Help with a new FFP (+ how would you get from HND to MEL in J?)

[yachty]

Hi all,
I’m hoping to leverage the wise souls of AFFP with what I should do next.

I’m based in Tokyo but an average month will have one Japan-Australia trip and one inter-Asia trip plus the occasional domestic leg. From 2H2024 probably also a bunch of US flying. I fly almost entirely in J for international and Y for domestic.

I’m currently crediting to QFFP where I’m Plat. I’m not really interested in flying QF anymore, plus the burden associated with maintaining this from overseas.

The reason I’ve decided to think outside the box now is, from next year, I’ll primarily be travelling to MEL on my AU trips (instead of SYD). The most obvious options are of course QF and JLs NRT-MELs. I would prefer to avoid NRT entirely, but if it was a consideration then neither are good options - the former for previously-mentioned reasons, and JL for very poor frequency and product (I believe they’re still using the regional recliners to MEL?).

So from HND, what have I got? I would prefer to arrive in MEL early in the morning for the workday to minimise my time away, which rules out a SYD connection. I like CX and on face value this looks to be the best option but it does need almost a full day of travel. I’m also interested in leaving the oneworld fold and trying SQ (as I use UA for my US flying) but I can’t make any sense of their FFP.

Now that all that’s in the way, help! Am I missing anything? If you were in my shoes, what would you do?

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

From HND, SQ to SIN, then transit and then SIN - MEL.
If you want to join VFF, thats up to you, or you can amass your points in SQ KF, and then transfer them to VFF at a 35% loss, so to speak.
As you are not Aust based, as yet, I do realize you are either an Aust citizen or Aust PR, and plan to come back to live in Aust one day, but till you do, its best to collect SQ KF miles, flying J regularly, its easy to keep up PPS.
For VAi, you could come via the long way around, HND - CNS - MEL, and thats your eligible sector done, if you fly twice return in a year.
If you don't want to transit CNS, then SQ is the best way, with their wide bodied planes, you can have a bit more space in their J, and get loungge access, and also able to carry a bit more things, either to Aust or back when you go back to Japan for work.
===
Also, SQ and UA are in a full partnership in *A, so you will also gain that way, better than the "bespoke" agreement with VA and UA.
---
As with QF, as long as you have activity, your points will not expire.
You can put your VFF # into the SQ booking flying HND - SIN - MEL too, if you want, but I don't think it counts as an eligible sector.
KF miles do have a life of 3 years, AirNZ points have a life of 4 years.
I know you don't want to use NRT, but there is one tip, NRT - AKL - MEL is a fast one that bypasses SIN.
You can collect points in either KF or Airpoint$ flying AirNZ.
But the new VA agreement, between AirNZ and VAi does not include flights from anywhere except between NZ and Aust.
KF miles can be moved to VFF, but not Airpoint$.

 

[SYD]

United MP used to be a good program but has turned to cough. SQ is good - the main pitfall is the mandatory expiry of unused points after 3yrs. But if you can earn and burn regularly, then less of an issue.

Of course, VFF *might* be a sweet spot that it partners with both SQ and UA. Not to mention ANA. Although the recognition across partners is very hit ‘n miss compared to a true Alliance member airline.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Going back to PPS, if you can keep up your PPS value, you will get SQ PPS elite gold, and with that, will have lounge access with UA in HND/(dred) NRT if UA uses NRT.
In the first year, maybe not so much benefits, but after your monthly SQ J trips, maybe after 6 months, you will see benefits, PPS sliver first of course.
===
HND - MEL in J lite, is 6339 one way.
Return is 12678, say, in 3 months.
In a year, if you make 2 return trips, 25356, which is already PPS elite silver.
4 return trips, is 50712 PPS elite miles, ie, PPS elite Gold.

 

[elanshin]

For flying to MEL, would daytime NH via SYD be an option? You could potentially make it to MEL in 1 day arriving late at night. On SQ I just find that you're adding significant travel time going via SIN (flight time of 15hr not including layover). CX is ok for the amount of time it takes, although they have a lot more flights to and from NRT than HND from memory.

Being in Star A wouldn't be a terrible idea based in Japan with NH's The Room to US being a good option. That being said JL is about to launch their A350-1000 to JFK and that looks pretty amazing too.

 

[yachty]

For VAi, you could come via the long way around, HND - CNS - MEL, and thats your eligible sector done, if you fly twice return in a year.
If you don't want to transit CNS, then SQ is the best way, with their wide bodied planes, you can have a bit more space in their J, and get loungge access, and also able to carry a bit more things, either to Aust or back when you go back to Japan for work.

VA is a non-starter for me out of HND... I'd like to use the time to sleep as much as possible so a proper J seat is a must. No lounge in CNS for the transit is a bit silly too. NRT-AKL-MEL is one I hadn't considered, not ideal with NRT but I'll have to check the schedule and total travel time.

United MP used to be a good program but has turned to cough. SQ is good - the main pitfall is the mandatory expiry of unused points after 3yrs. But if you can earn and burn regularly, then less of an issue.

