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Posts: 200

Shifu

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Q: Which Chinese airline offers the best VIP service for air miles?

I've joined China Southern's Pearl Sky Club and hope to accumulate enough air miles in the next 5 years or so to enjoy their VIP lounge. But which airline has the most attractive services for frequent fliers (I'm mainly thinking of the free food and drinks in the vip lounge)!

10 years 29 weeks ago in  Web & Technology - China

 
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Shifu

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I already tried China Southern and Air China, even providing my Membership no. every time at check in, i still find ZERO miles in my account. I joined Air China 3 years back and China Southern 1 year back.

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10 years 29 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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Do they really let you accumulate miles over a 5 year span that contribute to elite status (lounge access)?  Most airlines want you to earn so many miles per annum to gain access to their lounges.  For example, with American Airlines, to gain access to their lounges on international flights, I would need to fly 50,000 miles PER YEAR.  That being said, my favorite Chinese airline would have to be Cathay Pacific who are also partnered with DragonAir (both based out of Hong Kong...that still counts as Chinese right?)  And these guys are also part of the OneWorld alliance, which means you would get access to other airlines' lounges such as American Airlines, British Airways, etc.

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10 years 29 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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5 years? You're dreaming. For China Southern, the status qualification period is every calendar year and you need 40,000 qualifying kms (doesn't always equal "bum in seat" kms!) to get Silver status which only allows you access to CZ lounges. To get Gold (and access to all the SkyTeam lounges) you need to do 80,000 qualifying kms in the same 12 month period. Renewal is the same deal, every year. Miles expire after 36 months. Add to that the many of the economy fare sub classes only earn 40% of the BIS kms and the CZ FF program looks like a pretty poor deal to me. You'd basically have to be flying religiously with CZ (preferably in their premium cabins, which given your interest in lounge access, I'm guessing won't be happening) to get any value out of the program.

If you're likely to be flying CZ often (e.g. live near Guangzhou airport) then you can probably get lounge access status a lot quicker (and with longer breaks between qualification periods) with one of the other SkyTeam members. To use a slightly different example, I'm a member of Asiana Airline's program (Star Alliance) and only need to do 40,000 qualifying miles in 24 months to get/retain Gold status. This gets me access to the lounges when flying with fellow Star Alliance members Air China and Shenzhen Airlines, amongst others.

In any case, many lounges in Chinese airports are shared and, by international standards, rubbish. Singapore Airlines have even gone to the extent of offering restaurant vouchers instead of lounge passes in some Chinese airports due to how poor the lounges are. It's basically soft drinks and beer (possibly refrigerated) and a collection of snacks that makes the China Railways carts look like gourmet dining. If all your travel is going to be in China, then the lounges aren't worth chasing status for, I reckon. Just save your money and chase the lowest fares instead.

 

Delphine86:

Thanks. I previously also signed up for Air France's Flying Blue but the card never made it to China. I think I might just give up on the idea of getting lounge access :(

10 years 29 weeks ago
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