ASA point earning - on OW / partner airlines?

[djfuzz]

A thought occurred to me which, despite some cursory searching through AFF / FT / QFF I haven't been able to get a good answer to -

Given that ASAs can book in to both award and revenue fare buckets, is it possible to earn points / miles in a program other than QFF following such a booking? For example, book a QF ASA, take off your QFF number and attach your AAdvantage number instead?

I'm fairly certain that QFF would nevertheless be the best program to credit to to get the best bang-for-points, but the theoretical possibility intrigued me.

 

[rsellens]

The way I read the following from the T&Cs is that you do earn points on all ASA seats, no matter who the carrier is, unless specifically stated at the time of booking.



9.3 Earning Points for Air Travel
9.3.1 Subject to clauses 9.3.2 and 9.4, Points for air travel may be earned only for paid travel or Qantas & Jetstar Any Seat Awards (excluding for the avoidance of doubt any Qantas & Partner Classic Award) on regular scheduled flights where a Qantas flight number (or the flight number of any oneworld Alliance Airline or Airline Partner not excluded under clause 9.4) is entered on the itinerary ('Eligible Flight').

9.3.2 For the purposes of earning Points, Status Credits and the Minimum Points Guarantee, Eligible Flights exclude a flight on a Qantas aircraft, where another airline's flight number is entered on the ticket, unless that flight has been specified by Qantas as an Eligible Flight. It is the responsibility of the Member to check whether a proposed booking is eligible to earn Points, Status Credits or the Minimum Points Guarantee and if so how many Points or Status Credits will be earned.

9.4 Points Are Not Earned on All Flights
9.4.1 Points are not earned for travel on:
(a) flights or booking classes that are not listed in or are excluded in the Airline Earning Table;
(b) infant fares (infant fares do not include infants travelling in their own paid seat);
(c) charter flights;
(d) freighter flights;
(e) free tickets or Qantas & Partner Classic Awards;
(f) travel industry rebated tickets;
(g) competition prize tickets;
(h) transport other than air transport unless specified by Qantas;
(i) tickets acquired at an auction; or
(j) tickets which are restricted from earning Points or are subject to any specific provisions excluding the accumulation of Points




​

 

[djfuzz]

That was my interpretation as well - but that cheaper ASAs that book into award few buckets would not earn on partners.

However, something doesn't quite feel right about the whole thing, so I have a gut feeling that somewhere ASAs would be excluded from earning on anyone but QF. As I said, ver happy for this position to be verified as I think partner-earning ASAs would be fantastic.

 

[Happy Trails]

I had a JASA sector recently with CX which didn't earn. I think it depends on the fare bucket.

 

[richie9x]

Also for some ASA it will return flights from non-OW airlines, such as Air NZ or SQ. I wonder if it is possible to add a FF number from a supported scheme and earn FF points on those tickets. I guess it also depends on what fare class they book into.

 

[rsellens]

I just wonder if one of AJ's enhancements is to charge you an ASA fare and then book you into a cheaper fare bucket not eligible for points or status credits on other airline thereby increasing QF's profit margin. The best thing to do would be to check whether points are earned or not before making any booking that does not have a QF or JQ flight number on any carrier as it is your responsibilty to do so according to the T&Cs. QF cover themselves nicely. Would probably be a good idea to get it in writing too.

 

[oz_mark]

I just wonder if one of AJ's enhancements is to charge you an ASA fare and then book you into a cheaper fare bucket not eligible for points or status credits on other airline thereby increasing QF's profit margin. The best thing to do would be to check whether points are earned or not before making any booking that does not have a QF or JQ flight number on any carrier as it is your responsibilty to do so according to the T&Cs. QF cover themselves nicely. Would probably be a good idea to get it in writing too.

As it stands ASA's are priced at the lowest fare buckets available. I doubt that Qantas can magically create lower fare buckets for other airlines during the booking process.

The thing to bear in mind with ASA's is that they are essentially buying tickets at a commercial rate by assigning dollar values to a) award tickets and b) QFF points. While it may not always be the case, if an ASA is pricing out somewhere near a classic award rate, then there is a good chance it is an award bucket being used.