Platinum [benefits]

[Steady]

Such bold disobedience not to give you loyalty rewards steady.

Yes, I just assumed they would bend the rules for me - but apparently they DKWIA

 

[teamhamsandwich]

Finally made it to WP today with an AY LHR>HEL>PVG flight. Wooooo!

 

[BD1959]

Finally made it to WP today with an AY LHR>HEL>PVG flight. Wooooo!

Congratulations - and enjoy those FLounges!!


Regards,

BD

 

[Christoo]

Finally made it to WP today with an AY LHR>HEL>PVG flight. Wooooo!

Congratulations!

On the topic of the thread.
As a WP I have an unusual problem, I am finding it hard to use my points (and before you ask, no you can't have any!)
I have a little over a million and find it difficult still to get upgrades and harder still to find convenient award flights.
They work great for holidays where you have some flexibility, but for business travel internationally it's hard to use points when you have fixed meeting times.
I have J upgrade requests in for flights MEL-LAX and DFW-SYD in the next week, I am flying non-discounted Y we will see how they go.

 

[BD1959]

As a WP I have an unusual problem, I am finding it hard to use my points (and before you ask, no you can't have any!)
I have a little over a million and find it difficult still to get upgrades and harder still to find convenient award flights.

Have you looked at the price of toasters lately?

Regards,

BD

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Congratulations!

On the topic of the thread.
As a WP I have an unusual problem, I am finding it hard to use my points (and before you ask, no you can't have any!)
I have a little over a million and find it difficult still to get upgrades and harder still to find convenient award flights.
They work great for holidays where you have some flexibility, but for business travel internationally it's hard to use points when you have fixed meeting times.
I have J upgrade requests in for flights MEL-LAX and DFW-SYD in the next week, I am flying non-discounted Y we will see how they go.

I don't think this is an unusual problem.

I find it difficult to find availability for international F or J flights.
When I do find them, the co-payments required for award flights are prohibitive, especially for international flights.
If I am going to make a significant payment anyway then I would rather pay full fare, save my points and earn SCs.

Upgrades are more available but I don't like the QF upgrade lottery compared to the immediately confirmed upgrades on VA etc.
And of course there are no international upgrades ex PER because every flight is on EK metal (except the 737 to SIN).
Even from SYD or MEL, upgrades ex DXB are only available if your destination is LHR. All other European destinations are on EK metal.

This year I used points for an award booking for my son. Nothing was available in J PER-DXB so I booked him CX to HKG then EK to DXB and on to MUN.
The co-payment was about what he would have paid for a one way discount economy fare. So he contributed that, and I effectively upgraded him.
I think I will continue to use points for family members, and pay for my own flights so I maintain status.

After I achieve LTG I will consider whether I would be better off earning points in another programme.

 

[straitman]

After I achieve LTG I will consider whether I would be better off earning points in another programme.

Only 470 SC required in my case.

 

[Christoo]

Have you looked at the price of toasters lately?

Regards,

BD

I don't think this is an unusual problem.

I find it difficult to find availability for international F or J flights.
When I do find them, the co-payments required for award flights are prohibitive, especially for international flights.
If I am going to make a significant payment anyway then I would rather pay full fare, save my points and earn SCs.

Upgrades are more available but I don't like the QF upgrade lottery compared to the immediately confirmed upgrades on VA etc.
And of course there are no international upgrades ex PER because every flight is on EK metal (except the 737 to SIN).
Even from SYD or MEL, upgrades ex DXB are only available if your destination is LHR. All other European destinations are on EK metal.

This year I used points for an award booking for my son. Nothing was available in J PER-DXB so I booked him CX to HKG then EK to DXB and on to MUN.
The co-payment was about what he would have paid for a one way discount economy fare. So he contributed that, and I effectively upgraded him.
I think I will continue to use points for family members, and pay for my own flights so I maintain status.

After I achieve LTG I will consider whether I would be better off earning points in another programme.