Of course, VFF *might* be a sweet spot that it partners with both SQ and UA. Not to mention ANA. Although the recognition across partners is very hit ‘n miss compared to a true Alliance member airline.

Definitely, I'm crediting to UA for when I go to the US already and had a look at moving over full-time and didn't see the point. I try and burn points and keep my balance to a minimum so I think with SQ that wouldn't be an issue.

Agree with the VFF recognition, that's what keeps me away - I'd rather something with a full alliance membership and the predictability that entails.

Going back to PPS, if you can keep up your PPS value, you will get SQ PPS elite gold, and with that, will have lounge access with UA in HND/(dred) NRT if UA uses NRT.
In the first year, maybe not so much benefits, but after your monthly SQ J trips, maybe after 6 months, you will see benefits, PPS sliver first of course.
===
HND - MEL in J lite, is 6339 one way.
Return is 12678, say, in 3 months.
In a year, if you make 2 return trips, 25356, which is already PPS elite silver.
4 return trips, is 50712 PPS elite miles, ie, PPS elite Gold.

Thank you for this, when I was looking at the status calculator I couldn't quite work out how much flying it would actually take to get status with PPS... so four J flights basically to get to Gold...?

For flying to MEL, would daytime NH via SYD be an option? You could potentially make it to MEL in 1 day arriving late at night. On SQ I just find that you're adding significant travel time going via SIN (flight time of 15hr not including layover). CX is ok for the amount of time it takes, although they have a lot more flights to and from NRT than HND from memory.

Being in Star A wouldn't be a terrible idea based in Japan with NH's The Room to US being a good option. That being said JL is about to launch their A350-1000 to JFK and that looks pretty amazing too.

I did think about this - I prefer the day flight back to Australia and when I've been travelling to SYD the daytime NH is what I take. I'd just be worried about missing the connection and getting stuck in SYD overnight... agree with SQ travel time, that's the only thing that gives me pause there (I previously felt even CX was a bit of a dogleg when I tried them out on HND-HKG-SYD) but the product is good so I can probably look past it a bit since the schedule seems to work nicely for a HND-SIN-MEL.

Thank you all for the comments much appreciated.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

4 return J routings, HND - SIN - MEL
Depends too on what class of J you do get booked into
SQ have 3 sets of J, you can play around, so to speak with the calculator, it does not need log in.
As SQ and NH are in *A, as well as AirNZ, you can put in your KF # into any of these, you could also put in your VFF # into the SQ booking, but if lounge access is important, then putting in your SQ KF# into it, will see you get J fast, in a year.
Lots to think about, and yes, not cheap.
HND/HND with SQ will have premY, but not SIN - MEL on some, ie, not on the A350, which might be the shorter transit flight.
Their A380, will have premY.
I do realize premY is not your first go to, but its another consideration, if J is full on the flight you want, and F is too $$$.

 

[SYD]

If you find yourself flying domestically in Oz on VA, SG or UA A*G ought to provide lounge access and maybe some other benefits that you’d be otherwise used to flying QF.

There was a recent article and thread on VFF benefits flying on partners:

Article: Complete Guide to Velocity Status Benefits on Partner Airlines

Complete Guide to Velocity Status Benefits on Partner Airlines is an article written by the AFF editorial team: https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/velocity-status-benefits-partner-airlines/ You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

But I’m not aware of an equivalent summary of what VA partner benefits are flying VA are? Unless @AFF Editor can point us in the right direction?

 

[rbjhan]

JL is back to the nice seats on their MEL flights - according to a friend who just got back, she even got windows seats both legs!

 

[elanshin]

I did think about this - I prefer the day flight back to Australia and when I've been travelling to SYD the daytime NH is what I take. I'd just be worried about missing the connection and getting stuck in SYD overnight... agree with SQ travel time, that's the only thing that gives me pause there (I previously felt even CX was a bit of a dogleg when I tried them out on HND-HKG-SYD) but the product is good so I can probably look past it a bit since the schedule seems to work nicely for a HND-SIN-MEL.

I think if you look at SQ5907 (1055-1740) connecting into SQ247 (1920 -0530) or SQ227 (2150-0815) it wouldn't be too bad. NH via SYD may potentially miss the last flight, but you would be overnighting at SYD after clearing into the country before flying to MEL in the morning. I would say this would be similar in terms of when you depart and when you potentially arrive in MEL.

If you take both QF and JL out then the above are probably your next best options. JL overnight to SYD connecting on QF to MEL would also be an option if you want to consider that. Would get you into MEL around 9-10am.

CX's options are mainly from NRT. The HND one doesn't connect well. There's decent choice if you use CX from NRT.

You could also potentially consider TG via BKK.

I think one other thing to pay attention to is that OWE does have many First class benefits that don't exist with Star A or Skyteam. I would also probably not use the US carriers as your main FF given they often have worse benefits than their equivalent status partners. If you go the Star A route, try to ask for a status match with SQ. If you book with them, show your history they might match you to gold.