Earning on non-direct segments

[slewd]

Hi,
Until now all of my earning has been done on direct sectors - Mel-Syd, Mel-Lon, Mel- Sin etc. etc. Now I'm doing a bit of indirect flying and earning: Mel-Canb via Syd. So because I'm fairly new to this I am wondering whether I will earn points for Mel-Canb (as that is how the flights were booked - the most convienient times just happen to have me going via Syd) or Mel-Syd-Canb??
I've had a quick look around the QF website and can't find anything conclusive and apologies if this is answered on another thread somewhere...

Cheers, L

 

[ejb]

You will earn points for the flights you take, so MEL-SYD then SYD-CBR.

Every different flight number will earn SC's.

ejb

 

[ajw373]

Hi,
Until now all of my earning has been done on direct sectors - Mel-Syd, Mel-Lon, Mel- Sin etc. etc. Now I'm doing a bit of indirect flying and earning: Mel-Canb via Syd. So because I'm fairly new to this I am wondering whether I will earn points for Mel-Canb (as that is how the flights were booked - the most convienient times just happen to have me going via Syd) or Mel-Syd-Canb??
I've had a quick look around the QF website and can't find anything conclusive and apologies if this is answered on another thread somewhere...

Cheers, L

It is in para 9.3.3 of the terms and conditions.

"9.3.3 Points may be earned for each Flight Segment travelled on Eligible Flights by a Member. The number of Points earned is calculated using the shortest distance on the surface of the globe between the origin and destination of the Flight Segment, regardless of any intermediate stops."

So in your case flying MEL-SYD-CBR is considered two separate flight segments.

 

[NM]

You just need to ensure your ticket shows two separate sectors with their own fight numbers. For MEL-SYD-CBR, that is always going to be the case. But for MEL-LHR via SIN it could be booked as QF9 all the way as MEL-LHR and hence earn as one segment, or could be booked as QF9 MEL-SIN and QF31 SIN-LHR (or the BA codeshare of QF9 would also work) will earn as MEL-SIN and SIN-LHR.

So it all depends on how whether the ticket is issued as multiple sectors or as a single sector. For it to be issued as a single sector, it must be the same flight number all the way.

 

[equus]

But for MEL-LHR via SIN it could be booked as QF9 all the way as MEL-LHR and hence earn as one segment, or could be booked as QF9 MEL-SIN and QF31 SIN-LHR

So it all depends on how whether the ticket is issued as multiple sectors or as a single sector. For it to be issued as a single sector, it must be the same flight number all the way.

Completely agree - it all goes to the sectors ticketed. To add to the mix, you can actually get QF9 MEL-SIN and QF9 SIN-LHR ticketed as two separate segments, and then will earn accordingly. Whether this is viable will depend on any fare penalties for doing so, but I have had this done (not those flights, as it involved BNE-FRA via SIN in J), on a group booking where there was no fare difference - but an increase in SC earning. This was before the change in the T&C to reflect segments (the old T&C referred to flight nos), and everything came through as the two flights. You have to get someone to deliberately arrange this, as the default will be to ticket a single segment. Also gets some strange looks from check in agents.

There is another side consideration to this if considering entering the QF upgrade lottery. Upgrades are processed by ticketed segment, so breaking down may allow one segment to upgrade even if there is no availability on the other, whereas there will need to be availability all the way through if it is ticketed as a single segment. The downside, though is the same as the upside on the SC earning - as the upgrade "cost" may be more for the two segments (assuming you want both), than if done as a single segment. This tactic can be especially important if flying (say from BNE) on a 2 class plane, connecting in (say SIN) to a 3 or 4 class where the flight number stays the same (are these still around, I know there used to be some?), and trying to get an upgrade out of SIN, when there is none available (assuming ticketed in J) out of BNE. Ticketed as one segment, there is no way to achieve this, as there is no availability to upgrade the first sector, so the whole segment (if done as one through booking) will never be upgraded.

 

[ajw373]

There is another side consideration to this if considering entering the QF upgrade lottery. Upgrades are processed by ticketed segment, so breaking down may allow one segment to upgrade even if there is no availability on the other, whereas there will need to be availability all the way through if it is ticketed as a single segment.

That is not true at all. My wife and I have been upgraded on just one leg of a LHR-SYD via SIN flight (up to Y+ on the LHR-SIN sector and back to Y for the 2nd sector) and also one leg of a SYD-LHR flight via BKK (from Y to J BKK-LHR). In both cases these flights were booked as a single end to end flight. The upgrades were allocted at check-in. On my FF statement though the individual flight segments were shown and the points were allocated as if I had broken my journey.

 

[MrHyde]

Back on the MEL-CBR topic, even though you are flying MEL-SYD-CBR, you may not get much more SCs. I am currently flying MEL-CBR-MEL weekly and actually go MEL-SYD-CBR-MEL due to the better time slots. Cost wise, the fares come out to be the same (~$600-$700). The MEL-SYD-CBR are usually Discount Economy (10 + 10 = 20 SCs plus 2000 pts) and the CBR-MEL is usually Economy (20 SCs plus 1000 pts).

If I fly MEL-SYD-CBR in Economy, the price increases by around $200 and that will take me over the expenses limit on the engagement. So, since the SCs are the same, I would really prefer better time slots for the MEL-CBR flight as it would get me the same SCs, but take a lot less time. I don't really care about the extra 1000 pts... I have no current need for them.

I have looked at flying MEL-ADL-SYD-CBR and the price comes out to about the same in Discount Economy. That will give me extra SCs, but it would take nearly 5-6 hours and I can't be bothered doing that - almost whole Sunday disappears in that routing.

If you are flying J, then none of the above applies in your case.

 

[medhead]

Comparing earning in different fare classes isn't exactly valid when discussing flying non direct routes and hownit earns extra SC.

Sure you can't afford to fly mel-syd-cbr in a full economy earning class but the fact remains that that wilm earn double what the direct flight earns. Same with a discount economy fare, which is the point; often for only a little bit more cash double SC can be obtained compared with flying direct.