AA vs. QF

[SmokinOysters]

I have read quite a few previous posts and not really found clear answers to a number of questions regarding the situation that I find myself in.

I have recently moved to Australia from the US (probably for 2 to 3 years). Up until about 3 or 4 years ago I was a FF with Delta (platinum medallion for several years) and AA (platinum for a couple of years and platinum elite once). I was never much of an international traveler and find myself quite confused of how to make the most of my expected travel going forward.

I made three round trips in business class on Quantas last year (all miles accrued in my AA account) and will probably do 3 to 4 for each of the next several years. My family will be traveling with me on most, if not all, of these trips (obviously their BIS miles will not matter for me directly, but I will be paying for the tickets). My package also allows me to fly family members over. All in all, I suspect that I will spend $150K - $200K on Quantas flights per year, about $40 - 50K will be for me personally.

I have a couple of questions for the experts out there:

1. Should I continue to accrue miles with AA or is there some benefit to setting up a QF account?

2. I have a corporate Amex card, but am guessing that the additional benefits of platinum justify paying the fee for a personal platinum card. Should I get US based Amex or a global Amex card? Which am I even eligible for as a US citizen living in Australia? Are the FX considerations going to be a significant consideration (I will probably book and purchase my tickets in AUD)?

3. Is it worth getting either a Citi/AAdvantage or Quantas Amex card to charge the flights on or am I better off just putting all of the charges on one of the two flavors of Amex platinum cards?

4. What else should I be considering to make the most out of this situation?

 

[Evan]

Not being at all an expert of the AA vs QF debate i would think given that you are in a premium cabin that AA would be the way to go.
And also because it sounds like you will do travel in the future in the US.

However, if you do go QF you can also look for upgrades from business to first, you can only apply for points upgrades on the actual company's planes and flight codes. If you send all miles to AA then you cannot get these upgrades, but you can still of course get award flights in business.
(one other downside to AA if you did want to try and use these awards for business flights all together it would be difficult to get more than 1 or 2 seats at a time and no chance of asking QF to make one available i would think being an AA member and not a QF member)

E

 

[thadocta]

Actually, flying premium cabins, status is much easier to obtain on QF compared to AA (or so I am told, I rarely venture into the premium cabins, but this seems to be the general opinion). Having QF status gets you other benefits, such as access to AA lounges when flying on AA domestic flights (and a couple of free drinks whilst there, although you will still need to tip the barman).

If you are going to be doing a few QF flights, as previously mentioned creditting your miles to QF will enable you to register for upgrades, and getting status with QF will place you higher up the upgrade waiting list.

Of course, YMMV.

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

I have read quite a few previous posts and not really found clear answers to a number of questions regarding the situation that I find myself in.

I have recently moved to Australia from the US (probably for 2 to 3 years). Up until about 3 or 4 years ago I was a FF with Delta (platinum medallion for several years) and AA (platinum for a couple of years and platinum elite once). I was never much of an international traveler and find myself quite confused of how to make the most of my expected travel going forward.

I made three round trips in business class on Quantas last year (all miles accrued in my AA account) and will probably do 3 to 4 for each of the next several years. My family will be traveling with me on most, if not all, of these trips (obviously their BIS miles will not matter for me directly, but I will be paying for the tickets). My package also allows me to fly family members over. All in all, I suspect that I will spend $150K - $200K on Quantas flights per year, about $40 - 50K will be for me personally.

I would say that for the mileage earning, you are better on AA . Which part of the USA are you travelling from?

Taking the minimum case of LAX-SYD which is 7488 miles.

3 round trips is 44928 miles which would have earned 67932 qpoints which would have ensured Platinum status .

Taking the coming year, with 4 trips , that would be 59904 miles which would give you 134,784 spending miles and get you 89956 qpoints so close to Executive Platinum

With 3 to 4 trips a year you would earn 101088 - 134,784 miles a year from travel

With 3 trips on QF you would have earned 1080 Status credits and be Gold status ( same level as AA Platinum )

if you are doing 4 trips then with QF you would just scrape Platinum status

If your journey involves further than just LAX, then 4 trips credited to AA will give you Executive Platinum travel

If you are Gold with Qantas, you would have a 50% mileage bonus and so the mileage earning for the 3-4 LAX-SYD r/ts would be 78624 - 104832 miles

If you attain platinum then you will have same earning as AA. Consider however that if you did the 4th trip, it is likely that you would be able to get AA Executive Platinum sttaus that year

Comparing the redemptions to fly back to the USA

If you want to fly SYD-LAX r/t

using QF points this would be 96,000 miles in economy, 192,000 in business and 288,000 in 1st plus there would also be around $352 in fuel surcharges to pay
If you wanted to redeem to the east of the USA, the miles can increase to 112k/224k/336k or even 128k/256k/384k

using AA points the redemption cost is 75k/125k/145k for economy/business/1st and no fuel surcharge

