AA Platinum Challenge - Tips

[jpk]

Do all BA business and WT+ fares qualify for 1.5x qpoints? even if they are deep discount, non flexible etc? There are some good Club deals around at the moment...

thanks,
jk.

 

[Dave Noble]

Do all BA business and WT+ fares qualify for 1.5x qpoints? even if they are deep discount, non flexible etc? There are some good Club deals around at the moment...

thanks,
jk.

Yes, to the best of my knowledge. WT+ are only booked in T and W which are both eligable and Club is only booked in C,D,I,J ( to the best of my knowledge ) and they are all eligable

with the obvious caveat that UK-US is ineligable


Dave

 

[SeatBackForward]

What a thread to trawl through! The folks here are very couteous and I'm sure will be willing to help me out here.

I'm currently Qantas Club Silver, with the following:

Current Status: Silver
Status reassessment will occur: 31 Dec 2006
Status credits earned from 01 Jan 2006: 250
Additional Status credits required by 31 Dec 2006 to retain Silver: 50
Additional Status credits required by 31 Dec 2006 to attain Gold: 450


This August I'm likely to have to go to Dubai for some work, And I'll ask for QF to Hiong Kong then CX to Dubai. Most likely will be business class travel.

Am I better of creditting this to Qantas or should I consider Joining AA for the Platinum challenge?

 

[madmat777]

Hi "SeatBackForward" <-- that would be a dream.

If you do not have Qantas Club membership then the AA Plat Challenge is a must. You will easily obtain the level and will be able to access lounges on the saphire OW status.

I do have QC (and QFF Silver) but still find it worth while as I never do enough travel to reach QF Gold. It is amazing how many more upgrades you get once you reach the OW saphire status. I even think the OW saphire has preference over QF Gold - others here may be more qualified to answer that though.

Matt.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Hi "SeatBackForward" <-- that would be a dream.

If you do not have Qantas Club membership then the AA Plat Challenge is a must. You will easily obtain the level and will be able to access lounges on the saphire OW status.

I do have QC (and QFF Silver) but still find it worth while as I never do enough travel to reach QF Gold. It is amazing how many more upgrades you get once you reach the OW saphire status. I even think the OW saphire has preference over QF Gold - others here may be more qualified to answer that though.

Matt.

Yeah I currently have Qantas Club also, I probably should join though, as similarly to you, I don't fly frequently enough (or usually the company books me internet fares so I only get half the status points...) and this sounds like a fast way to become the equivalent of Gold,

Is it a problem in terms of holding onto the Silver status with Qantas?

 

[NM]

If doing an AA Platinum Challenge (aka Candy Theft), you will complete the challenge on the HKG-DXB segment if flying in business class. You will earn the following AA miles for the segments (assuming starting in SYD):

SYD-HKG = 4581 miles flown, 6871 EQP, and 5726 AA miles
HKG-DXB = 3684 miles flown, 5526 EQP, and 8289 AA miles
DXB-HKG = 3684 miles flown, 5526 EQP, and 8289 AA miles
HKG-SYD = 4581 miles flown, 6871 EQP, and 10307 AA miles

Totals = 16, 530 miles flown, 24,794 EQP, and 32,611 AA miles.

This is half way to requalifying AA platinum in its own right for the following year, will earn you 4 x 500 miles AA domestic upgrade credits, and is almost enough AA miles for a business class return trip anywhere in Australia/NZ without paying the fuel surcharge.

The benefit of undertaking the AA challenge depends on your future travel patterns. But just for this one-off trip, plus crediting a few hotel stays, rental car or similar partner miles to your account, you are very close to earning a free trip, while if crediting to your QF account you will not get close to such an award.

Note that EK is going to be very cost competitive for a business class fare to DXB.

 

[SeatBackForward]

If doing an AA Platinum Challenge (aka Candy Theft), you will complete the challenge on the HKG-DXB segment if flying in business class. You will earn the following AA miles for the segments (assuming starting in SYD):

SYD-HKG = 4581 miles flown, 6871 EQP, and 5726 AA miles
HKG-DXB = 3684 miles flown, 5526 EQP, and 8289 AA miles
DXB-HKG = 3684 miles flown, 5526 EQP, and 8289 AA miles
HKG-SYD = 4581 miles flown, 6871 EQP, and 10307 AA miles

Totals = 16, 530 miles flown, 24,794 EQP, and 32,611 AA miles.

