JAL Global Club as OW FFP -- anyone who can read Japanese?

[lcpteck]

JGC Sapphire Card received, they will send a personalized luggage tag in due time as well.

Personalized luggage tag received, so it takes about 2 months plus. It's very sturdy, what a beauty too. Will put it on my handcarry or personal bags since you only get 1.

[lcpteck]

JMB Sapphire Card received and faxed in my application for JAL Global Club (JGC). Account now reflects JGC status, cool!

JGC Sapphire Card received, they will send a personalized luggage tag in due time as well.

[lcpteck]

I've reached JMB Sapphire status and now waiting for the welcome package + membership card.

JMB Sapphire Card received and faxed in my application for JAL Global Club (JGC). Account now reflects JGC status, cool!

[lcpteck]

I've reached JMB Sapphire status and now waiting for the welcome package + membership card.

[lcpteck]

I have eligible flights credited to JL for next year and am close to JMB Sapphire status. Looking forward to join JGC and see what it entails.

[HUGE AL]

JGC CLUB-A Credit Card

Was researching this for a friend of mine in Japan to figure out is getting one of these credit cards:

https://www.jal.co.jp/en/jalmile/jgc.html

is all you need to have lifetime OW Sapphire status (an improvement from when this thread was started). The wording on JAL's website and TOF's JL FAQs is definitely not the best in vetting this out.

[Kyo]

There goes my plan for cheap KUL runs...

[Nick C]

Resurrecting this thread again...

Bad news... JAL is canning JL721/722 next year

[Kyo]

I'd presumably consider JL on certain other choice routes also if I had status, including longhaul or even domestic within Japan, seeing as I think Japan is a two-three time a year destination for me (normally holidays).

Thinking of all the reasons that Status affords, rather than Op-Ups, which are not certain.

The cutout of the JL girl is in that photo... no CX girl.

I have no idea what lies inside, but once I reach 11,500 FLY-ON points, that's an upgrade to Biz on SIN-KUL-SIN right there!

(Which is another consideration as that's two FLY-ON J redemptions in the run for 50 flights)

I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who has contributed to this topic - I never knew people were this keen on JL and this tiny short run...

[jhm]

Op-ups on JL ? Will you fly anything more than SIN-KUL ? In J on that route, you still don't get any booze nor do you get anything more than the usual rice crackers and/or dried natto!

The entrance to the CX KUL lounge looks okay but what lies inside ? And what happened to the (IIRC) cardboard cutout of the CX girl outside ? (Or am I getting confused with another CX lounge elsewhere ?)

[Kyo]

Thanks jhm, I'm looking more for status + lounge benefits actually. But that's a decent alternative to consider. Since I'd be flying with JL, not QF, I'd want JL to 'recognise' and possibly op-up here and there, especially if rumours elsewhere are true that JGCs get treated very, very nicely... JGC + OW Sapphire especially nice. JGC + easily requalification looks like a win-win scenario to me.

Let's hope the qualification methods don't change (or change to become easier, fat chance... ) it is still around in 2010. And that I can still get these fares/fare bucket.

Oh and by the way, there is this *minor* point that you might want to update your post with - may I present the new CX lounges in KLIA that opened about 3 weeks ago (obviously I couldn't get in):





Fancy schmancy eh?

[jhm]

AFAIK, there is some benefit in OW ruby even if you don't get lounge access, e.g. you could access the very nice BA LHR T1 zone R premium check-in (before the move to T5) and I believe there are special check-in desks (?) for OW ruby/CX silver at HKG. So it's not totally worthless like *A silver.

As Kiwi mentioned, have you looked into buying QF club membership which I believe gives you access to BA J lounges ? So you'd be sorted in SIN (albeit not the F side) and OW lounge access in KUL consists only of the not very nice CX lounge anyway.

[Kyo]

It's not the FLY-ON points I'm worried about - I'd have plenty of those... it's the 50-flight requirement/based upon the rest of the weekends this year. It wouldn't have been too tough had I not only started my first flight in March! Then only to seriously consider it in April... and have to qualify all within Jan - Dec 09!

