Anyway to earn status with AA Advantage but still use Qantas OW Emerald Benefits?

[The Mountain]

Hi Guys,

I have recently moved to America where I I'll be doing a lot of travel with AA. I have never had an AA Advantage account before as I have always flown Qantas. Now that Qantas is out of the equation, I want to start building my status with AA Advantage. I'm currently OW Emerald/QF WP, so my question is are there any ways to book all my travel with my AA Advantage number, earn miles with AA, but still use all the benefits of my QF WP/Emerald account (e.g. lounge access, priority boarding etc.?)

Thank you!

 

[flybob]

There's a similar thread in the QF (Qantas) forum, I hope that can help give you some clarity. It's usually not a problem to gain lounge access at least.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/qantas-frequent-flyer-program/owe-benefits-qf-ticketed-earning-69581.html

 

[The Mountain]

There's a similar thread in the QF (Qantas) forum, I hope that can help give you some clarity. It's usually not a problem to gain lounge access at least.

australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/qantas-frequent-flyer-program/owe-benefits-qf-ticketed-earning-69581.html

So in theory, on all my boarding passes it will have my AA Advantage number, but to get into the lounges I can just flash my QF WP card and that should be okay?

 

[The Mountain]

That thread just thoroughly confused me .

 

[opusman]

For lounge access or priority boarding you should be able to just flash your QFF card. But if you have booked the flights with your AA number then you won't get any benefits of status on-board (which might affect e.g. seat selection, luggage entitlements, free refreshments, etc.)

 

[flybob]

So in theory, on all my boarding passes it will have my AA Advantage number, but to get into the lounges I can just flash my QF WP card and that should be okay?

In theory, yes, it should not be a problem. You might run in to a real nasty lounge dragon, but usually it's no problem. You might get a surprised/suspicious question as to why you're not crediting your QF account. Not sure about priority boarding.

 

[The Mountain]

For lounge access or priority boarding you should be able to just flash your QFF card. But if you have booked the flights with your AA number then you won't get any benefits of status on-board (which might affect e.g. seat selection, luggage entitlements, free refreshments, etc.)

Great, that's all I need really. Once I find out my travel plans I can get on board with one of the AA Challenges and hopefully gain status pretty quickly.

 

[Mattg]

Don't forget the trick where you can put your QF number on the booking in order to get lounge access, then change the FF number on the booking to AA using the RJ, QR or AY website once you're in the lounge. Though hopefully that wouldn't be necessary.

 

[wandering_fred]

Or put in the QF number and (heaven forbid) get the check in agent at the airport change it to the American FF number.
That's actually an exercise they probably will be happy to do... :mrgreen:

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[RooFlyer]

Watch out for Admirals Club lounges that used to be USAir lounges. Lounge people there a bit slow to get up to speed with their new global partners and flashing a QF card might not work (at first).

 

[serfty]

Or put in the QF number and (heaven forbid) get the check in agent at the airport change it to the American FF number.
That's actually an exercise they probably will be happy to do... :mrgreen:

Happy wandering

Fred

This! It's worked well for me every time ...

 

[The Mountain]

This! It's worked well for me every time ...

Love it, this is going to be my go-to-move

 

[serfty]

Love it, this is going to be my go-to-move

... I even had one AAngel in the LAX Flagship unprompted give me both the old (WF WP) and new (AA nufin') BP's back: "Here, use the old one for priority. .." ...

 

[Moindardt]

Do it after you get your boarding pass. Is there a reason why you don't keep the points going to QFF? The point earn over there is better than over here. Just need the 4^ each year.

 

[The Mountain]

Do it after you get your boarding pass. Is there a reason why you don't keep the points going to QFF? The point earn over there is better than over here. Just need the 4^ each year.

I've moved for the foreseeable future to the States and my role will involve a lot of travel domestically. I figured it's best to use the AA number to build up status over here. I'll most likely only be returning to AUS every other year.

It's kind of funny using the seat selector with AA pleb status and only being able to choose 25B or LGA --> ORD

 

[The Mountain]

If anyone is curious, I used my AA number and when I arrived at the admirals lounge, I just flashsd my Qantas card and was allowed right in. This was at LGA - Terminal B.

 

[serfty]

...

It's kind of funny using the seat selector with AA pleb status and only being able to choose 25B or LGA --> ORD

Take W/F's advice; book with your QFF number, pick those good seats for free, get priority check-in, etc. Then swap over to AAdvantage in the lounge.

 

[The Mountain]

Take W/F's advice; book with your QFF number, pick those good seats for free, get priority check-in, etc. Then swap over to AAdvantage in the lounge.

Right, I thought that's what was being hinted at. And this can be done through the AA website?

 

[serfty]

Right, I thought that's what was being hinted at. And this can be done through the AA website?

Not the change of FF number. I have done it at the Admirals Club. If an existing booling some time away you need to call

Maybe reread this thread from post #8 ...

 

[The Mountain]

Not the change of FF number. I have done it at the Admirals Club. If an existing booling some time away you need to call

Maybe reread this entire thread ...

My bad, I was referring to the possibility of entering a QFF number into an upcoming AA flight via the AA website.