Marco Polo Club or Asia Miles

[Toffees]

Hi there,

I am a member of Asia Miles but rarely use it. My job now needs be to fly to TPE on a regular basis, therefore I will see a regular use of CX to TPE via HK. Note: I am based in Penang.
Question is should I pay n sign up for Marco Polo club as I find some of the terms n conditions are ridiculous to a certain extend....

Anyone can tell me which one is better : Asia Miles or Marco Polo ?...thks

[khellek]

Hi there,

I am a member of Asia Miles but rarely use it. My job now needs be to fly to TPE on a regular basis, therefore I will see a regular use of CX to TPE via HK. Note: I am based in Penang.
Question is should I pay n sign up for Marco Polo club as I find some of the terms n conditions are ridiculous to a certain extend....

Anyone can tell me which one is better : Asia Miles or Marco Polo ?...thks

If I remember correctly from my last trip, you can apply for MPC for free inflight if you are on traveling on business or first class .

I find it funny to pay USD50 for a FFP

[Toffees]

If I remember correctly from my last trip, you can apply for MPC for free inflight if you are on traveling on business or first class .

I find it funny to pay USD50 for a FFP

Yes, I agree with you...other than that if your MP is inactive for 12 months...all miles accumulated before that will be set to ZER0.....

[HUGE AL]

The thread on TOF is quite helpful. In addition, there may be info here:

http://www.sqtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1621


Isn't AsiaMiles for accumulating the mileage and MPC for status?

[Toffees]

The thread on TOF is quite helpful. In addition, there may be info here:

http://www.sqtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1621


Isn't AsiaMiles for accumulating the mileage and MPC for status?

Thanks for the headsup, HugeAl.....yes you are right below but still wondering if its really worth to pay USD50 for some plastic card....

[Kyo]

From my limited poking around with OW when I was deciding to credit to Asia Miles or JL's JMB, I also took a look at MPC.

Asia Miles seems more like a rewards program where you can credit all sorts of rewards points (not just airmiles) to... it's not a real FFP per se. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong - but if it's status you're after, CX's MPC is the one to be going after.

Will let the usual OW guys sort it out...

[jjpb3]

You won't be able to achieve status with just an Asia Miles membership. You need to register with MPC (same membership number as your Asia Miles account). HUGE AL is right: you bank redeemable miles with Asia Miles, your status miles are recorded in your MPC account.

There are reports of MPC Silver being offered for free to those who pass the 25,000-mile threshold. It may not happen automatically, though. If you want to use some entry-level MPC benefits (dedicated checkin or boarding lines at some airports, for example), you might want to spring for the $50 fee ahead of time. The value of the initial $50 investment depends on how much you can use those initial benefits.

OP, could you clarify which of the T&C you find 'ridiculous', and why?

[StarG]

I think the $50 fee for MPC Green is very much reasonable.
It does come with some benefits: the MPC check-in counters benefit in some airports alone pays it off if you travel economy most of the times.
Also IIRC, you'll get priority boarding as well with MPC Green.

[Doraemon]

If I remember correctly from my last trip, you can apply for MPC for free inflight if you are on traveling on business or first class .

I find it funny to pay USD50 for a FFP

Yes, you can apply MPC inflight, and no, it is not free.

It really depends on whether OP finds the values of MPC dedicated check-in counter in airport and priority boarding worth the USD50. With internet check-in, I really don't see much in the value of MPC dedicated check-in counter if you have to pay for it as the internet check-in counter (for dropping off your luggage) is rarely crowded.

Do bear in mind that even though HKG-PEN is a daily flight, it does get routed through KUL on 3 days of the week with the remaining 4 days non-stop HKG-PEN.

For other OW elite programs (e.g. JAL Mileage Bank and AAAdvantage), you need to fly at least 4 sectors on their metal in order to gain status even if you have met the 25k miles, 50k miles, etc threshold.

[Toffees]

You won't be able to achieve status with just an Asia Miles membership. You need to register with MPC (same membership number as your Asia Miles account). HUGE AL is right: you bank redeemable miles with Asia Miles, your status miles are recorded in your MPC account.

There are reports of MPC Silver being offered for free to those who pass the 25,000-mile threshold. It may not happen automatically, though. If you want to use some entry-level MPC benefits (dedicated checkin or boarding lines at some airports, for example), you might want to spring for the $50 fee ahead of time. The value of the initial $50 investment depends on how much you can use those initial benefits.

