Thailand Elite Card is pleased to announce the release of four new membership programs

[jankan88]

Im not much with patience so I made the call today and got the answer "Oh yes, we just got the approval letter from the immigration" :)

They sent me an email shortly afterwords with all the information. Will make the payment tomorrow. 

 

If you are in Thailand doing the application on a visa that are about to expire then once you have made the payment and sent them proof and got the welcome letter and ID number, just schedule a date to affix the visa at Chaengwattana. They said you need to schedule it 5 business days in advance.

 

If you are not in Thailand, just let them know (also at least 5 business days in advance) which date you will arrive in Thailand and they will affix the visa at the airport.

They also said that the approval letter from the immigration is valid for 3 months so I guess payment + affix visa needs to be done within this time.

DUS is spot on answering your immediate questions tho :)

 

46 minutes ago, 4evermaat said:

 

 

and others....

 

Does the TE membership start date happen on date payment is approved, or when you first go to receive the member card / TE visa in passport?   There could be a gap in between of several weeks.

 

Would be great if it starts from date you receive passport.

 

[Tom9999]

11 hours ago, DUS said:

I was told that the actual membership starts on the day they set the account up and send you the welcome letter. The 5 year visa on the other hand supposedly starts when you afix the visa into your pp....

Yes. I can confirm this.

May Membership start date is the day I got the Welcome Letter.

 

The whole approval and payment process took only 10 days in my case.

This was indeed faster than I was expecting.

 

I will not be able to get to Thailand for an other couple of weeks.

So the time my Visa will start and the time of the Start of my Membership will be different.

[jankan88]

Update:

Greeting from Thailand Elite …

 

Finance Department has checked the status of the membership fee and confirmed. The next step we will register applicant into the system and after that member will receive a welcome letter including ID number via e-mail. This process take approximately 2-3 working days.

 

Refer to your visa information, as your visa will be expired on June 7, once registration process is completed we will make the appointment to get Elite Visa at immigration Chaengwattana on Tuesday June 6,2017

[jankan88]

Another "official answer" regarding the card which they said will take about 1 month to make due to higher quality material used for the card and with a better print.

 

In the meantime one will get a temporary letter to show when necessary.

[SABloke]

I was considering giving these people some of my money, so I clicked the link. Got 404 error. Mmmmm. Do I want to give 1mil to a company that can't be arsed to supply working links? 

[thaifoodruns]

I was considering giving these people some of my money, so I clicked the link. Got 404 error. Mmmmm. Do I want to give 1mil to a company that can't be arsed to supply working links? 

 

Email or phone them, they are the best customer service I have received here, then again for 1mil expect nothing less

[Flustered]

1 minute ago, SABloke said:

I was considering giving these people some of my money, so I clicked the link. Got 404 error. Mmmmm. Do I want to give 1mil to a company that can't be arsed to supply working links? 

9 time out of 10 a 404 error is the fault of the originator not entering the correct URL or having the wrong settings on their PC, not the site.

 

I have never had a 404 error with the TE site and if a simple 404 error puts you off paying for a TE visa, you were never serious in the first place and just stirring things up.

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, SABloke said:

I was considering giving these people some of my money, so I clicked the link. Got 404 error. Mmmmm. Do I want to give 1mil to a company that can't be arsed to supply working links? 

Not sure what link you were using but I just went on the site using this one. http://www.thailandelite.com/#/

The link I had saved as a bookmark gave me the 404 error so back spaced to the basic site url. It looks like they have redone the site.

[jankan88]

7 minutes ago, SABloke said:

I was considering giving these people some of my money, so I clicked the link. Got 404 error. Mmmmm. Do I want to give 1mil to a company that can't be arsed to supply working links? 

I have gotten a some 404s as well, I have mentioned it to them and they have fixed it.

 

4 minutes ago, thaifoodruns said:

 

Email or phone them, they are the best customer service I have received here, then again for 1mil expect nothing less

In the beginning of my application process I was far from impressed by their customer service (read my previous posts) but probably because I got to talk to different people each time I called them. Its been much better now when ive been assigned to talk to just one. As many others have said, Im in it for the stamp in my passport. 

[scubascuba3]

9 time out of 10 a 404 error is the fault of the originator not entering the correct URL or having the wrong settings on their PC, not the site.
 
I have never had a 404 error with the TE site and if a simple 404 error puts you off paying for a TE visa, you were never serious in the first place and just stirring things up.

Very defensive again

[DUS]

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Very defensive again

 

Hehe, when I saw the post you commented on, I expected you to show up and comment within 60 seconds. What took you so long? 

 

Edited May 29, 2017 by DUS

[ubonjoe]

I just did an edit of the OP and scratched through the links that are not working now since they redid their website. This one takes you to the home page. http://www.thailandelite.com/#/

[Flustered]

4 minutes ago, DUS said:

 

Hehe, when I saw the post you commented on, I expected you to show up and comment within 60 seconds. What took you so long? 

 

It's just the sour pusses that cannot afford a TE visa and are jealous of those who can.

 

With all of the visas available in Thailand, I never understand why they are so jealous.

[DUS]

Quick question re the airport lounge(s):

 

Does TE membership allow access to more than just the one lounge at BKK (and the ones on HKT and CMX)? Is there one at SIN or KUL that I might access as a TE member?

Edited May 29, 2017 by DUS

[thaifoodruns]

In the beginning of my application process I was far from impressed by their customer service (read my previous posts) but probably because I got to talk to different people each time I called them. Its been much better now when ive been assigned to talk to just one. As many others have said, Im in it for the stamp in my passport. 