I will have to pass for now and plan the run for 2010... I have to use my other long-weekends for other more productive purposes this year. If I went all out by December, whilst still leaving enough weekends to spend elsewhere, I'd still be short about 4 weekends. Seeing as this is a once-a-day, one-way flight, I'd have to use up both my long weekends, forego my Christmas jaunt to Hong Kong, and can the OSL DO.

Also, I don't know if there's some sort of calculation error, but every flight I get logs only 537 FLY-ONs, not 631.

If it was 631 FLY-ONs, I'd be able to qualify (albeit in a crazy fashion) on the 50 flights requirement within this year. Since the rest of my weekends this year is more or less planned out with a few variables here and there, I'll have to give it a miss. OW Ruby just isn't worth me going nuts over, but in the end, JL still remains my preferred option on SIN-KUL-SIN. Some of the SIN JL check-in staff already wave hello, so it's all good for now.

I'll post up the messy calculations I'd sent last week to the HUGE one.

But they are rather unstructured and fairly painful to read.

Here it is (with a great degree of editing to make more sense/give it context):

"The annual fee can be waived if you have a credit card OR JGC members who earn 25,000 FLY-ON Points or fly 10 eligible flights with JAL/JALways international flights during the calendar year."

To be honest, each flight nets me 537 points exactly.

Which would mean 46.55 odd flown flights on the SIN-KUL run.

So far, I have 4,833 with only 1,233 BIS miles.

By calculating 25,000 FLY-ON minus 4,833 FLY-ON points, I'll still need 20,167 FLY-ONs, or 37.55 flown flights. Since I can do two flights in one weekend, that means on the 18th round-trip on SIN-KUL, I'll be able to only waive the annual fee.

All the above is not yet relevant because...

"JAL Global Club (JGC) membership [OW Ruby] is available to JMB members who have achieved 50,000 FLY-ON Points or have taken at least 50 flights of 15,000 FLY-ON Points on JAL Group airlines flights during one calendar year (January-December)."

Since it will take 50,000 FLY-ON points to achieve JGC, that's 93.1 flown flights based on 537 FLY-ONs alone to get OW Ruby (overkill).

So, this leaves me with "at least 50 flights of 15,000 FLY-ON points" as the qualification criteria.

Since 50 flights x 537 = 26,850 FLY-ON points, the FLY-ON points qualification criteria is satisfied, but there's the actual case of flying another 41 flights on JL.

To summarise, I need to requalify in terms of number of eligible flights flown. Another 41 flights, to be exact, to meet the above criteria. I have 22 weekends if I want to do that. The factor is not so much cost. It's time and actual BIS flown flights (it's $139 SGD per round trip, or $69.50 per flight). $69.50 x 41 = $2849.5 SGD, or USD1,960.575 (a pittance in terms of cost, to gain OW Sapphire).

To achieve this, I'd probably have to consider flying to Japan and doing as many domestic sectors in one weekend around Japan (not cheap and distorts the working model I have). Since we have only two more long weekends, where I could in essence squeeze in 3 JL flights each weekend, saving myself two weekends, and then bus it back red-eye, it just doesn't seem very 'worth' it.

If it works, it'll only *just barely* work.

If this was allowable from March '09 - March '10 (at first I thought it might be), an extra 3 months means I'll easily clear qualification for JGC... and the rest, as we've discussed, is easy for re-qualification. 10 more flights, or 5 weekends, by March 2010 would be what I'd require to safely get to Sapphire

Perhaps Leroy and Bubba are up to the task?!!

[stargold]

Well, it's 50 flights of fly-on eligible tickets, plus 15,000 fly-on points, so I wouldn't have thought it would be too tough?

KUL-SIN: 185 miles
+25% = 231.5 miles
+ 400 bonus points (C fare) = 631.5 miles

50 x 631.5 points = 31575 points

http://www.uk.jal.com/world/en/jalmi..._on/guide.html

[Kyo]

Initially qualify for Sapphire - that's very interesting indeed. That or 50 flights... I think 50 short-hops SIN-KUL still doesn't quite breach Sapphire, I'm afraid?

But yes - this is an interesting development.

JL office in Singapore just gave me blank looks. Then suggested I sign up for JMB. Which was awkward.