When you open the site your details show on the right hand side with a status credits total which is meaningless. It gives you your 12 month rolling total rather than the total number of SCs you have in your current membership year. That would be much more useful as it's a dashboard of your progress towards requalifying. Is there any purpose whatsoever for the rolling total?
It's certainly not meaningless for most members. It's actually the only relevant SC figure for those without status, and also the most relevant figure for anyone who is trying to move up a status level. I agree the rolling total is also meaningful for anyone who already holds status, but that is displayed as well.
Speak for your own situation by all means. Do not speak for me.
It does NOT work in my favour, as my partner and I are at times 6 months apart in Review Dates. Depending on whether she has dropped or gained a level in the past year etc. It is a disaster for us, and doubtless for many others.
Why do you think that is a problem? In reality, this actually presents further opportunities for you to exploit family pooling to your advantage. I'm pretty sure that this system does actually work in virtually all members' favour.
If this was such a You Beaut system the Americans would be using it and they do NOT. No-one does.
US-based carriers are not renowned for introducing features that benefit the customer!
As far as I can tell, the only benefit of a fixed 12 month system (based on either calendar year or anniversary date) is that it means status will initially be valid for more than 12 months. However, that is completely irrelevant for anyone who expects to retain their new status level, i.e. it's really only a bonus for people who don't generally earn enough SCs for that particular tier, and who have just gained a higher status level as a one off. I can't think of a good reason why any loyalty program should be designed with those people in mind, as opposed to the people who will at least maintain their new status level, if not move up further.
Anyone who achieves a given number of SCs within a fixed 12 month period would also achieve at least the same number of SCs within a rolling 12 month period. Conversely, there are many scenarios in which people might reach much higher SC balances within a rolling 12 month period than within a fixed period. In short, a system that suddenly reduces SC balances to zero makes life much more difficult for members.
For example, the first time I reached Gold with QF, I earned ~600 SCs just before my membership year ended, then went back to 0, then earned another 700+ SCs within about 3 months of my new membership year starting. If QF had a rolling system, then (a) I would have reached Gold a couple of months (and many flights) sooner, and (b) I would have reached Platinum soon after reaching Gold. As it was, I didn't reach Platinum with QF for about another 8 years.
This isn't just specific to my circumstances - a person's SC balance based on a rolling 12 month period can
never be lower than the balance during a fixed 12 month period, but the balance will often be significantly
higher based on a rolling period.
