10 points short of Platinum?

[HardieBoys]

A friend of mine has calculated that he'll be 10 points short of Platinum at his anniversary date. He called Qantas, who informed him that he can request consideration to be awarded Platinum even though he falls just short of the cut-off. Has anyone on the board had a similar experience, or heard of a similar experience? From memory, he's been a QFF member for > 10 years, and Gold for at least the last three.

 

[aus_flyer]

Why not just buy the cheapest red e-deal available?

 

[straitman]

Why not just buy the cheapest red e-deal available?

Agreed.

Is it really worth the risk of not getting it :?:

 

[NM]

or upgrade an existing flight to a higher SC-earning class.

or route an existing flight via another city.

I have not heard of anyone successfully pleading the case for comping to the next level, even if just short. I do know of many, many cases of people being renewed their current status when short of the requalification mark.

I would not take the risk and would find a way to achieve an extra 10 SCs.

 

[HardieBoys]

Thanks for the advice. I should have mentioned that he's based in HK, so the cheapest SC-earning flights are several hundred (and he's already doing one to build up points). I'll pass your advice on...

 

[aus_flyer]

Cathay Pacific have some really cheap flights out of Hong Kong. Maybe a weekend trip to Singapore could be an option.

Just got to make sure it's a qualifying flight - a lot of Cathay's super cheap online fares earn no points (so possibly no SC either).

 

[danielh]

Well if he is going to be doing some planned flights then why not get one of those planned flight upgraded.

Regards
Daniel

 

[cpl]

A friend of mine has calculated that he'll be 10 points short of Platinum at his anniversary date. He called Qantas, who informed him that he can request consideration to be awarded Platinum even though he falls just short of the cut-off.

not worth the risk I'd say

 

[oz_mark]

WHile I haven't heard of QF doing this, I'm not in a position to say whether they would do it or not. However, as noted by others, it is a risky thing to do, as it really be up to the whim of someone buried within Qantas.

 

[HardieBoys]

It's funny you should mention the cheap flights to Singapore from HK. The cheapest flights on CX earn no SCs, and the cheapest flights that earn SCs are at least twice the price, or more. Anyway, fingers crossed. Will post the results next month...

 

[HardieBoys]

We Got Platinum

Hi. Just to follow-up with the earlier query. My partner got Platinum despite being 10 SCs short of the cut-off. He'd contacted them in advance, and they were very sympathetic, though couldn't guarantee anything. I called separatedly, and pointed out that we both fly a lot, and again they reassured us that there was some flexibility in the cut-off to qualify. Anway, my partner got awarded Plat and is now happy. It can be done...

 

[danielh]

Thats good to know.

I will be needing 120 SCs after tonight and have until Feb 2006 to get them.

I think i'll be doing 1 more return flight to Sydney (40 points) and four S class AA flights in the US (10 x 4 points) and so that leaves me with one more 40 points flight to get Plat.

The only problem is that I was hoping to get that status while I'm up in the US so I can partake in the 1st class LAX lounge with my wife. :-(

Oh well. Maybe I'll go and upgrade to Business class my next Syd flight. Will cost me AU$300 out of pocket so the cheap side of me says no and the status side of me says "Go for it!".

I don't think I want to fly again after getting Platinum. I only want it so I can get my preferred award RTW tickets when I book them in April. I'll also be using my Frequent Flyer Friend prize thanks to Lindsay.

HEHE.

Regards
Daniel

 

[serfty]

Thats good to know.

I will be needing 120 SCs after tonight and have until Feb 2006 to get them.

I think i'll be doing 1 more return flight to Sydney (40 points) and four S class AA flights in the US (10 x 4 points) and so that leaves me with one more 40 points flight to get Plat.

The only problem is that I was hoping to get that status while I'm up in the US so I can partake in the 1st class LAX lounge with my wife. :-(

Oh well. Maybe I'll go and upgrade to Business class my next Syd flight. Will cost me AU$300 out of pocket so the cheap side of me says no and the status side of me says "Go for it!".

I don't think I want to fly again after getting Platinum. I only want it so I can get my preferred award RTW tickets when I book them in April. I'll also be using my Frequent Flyer Friend prize thanks to Lindsay.

HEHE.

Regards
Daniel

Have a look out for discounted Business (D) class fares. e.g. one way SYD-MEL for about $410. ... there's 40 SC's.

 

[aus_flyer]

But if you upgrade an existing discount Y flights to J, you only (effectively) gain an extra 30 SC. You would still be 10 short.
If it's full Y, you only gain 20.
This assumes you live in BNE or MEL.

 

[danielh]

I pay full Econ (H class) for my trips so get 40 points for a return flight. A business upgrade give me 80 points for a return flight with an additional AU$300.

Regards
Daniel

 

[JohnK]

Have a look out for discounted Business (D) class fares. e.g. one way SYD-MEL for about $410. ... there's 40 SC's.

As Daniel spends time in Sydney he can easily do a quick sortie to Canberra for $556 in business and earn 80SC's. Small price to pay for WP.

 

[DPG]

This did happen to me... :shock:

I ended up at 1380 status credits a couple of weeks before my anniversary date.

Unfortunately QF and I had been having an arguement on the earn rate on AY, and my calculations had me ending up with the 1400 status credits. To cut a long story short, a LHR-HEL flight on AY in L class had posted 40 status credits (economy not discount) and then a HEL-BCN flight posted 20 status credits despite being further. The latter was manually posted.

I pulled QF up on this, and several of the people on the phone agreed with my logic, and also that the earning table was not clear... Airlines such as CX/BA/AA split up the booking classes between discount economy and economy, while IB/LA/AY don't.

So after my last points had posted, I followed the advise I was given by the QFF Service Centre and asked to be assessed for a comp upgrade to Platinum as I was 20 status credits short.

It worked , it took about a week for it to happen... Lucky I had a couple of weeks to spare.

My advice to your friend HardieBoys is that if there is enough time after the last status credits are posted, ask for the comp upgrade as only 10 status credits short, but have a fall back plan (ie know that if they don't do it, to book a flight). I would also make sure I said that I would be travelling a lot in the future... My guess is that QF would do it... But I am not sure if I am basing that decision on my luck or whether QF felt sorry for me (unlikely!) as they could see my logic as to why I was 20 status credits short.

Hope this helps...

D P G

 

[Dave Noble]

The only problem is that I was hoping to get that status while I'm up in the US so I can partake in the 1st class LAX lounge with my wife. :-(

Oh well. Maybe I'll go and upgrade to Business class my next Syd flight. Will cost me AU$300 out of pocket so the cheap side of me says no and the status side of me says "Go for it!".

I would be careful about this since , if you need the AA flights in order to qualify, you won't get staus until the AA flights credit so if your visit to LAX occurs before AA processes the flights, you still wont have access

Dave

 

[HardieBoys]

Thanks DPG, that's basically what my partner did. QFF were pretty good about it, stating that there was a published cut-off mark, but if individuals fell a little short of it, it could be referred for consideration. I'm sure the fact that there were long-haul bookings made for the next few months was taken into consideration.