This is half way to requalifying AA platinum in its own right for the following year, will earn you 4 x 500 miles AA domestic upgrade credits, and is almost enough AA miles for a business class return trip anywhere in Australia/NZ without paying the fuel surcharge.

The benefit of undertaking the AA challenge depends on your future travel patterns. But just for this one-off trip, plus crediting a few hotel stays, rental car or similar partner miles to your account, you are very close to earning a free trip, while if crediting to your QF account you will not get close to such an award.

Note that EK is going to be very cost competitive for a business class fare to DXB.

NM,

Thank you muchly. It sounds to me like it'll be worthwhile joining AA then.

 

[JohnK]

I do have QC (and QFF Silver) but still find it worth while as I never do enough travel to reach QF Gold. It is amazing how many more upgrades you get once you reach the OW saphire status. I even think the OW saphire has preference over QF Gold - others here may be more qualified to answer that though.

Matt sorry to point this out but QF Gold is the equivalent of OW sapphire! Someone else can correct me but if travelling on QF then QF Gold would be a higher status than any other OW Sapphire.

 

[madmat777]

Matt sorry to point this out but QF Gold is the equivalent of OW sapphire! Someone else can correct me but if travelling on QF then QF Gold would be a higher status than any other OW Sapphire.

Hi JohnK,

That's what I would have thought - it just seemed to me that QF was giving higer preference to other OW sapphire rather than QF gold. Perhaps it is simply first come first serve at that level.

Matt.

 

[NM]

Hi JohnK,

That's what I would have thought - it just seemed to me that QF was giving higer preference to other OW sapphire rather than QF gold. Perhaps it is simply first come first serve at that level.

Matt.

The only time FF status affects any priority (as a published benefit) is for waitlisting upgrades. And non-QF OneWorld members are unable to waitlist for upgrades, so in that case QF gold comes between QF Platinum and QF Silver, with OneWorld Sapphire not getting a look in.

So I assume your referring to your experience with operational upgrades. In my experience, operational upgrades are not just based on FF status, but on several factors of which FF status is one. If all other conditions are equal, then I would expect QF to offer an operational upgrade to a QF Gold status member ahead of a non-QF OneWorld Sapphire member. But if other factors are involved (such as the location of the seat that will be freed as a result of the upgrade) then it is quite likely that the upgrade may not go to the highest status FF member in the cabin and could well go to a OneWorld Sapphire ahead of a QF Gold member.

There is no published priority order for the processing of operational upgrades, so there is no course to complain if one is provided to a lower status member ahead of a higher status member.

 

[jakeseven7]

Have been tiptoeing around this thread and finally set aside the hour or so to read it properly and do it the justice it deserves!

Firstly, huge thx to Dave for posting such a great summary and follow up advice and also to all Plat challenge experts for all the subsequent follow ups.


Flying Syd-Bkk-Syd in Oct in J, so by my calcs that will get me across the line and snatching the candy easy.

The only thing I am grappling with is my 150K points sitting in my QFF account that I use for upgrades as I see them as the best way to use the points and by allocating my points to AA from now on, eventually I'll slip into no mans land status with QF and have about 0% chance of getting an upgrade... plus I think to get an upgrade you have to be using your QFF number on that flight (?) Anyway I think that may be a question I have to nut out what to do with them..

I just wanted to get clear on two things, and I have checked through, my eyes and brain are filled with all this stuff so may have missed it

- Even though it is stated that you have to fly X amount of AA flights you obviously don't have to for the challenge. To requalify for Plat/Gold is this the same case? (Because I would never fly AA!)

- Forgetting about the benefits of AA Plat over QF Gold such as better points no fuel fine etc, what do I miss out on if my QF status took a dive -> just priority seating and less baggage? (I have QF club)

Thanks & Dave - out of interest do you still credit QFF at all (apart from that one class of fare that doesn't earn AA points?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

AFAIK BA is the only major OW program enforcing the must have 4 flights on FFP's home airline.