If you want to

Given that you are returning later to USA, I would def stick with AA

For you family when they talke their 1st trip, do book them through AA on the AA codeshare and then sign then up for the Platinum challenge; travelling business class they will attain Platinum on their 1st flight and so be getting the 100% bonus miles immediately

For Credit Card earning to AA with US cards. I would suggest getting a Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX card plus a Citi AAdvantage for places that don;t take AMEX

With the SPG card, you earn 1 SPG point for every USD spent. You can transfer miles from SPG-AA at the rate of 1-1 for small amounts but if you transfer in blocks of 20,000 you get a 5,000 bonus so giving an overall earning rate of 1.25 AA points for ever $ spent.

Dave

 

[drron]

I would also think it better to stick with AA especially as this is a temporary move.You will dfefinitely have enough EQP to be plat every year and it is not going to take much more flying to make Explat.
Also dont limit your thinking to using QF services.From BNE we regularly travel BNE-NRT-JFK as we have a son in Manhattan.Compared to QF via LAX we leave 90 minutes earlier and arrive 1 hour later into JFK.However we have an easy connect in NRT with always time in the lounge compared to Immigration in LAX with a change in terminals.On top of that if we fly JAL NRT-JFK we save $A3000 each in J or if we choose AA the saving is only $A2500.So when travelling with family that adds up.Obviously if you chose AA from NRT you can use your upgrades.Award availability from NRT-USA is also pretty good in premium cabins on AA.

 

[SmokinOysters]

I would also think it better to stick with AA especially as this is a temporary move.You will dfefinitely have enough EQP to be plat every year and it is not going to take much more flying to make Explat.
Also dont limit your thinking to using QF services.From BNE we regularly travel BNE-NRT-JFK as we have a son in Manhattan.Compared to QF via LAX we leave 90 minutes earlier and arrive 1 hour later into JFK.However we have an easy connect in NRT with always time in the lounge compared to Immigration in LAX with a change in terminals.On top of that if we fly JAL NRT-JFK we save $A3000 each in J or if we choose AA the saving is only $A2500.So when travelling with family that adds up.Obviously if you chose AA from NRT you can use your upgrades.Award availability from NRT-USA is also pretty good in premium cabins on AA.

Thanks for the responses so far. I love the BNE-NRT-JFK suggestion as I will generally be travelling between BNE and NYC myself.

Is it safe to assume that my tickets will be priced in USD if I book through AA, even if the flights are originating outside of the US? USD charges will be easier for me to deal with on a USD-demoninated card, but I can use a AUD-denominated card if the total cost is going to be lower.

Additional ideas/suggestions/thoughts/opinions are greatly appreciated...

 

[SmokinOysters]

I would say that for the mileage earning, you are better on AA . Which part of the USA are you travelling from?

Thanks for the helpful earn/burn analysis. It certainly sounds as if the AA decision is the right way to go. I will look into the SPG card as I stay at Starwood properties occasionally and the conversion to AA seems attractive. However, it would seem that an AMEX platinum at 1.5 per USD is more attractive still. Obviously there is a pretty steep fee, but I think the incremental MR probably justifies it. Am I missing something?

 

[Dave Noble]

Thanks for the responses so far. I love the BNE-NRT-JFK suggestion as I will generally be travelling between BNE and NYC myself.

Is it safe to assume that my tickets will be priced in USD if I book through AA, even if the flights are originating outside of the US? USD charges will be easier for me to deal with on a USD-demoninated card, but I can use a AUD-denominated card if the total cost is going to be lower.

Additional ideas/suggestions/thoughts/opinions are greatly appreciated...

If you book on the AA site, they will nicely quote you and charge you in USD

IF travelling BNE-NRT-JFK, then the distance would be 11167 , so 3 trips would be a distance of 67,002 miles. This is far enough to get Executive Platinum status from AA or QF Platinum status

This would give you a mileage earning inc bonuses of 150745 miles.

As an AA EXP member, you will earn 8 eVIPs and so would be able to upgrade your NRT-JFK-NRT sectors to 1st class for no charge. If you run out of eVIPs, then future upgrades that year will cost 25k each

If you went for QF Platinum , you would not be able to upgrade the journey at all

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

Thanks for the helpful earn/burn analysis. It certainly sounds as if the AA decision is the right way to go. I will look into the SPG card as I stay at Starwood properties occasionally and the conversion to AA seems attractive. However, it would seem that an AMEX platinum at 1.5 per USD is more attractive still. Obviously there is a pretty steep fee, but I think the incremental MR probably justifies it. Am I missing something?

