Life Time Gold - The [Realistic] Holy Grail

[Chrizztofa]

Some (but not many) - 75% points bonus, priority classic reward access (it might not be revenue J), extra baggage in some cases

Another benefit are potential savings by purchasing J-lite fares on partner airlines (AY, QR and EK), while still obtaining lounge access and checked bags.

 

[SYD]

Another benefit are potential savings by purchasing J-lite fares on partner airlines (AY, QR and EK), while still obtaining lounge access and checked bags.

and free seat selection.

Just paying a Biz fare doesn’t always cut it these days. BA will charge you several hundred Pounds to select seats in the J cabin if you don’t have status.

QR will leave you wandering the terminal on a Lite fare with no status….

 

[mviy]

One of the things I find most frustrating with flight travel is all the overhead lockers near my seat already being full when I board. I want to take on my full carry-on allowance and store it near my seat especially on short domestic Y flights. Sometimes QF calls both priority 1 and 2 to board at the same time if there are not many priority 1 passengers on the flight. Gold should be able to find space somewhere near the seat (even if it happens to be a row or two further back or forward) boarding before lots of other passengers get a chance to board.

Gold will get into lounges flying OneWorld airlines in many cases where QANTAS Club will not.

Better availability for J reward seats can help save thousands on booking J. That’s the equivalent of a lot of years of QANTAS club membership fees which keep on getting increased.

 

[RB001]

on a Lute fare

So, they send you to Cleveland?

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I assume you meant Lite...

 

[Chrizztofa]

and free seat selection.

Just paying a Biz fare doesn’t always cut it these days. BA will charge you several hundred Pounds to select seats in the J cabin if you don’t have status.

QR will leave you wandering the terminal on a Lute fare with no status….

True. I got free seat selection on AY on a lite fare (as a OWE) whereas other family members who paid full fare didn't!

 

[aikman]

The OP simply said (to my read) that they'd book J to NZ during a DSC to get there sooner, and would be doing a lot of J flying.

OP said they might book a weekend trip to NZ in J during the next DSC. I took this as a status run. I didn't think that the 75% bonus points, classic reward access and extra baggage was a good return on investment on the cost of the status run, but I get now that your comment was in relation only to the future J travel.

One of the things I find most frustrating with flight travel is all the overhead lockers near my seat already being full when I board. I want to take on my full carry-on allowance and store it near my seat especially on short domestic Y flights. Sometimes QF calls both priority 1 and 2 to board at the same time if there are not many priority 1 passengers on the flight. Gold should be able to find space somewhere near the seat (even if it happens to be a row or two further back or forward) boarding before lots of other passengers get a chance to board.

Gold will get into lounges flying OneWorld airlines in many cases where QANTAS Club will not.

Better availability for J reward seats can help save thousands on booking J. That’s the equivalent of a lot of years of QANTAS club membership fees which keep on getting increased.

All benefits of status but are these benefits worth the additional costs of full or partial status runs?
1. Somehow everyone manages to find overhead space for their baggage anyway.
2. Imagine not being tied up to oneworld and being able to choose any airline with better routes, schedules and prices and just paying for lounge access.
3. Is priority access to classic rewards for Gold even real? Is there any benefit in this era of Classic Plus?

I think that from a purely financial perspective, nobody that has to do status runs to reach LTG will get their investment back. I do realise however that the pursuit of LTG is not just a financial decision. The sense of achievement, the peace of mind and the idea of "free" gold status for life is no doubt priceless to many. Sunk cost fallacy will also apply if you've already started the journey toward LTG.

 

[CaptJCool]

Seeing my employer paid a pile of my fares, a lot of the earn was at no cost to me

Then the JASA converting credit card points into status credits was at no direct cost to me

Then premium fares funded by professional allowance and tax refunds was at a small cost to me

Many ways to LTG

 

[Aeryn]

Unless someone is very close to LTG I doubt any status runs are purely for the LTG; more likely to be to secure SG/WP for the current/next year with added benefit of contributing to lifetime status.