OP, could you clarify which of the T&C you find 'ridiculous', and why?

The below statement in CS website which I find it strange
A membership year lasts 12 months from the date you enrolled, renewed, upgraded or downgraded into your current tier. Upon renewal, upgrade or downgrade, your Club miles and Club sectors will automatically be reset to zero and a new membership year begins.

My question is if I do not fullfill the renewal criteria for Green in a year, does this means my membership will be cancelled ?

Another thing is it meantions your Club miles and Club sectors will automatically be reset to zero and a new membership year begins...does this means assuming I have earn 20K miles for this year n if i dont use it it will be reset to ZERO in the new membership year ?

[jjpb3]

The below statement in CS website which I find it strange
A membership year lasts 12 months from the date you enrolled, renewed, upgraded or downgraded into your current tier. Upon renewal, upgrade or downgrade, your Club miles and Club sectors will automatically be reset to zero and a new membership year begins.

My question is if I do not fullfill the renewal criteria for Green in a year, does this means my membership will be cancelled ?

Another thing is it meantions your Club miles and Club sectors will automatically be reset to zero and a new membership year begins...does this means assuming I have earn 20K miles for this year n if i dont use it it will be reset to ZERO in the new membership year ?

Your first question is about meeting the minimum requirements to retain membership in MPC. For MPC, you're supposed to fly 4 CX sectors on eligible fares within your membership year in order to retain Green. Technically, not doing so will cause your membership to lapse. I don't think CX have consistently enforced that requirement in the past, however.

The T&Cs you cite are about when status miles are re-set. Club miles and sectors are re-set to zero when your membership year expires, or if you get promoted to the next tier, whichever is earlier. Unless you have lifetime status, any FFP will reset status miles after some period in order to determine whether you are eligible for elite benefits (for some FFPs it's based on the calendar year, for others it's based on a personal membership year).

Your second question is about redeemable miles, whereas the T&Cs are about status miles. You can't 'use' Club miles, if I'm interpreting your comment correctly. (Asia Miles expire after 3 years.)

I don't think there's anything stange (or ridiculous) in the T&Cs you do cite.

[Toffees]

Your first question is about meeting the minimum requirements to retain membership in MPC. For MPC, you're supposed to fly 4 CX sectors on eligible fares within your membership year in order to retain Green. Technically, not doing so will cause your membership to lapse. I don't think CX have consistently enforced that requirement in the past, however.

The T&Cs you cite are about when status miles are re-set. Club miles and sectors are re-set to zero when your membership year expires, or if you get promoted to the next tier, whichever is earlier. Unless you have lifetime status, any FFP will reset status miles after some period in order to determine whether you are eligible for elite benefits (for some FFPs it's based on the calendar year, for others it's based on a personal membership year).

Your second question is about redeemable miles, whereas the T&Cs are about status miles. You can't 'use' Club miles, if I'm interpreting your comment correctly. (Asia Miles expire after 3 years.)

I don't think there's anything stange (or ridiculous) in the T&Cs you do cite.

thanks...i think i have a better understanding now on the MPC T&C

[kchika]

Yes, you can apply MPC inflight, and no, it is not free.

No, it is free for F/J pax. However, the catch is that you have to be invited by the FA to join for free. The joining fee can also be waived if you successfully apply for the CX AMEX.

If anyone here has any futher questions about MPO they can PM me.

[Toffees]

I did a dummy bookin on CX for PEN-HK-TPE ..going on 2nd Aug n coming back on 8th Aug...the price is around MYR5,600.......what screw up crazy price.....even SQ, TG or MH is not as crazy as CX pricing......n the booking type is B..

[scooby5]

Call the CX reservations number in Penang. I used to call the KL office all the time and they were really quite helpful. Even the CX-MY website mentions MYR3,900 for business class to Taipei if paying by Visa, stopover allowed on the way back only.

With regards MPC membership, as far as i have seen with my wife's membership she has never been kicked out of Green regardless of not flying. I stopped flying CX more than two years ago, lost my Silver became Green and still am with my redemption miles set to expire still a few years from now.

With regards the USD50 membership, it is only worth it if you will be flying enough to gain Silver membership or above, and gain lounge access. When you consider the price of Priority Pass and Pay-As-You-Go lounge access at USD20 per visit it works out quite good. When CX stopped issuing their own co-branded credit card a year or two ago i think any free membership also disappeared because it sued to be that when you signed up for their card, MPC membership was thrown in for free........ this is how i joined first.