EY Gold Status match

[markis10]

I only got the standard automated reply when I emailed the status match email address, but the email I sent to customer service, I got a reply from a Customer Service Co-ordinator, albeit a very generic reply saying that they would look into "the concerns I raised".
I did not receive any further correspondence, only realised the status match had come through by checking my account.

I got a similar reply, surprisingly last Friday, after popping off an email last week.

 

[Mr_Orange]

I got a similar reply, surprisingly last Friday, after popping off an email last week.

Are you still residing in the Hilton, markis10?

 

[markis10]

Are you still residing in the Hilton, markis10?

No, I moved to my new home in Brisbane.

 

[Mr_Orange]

No, I moved to my new home in Brisbane.

OK, presumably you moved after he match came through. I suspect I might have moved out too soon as I still have no match.

 

[quokka77]

I only moved after finding my match. No card delivered to Oz (yet). Considering crediting everything VA to these guys now, but maybe there's more value in Krisflyer or Velocity (I have va platinum but won't maintain it with my current schedule). EY permit family pooling which is attractive to me. Will look into it.

 

[Jack_OC]

I only moved after finding my match. No card delivered to Oz (yet). Considering crediting everything VA to these guys now, but maybe there's more value in Krisflyer or Velocity (I have va platinum but won't maintain it with my current schedule). EY permit family pooling which is attractive to me. Will look into it.

I recently did the opposite - ie started crediting all EY and VA travel to Velocity, after a few years crediting everything to EY.

EY permit family pooling of points but not tier miles, so it doesn't help you attain/maintain status. If you can benefit from family pooling, it's much, much easier to get status with VA, and that was the clincher for me. Also, the EY earn on VA dom Y flights is so low it's hardly worth bothering.

I would only recommended crediting to EY if most of your travel is with EY.

EDIT: it's actually not just the inability to pool tier miles with EY that's the problem, even for an individual with no family pooling, it's much easier to attain status with Velocity (status matching aside, of course!).

For example:

- A J rtn from MEL-LHR earns 560 Velocity SCs, which is more than enough to reach Gold* and more than half way to Platinum. If you credit to EY, it gets you ~32,000 tier miles, which is only 64% of what's required to reach EY Gold, and about 25% of what's required to reach EY Gold Elite (equivalent of Platinum).

- A Y rtn from MEL-SYD earns 20 Velocity SCs, so if you do that 25 times it gets you Gold and 50 gets you Platinum. In contrast, each one of those flights would earn only 438 EY tier miles, so you'd need 114 of them to reach EY Gold or 285 to reach Gold Elite!

* of course you need your VA eligible sectors too, but if you fly a bit with VA that's not a problem, and if you don't then as I said EY probably is better.

 

[quokka77]

Thanks for that Jack. Earn and burn rates (rather than status) as well as family pooling are probably more important factors on reflection. Status is nice if it opens up award space, but apart from that is not critical. But by the sounds of it the earn on va metal isn't good, and I forgot that there isn't an obvious visa or MC earning card for Etihad Guest, so my thought bubble has pretty much popped. Hawaiian?! Only joking, I think the issues are likely similar.

 

[Jack_OC]

Thanks for that Jack. Earn and burn rates (rather than status) as well as family pooling are probably more important factors on reflection. Status is nice if it opens up award space, but apart from that is not critical. But by the sounds of it the earn on va metal isn't good, and I forgot that there isn't an obvious visa or MC earning card for Etihad Guest, so my thought bubble has pretty much popped. Hawaiian?! Only joking, I think the issues are likely similar.

Yeah Amex MR can transfer to EY, but that's about it as far as Aussie credit cards go.

BTW, it's true that earn rates are better with EY Guest if you're travelling with EY, but the opposite is true if you're travelling with VA (especially right now when you're Platinum). Burn rates are similar with both, at least when it comes to AUS-EU in J, which is what I've mainly used points for - eg MEL-DUB rtn in J is 275k EY Miles or 273k Velocity points. I'm definitely convinced Velocity is the way to go!

 

[ferni]

Even though I was one of the first to apply, before they added the UAE restriction, I got this back today, sigh...

