Choosing a FF program for lots of travel to Hong Kong

[dwatto]

I’m scheduled to travel to Hong Kong 12 times in the next 6 mths (ex Brisbane) for work. I have the choice of flying either Qantas, Singapore Air, Virgin Atlantic or Cathay Pacific etc... I’m planning on using the same carrier for all flights.
Can anyone recommend which FF program to join? What would you do in this situation?
Which program would enable me to qualify for lounge access... after some time.
At this stage I’m thinking either Qantas or Singapore Air. But open to any suggestions...

 

[Flashback]

I’m scheduled to travel to Hong Kong 12 times in the next 6 mths (ex Brisbane) for work. I have the choice of flying either Qantas, Singapore Air, Virgin Atlantic or Cathay Pacific etc... I’m planning on using the same carrier for all flights.
Can anyone recommend which FF program to join? What would you do in this situation?
Which program would enable me to qualify for lounge access... after some time.
At this stage I’m thinking either Qantas or Singapore Air. But open to any suggestions...

What class of travel will you be in, economy or business?

 

[dwatto]

Economy or Premium Economy. Not Business unfortunately.

 

[Flashback]

Do you currently have a credit card which can transfer points to Qantas? If so, you can get a free QFF membership if you're able to transfer points over before March 31. Refer to http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...y-qantas-frequent-flyer-membership-16911.html

Now, on a BNE-HKG-BNE trip with QFF you would earn:
Discount Economy (all classes except Y, e.g. S, V, B, H, K): 60 SC, 8,608 points. (x12 would be 720 SC, enough to net you Gold which allows complimentary lounge access; 103,296 base points, which would also be increased as you hit the Silver and Gold level. In total this would net you enough points for a Qantas ATW fare w/ 5 stopovers)
Economy (Y only): 120 SC, 8,608 points. This would net you 1,440 SC by the end which is enough to reach Platinum.
Premium Economy (T, W): Not available from BNE-HKG, you would need to go via SYD or MEL.

 

[futaris]

First of all welcome to AFF.

BNE = Brisbane Airport
HKG = Hong Kong Airport

I'll assume that you want to fly direct. BNE-HKG direct is operated by:

Cathay 6x weekly - Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
Qantas 4x weekly - Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun

Premium Economy isn't available on the direct flight.

You can see flight availability on SeatCounter - The Booking Class Availability Machine

To figure out what fare class a fare is in, go to www.americanexpress.com.au/travel and look at the various prices. Generally the more expensive a fare is, the more flexible it is, and the quicker you'll earn status and frequent flyer points.

QF = Qantas
CX = Cathay Pacific

If you are flying on B or Y fares (on QF or CX), register with AAdvantage. You'll get extra Elite Qualifying Points (EQP), and get status quicker. B fares are much better on AAdvantage, than on QFF.
If you are flying H (on QF or CX) or K (on QF), AAdvantage is still good.
If you are flying anything lower, stick to Qantas Frequent Flyer or Asia Miles.

If you fly B or Y fares, then you'll earn ~13000 EQP per flight. 4 flights will get you 50k EQP and AA Platinum (Oneworld Sapphire), which is almost the same as QANTAS Gold. 8 return flights will get you 100k EQP and AA EXP (Oneworld Emerald), which is almost the same as QANTAS Platinum.

If you're on one of the lower 1.0 EQP/mile fares (H or K) then it'll take you 6 return flights for AA Plat, or 12 for AA EXP.

See these links for Earning on AAdvantage on:
QANTAS
Cathay Pacific

And these links for Earning on Asia Miles on:
Cathay Pacific
QANTAS

One caveat with Qantas Frequent Flyer, is the poor earning rate on Cathay Pacific flights. See this section of the T&Cs. If you fly Cathay Pacific, and want to earn 100% of what'd you earn on QANTAS, you have to buy Y fares, which are horribly expensive and often close to the price of a business class seat.

Status is done differently on Cathay Pacific, in the Marco Polo Club. I don't think that anyone here recommends crediting to CX because of this reason and the high qualification requirements.