It might be nice to get even a set number of instant confirm upgrades per year, I also don't like the lottery.
Being WP you're meant to be valued, but the whole wait until the last minute before we upgrade you lets you know that really, you're an afterthought once they sell all the seats they can.

I'm not down on the program really, it is just frustrating...
I am a self funded traveller and business owner.
People here would all know how hard it is scheduling around birthdays, anniversaries and other events that you already miss the majority of...
Working the whole Award booking system in light of this is almost more trouble than it's worth... But that's the game.

I am still younger than the big four zero and have 11,000 SC so I will probably stick at the points game for LTG, but then I am not sure.

 

[SeatBackForward]

It might be nice to get even a set number of instant confirm upgrades per year, I also don't like the lottery.
Being WP you're meant to be valued, but the whole wait until the last minute before we upgrade you lets you know that really, you're an afterthought once they sell all the seats they can.

Going to have to disagree with that, if you want a J seat pay for it upfront. Given that the airline wants to maximise revenue on flights, I don't think the process of waiting to sell the seat is unreasonable. Being a WP puts you ahead of others in the queue for upgrades, this is the value they offer as part of the process.

 

[russ]

Huh? For J award availability, I just look online for a flight with Business Saver available, give them a call and they release it as an award seat. It's the main benefit of WP IMHO

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Huh? For J award availability, I just look online for a flight with Business Saver available, give them a call and they release it as an award seat. It's the main benefit of WP IMHO

You can only do that for a flight on QF metal - so it is a benefit which is of no use to those of us flying ex-PER.

 

[JohnK]

As a WP I have an unusual problem, I am finding it hard to use my points (and before you ask, no you can't have any!)
I have a little over a million and find it difficult still to get upgrades and harder still to find convenient award flights.
They work great for holidays where you have some flexibility, but for business travel internationally it's hard to use points when you have fixed meeting times.

I have the same trouble. I usually plan my overseas trips 6-9 months in advance and availability is scarce. Although if I ask for seat to be released request is usually granted except for SYD-BKK route where it's always refused.

By the way I have the same problem with AAdvantage miles. Looking to book BNE-BKK mid March and BKK-BNE early April in business class. Only 17 March outbound is available via HKG. Had better book that before it disappears as well.

 

[Christoo]

I sympathise JohnK, it only gets worse when are booking short term.
The hard part is having fixed dates and also fixed arrival times, I envy people who arrive at 2pm for an 11am meeting the following day. I'm always looking to arrive AM and start work. Qantas also needs more flights to China and better connection options.

 

[coyote25]

One more flight and I'm back at WP and get back F Lounge access again and Domestic J Lounge.


Last time I was a WP QF were just opening their domestic J Lounges so it's been a while.

I used to score OPUPs on MEL-LAX Y to PE on award bookings probably 3 out of 4 flights over 3 years I was WP, I guess that's unlikely these days.

Still looking forward to experiencing WP benefits on again from Sunday. J Lounge at least should be good.

 

[mviy]

Sadly op-up chances are very low these days. Would probably have to be CL or P1 and even then it would be a low chance.

 

[wanderer_au]

Sadly op-up chances are very low these days. Would probably have to be CL or P1 and even then it would be a low chance.

I was sitting with my CEO in the CBR CL when she was comped an upgrade to J flying CBR-SYD by staff.

One of my board members is an AA Concierge Key member and (before AA resumed direct flights to Australia) used to occasionally get J-F op-ups from DFW-SYD.

 

[coyote25]

Finally back a Platinum. No chance ever at being P1 without being a CEO/CFO/foreign minister

 

[RichardMEL]

Finally back a Platinum. No chance ever at being P1 without being a CEO/CFO/foreign minister

Sme of us are not even close to any of those things and have zero business travel.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Finally back a Platinum. No chance ever at being P1 without being a CEO/CFO/foreign minister

Looking at my forward bookings, I'll retain WP five weeks into my 2017/18 membership year. So will I bother attempting P1? Probably not.

 

[clifford]

Sme of us are not even close to any of those things and have zero business travel.

Maybe you should then throw your excess funds at Skyteam....