think the gold card is worth it big style, but then I don't fly UC when I am paying. [}:)] Upgrades certainly aren't mythical.

Whether or not it is worth paying for extra the trip - only you can really answer that. [;)]

BTW - we most certainly wouldn't have a go at you for regular MCO trips - there are many on here that do the same thing. [:D]

Nick

[Decker]

2 TPs? BMI Business return in one day - no accommodation and a lot less money. WELL worth it...

[preiffer]

The KEY to this is, will you RETAIN it (30 TP's per year) from that point onwards normally? If not, it's £730+ for a year's gold card holding.

If you'll get £730's worth out of a year's gold card use then great. If not, what's the point?

For me it is definitely worth it. I have had a lot of op-ups while Au, and never been upgraded any other time. The flight I am about to take will renew my Au for another year [:D]

I work for a company that has a cheapskate travel policy.

Didn't get op-upped tonight though [:(]

David

[RichardMannion]

Mmm. Not so sure given from what I can glean from your post:

I presume you are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children), so with that the CLubhouse access is a moot poitn as you can only take in one guest. You could use it as a leverage point and pay for access to them for you children.

If you fly regularly in PE and Y, then VS Au can be very useful for you as an individual, and nearly as well if you are a couple (no revivals access). If there are more than 2 of you, then not so.

If you fly regularly in UC, then there is no real benefit aside from the bonus 50% miles (though you are already getting 25% as a Silver).

If I was you, I wouldn't be spending >£730 to get to Gold; though if you have tonnes of miles you could use them with Gold the year after as you a soft landing year the year after Gold, as you would drop to Silver if you don't earn any TP's at all (or not the usual 10TP required to renew).

If you only need 2TP, then fly somewhere on bmi on a full Y or in business and you'd get your 2TP for a lot less (probably £250 or less); and you can do it in a morning if you did LHR-MAN or DUB.

Hope this helps,
Richard

Thanks for the quick responses.

I recalled the thread a couple of months back with someone asking about getting 2 TP's and the BMI solution. Thing is, I would feel a bit of a burk flying by myself on a round trip to nowhere to get my 2 TP's.

We are a family of 4, but my son being 19 has no wish to accompany us to the mouse any more (can't understand why !) so it is just my 12 year old daughter.

Good point about the retention of the card. I think realistically it would only be for the one year.

Next couple of MCO flights will be coming back via NY as I use Free Companion Flights AND upgrade vouchers and I buy the S class ticket. At least this way I can get P/E for 3 'adults' for under £2k.

You know what the biggest problem is? Being lucky enough to fly U/C a couple of times to BOM I don't really want to fly any other way ! Could I sue my company for raising my expectations and getting me used to something that I can't aford

For £250, I could see it being worth it.

You will have clubhouse access for your 3 trips to MCO.
You will earn the bonues miles. Plus with the supplmentary silver, somebody else could earn bonus miles also.
You will get a companion voucher, the value of which is debatable.

And finally there is always the hope of an op-up.

I think Gold is worth it, and I'll actively make sure I retain each year (which I usually just about manage without too much imposition or unnecessary flights).

Don't feel an idiot doing a short hop on BMI, sure plenty of people on business do and make it into an overnight somewhere nice and treat yourself. Some people go all the way to SIN - KUL to get Gold [:I][:w] so wouldn't worry about that...

These mythical upgrades; I would say I get op upped about 40% of flights (usually out of the UK, not back into) and this has been at checkin, at the gate, in the CH and not having miles used for an upgrade deducted. Never expect, but they'e not as uncommon as you think.

I say go for it!

Dean

I just got gold after moving from BA, not too much use to me beyond the 50% miles bonus as I always travel UC.

Gold in my opinion is worth it, if you take advantage of the Lounge and treatments in the LHR/LGW Clubhouse. In my experience Upgrades are very unlikely.

I was upgraded as a Red member to JNB to PE, which took me to Silver.
Since I have been Gold (Dec 06), I have flown 1 time in Economy, and 25 times in PE, and only once upgraded at Checkin for an oversold flight to Boston. I was upgraded to UC.

If I were 2 TP's away, I would find a reason to go somewhere to keep Gold if I knew I woould be taking advantage in the next 13 months. If I was unsure, i would not spend the £700 mentioned for a trip to New York just to retain Gold.

The upgrade aspect is surely just luck, right place right time, and a full flight. As I travel to SFO most of the time, the new larger PE section means there is hardly ever a time when they need to bump people up, hence why I believe I see less upgrades than other gold members.