I wasn't aware that the US Platinum AMEX earned at a higher rate but if it does that's cool. An AMEX Platinum Charge card would have a side benefit in that it also will provide you access to lounges in the US if doing purely domestic trips so may be useful if you plan to do domestic US travels too. ( obviously for all other travel, your AA PLT/EXP card would provide access if class of travel doesnt get you in )

Dave

 

[drron]

The fares I was quoting are Ex BNE.JAL have had a special in J for some years now.The price went up to $A7000 when they joined OW.For the last 12 months AA have had a business class special for $A7500 Ex BNE.This fare is not available from the USA.It finishes at the end of March 08 as do the JAL fares.JAL though have hasd the special for many years.I am hoping AA continue theirs which uses the QF codeshare on JAL to NRT then AA to JFK.So you will get your elite bonuses.Going JAL you do not get the elite bonus but the saving has been such that it does not matter.You still get the full EQP.
So your fare will be quoted in$A.I doubt that will be a problem for your CC provider.As well there are reports that AA will be moving their Asia call centre from Delhi to BNE at the end of May.That should make ticketing through AA a little easier.

 

[SmokinOysters]

If you book on the AA site, they will nicely quote you and charge you in USD

So I have done a little more research on the USD/AUD tradeoff. I have been told that significantly better discounted business class fares are available for flights from OZ to the US which are purchased in OZ (in AUD) than for those booked at AA (in USD). Can anyone confirm this?

If this is in fact the case then it looks like I will need to get an AUD-denominated card for my ticket purchases. I will probably want to convert any points that I get to AA miles. I will also need to get something with no spending limit (or at least something over $50k) as I will usually be buying three business class tickets at a time. What are my options? Recommendations?

Thanks in advance...

 

[alect]

So I have done a little more research on the USD/AUD tradeoff. I have been told that significantly better discounted business class fares are available for flights from OZ to the US which are purchased in OZ (in AUD) than for those booked at AA (in USD). Can anyone confirm this?

If this is in fact the case then it looks like I will need to get an AUD-denominated card for my ticket purchases. I will probably want to convert any points that I get to AA miles. I will also need to get something with no spending limit (or at least something over $50k) as I will usually be buying three business class tickets at a time. What are my options? Recommendations?

Thanks in advance...

Whether you're buying tickets ex-OZ in AUD or in USD does not matter for the credit card you are using - you can still use a US credit card to purchase tickets in Oz in AUD - you'll just be up for the foreign exchange fees etc.. (and those may be expensably under your package).

 

[simongr]

So I have done a little more research on the USD/AUD tradeoff. I have been told that significantly better discounted business class fares are available for flights from OZ to the US which are purchased in OZ (in AUD) than for those booked at AA (in USD). Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks in advance...

Not sure which fares you are talking about. You might be thinking the oneworld explorer fare that is talked about a lot here - basically a discounted around the world fare (max 16-20 flights with a bunch of rules but some good flexibility - works out about 25% cheaper [at least] than a standard SYD-JFK fare). The base price is cheaper but if bought in Oz from QF rather than in the US from AA the fuel surcharges wipe out the price differential.

 

[drron]

AA do offer business class fares from Aust to the USA via NRT for about $A7500.It is not well advertised-I did see it on bestflights once-but our TA alerted us to its existence.As I said previously this special ends at the end of March.It is a lot less than fares AA offers in the US.
I cant quite understand the problem of having a CC based in the USA.Sure there are foreign exchange issues but I would love to have a US based CC to be able to transfer more points across to AA.

 

[Dave Noble]

So I have done a little more research on the USD/AUD tradeoff. I have been told that significantly better discounted business class fares are available for flights from OZ to the US which are purchased in OZ (in AUD) than for those booked at AA (in USD). Can anyone confirm this?

Some of the discounted fares are cheaper from the USA these days due to strength of currency

For example : the 4 continent One World Explorer ATW (DONE4) fare has a base fare of USD8300 from the USA vs USD9645 from Australia and the Circle Pacific 26k miles (DCIR26) fare has a base fare of USD6600 from the USA vs USD8359 from Australia

The ex-USA DONE4 would be a good value fare for your trips since it would nicely provide 4 flights within Australia/NZ too as well as being cheaper than a straight return

If this is in fact the case then it looks like I will need to get an AUD-denominated card for my ticket purchases. I will probably want to convert any points that I get to AA miles. I will also need to get something with no spending limit (or at least something over $50k) as I will usually be buying three business class tickets at a time. What are my options? Recommendations?.

No need to do that at all; get the AMEX Platinum charge card to which you referred to before; you can use that in Australia with no issues whatsoever; it is not like the USA where making phone purchases with a non USA credit card is hard to do. You will be hit for whatever the currency exchange fee is, but that ( I presume ) will be expensed anyway plus you will get the 1.5 points per USD which is not a bad rate at all

Dave