Thank you for taking the time to contact the Etihad Guest Service Centre.


Further to your email, please be informed that the tier match offer was valid only for guests based in the UAE.


Alternatively, you may request for tier match at our local ticketing office where the guest is located. This is to ensure direct and quicker handling of the request as the medium between the guest and the station will be eliminated. The medium refers to Etihad Guest Service Center.


All considerations of this nature are managed by our local sales representatives who will sponsor your tier upgrade following an evaluation of your request. We therefore request you to please contact your nearest local Etihad office in order to explore the possibility of a Tier status match.


Please ensure that you keep on hand a copy of your valid membership card with the other frequent flyer programme along with a copy of the latest statement which clearly indicates your current Tier level and send your Etihad Guest number to our staff for reference.


Our Global offices can be found at the below link:


Contact us


You can visit our website Etihad Guest - A whole new world of opportunities where you will find the terms and conditions of the Etihad Guest programme.


Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us


We look forward to welcoming you as our guest in the future.

Yours Sincerely,

 

[dairyfloss]

Howdy, AFFers! I was finally matched to Etihad Guest Gold over the weekend. I originally applied on the 8th Feb and prior to the UAE eligibility change. I followed up about 3 times since then, usually against the optimism generated from fresh matches in this and other forums. Late last week I was told:

We sincerely apologize for this delayed update.

Having checked with the concerned team, we regret to inform you that your details were not found among those eligible members who got tier-matched.

However you may request for a regular tier match by visiting any of the Etihad ticketing office. Please be advised that all considerations of this nature are managed by our local sales representatives who will sponsor your tier upgrade following an evaluation of your request.

Please ensure that you keep on hand a copy of your valid membership card with the other frequent flyer programme along with a copy of the latest statement which clearly indicates your current Tier level and send your Etihad Guest number to our staff for reference.

I indicated in response something along the lines of having followed the process correctly the first time, and that I wasn't able to go into a ticketing office to do this. Information was supplied once more, just in case they wanted to pass on to someone that could help. I also asked for information on the easiest way to close my account. A mail came back on Saturday saying:

Please be advised that we are looking into the concerns you have raised. Rest assured that your email has received our attention and we hope that in time, we would be able to correspond to you accordingly.

Your patience and understanding in this regard is much appreciated.

On Sunday I was matched. No other correspondence was received. My account says Gold card has been dispatched. Now... if I could just remember why I wanted it in the first place...

Cheers.

 

[Mr_Orange]

Now... if I could just remember why I wanted it in the first place...

Cheers.

You wanted it just because you could get it and you can never have enough gold cards .

 

[dairyfloss]

You wanted it just because you could get it and you can never have enough gold cards .

Ahhh... that's right! May also help with testing the waters on alternatives in the wake of QFF's 'Simpler & Fairer'... we had no idea at the time that was coming!

 

[JessicaTam]

Ahhh... that's right! May also help with testing the waters on alternatives in the wake of QFF's 'Simpler & Fairer'... we had no idea at the time that was coming!

It seems only fair to try the competition.

 

[davestan]

Just got an acceptance email through today for Gold status match. So I guess they're still processing them.

 

[dairyfloss]

On Sunday I was matched. No other correspondence was received. My account says Gold card has been dispatched

And fast-forward 5 months... that card and some fancy bag tags arrived today!

Cheers.

 

[JohnK]

Any recent success with status matches?

Does *Gold assist with seating preferences across the alliance the same as Oneworld Emerald?

 

[Princess Fiona]

Any recent success with status matches?

Does *Gold assist with seating preferences across the alliance the same as Oneworld Emerald?

EY Gold isn't *Gold so won't give any benefits in that alliance as EY not a member, unless you mean something different?

 

[JohnK]

EY Gold isn't *Gold so won't give any benefits in that alliance as EY not a member, unless you mean something different?

Oh well. Why did I think Etihad was *Alliance? Status match won't help me then.

 

[vitagen]

Go match against TK...

 

[JohnK]

Go match against TK...

Are they still doing status matches?

I just realised though I will run in to same sort of problems as I will be using status from one airline but wanting to credit flights to SQ KrisFlyer or something similar.