Mark

I was in your situation last fall, 2 tps short of gold. I decided it was worth it to me to go for gold, as we are American expats, so we travel back to the US to see family fairly regularly. For two years we had come within 2 tps of hitting the 40 needed for gold, which would indicate that we can attain the 30 needed for renewal.

MrStars & I took a weekend break to Dublin on bmi to earn the last 2 tps we needed for gold. We used some Marriott points to stay at The Shelbourne and had a lovely time. MrStars had a great weekend (he'd never been to Dublin) but grumbled a bit about the cost of the bmi flights vs what they would have been in Y, but he saw the light when we flew PE back to the US in December and as AU card holders were able to use the private security channel. At that moment he looked at me and said 'Dublin in business class was worth it!'

So....my short answer would be go for it. However, I belive all of the MCO flights leave out of LGW (someone will undoubtedly correct me if I'm wrong) so no private security channel there. Also, with the current configuration on the LGW aircraft, I would imagine op-ups are much harder to come by. Just my speculation, however, as I've only flown ex-LGW once.

If you do decide to go for it what about a short weekend break away for you & MrsS somewhere like Dublin or Edinburgh? Not nearly as far as NY, so perhaps it would be ok to leave your son in charge of your youngest.

Just a quick update - if you are interested

Managed to bag a P/E flight to Chicago for work next week so will get the 2 T/P's (unless the trip is cancelled at the last minute). So, 'happy days' as I don't have to put my hand in my pocket.

Now, that does pose 2 questions:-

1)I am on 38 T/P's so the outbound flight gets me Au. Will I be able to use the CH on the outbound? I have a feeling that I will not be able to, but one can live in hope.
I assume there will be no problems using the JAL (?) lounge at ORD on the return even though I will not have received my card yet.

2)Having 38 T/P's, will 4 of the 6 T/P's I earn on this trip be carried forward to help with renewal of Au (I already have 3 LGW - MCO P/E trips booked so that is 18 of the 30 needed. With this 4 I would only need to get another 8 to renew, which I may be able to do with an UC trip to BOM for work - don't want to get ahead of myself though !)

Many thanks

You might not show up as gold on the reservation yet for ORD-LHR, so you would need to either update this, or carry a printout of your FC website to show your new status. It will be fine in Revivals, too, which is what your really want. The JAL lounge at ORD is a somehwat low-key affair - I would not be getting too excited about that.

When you pass 40 immediately after that your FC profile will flip to new number, and a TP reset. You will lose the extra 1 point, I believe - looking at my past history this seems to be what happened. The three points of your return trip will count for your next year TP total.

Originally posted by spiceke
Just a quick update - if you are interested

Managed to bag a P/E flight to Chicago for work next week so will get the 2 T/P's (unless the trip is cancelled at the last minute). So, 'happy days' as I don't have to put my hand in my pocket.

Now, that does pose 2 questions:-

1)I am on 38 T/P's so the outbound flight gets me Au. Will I be able to use the CH on the outbound? I have a feeling that I will not be able to, but one can live in hope.
I assume there will be no problems using the JAL (?) lounge at ORD on the return even though I will not have received my card yet.

2)Having 38 T/P's, will 4 of the 6 T/P's I earn on this trip be carried forward to help with renewal of Au (I already have 3 LGW - MCO P/E trips booked so that is 18 of the 30 needed. With this 4 I would only need to get another 8 to renew, which I may be able to do with an UC trip to BOM for work - don't want to get ahead of myself though !)

Many thanks

No you will not be able to use it on the outbound, i too qualified on my outbound to SFO a few years back. I would call Flying Club when you reach 40, and get them to put a note on your booking for your return.

And as mentioned, you will lose the 1 TP as your flight will reset the counter. Your return journey will count towards your 30 TP renewal target.

Regards

Mark

HI ALL
Are you lot for real??? [:D]
phew just reading this makes me concerned for your obsessive compulsive behaviour over ..... points = prizes = flights = OMG its over load!!!!
anyway I am only a lowly red
who cares [:$] with envy
Scarlet x

Scarlet46 - I know what you mean. I have even lost sleep over how to get the 2 TP's ! Very sad.

Anyway, checked in on Saturday and had a nice chat at check-in. Asked if I could use the CH as I was getting gold on this flight (Customer Services had said it would be up to the check-in staff to call the CH to see how busy they were).

A few clicks of the key board later and a beem of light came from heaven and I heard a choir of angels singing. The lovely check-in lady said 'no need to call the CH, I have upgraded you and your colleague to UC'.[^][:D][:D][:D]

Oh, happy days indeed.

Now, to work on keeping it !!!!!!!!!!!