Question:medium

DIRECTIONS for questions 78 to 81: Read the data below and choose the correct option for the questions that follow.

Queen Airlines offers the following Privilege programme: there are 5 membership tiers, each with its own set of enhanced tier-specific benefits. New members join at the Blue tier, then upgrade to Blue Plus, which adds the benefit of Tele check-in. The programme also has three elite tiers, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The 6-month fast-track upgrade and the 12-month standard upgrade system work in parallel: whenever a passenger meets the condition for the next tier, either in terms of the number of flights taken in the stipulated period or in terms of accumulated Queen-Miles, in either of the two systems, the passenger is automatically upgraded to the next tier. The 6-month system looks at a rolling 6-month period, and the 12-month system looks at a rolling 12-month period. If conditions for more than one upgrade are met at the same time, the passenger is given the higher of the two tiers.

Tier Upgrade6-month Fast Track Upgrade System
(Cumulative flights / Cumulative Queen-Miles)
12-month Standard Upgrade System
(Cumulative flights / Cumulative Queen-Miles)
Blue to Blue Plus3 / 3,000Not Applicable
Blue Plus to SilverNot Applicable5 / 12,500
Silver to Gold5 / 12,50010 / 20,000
Gold to Platinum10 / 20,00020 / 30,000

Benefits and Privileges

BlueBlue PlusSilverGoldPlatinum
Tele Check-in
Additional baggage allowance10 kgs20 kgs35 kgs
Confirmed upgrade vouchers135
Guaranteed reservations upto 24 hours prior to departure
Cancellation fees waived on published fares

Distances between cities in Queen-miles

DelhiKolkataMumbaiHyderabadBangaloreCoimbatoreGuwahati
Kolkata1461
Mumbai14071987
Hyderabad14991516711
Bangalore20611881998562
Coimbatore240121671265902340
Guwahati195910812746237029323209
Chennai2095167613296883314912718

Mr Kakkar, a newly recruited MBA from a business school, started his career at the start of 2007. His travel plan for 2007 is given below.

DateFromTo
2.1.2007MumbaiHyderabad
8.1.2007HyderabadMumbai
3.2.2007MumbaiDelhi
8.3.2007DelhiGuwahati
20.3.2007GuwahatiKolkata
11.4.2007KolkataGuwahati
30.4.2007GuwahatiChennai
4.7.2007ChennaiGuwahati
20.7.2007GuwahatiKolkata
2.9.2007KolkataHyderabad
11.9.2007HyderabadGuwahati
22.9.2007GuwahatiDelhi
1.10.2007ChennaiBangalore
11.10.2007GuwahatiChennai
4.11.2007ChennaiDelhi
29.11.2007DelhiHyderabad
1.12.2007HyderabadGuwahati
31.12.2007GuwahatiMumbai

In which month will Mr Kakkar become eligible for guaranteed reservations up to 24 hours prior to departure?

Show Hint

Guaranteed reservations 24 hours before departure need Gold tier or above (check the tick marks in the Benefits table). Track Kakkar's cumulative flights against the tier table to see when he first reaches Gold.
Updated On: Jul 13, 2026
  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April
Show Solution

The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

This question is really asking: on what date does Kakkar's flying first make him a Gold member? Only Gold and Platinum members get guaranteed reservations 24 hours before departure, as the tick marks in the privileges table show.

  • Flight 1 (2 Jan): Mumbai to Hyderabad, 711 miles. Running total: 1 flight, 711 miles.
  • Flight 2 (8 Jan): Hyderabad to Mumbai, 711 miles. Running total: 2 flights, 1422 miles.
  • Flight 3 (3 Feb): Mumbai to Delhi, 1407 miles. Running total: 3 flights, 2829 miles.

Blue to Blue Plus only runs on the 6-month fast track and needs 3 flights or 3,000 miles. Three flights is reached first (miles are still short of 3,000), so Kakkar becomes Blue Plus right after his 3rd flight, on 3 February.

  • Flight 4 (8 Mar): Delhi to Guwahati, 1959 miles. Running total: 4 flights, 4788 miles.
  • Flight 5 (20 Mar): Guwahati to Kolkata, 1081 miles. Running total: 5 flights, 5869 miles.

At 5 flights, two thresholds fire together. Blue Plus to Silver (12-month system) needs 5 flights, so Kakkar becomes Silver on 20 March. At the same moment, Silver to Gold (6-month system) also needs only 5 flights, which he already has. Since two upgrades are earned together, the passenger gets the higher tier, so Kakkar does not stop at Silver, he goes straight to Gold on 20 March 2007.

Let's summarize:

  • Guaranteed reservations require Gold tier or above.
  • Kakkar's 5th flight, on 20 March, clears the Silver and Gold thresholds together, so he jumps directly to Gold.

The correct answer is March.

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