With AA Plat you lose lounge access for US domestic flights (except you don't thanks to QF club).

 

[NM]

The only thing I am grappling with is my 150K points sitting in my QFF account that I use for upgrades as I see them as the best way to use the points and by allocating my points to AA from now on, eventually I'll slip into no mans land status with QF and have about 0% chance of getting an upgrade... plus I think to get an upgrade you have to be using your QFF number on that flight (?) Anyway I think that may be a question I have to nut out what to do with them..

No, you don't have to have your QFF number in the booking. With your AA number in the reservation, just phone up the QFF desk and ask to join the upgrade waitlist. They will need to find the reservation using your surname and flight details and you join the waitlist based on your QFF status since that is the account paying for the upgrade.

Just make sure the QF agent does not try to do you a favour by changing the FF number to your QF account. I specifically asked them not to change it when I upgraded my candy-thieving qualifying flight MEL-LHR from business to first.

The other benefit for me was that AA saw my flight as being in P class and paid me First Class miles (50% bonus) instead of business class (25% bonus) on top of the 100% platinum bonus paid for the qualifying flight.

I just wanted to get clear on two things, and I have checked through, my eyes and brain are filled with all this stuff so may have missed it

- Even though it is stated that you have to fly X amount of AA flights you obviously don't have to for the challenge. To requalify for Plat/Gold is this the same case? (Because I would never fly AA!)

No required to complete the challenge. And currently it is not being enforced by AA. As far as I know, BA is the only OneWorld airline currently enforcing the 4-flight rule (most OneWorld airlines have this rule).

- Forgetting about the benefits of AA Plat over QF Gold such as better points no fuel fine etc, what do I miss out on if my QF status took a dive -> just priority seating and less baggage? (I have QF club)

AA Platinum does not gain AA lounge access when on AA domestic flights, but you can get that through paid Qantas Club membership. But based on your comment above, that is not going to be a problem.

You also don't get access to the enhanced award availability for QF economy awards (from T bucket) as an AA Platinum member. QF Gold and Platinum do get access to T bucket for economy awards. AA Platinum goes not get extra baggage allowance on QF flights, while QF Gold does.

 

[jakeseven7]

AA Platinum does not gain AA lounge access when on AA domestic flights, but you can get that through paid Qantas Club membership. But based on your comment above, that is not going to be a problem.
AA Platinum goes not get extra baggage allowance on QF flights, while QF Gold does.

Just realised that QF Club will still enable me to get an extra 10kg on int QF flights so thats not so bad. I'll just keep on expensing it through work.

Just going over the earn and burn rates and I get the min earn is 500 points where as QF is 1000... so for shorter domestic hops you will earn more on QFF.. Redeeming: So for Mel-Syd-Mel need 16K points QF v AA 20K on a slower earn rate..? But I'm guessing that the AA gets better for longer trips.. eg Syd-Akl-Syd in J QF is 72K and AA is 35K which is slightly better dependent on how you earn the points in the first place...

So being a recently demoted to Silver: a Syd-Bkk-Syd in J will get me 14052 QFF plus 240 SC = v 11710 AA plus 14052 qpoints. QFF gets me 80% of the way to retain silver while AA gets me all the way to Plat (QF Gold)... and then the miles earned get a little bit more attractive..

Is this the kind of summary that everyone else has arrived at? - that for short hops QFF is slightly better but for status and earning on trips > 1000 miles AA starts looking better...(sometimes you have to do the sums yourself to understand properly..)

 

[NM]

Just going over the earn and burn rates and I get the min earn is 500 points where as QF is 1000... so for shorter domestic hops you will earn more on QFF.. Redeeming: So for Mel-Syd-Mel need 16K points QF v AA 20K on a slower earn rate..? But I'm guessing that the AA gets better for longer trips.. eg Syd-Akl-Syd in J QF is 72K and AA is 35K which is slightly better dependent on how you earn the points in the first place...