 

 

Yeah I was assigned to just 1 person from the beginning, I got replies within an hour or two of all my questions, Felt like a 5 star hotel.

 

Now that I'm a member I'm not assigned to anyone. Just phone or email the members area, but I don't have any more questions except for the card delay.

 

Got my first 90 days report end of June still not sure if I'm going to post or drop by the office.

 

 

 

 

[Scott]

Troll posts removed.  

[newatthis]

18 hours ago, jankan88 said:

Another "official answer" regarding the card which they said will take about 1 month to make due to higher quality material used for the card and with a better print.

 

In the meantime one will get a temporary letter to show when necessary.

So you will still get Visa stamp with just the temporary letter?

[DUS]

30 minutes ago, newatthis said:

So you will still get Visa stamp with just the temporary letter?

 

Yes....

[newatthis]

15 minutes ago, DUS said:

 

Yes....

Thanks Dus. I should get Welcome letter this week. Came back in from Oz on Monday on a 30 day visa exemption so all should be finalized by 27 June.

[jankan88]

7 hours ago, newatthis said:

So you will still get Visa stamp with just the temporary letter?

Yes, before going to immigration and affix the visa you will already gotten your ID number and welcome letter.

 

The temporary letter I was talking about (perhaps same as the ID/welcome letter) was just to be used instead of the actual card if you use any of the benefits like golf, spa etc. It didnt have anything to do with the visa...as far as I understood it.

[anotheruser]

Just now, jankan88 said:

Yes, before going to immigration and affix the visa you will already gotten your ID number and welcome letter.

 

The temporary letter I was talking about (perhaps same as the ID/welcome letter) was just to be used instead of the actual card if you use any of the benefits like golf, spa etc. It didnt have anything to do with the visa...as far as I understood it.

Even before you wouldn't get the card until the visa was affixed. Last year the day i went to get the visa is when I got the card and welcome box. When I made a bank account they never asked for the card. I had a letter and appointment made already.

 

I have never used the limo service so no idea but if TE runs that you can assume they will accept your letter or even just show them the visa in your passport would suffice. There is no real reason you need the card as far as I know. They may want it for some of the hotel deals which I have never used. 

 

 

[jankan88]

5 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

Even before you wouldn't get the card until the visa was affixed. Last year the day i went to get the visa is when I got the card and welcome box. When I made a bank account they never asked for the card. I had a letter and appointment made already.

 

I have never used the limo service so no idea but if TE runs that you can assume they will accept your letter or even just show them the visa in your passport would suffice. There is no real reason you need the card as far as I know. They may want it for some of the hotel deals which I have never used. 

 

 

Yeah, I think so too.

[YetAnother]

drop the fees by half and you will see 3 times the number of people signing up; o, sorry, too advanced for the thai elite folks

[anotheruser]

1 minute ago, YetAnother said:

drop the fees by half and you will see 3 times the number of people signing up; o, sorry, too advanced for the thai elite folks

No way they could do that. A news release stating they are dropping the price in half isn't good for them and would piss off those who are already members. 

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

drop the fees by half and you will see 3 times the number of people signing up; o, sorry, too advanced for the thai elite folks

 

Thats incredible, you would be an asset to any business...   you can do all this market research alone 

[anotheruser]

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Thats incredible, you would be an asset to any business...   you can do all this market research alone 

The thing is nobody even knows what percentage the government takes out of their fees. To simply say they can cut the price in half when you aren't aware of the possible costs is not all that bright. :)

[thaifoodruns]

drop the fees by half and you will see 3 times the number of people signing up; o, sorry, too advanced for the thai elite folks

From 2 mil to 1 mil errr that's half

[elviajero]

34 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

drop the fees by half and you will see 3 times the number of people signing up; o, sorry, too advanced for the thai elite folks

 

31 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

No way they could do that. A news release stating they are dropping the price in half isn't good for them and would piss off those who are already members. 

They already have!!!

 

No doubt they will introduce more 'membership programs'  in the future as it seems to be the only way they've kept the scheme going to date.

[lkn]

6 minutes ago, elviajero said:

They already have!!!

 

No doubt they will introduce more 'membership programs'  in the future as it seems to be the only way they've kept the scheme going to date.

And it seems to have been a success, given the uptick in members, so no need to chastise YetAnother for his suggestion.

 

My suggestion for a new membership package would be one that only gives you a 6 month entry stamp, but at half the price.

 

There must be a lot like me who only stay in Thailand during the cool season, so the accrued calculation of “only 50-100,000 baht/year” doesn’t really work that well on us, because for us it’s more like 50-100,000 baht extra for your yearly Thailand visit to avoid the visa extension + potential border run.

[anotheruser]

Just now, elviajero said:

 

They already have!!!

 

No doubt they will introduce more 'membership programs'  in the future as it seems to be the only way they've kept the scheme going to date.

Okay so the price should be affordable now? People were asking for a price cut and got it. Can't see the entry level ever going below 500K. I don't think there is enough to chop up if they discount it any further. 

 

I don't think the price is wrong but the demographic may be off. If they cut the price in half again many still couldn't afford it. They may have over estimated the kind of people that come to Thailand. 

 

But here is a clue how much TE cares about any of our business opinions are ideas on the matter. Look at the date of last visit in the picture. So it seems they don't exactly come here often to farm this place for our clever comments and ideas. Seems they gave up on this place being anything useful since at least last August