How wealthy do you need to be to buy your own J or F ticket?

[ozmille]

Next month should be a promo.

Nothing so far, I also seem to have lost the option to buy miles, only allows to transfer miles to friends

 

[markis10]

Nothing so far, I also seem to have lost the option to buy miles, only allows to transfer miles to friends

They tend to intro the promos late in the first week every second month, will be surprised if there is nothing by Saturday.

 

[comehither]

You'd seriously have to not care about $ if you bought F/J using own funds rather than business funds. There are so many ways to buy miles to generate 'cheap' F or J fares its great!

 

[lovestotravel]

You'd seriously have to not care about $ if you bought F/J using own funds rather than business funds. There are so many ways to buy miles to generate 'cheap' F or J fares its great!

But most of the options I have seen are quite restrictive and don't allow travel on SQ or QF easily ?

 

[Bazzi]

But most of the options I have seen are quite restrictive and don't allow travel on SQ or QF easily ?

My partner and I are flying SYD SIN DXB & PAR AUH SIN in December in J for all sectors with both SQ and EY - all on points and for a total of $1655 in fees/taxes and of that we chose to pay a little more in $ and save a few points on one of the EY sectors. We amass all our points through credit cards with an average yearly spend of under $30k and have no cc debt. We have a mortgage and are both in a very low income bracket by today's standards. With a day or two flexibility, I have never had a problem getting SQ award flights in J. QF is harder and more costly - both in pts and $ - so we tend to use them for E+ sectors only. We do a trip like this approx every 15 mths. We travel in between - Asia or domestic in Y - but pay $ for that.

 

[Jo145]

Does it count as F if it's a $200 flight from San Fran to LA? My first flight at the pointy end (for a whole hour and a half) but figured by the time I bought Y and paid for bags it was as cheap to go F and bags are included!!

Have splurged points to fly J LA-Melb (again, a first) WAHOO!!

 

[agedpom]

As NONPOP says;as you get older the joints dont tale kindly to eco seats.
So, as retirees my wife and I decided that we would no longer travel on long distance flights UNLESS we could travel Business .
If you look around long enough, or have a good TA, you can always find a discounted fare somewhere. Maybe that it not the case for some of the out of way destinations, but it certainly is for Europe.

 

[rtts]

Can't think of good reason to waste money and subsidize airlines with anything but Y . . . I have been doing this for 50 years and still doing it in my 70s. No big deal. I'm in good health, not putting on the weight and - this will give me away - don't mind airline food. Saved a fortune or 2 as we have a blended Aus-US and now European family. Especially meaningful once retired and no more business trips. very dollar saved goes towards the next flight.

Of course, I'll take freebie upgrade when it comes my way, but not that much of a big deal for me. Most Y flights are fine and the ones that are not are taken philosophically. Further - and this also will give me away - I favor United as it usually has best mileage earned and least excluded classes, lowest bogies for rewards and best reward availability. Next up is Swiss Air (Star Alliance) round-the-world for 6 months. "Less is more" - get in shape, stay in shape, eat less, . . .and laugh

 

[perthdaddy]

I am still working part time and have been spoilt with J travel domestically and international since 2000 by my boss (me!). That has got me to QF WP and all the free food and drink over 13 years has made me almost too big to fit into a Y seat!
So I have to pay for J today and hope I can get an upgrade to F (Got double crossed last Month by booking on QF 108 from JFK to SYD - no first class!)
I now travel (privately) four times a year internationally and at always a minimum of J.
With the Emirates deal, and MH & Qatar joining One World, there are some great J and F fares available. In August I am doing PER/KL/Instanbul in J with MH, then Instanbul/Paris in J with Air Frannce =, then Paris/KL in F with MH then onto PER in J. All for $7,987 each. And will still accrue status and points for all but the Air France leg.
So my three rules are comfort, comfort, comfort!

