Starlux is the new Taipei-based “luxury” airline that is launching operations in January. They just began selling tickets as of today, and I can’t wait to fly with them.
It’s really only today that they published their full website (coinciding with ticket sales), and in this post I wanted to take a look at their new frequent flyer program, which they also just launched.
Starlux Airlines’ Frequent Flyer Program
COSMILE is the name of Starlux Airlines’ new frequent flyer program. For one, it’s cool to see an airline introduce a (nearly) fully formed frequent flyer program from day one, which we don’t often see.
Starlux Airlines doesn’t have any airline partners as of now (and hasn’t announced plans to have any), so this program will be the only way to directly earn and redeem miles for their flights.
So let’s look at mileage earning, elite status, elite benefits, and some other aspects of this new program.
Starlux COSMILE Mileage Earning
Starlux has a distance based mileage earning chart, so you earn miles based on a combination of the fare class you book and the distance you fly. You earn anywhere from 0% to 175% miles, as follows:
As you can see, economy fares earn anywhere from 0% to 100% mileage, while business class fares earn anywhere from 130% to 175% mileage.
The airline also offers elite sectors, and you earn zero for the cheapest economy fares, and one sector for all other fares (it’s interesting that there’s no multiplier there for business class tickets).
Starlux COSMILE Elite Qualification Requirements
The COSMILE program has four tiers, including three elite tiers:
- Traveler, which you get just for joining the program
- Adventurer, which you get for earning 30,000 tier miles or 25 sectors in 12 consecutive months
- Explorer, which you get for earning 50,000 tier miles or 50 sectors in 12 consecutive months
- Insighter, which you get for earning 120,000 tier miles or 100 sectors in 12 consecutive months
It’s interesting that they publish both upgrade qualifications and renewal qualifications, because the metrics are the same. I’m not sure if they plan to lower requirements for requalifying long term, or what…
I’m guessing they’re looking at this program from a long-term perspective, given that the airline should launch long haul flights in 2021.
For the time being it seems really difficult to earn status with the program, given that they only fly to Macau, Da Nang, and Penang. That’s especially true when you consider that these are primarily leisure destinations and not business destinations.
For example, their longest announced route will be from Taipei to Penang, so a roundtrip ticket in the most expensive business class fare class would earn you ~6,870 elite miles. So you’d need to fly roundtrip 18 times in 12 months to earn top tier status.
On the other end of the spectrum, Taipei to Macau is their shortest route, so if you booked that in their cheapest economy fare that’s eligible for mileage accrual, you’d need to fly roundtrip 191 times in 12 months to earn top tier status. At least that’s if you qualified based on mileage, though in reality 50 roundtrips would earn you the status based on segments.
Starlux COSMILE Elite Benefits
So what are the perks of each of the three elite tiers?
COSMILE Adventurer members receive:
- An extra 10KG baggage allowance for the member only
- An exclusive check-in counter for the member only
- Priority baggage handling for the member only
COSMILE Explorer members receive:
- An extra 20KG or extra one piece baggage allowance for the member only
- An exclusive check-in counter for the member and one companion
- Starlux VIP lounge access for member and one companion
- Priority boarding for member and one companion
- Priority baggage handling for the member and one companion
COSMILE Insighter members receive:
- An extra 20KG or extra one piece baggage allowance for the member only
- An exclusive check-in counter for the member and two companions
- Starlux VIP lounge access for member and two companions
- Other airline VIP lounge for member and one companion
- Priority boarding for member and two companions
- Priority baggage handling for the member and two companions
A few things to note:
- It seems Starlux will have their own lounge at TPE, so do we know anything about this lounge yet?
- I understand the logistical reasons for this, but I find it interesting that Insighter members get two guests at the Starlux lounge and one guest at other lounges; so if you’re flying roundtrip with two companions, that creates a pretty inconsistent experience
- These are fairly basic benefits, and if you’re paying for business class then it seems the only potential benefit is a greater baggage allowance
- It seems they’re not even offering elite bonus miles as an elite perk
- I really want to be a COSMILE Insighter member…
Starlux COSMILE Mileage Redemptions
The COSMILE award redemption rates are as follows:
- 15,000 miles for a one-way upgrade
- 17,500 miles for a one-way economy ticket
- 25,000 miles for a one-way business class ticket
Those costs are reasonable, I’m just curious to see what award and upgrade availability is like.
Starlux COSMILE Status Match
The Starlux COSMILE program is offering a status match opportunity from day one, which is pretty cool.
The details are limited as of now, though the page about it states that:
- The application is for “high-tier” members of other airline frequent flyer programs
- You need to enroll in COSMILE first, and then fill out the status match application form, and include a copy of the other airline’s member card and a flight record
- I’m not sure if this is accurate, but according to the terms, “before December 31st, 2020, for those who submit the application, the validity of COSMILE card tier will be adjusted to 4 years after approved
- Getting approved could take up to 30 days
I’m not sure if they’re actually allowing status matches for four years, or if something is lost in translation here…
You can read about my experience getting a Starlux Airlines status match here.
Starlux COSMILE Family Accounts
The Starlux COSMILE program is offering family accounts. This can include up to five people, including a spouse and then children between the ages of two and 20.
Proof of relationship must be attached to the application, and this allows you to only pool award miles, as there’s no option to pool status miles — those will be earned in individual accounts.
The primary member can delete sub-members from the account at the cost of 10USD for each account deletion. If you want to apply for a family account, you can do so here.
Bottom Line
It’s cool to see Starlux Airlines launch with a frequent flyer program.
The benefits don’t seem particularly compelling, though I guess given that they are a small airlines with no partners and with a small business class cabin, there’s only so much they can offer as of now.
I’m going to give a COSMILE status match a try just to see how it goes, though I’m not expecting to have much luck.
What do you make of the Starlux COSMILE program?
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