How strictly does QF enforce the 4~ requirement for retention of status?

[Jack_OC]

Hi all, my QF membership year ends on 30 Nov and until recently I was sitting on 0 QF SCs for the year, so I had resigned myself to losing my current SG status, and was therefore making no effort to do so. However, now I've had a couple of unexpected intl J trips come up and will probably get to somewhere around 800 SCs by the end of Nov, but I'll still only have 1 eligible QF segment (~). Does anyone know what the likely outcome is if I don't go out of my way to get the extra 3~? Back to silver despite the large number of SCs? Or would there be some flexibility?

Some more background: I've been SG since Jan 2010 and I have a domestic booking with QF (2 more ~) a week after my renewal date.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[markis10]

I believe they do enforce it.

 

[serfty]

They are rather strict on this - until later last decade they did not, but have since.

 

[opusman]

Maybe you should look at crediting your upcoming flights to another scheme?

 

[Jack_OC]

Maybe you should look at crediting your upcoming flights to another scheme?

Hadn't thought of that ... Off hand, do you know which OW airline has the lowest bar for attaining Gold?

 

[Mwenenzi]

They strictly enforce the 4 QF segment rule, as does BA, but not AA (yet)

Hadn't thought of that ... Off hand, do you know which OW airline has the lowest bar for attaining Gold?

Gold is not gold. Far better to refer to the OneWorld status:- Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby oneworld benefits - oneworld
With QF is relatively easy get high status with J & F fares, compared to other OW airlines.
But AA has far better earn to burn. AA has the (paid) gold/plat challenge for quicker status. Look in the AA forum

 

[Jack_OC]

I didn't actually comment either way about whether I think I'm a loyal customer or not, but FYI I've accumulated over 1,500 SCs on QF metal since 2009, so it's not like I never fly with them. The 4~ is actually a very bad mechanism for ensuring loyalty to QF, which is what I assume is the intention. For example, you can get the 4~ from 2 discount Y domestic returns (40 SCs) per year, and then attain any status level solely by flying with OW partners. Anyway, I wasn't trying to plead the case that I deserve to retain SG, I was just asking what the chances are of that happening!

Gold is not gold. Far better to refer to the OneWorld status:- Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby oneworld benefits - oneworld
With QF is relatively easy get high status with J & F fares, compared to other OW airlines.
But AA has far better earn to burn. AA has the (paid) gold/plat challenge for quicker status. Look in the AA forum

Ok thanks. I'm really interested in OW status, rather than points, so earn/burn rates aren't very important to me. So unless I can get to OW Sapphire with another airline I'll probably stick with QF.

 

[amaroo]

Strictly enforced.

My two kids received zero status after collecting 960SC on BA flights. They actually flew more than 4 x QF flights in the year however, they were all classic awards - so no new card for them.

 

[opusman]

The 4~ is actually a very bad mechanism for ensuring loyalty to QF, which is what I assume is the intention.

I always assumed the intention was to prevent people who mostly live outside of Australia from getting QF status, because as you say, it's relatively cheap to get 4~ on domestic flights.

 

[blu]

3 Jetstar flights is one option, but do you have to take the Bundle, or does a just a $9 flight satisfy the flight count criteria?

 

[harvyk]

The 4~ is actually a very bad mechanism for ensuring loyalty to QF, which is what I assume is the intention. For example, you can get the 4~ from 2 discount Y domestic returns (40 SCs) per year, and then attain any status level solely by flying with OW partners.

Disagree, the 4 ~ mechanism is actually a pretty good way of ensuring some loyalty to QF without cutting off advantages to earn with OW. The QF loyalty rules get more stricter for P1.

This is not to say that the program can't use some improvements (not enhancements) such as having a grace period of a month either side of your anniversary date to allow you to select which year you'd like to credit SC's (or ~) to. Not everyone's flying patterns fit in nicely with their QF years.

 

[Hvr]

3 Jetstar flights is one option, but do you have to take the Bundle, or does a just a $9 flight satisfy the flight count criteria?

You have to take the bundle, i.e. earn points and SCs.

 

[Jack_OC]

Disagree, the 4 ~ mechanism is actually a pretty good way of ensuring some loyalty to QF without cutting off advantages to earn with OW. The QF loyalty rules get more stricter for P1.