Having Oneworld Sapphire will get you in the lounges in BNE and HKG. Emerald will get you in the First Class (F) lounges (in HKG, SYD, etc). Cathay Pacific treats all Oneworld status members well.

So in summary, pick AAdvantage if you buy the more expensive flexible fares on both CX or QF, or just on QF. If you buy the cheaper less flexible fares on QF and are happy to stick to flying QF, pick Qantas Frequent Flyer.

Will you be earning miles solely through flying, or also through credit cards?

I will also quickly mention Lifetime Status.

Getting 1 Million Reedeemable Miles in AAdvantage will get you Lifetime Oneworld Ruby. You need 7000 Status Credits in Qantas Frequent Flyer for Lifetime OW Ruby.
Getting 2 Million Reedeemable Miles in AAdvantage will get you Lifetime Oneworld Sapphire. You need 14000 Status Credits in Qantas Frequent Flyer for Lifetime OW Sapphire.

And then there is also the issue of burn rates, i.e. what your earned points will get you. Most people here feel that an AA mile is worth more than a QF mile, due to AAdvantage's better burn rates.

If you're flying in economy, it is probably easier to get lifetime status in AAdvantage. If you're flying in Business, it is easier to get lifetime status in QFF.

 

[NM]

Status is done differently on Cathay Pacific, in the Marco Polo Club. I don't think that anyone here recommends crediting to CX because of this reason and the high qualification requirements.

CX are very good at looking after their MP club members. So if flying with CX, there may be a higher chance of free upgrades.

 

[futaris]

I didn't mention upgrades in my post, but if you want to upgrade a Cathay Pacific flight, you'll need to use Asia Miles (points).

Likewise you'll need QANTAS frequent flyer points if you want to upgrade a QANTAS flight.

Also as NM mentioned, the likelihood that you'll get an op-up (free upgrade) is higher if you have status on the airline that you're flying with.

In the event of irrops (irregular operations, e.g. mechanical problem, delay, etc), having status on the airline that you're flying with is more helpful. The airline is more likely to help their own members out before they help out high status members in their alliance.

 

[ANstar]

Virgin Atlantic have a nice premium economy product that is usually priced below QF.

You would earn 6 Tier points per return PE flight an 11488 miles as a basic red member.

Red to silver is 10 tier points, silver to gold is 30 tier points.

Burning miles is also cheaper than QF.

IE SYD-HKG with Virgin Atlantic is 45k whilst Qantas is 60k in ecoomy, Virgin is 80k in business whilst QF is 120k.

 

[Keith009]

Don't forget that with Krisflyer or flyingclub, you can earn/burn on both Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic with either program. Krisflyer has a lot more partners than Virgin as Singapore is a member of Star Alliance.

If it's just Star Alliance status you want, you might also want to consider AC Aeroplan (35 000 miles for *G) or Asiana (40 000 miles over 2 yrs for *G) for flights on Singapore; Virgin Atlantic isn't a partner of either program however.

Cathay's Marco Polo Club also has one of the highest thresholds to gain status on. Having said that there have been numerous reports on SQTalk of CX upgrading MPO status unilaterally. As abovementioned, CX also does treat its elites extremely well.

As for flying Qantas, the Qantas Frequent Flyer vs AAdvantage debate has been had extensively on this board. I think the general consensus is that QFF can be attractive if you have a CC program to transfer points from. AAdvantage is otherwise generally superior for earn/burn.

It is also generally only possible to upgrade on any airline using its own frequent flyer program.

Of all of these, the only airlines with Premium Economy service are Qantas and Virgin Atlantic.

 

[futaris]

Note that if you want to earn redeemable miles on Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, you can join either:

KrisFlyer - no EQM on Virgin Atlantic - redeemable miles (RDM) only
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - includes Tier Points on Singapore Airlines (i.e. status)

If you have Krisflyer Gold, you won't have access to the Star Gold Lounges if you're flying Virgin Atlantic. See here. You might be able to get into a Singapore KrisLounge.