Forward Planning

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roomer

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Just putting my feelers our regarding the best time to be seeking the best deals for a trip for my wife and I to Paris around April next year?


I should mention that this would be an purchasing an economy fare but that I would love to upgrade to business using about 150,000 + QFF points (hopefully I should have this amount by then) and that I am Qantas Club member..


Never having used the points for upgrading, must I do this via Qantas booking website at the time of booking or can I book through a third party booking agency and somehow upgrade via points with them or seek Qantas's assistance with the upgrade once I have booked with the third party?


Apologies if this may seem obvious to some but for me it's all new territory
 
One you book and pay for the Y tickets, then you, or anyone with access to your QFF account can request the upgrade (most easily done on-line). Best to do it yourself; just go to 'Manage my bookings' and do a few clicks.

You won't be notified of the success or otherwise of your upgrade until a day or so before the flight.

What status do you have with Qantas? If Gold or below, then chances of 2 J upgrades are vanishingly small. If Platinum, and if you were to pay very soon and request immediately (if you have enough points#), you may have a chance; the problem is getting 2 on the same flight and putting the request in as soon as you can.

# I'm not sure if you can request an upgrade without enough points at the time. Some-one will say.
 
I'm quite shocked to hear that I won't know of my success until just a few days before the flight. I thought it would just be a matter of committing x amount of points to get an upgrade irrespective of my status ( which is Only Bronze).

I thought I'd be told that you need x amount of points eg 150,000 would either be plenty or nowhere near what would be required. ( hence the planning ahead)

i was also hoping someone might have had knowledge by way of rule of thumb that the best deals are say 6 mths out from your flying date.

Appreciate your response, but am deeply disappointed that such a large amount of points will mean nothing with regards to rewarding oneself with a certainty of receiving a benefit. It's not the impression I had got from reading some of the other posts, I thought people had said points are best used for upgrading rather than put towards a airfare...

One you book and pay for the Y tickets, then you, or anyone with access to your QFF account can request the upgrade (most easily done on-line). Best to do it yourself; just go to 'Manage my bookings' and do a few clicks.

You won't be notified of the success or otherwise of your upgrade until a day or so before the flight.

What status do you have with Qantas? If Gold or below, then chances of 2 J upgrades are vanishingly small. If Platinum, and if you were to pay very soon and request immediately (if you have enough points#), you may have a chance; the problem is getting 2 on the same flight and putting the request in as soon as you can.

# I'm not sure if you can request an upgrade without enough points at the time. Some-one will say.
 
Roomer, unfortunately ¨shock¨ and ¨disappointment¨ are fundamental and frequent experiences on the long long road to travel enlightenment :)
 
And Qantas does not fly to Paris, but EK does. So if QF sell you ADL-SYD/MEL-DXB-CDG you cannot upgrade the EK flight DXB to CDG. Not all economy fares are upgradeable. So at best you may get an upgrade for ~50% of the flights (QF only). If you fly to LHR on QF flight number and QF aircraft you have a few % chance of an upgrade.
 
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Ok thanks for that, so best bet would be to fly the EK code share with Qantas to CDG and use any QFF points to defray some of the flight costs as a certainty given the uncertainty of getting an upgrade with points.

just out of interest,surely they don't take your points if they don't upgrade you ?
 
Points are only taken if you get an upgrade. For me that has often been the way I have known if an upgrade request was successful.

From ADL to CDG I would be looking at other airlines, like Cathay & Singapore before Qantas, or even EK directly. Or any airline to London, with the train London to Paris.
 
I'm quite shocked to hear that I won't know of my success until just a few days before the flight. I thought it would just be a matter of committing x amount of points to get an upgrade irrespective of my status ( which is Only Bronze).

I thought I'd be told that you need x amount of points eg 150,000 would either be plenty or nowhere near what would be required. ( hence the planning ahead)

i was also hoping someone might have had knowledge by way of rule of thumb that the best deals are say 6 mths out from your flying date.