I do not believe redeeming award flights on short routes like MEL-SYD-MEL is a wise use of points in either program. As has been pointed out in other threads, you end up paying almost as much in QF's taxes as you would to purchase the fare outright.

A very good example is what just booked for January 2007. 3 x business class return fares BNE-MEL-AKL-MEL-BNE. There was no availability in X, T or U for the non-stop BNE-AKL flights, let along for 3 people travelling together. So the only option for 3 seats on the same flights was via MEL.

With AA, this cost 105,000 miles plus $148.43 in taxes.

With QF this would have cost 300,000 points plus $710.33 in taxes.

I see a slight AAdvantage in one program over the other.

So being a recently demoted to Silver: a Syd-Bkk-Syd in J will get me 14052 QFF plus 240 SC = v 11710 AA plus 14052 qpoints. QFF gets me 80% of the way to retain silver while AA gets me all the way to Plat (QF Gold)... and then the miles earned get a little bit more attractive..

By my calculations, on AA you will earn:

SYD-BKK = 4680 miles flown. 1170 cabin bonus. Total = 5850 miles
BKK-SYD = 4680 miles flown. 1170 cabin bonus. 4680 Plat bonus. Total = 10710 miles

Total for trip = 16,560 miles. And 14,040 EQP.

Exact mileage used by the airlines may vary slightly from the CGM distance I have used.

 

[Dave Noble]

Just going over the earn and burn rates and I get the min earn is 500 points where as QF is 1000... so for shorter domestic hops you will earn more on QFF.. Redeeming: So for Mel-Syd-Mel need 16K points QF v AA 20K on a slower earn rate..? But I'm guessing that the AA gets better for longer trips.. eg Syd-Akl-Syd in J QF is 72K and AA is 35K which is slightly better dependent on how you earn the points in the first place...

As an AA Platinum, you get 100% bonus on miles , so on a MEL-SYD in discount economy ( other than N class ) will earn the base of 500 miles plus a platinum bonus of 500 giving a total one way earning of 1000 which is the same as on Qantas

To earn a MEl-SYD-MEL would take 10 r/ts vs 8 r/ts on QF however that 20k could equally be used on any flight within Australia or between Australia and New Zealand, whereas using QF points the cost once the distance is >600 miles each way is more expensive

Dave

 

[jakeseven7]

By my calculations, on AA you will earn:

SYD-BKK = 4680 miles flown. 1170 cabin bonus. Total = 5850 miles
BKK-SYD = 4680 miles flown. 1170 cabin bonus. 4680 Plat bonus. Total = 10710 miles

Total for trip = 16,560 miles. And 14,040 EQP.

Exact mileage used by the airlines may vary slightly from the CGM distance I have used.

Sorry yes I stuffed up the mileage to begin with and don't understand the whole Plat bonus on the return leg.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I do not believe redeeming award flights on short routes like MEL-SYD-MEL is a wise use of points in either program. As has been pointed out in other threads, you end up paying almost as much in QF's taxes as you would to purchase the fare outright.

Short awards don't have to be in Australia. They can be good value in Europe and North America on certain routes where fares are always high, and some of those airlines don't have fuel fines either.

 

[Dave Noble]

Sorry yes I stuffed up the mileage to begin with and don't understand the whole Plat bonus on the return leg.

This is explained earlier in the thread...

The flight SYD-BKK is approx 4680 miles.

Travelling in J class you earn 1.5 qualifying points per mile flown , so earn 7020 qpoints on the way to BKK.

You need 10,000 qpoints to complete the challenge and this is completed on the BKK-SYD leg .

On the flight on which you complete the challenge you also earn 100% bonus as if you were already platinum and so you earn a 4680 bonus giving a total mileage earn of approx 16,560 miles

Dave

 

[NM]

On the flight on which you complete the challenge you also earn 100% bonus as if you were already platinum and so you earn a 4680 bonus giving a total mileage earn of approx 16,560 miles

Which is why I ensured my qualifying flight was QF29 MEL-LHR, earning me a challenge bonus of 10,298 miles . Careful planning of the challenge flights can result in nice additional candy.