This is not to say that the program can't use some improvements (not enhancements) such as having a grace period of a month either side of your anniversary date to allow you to select which year you'd like to credit SC's (or ~) to. Not everyone's flying patterns fit in nicely with their QF years.

If they want to ensure loyalty, a much more logical way would be to insist that x number of SCs must be earned on QF.

FYI, my 1~ this year was a J fare from MEL-LAX (180 SCs). If I had taken 2 discount Y rtns from MEL-ADL instead, I'd be on track to retain SG! But would QF be better off? Clearly not. I also had a delay first getting Gold because I had only 3~ when I passed 700 SCs, even though my 3~ at that time gained me over 500 SCs! It is actually possible to pass 700 SCs solely on QF metal but not even get Silver! That really makes no sense.

I think Amaroo might be right that this is really just designed to stop people overseas taking advantage. Anyway, it is what it is!

 

[Kangol]

As it stands, the 4 ~ requirement is no different to the SC requirement. All or nothing.
Complaining about not getting the 4 ~s and not getting status is like earning 20 SCs and complaining about not being WP

 

[Jack_OC]

As it stands, the 4 ~ requirement is no different to the SC requirement. All or nothing.
Complaining about not getting the 4 ~s and not getting status is like earning 20 SCs and complaining about not being WP

No it's not, that's a ridiculous analogy.

Anyway, just to reiterate, I'm not complaining, I just asked if they enforce this particular rule. Clearly they do, so that's that.

In my follow up comments I was just pointing out that 4~ is a very poor measure of loyalty or of how much money QF make from you, so if it's intended to measure either of those things it's a failure. And as I mentioned in my previous post, there is a much easier and more logical way to include a measure of both of those things.

 

[zachary.august]

Why should Qantas reward you with a higher status if you haven't flown on them? It's an easy to understand system, which is one of the endearing features at least to me about QF FF. Why not just purchase a cheap QF flight to somewhere?

 

[Kangol]

No it's not, that's a ridiculous analogy.

Anyway, just to reiterate, I'm not complaining, I just asked if they enforce this particular rule. Clearly they do, so that's that.

In my follow up comments I was just pointing out that 4~ is a very poor measure of loyalty or of how much money QF make from you, so if it's intended to measure either of those things it's a failure. And as I mentioned in my previous post, there is a much easier and more logical way to include a measure of both of those things.

It was supposed to be 40 SC but I mistyped, however that is irrelevant because both examples are the same in that the requirements have not been met - regardless of magnitude. Ridiculous or not, let the truth set you free.

You will find that loyalty to different arms of the QF group are different. QFF, QFd and QFi are not the same. The first logical step would be to recognise that.

 

[Jack_OC]

Why should Qantas reward you with a higher status if you haven't flown on them? It's an easy to understand system, which is one of the endearing features at least to me about QF FF. Why not just purchase a cheap QF flight to somewhere?

Was that question aimed at me? If so, please refer to my several posts above. Thanks for the tip though.

 

[Jack_OC]

It was supposed to be 40 SC but I mistyped, however that is irrelevant because both examples are the same in that the requirements have not been met - regardless of magnitude. Ridiculous or not, let the truth set you free.

You will find that loyalty to different arms of the QF group are different. QFF, QFd and QFi are not the same. The first logical step would be to recognise that.

The ridiculous part of your analogy wasn't 20 vs 40 SC!

I understand what the requirements are, but for example I have read on these pages about a small amount of leeway being granted in certain circumstances when it comes to SC threshold, hence I thought it was worth asking if the ~ requirement is strictly enforced. I also explained right at the start how I found myself in this situation - it's not because I didn't understand what was required, it's because I thought I had no chance of getting the required number of SCs and therefore made no effort to get the required number of ~. I could still do a status run to get them, but not sure it's worth it to be honest.

Once again, I'm not complaining or trying to say it's unfair if I don't retain Gold, I just wanted confirmation on where I stand, so thanks to those who answered my question.

 

[kelvedon]

Does the original routing rule for QFF points apply to ~ too? For instance, if you were booked on at BNE -SYD-MEL earning 2~ but was involuntarily moved to a direct BNE-MEL earning just 1~, does the original routing rule give you the 2~ even though it's one flight?