Appreciate your response, but am deeply disappointed that such a large amount of points will mean nothing with regards to rewarding oneself with a certainty of receiving a benefit. It's not the impression I had got from reading some of the other posts, I thought people had said points are best used for upgrading rather than put towards a airfare...

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings :( Yes, the lack of confirmation of an upgrade is one of the major complaints in the Qantas FF scheme (although the list of complaints is growing!)

Points to upgrade ARE the best use of points but Qantas does not make it easy. They make 'upgraded' or 'all points' seats in J pretty scarce, and those that are there usually get allocated first to QFFers with high status.

As Hvr says, your points are only deducted when the upgrade is confirmed. If the upgrade doesn't come through, nothing happens - you aren't told 'Sorry ...' , you just board as per original booking. When you go to the on-line upgrade request, there is an option to choose to be upgraded at the gate. Again, with only Bronze its unlikely that you will be picked, but if you are, business catering may not be assured, and one may be upgraded and not the other. if you choose this option, and get an upgrade at the gate (only 1) you can't refuse it. Your Y seat has already gone.
 
Do you know if any of those airlines reciprocate access to their lounges for QC members ?

Points are only taken if you get an upgrade. For me that has often been the way I have known if an upgrade request was successful.

From ADL to CDG I would be looking at other airlines, like Cathay & Singapore before Qantas, or even EK directly. Or any airline to London, with the train London to Paris.
 
Mmm mum thanks for response, been a bit of an eye opener to learn all of that. With restrictions like that I can't understand all the fuss with accumulating bonus points using particular credit cards etc, if it's all pretty much a conspiracy to NOT provide you with a benefits if you are the holder of all these points.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings :( Yes, the lack of confirmation of an upgrade is one of the major complaints in the Qantas FF scheme (although the list of complaints is growing!)

Points to upgrade ARE the best use of points but Qantas does not make it easy. They make 'upgraded' or 'all points' seats in J pretty scarce, and those that are there usually get allocated first to QFFers with high status.

As Hvr says, your points are only deducted when the upgrade is confirmed. If the upgrade doesn't come through, nothing happens - you aren't told 'Sorry ...' , you just board as per original booking. When you go to the on-line upgrade request, there is an option to choose to be upgraded at the gate. Again, with only Bronze its unlikely that you will be picked, but if you are, business catering may not be assured, and one may be upgraded and not the other. if you choose this option, and get an upgrade at the gate (only 1) you can't refuse it. Your Y seat has already gone.
 
Do you know if any of those airlines reciprocate access to their lounges for QC members ?
Do not think so, but you can check on the QF web site. Lounges you can access with QC is very limited. QC membership does not get you CDG lounge access when on the EK codeshare.

You are not getting any good news tonight. Such is life as a QF freq flyer / QC member.
 
Ain't that the truth ! :) but thanks for the advice

QUOTE=Mwenenzi;1073086]Do not think so, but you can check on the QF web site. Lounges you can access with QC is very limited. QC membership does not get you CDG lounge access when on the EK codeshare.

You are not getting any good news tonight. Such is life as a QF freq flyer / QC member.[/QUOTE]
 
Thanks for that anyway

Ain't that the truth ! :) but thanks for the advice

QUOTE=Mwenenzi;1073086]Do not think so, but you can check on the QF web site. Lounges you can access with QC is very limited. QC membership does not get you CDG lounge access when on the EK codeshare.

You are not getting any good news tonight. Such is life as a QF freq flyer / QC member.
[/QUOTE]
 
Mmm mum thanks for response, been a bit of an eye opener to learn all of that. With restrictions like that I can't understand all the fuss with accumulating bonus points using particular credit cards etc, if it's all pretty much a conspiracy to NOT provide you with a benefits if you are the holder of all these points.

