Advice for an SC run

[WTL]

G'day all.

I have to pick up five hundred SCs to make Platinum qualification by the end of February but my work travel will quieten down dramatically for a bit now unless something unforeseen comes up, so some tips from the wise ones here would be great!

Is there anything more to this than just booking in full Y or J on the flights I have planned in that time period? With BA this would have been doable in a weekend or two with their discount-J, whereas now I am back in Oz, QF don't seem to do this at all on any domestic route?

For example, I am booked on a SYD to Auckland, then Christchurch to SYD flight in discount Y which offers a grand total of 40 SCs. By dropping an extra $1800 or so and flying J, I get 160 SCs. Probably not very economical to pay $1800 for 120 SCs. So if that's indicative of the cost of SCs I'll just move on with life now. Or maybe there are some other methods I could be mindful of while organising my travel up until February. Anyone?

Appreciate the help as always!

WTL.

 

[serfty]

Get to the USA and do a Y/KUP run, currently available is 540SC's for ~USD1100 + cost of getting to/from SFO.

 

[Chris_Leo]

Serfty...which flight configuration currently gives you 540 SC's for USD1,100 from SFO? The last time I was able to get one of those deals was on a SFO to JFK route via DFW about 2 years ago.

 

[docjames]

Dont BA have good deals on WT+/J to asia currently? Or is that only if you buy LHR return from AUS?

 

[JohnK]

Not sure I would class the current BA WT+ specials to Asia yielding 120 SCs as a good deal! Not much better deal going to LHR anyway....

 

[serfty]

Serfty...which flight configuration currently gives you 540 SC's for USD1,100 from SFO? The last time I was able to get one of those deals was on a SFO to JFK route via DFW about 2 years ago.

ATL is where I'm going next week; It was USD1045, but has gone up to USD1111; via LAX and DFW each way earns 540 SC's.

 

[Chris_Leo]

Serfty - thanks! I'll keep that route in mind next time I need to top up my SCs.

 

[anat0l]

LAN can fly you across the Tasman much less than full (or even discount) J on QF.

LAN D fares are on the SYD/AKL sector and a return in D will cost around AUD1100. (Based on booking SYD-AKL separately to AKL-SYD via lan.com)

You still earn Business SC on LAN D, so AUD1100 will net you 160 SC.

The rate comes out to be AUD 6.875 / SC, which isn't too bad. Could be worse depending on booking dates, but for some reason LAN fares tend to be fairly consistent in D. The only thing that does a better $/SC rate than that is the described YUPP runs in the USA., and.......

I also recently did a SC run (going to do another one in January) that chained a few of the QF Red e-Deal sales fares together. It was optimal for me because I am based in BNE (I can't seem to make a similarly good (rate-wise) SC run ex- other capital cities); ~AUD 5.8 / SC, 100 SC in 8 domestic flights over 2 days (overnighter in CBR required only downside, if you want to include that in the SC rate calculation). Unfortunately this option only becomes viable when the sales come around (and one of them has just finished).

 

[JohnK]

The rate comes out to be AUD 6.875 / SC, which isn't too bad. Could be worse depending on booking dates, but for some reason LAN fares tend to be fairly consistent in D. The only thing that does a better $/SC rate than that is the described YUPP runs in the USA., and.......

Not quite true. Closer to home, if you can call it that, SIN-KUL with JL and BKK-SIN with CX give much better return SC/$ rate although the falling A$ is not helping....

 

[anat0l]

Not quite true. Closer to home, if you can call it that, SIN-KUL with JL and BKK-SIN with CX give much better return SC/$ rate although the falling A$ is not helping....

Hmmm...yeah I have to talk to you more often to try and work out when and how to book/bag those routes. I might need it when "the time comes", esp. if I decide to go to SIN and/or BKK some day......

 

[JohnK]

Hmmm...yeah I have to talk to you more often to try and work out when and how to book/bag those routes. I might need it when "the time comes", esp. if I decide to go to SIN and/or BKK some day......

Sure. We are meeting up for drinks on Wednesday so that may be a good time to discuss these status runs. I am praying that the A$ returns to some sort of normality before my next trip....

 

[oz_mark]

Sure. We are meeting up for drinks on Wednesday so that may be a good time to discuss these status runs. I am praying that the A$ returns to some sort of normality before my next trip....

Just as a point of interest - what do you think normal for the AUD is?

 

[sr81]

Just as a point of interest - what do you think normal for the AUD is?

Ok, I'll bite. Between 70 to 80 US cents seems fair and works for local exporters etc. but on the travel side I would like at about 1:1.

 

[JohnK]

Just as a point of interest - what do you think normal for the AUD is?

It depends on the currency but I would feel these exchange rates are normal. That is if you can actually call anything normal these days.

US$ 75c-85c
JPY 80-100
CA$ 85c-95c
GBP 45p-50p
Euro 58c-62c
NZ$ 1.10-1.20
SG$ 1.15-1.30
THB 27-32
HK$ 6.5-8
MYR 2.75-3.25

I they are fairly conservative and mainly based on currency fluctuations of the last 5 years or so....

 

[anat0l]

Just as a point of interest - what do you think normal for the AUD is?

Anything better than now.