Sunday, July 5, 2009

Diamonds aren’t forever

After a year of first class treatment from the lovely folk at Cathay Pacific my top tier Diamond membership of their loyalty programme ran out a few days ago. I’m now relegated to Gold, the Championship as such, which let’s face it is a whole lot better than where Charlton Athletic find themselves. I can honestly say though I hope I never attain that Diamond card again. Don’t get me wrong, the perks these past 12 months were wonderful. The flashest airport lounge imaginable, upgrades galore, lounge access even when not flying Cathay, ludicrous baggage allowance … the list goes on. But what one has to do to become Diamond, phew, that’s an effort. In a 12-month period you need to crank out 120,000 miles with CX. To put that in perspective, HK to London is just over 6,000 miles. It’s alright if you are a highflying exec, as taking business class gives you double points. Your humble scribe here though has never coughed up the cash to sit up front in the plane so 120k worth or miles meant that in that particular 12 month period (June 2007 to June 2008) my feet barely touched the ground, home on Lamma was a place to shower, unpack and repack. Frankly, looking back on it, travelling that much ain’t good for the mind, let alone the environment.
Still, as I sit here writing this – in transit with Emirates at Dubai airport – I could really do with that Cathay lounge...

2 comments:

dan said...

Hi.

And sorry, but i couldn't find anywhere to contact you directly.

Would you like to do a blog exchange?

www.betelnut-equation.blogspot.com

Thanks,

Dan

JamboBwana said...

120,000 miles ! That is staggering.

Really, I know I bang on about Emirates but you must change your allegiance to them...I have been a Gold Tier Member ( Top Tier) for 4 years now and Emirates only require 50,000 miles for that privilege.. for which I get to use their First Class Lounges all over the world, first class check in, first on board, baggage off first, and 1.5 times airmiles.

When you use their airmiles for ticketing, it is valid for 12 months no matter how many times you might cancel the reservation, plus there are absolutely no restrictions on when you can use them.

And upgrades... I am so used to being upgraded I get annoyed when I am not!

Sadly, sob sob, its unlikely that I will be able to retain Gold Level after this year.