You are going to do the flights anyway so how has Qantas lost any money? Deferring the flights a month does not cost Qantas anything. The only one that has lost as far as I can see is you. You will have a bunch of flights (1400 SC worth) where your lounge access is reduced to a lesser lounge and you will not get looked after as well.
How are you the winner in this :?:
I have been flying a VERY LONG TIME.
Have never been looked after better because I was a WP.
Ok sure the FLounge is fantastic but on this RWJ trip would only get to use it once and that will require to fly out via Syd or Mel.
As for the travel in the states, it will be F but as you probably know even if AA do have a F lounge, it is nothing to write home about.
By the time I get to the EU, will be back as WP or will use my new FB Gold Card if the SCs have not yet caught up.
Ok here are the maths:
Need 750 SC to retain WP then 1,200 to retain next year, so I need to pay for 1,950 SCs in total.
Or
I drop to Gold and pay for 1,400 SCs to regain WP for my next 2 QF years.
So QF lost the flight fares to earn 550 SCs, if I do it all in May.
Don't think one potential visit to the FLounge is worth the cost of earning an additional 550 SCs.