I've personally never done a pure status run, but i have taken longer routing with DSCs for trips I was going to take anyway, especially when the extra cost was minimal.

 

[Highway23]

Are these worth the cost of status runs?

I'm pretty sure that buying Qantas Club membership or passes only when needed, until death, is cheaper than intentionally spending more to attain LTG. the Qantas Club route just doesn't come with that title of LTG which I know holds a lot of intangible value.

The missing aspect here is access to the Oneworld lounges when you can’t get to a QF lounge - I’ve found this super valuable on intra-Europe flights and long haul connections via Japan/Helsinki in the past.

 

[Flyerwin]

JASA converting credit card points into status credits

Tell me more about this - I've not heard of this.

 

[33kft]

I think that from a purely financial perspective, nobody that has to do status runs to reach LTG will get their investment back

One thing to consider is that forgetting about LTG for a moment, a lot of people will do a status run to get what is ephemeral status within a single status year, let alone one that lasts for the remainder of their lifetime.

That one I agree is dubious, but then if it is to get lounge access for next year's family trip to Europe and it was just an extra $200 domestic run during a DSC you can run the math and perhaps it makes sense (ignoring the ability to buy lounge access, but this one lasts for a year, and it might be a long multi hop trip, who knows?)

So to then extrapolate that to the remaining 20/30/40 years of your life, depending on how much of a run that takes, there's potentially a very strong case there

Potentially being the operative word

 

[SYD]

The missing aspect here is access to the Oneworld lounges when you can’t get to a QF lounge - I’ve found this super valuable on intra-Europe flights and long haul connections via Japan/Helsinki in the past.

Yep. QP is really only relevant for QF Domestic, Oz/OS QFi ports with QF lounges (most of the time) and flying AA (and there’s an AC). Useless elsewhere and definitely not = SG / LTG.

 

[VPS]

Tell me more about this - I've not heard of this.

sadly no longer available JASA

 

[leadman]

I feel that I'm in the final straight now for LTP, under the "5 figure" and shortly in the 8,000's to go. And to be honest, thoughts and drivers changed from when I was in the 40-50,000's as I got both WP and Gold for the various alliances pre-Covid. Big year last year: 5,020 SC (and no P1!) put me in this position. All the comments above I can relate to, but now within touching distance, I really do want to chase it for no other reason. It will go nicely with my Marriott Ti life, which I recently found they no longer offer, just Pt life. Nothing better than rocking up to a hotel knowing upgrades, lounge, etc, is there, and you only have to spend one night a year (Last week, Sheraton Yokohama, my daughter took the upgrade; what dads do for their daughters!)
My calculations are that I can do it for around $32,000, but as some have mentioned, you still have WP whilst you are chasing "the grail". This year will be another big one with no need to chase SCs, but the big question coming will be which trip takes me over the 75,000 mark?

 

[serfty]

Tell me more about this - I've not heard of this.

TL;DR; You could earn SC from award flights. This finished just over a decade ago.

Thread '( Now gone) "how do I book a J any seat award at classic award points level" thread.'

Apr 22, 2011

*****WITH THE CHANGES MADE TO THE BOOKING ENGINE THIS OPTION IS NOW GONE AS SHOWN HERE. YOU NEED TO RING TO GET THE BEST VALUE JASAs.
had the odd request from various members about how to book a ASA and use points + cash to bring it down to classic award levels (not to be confused with the points + pay option through the normal booking process that is poor value IMHO). So here is the process with pictures.

Firstly you need to log into your account:

Then select the award flight options on the bottom right of...

• markis10
• redeem points
• Replies: 845
• Forum: Qantas | Frequent Flyer

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[Q Class Plebeian]

Unless someone is very close to LTG I doubt any status runs are purely for the LTG; more likely to be to secure SG/WP for the current/next year with added benefit of contributing to lifetime status.

I've personally never done a pure status run, but i have taken longer routing with DSCs for trips I was going to take anyway, especially when the extra cost was minimal.

I crossed the mystic line into the LTG zone last year.I did do one status run early last year .Not really a status run as I had to travel that week, anyway. Just a lucky coincidence .