Ummmm... yes ..... funny you should say that! Status is the name of the game with Qantas, and they are making it harder to get high status. Basically they are saying, 'Spends lots with us and we'll look after you (up to a point). But if you are just the occasional Qantas flyer ... what colour toaster would you like? '
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of FF. where 150,000 QFF points isn't actually regarded as "a lot"
Spend some time trawling through the different threads and it won't be long before you start to get a feel for what is real vs perceived. It can be an addictive experience earning and burning points and maintaining status.
Sounds like you have time on your side with planning , and I am certain that your qantas points notwithstanding you and Mrs Roomer will have a wonderful time.
I might suggest though that all is not lost, if you accumulate your points for a bit longer and increase the balance, some shorter classic redemptions in a higher class may be possible, while not the holy grail of long haul in J , it can be a nice experience.
Best of luck and best wishes for your Paris holiday
 
I have found when purchasing a good discount sale fare in Y it is most always not able to be upgraded.
You can purchase a more expensive economy fare that is upgradable, but the chances as a bronze Qff being upgraded, as previously stated, is very minimal and then you may have just paid for a very expensive ticket that you may have been able to purchase on sale for a lot less.
I would buy a sale fare and then maybe pay for exit row seats for more leg room.

We travelled in April this year and I was able to get a very good economy fare, which I purchased in October last year.
 
Ok thanks for that, so best bet would be to fly the EK code share with Qantas to CDG and use any QFF points to defray some of the flight costs as a certainty given the uncertainty of getting an upgrade with points.

Don't do this. Using points to offset the $$$ cost of your tickets is not a good use of points. On the QF web site, this is known as Points Plus Pay and it is a rort. 150k points will amount to such a small saving in $$$, you will wonder why you bothered.
 
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Roomer, it may be too late for this trip, but for all of the above reasons, many of us focus on FF programs with other airlines instead of QFF. I would go as far as saying QFF is a waste of time if you want to redeem for intl travel in premium cabins, unless you have at least Platinum status.

With many (most?) other programs, upgrades are confirmed when you request them (if available), and status has little or nothing to do with chance of success. Many other airlines also make multiple business class award seats available on the same flight, and again they are available to anyone regardless of status. Also, with many other airlines, the number of points required for these upgrades is lower.

For example, with Singapore Airlines: an award seat from SYD or MEL to CDG in business costs as little as 80,500 points plus about $400 each way. Just to stress that's an outright award ticket, not an upgrade. An upgrade from Y to J on that route costs 60,000 points each way, but as with QF I believe only certain economy fare classes are upgradeable. SQ generally make multiple J award seats available on each flight - eg I recently got 4 J award seats together from MEL-FRA, and you don't necessarily need to book 11 months in advance to have a chance of getting them.

There are several other good options too (Velocity, Asia Miles, Etihad, Malaysia ....).

You can earn points for other FF programs with numerous Aussie credit cards at good rates. I use Amex Plat Edge (3 points per $ at supermarkets), Westpac Altitude Black Amex (1.5 pts per $) and Citibank Signature Visa (1 pt per $ in Australia, 2.66 pts per $ overseas). With all of the above, you can transfer to Singapore or Velocity, and Amex and Westpac can also transfer to several other FF programs. And unlike with QFF, you don't have to choose a program in advance, you can "warehouse" the points in the credit card account until you decide which program you want to transfer to.
 
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Do not think so, but you can check on the QF web site. Lounges you can access with QC is very limited. QC membership does not get you CDG lounge access when on the EK codeshare.

You are not getting any good news tonight. Such is life as a QF freq flyer / QC member.

Indeed. Flying Y, OP will have access to QC in Australia and EK lounge in DBX. But nothing in continental Europe.

Prior to the EK marriage, you would have had to fly to CDG via LHR (transitting SIN, HKG, or BKK) but would have had QF/BA lounge access along the way, at LHR, and at CDG.

If you now fly QF via LHR instead of codeshare DBX-CDG-DBX, you will have access to the AA lounge at LHR when outbound on the way home (in addition to DBX). But higher airport costs at LHR vs CDG will eat up some of what it would cost to buy an exit row in Y on QF legs.

QF/EK Y sale fares to CDG for April 2014 were down around $1600 in late 2013 if I recall correctly. Maybe unlikely to get that low again ?

Not sure how long you have to wait in DBX for the EK flights to/from CDG.
 
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