Recent content by bmcc

I can confirm no new perks. I am of two minds whether to take it up. The issue is that many of the 'benefits' (i.e. concessional first/biz flight tickets, travel insurance) only apply to itineraries ex-Australia. So for example if I am in LA and I want to book flights / hotels to LHR, then...

New data point - got my invitation today. About 4 months after I made an EOI using the chat function on the website. I'm putting very little through my current Plat card compared to the crazy numbers I see here. Maybe AUD$40k/month. Spend categories are flights, hotels, dining. I've been an...

I’m a HK local. I found myself at the airport very early the other day (about 5 hours before departure time) as I was meeting a friend who had arrived early for the same flight as me. Given we had time to kill, I thought I would do a little tour of a few lounges in HKIA and share my impressions...

Thanks for the insight. I'm actually headed to airport now, will report back...

With apologies for the thread hijack, I have a related relevant question. I have a QF awards flight coming up. The routing is: 1. HKG>PEK on Cathay in J 2. PEK>DXB on Emirates in F The connection in PEK (1 hour 20 minutes) is legal, but tight, and I would say my chances of making the Emirates...

Basically something went wonky with my account. I was unable to pay bills, book travel or transfer MRs. Very strange as it had been working fine for almost 10 years. AMEX's attempts to resolve it were very unsatisfactory - they pretty much put it in the 'too hard' basket until I called up to...

New data point. After trying to resolve (unsuccessfully) some account issues with Amex AU over the past two months, I called to cancel my Plat Charge citing the ongoing issues. Transferred to cancellations team, who fixed the issue within 5 minutes and deposited 200,000 MRs into my account as a...

The CSR's latter formulation is the correct one. Three non-QF OW carries would be acceptable. Hint: If you are planning a serious first or biz RTW trip on points, look into originating in a country which outlaws fuel surcharges, i.e. out of airports like MNL, TYO or HKG (for now)...

I think you'll find you can only grab a QF codeshare on the itinerary if it includes QF flights. If your trip is SYD>DXB>LHR there will be no QF metal flights as Qantas no longer flies through Dubai. If the itinerary was SYD>SIN>DXB>LHR, with the SYD>SIN legs on QF, I think you'd be able to get...

I swear I've read the T&Cs on both the QF and EK sites a million times but I can't seem to get to the bottom of my lounge access entitlements in the following cases. Your wise insight would be appreciated! In Colombo, departing on an EK flight in economy with an EK flight number as a Qantas...

Thanks for the data point, RooFlyer. I normally travel in J but some of the Emerald benefits I will miss. I'm in HKG often and the Pier is too nice, and using the dedicated entry in JFK T8 is also helpful to avoid the TSA goons. Looks like a long weekend back in Aus might be in order. QF full...

Thanks all for the replies. I considered moving across to AA but I'm not far from LTG with Qantas and so planning to stick with it for the time being. Time is more of a constraint than money, but in any event it fees faintly ridiculous to contemplate spending ~US$2,000 to maintain WP status...

Looking to draw upon the collective wisdom of the group... I have been WP with Qantas for 3 years, averaging between 1400 and 2500 SCs per year. I will finish this membership year on 31 October with approximately 1700 SCs. However, having relocated to New York I have not been able to take any...

My favourite use of QFF points (by far) is a Zone 10 classic award on Qantas and Emirates. You will find that the taxes on QFF awards will be astronomical unless you depart from a port which bans fuel surcharges - the obvious ones are Hong Kong, Manila and Tokyo. By way of example, I recently...

Your primary short-haul destinations for a "day-trip" from Honk Kong on a OW carrier are Manila (via CX); Taipei (via CX); or Bangkok (via CX, UL or EK if QFF). You could also consider Kuala Lumpur (via CX or MH) or Singapore (via CX or JQ) but at ~4 hours it will be a long day indeed. My...