 

[trevor hislop]

As an older working couple, we have no debts and a high disposable income but still prefer to spend our private travel $ on 1-2 weeks extra in country rather than sitting in a plane - as much as we appreciate the comfort when we do score an upgrade. On hauls of over 4 hours we have been buying exit row seats and I think these are under rated for value - partly the leg space and overall sense of space, but you can also bring all your stuff out of the overhead and have it with you, which somehow makes a bigger psych difference than you would think (also stops other passengers crowding in your space or using your exit row for transit!). Air Asia in particular had a very cheap, very comfortable exit row seat buying option to Europe (no longer unfortunately) but even a Qantas $320 premium to US is worth it in our opinion - but note there is a big catch with Q - if you change your itinerary they won't refund the exit seat fee. The real tragedy is those people who spend many thousands extra and then still have intolerable fellow passengers - happened to a friend who wished he had gone economy.

 

[kempvet]

The only J and F seats which I shelled out for have been with AA. I plan to do 8 long haul (perhaps 12 with bonus promotions) with AA USA to Europe or Asia in J free upgraded from a Y fare. The other J flights on QF, AY or BA have been with QF or AA miles.
However these days I seem to be doing more donkey work in Y with the J upgrades or mile redemptions going to SWMBO and the young apprentice SWMBO, it is not too bad as they spend a lot of time in Europe and AA redemption in J for two is only 40K AA miles within Europe and 60K AA miles Europe to Middle East.
I have just done SYD-DXB-SYD in J Emirates to DXB and QF back on points so I guess that the free J upgrades on AA metal do free up more points for J upgrades on non AA metal.
I am not super rich, but I am self employed with debts paid off, and can travel when I want, so can fare pick a lot, and this does make a great difference, I would hate to only have 4 weeks holiday a year and have to go when everyone else also wants to go.

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

Just as a matter of curiosity... how many FF points does one need for J or F to fly from SYD to LAX.. just asking cause I'm saving....

 

[cove]

On Classic with QF it is 96k each way for business and 144k each way in First.

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

methinks I have just the ordinary Bronze status... so do not know about Classic ????.... I know that it's 96K return on the ordinary FF points.... Thanks for your reply... I still have a little way to go yet.. on 107K at present.

 

[realestate]

Generally my wife and I can only travel overseas if we book in J on overnight flights as we find at our senior age, we can only get some worthwhile sleep if we can lay flat. Sitting up all night in Y is well past us.
Daytime flights are fine in Y as we are not tall and get by quite OK.
For instance, we are already booked overnight on BA (luckily using points) in J next January from Zurich to Hong Kong. We will spend the night at the airport hotel and pay for a day flight home in Y (or Y+ as Cathay charges only an extra $200 for Y+)

 

[11sjw]

methinks I have just the ordinary Bronze status... so do not know about Classic ????.... I know that it's 96K return on the ordinary FF points.... Thanks for your reply... I still have a little way to go yet.. on 107K at present.

Your status might impact on the number of seats available for you to book but the points requirement is the same for all when talking Classic (as opposed to Any Seat) awards.

The QF website (or various threads in here) will illustrate the difference between Classic and Any Seat Awards.

 

[Buzzard]

I have never purchased a J ticket and never flown F. My long haul J, even the odd short J, have always been via requested upgrade.
Nearly 100% success rate, only missed out once!

But as retirement is hopefully not that far away and Mrs Buzzard & I are looking into the future, one discussion has been how much will we spend on the next house? An idea discussed is that if we spend $200k less than what we sell for, this alone would allow at todays rate of around $10k to buy one J each for the next 10 years!!! Mrs Buzzard is very interested thinking she might even become a POPP (poor old platinum pensioner). Does this mean we are wealthy? No, just downgrading our home and spending what we have worked our whole lives for.

 

[Scout]

I find that long distance flying is long and boring, and whether in economy or business I sleep no better. I have only flown business I think 3 times when upgraded unexpectedly. It was nice, especially one time when a more senior colleague flying was not upgraded!

 

[sighing]

This is an enjoyable thread. I became keen on flying J after we did J RTW in 2010. I booked for me, the missus and son using a Lufthansa fare - approx. $6,500 per ticket. For the excellent level of comfort (including QF A380 from SYD to LAX), the extra baggage we were entitled to, the many lounges we passed through, and the miles we accumulated, I believe it was great value for the money. Ultimately, the experience made future trips very hard to do in Y!

Pretty soon after that excursion, I discovered this website and the FT website and my eyes really opened wide. I realised that the possibility of flying in Y+ or J was far more accessible than I had previously thought.

We now have an unwritten rule that 4 hour flights or more, we seek an alternative cabin - J or Y+ depending on airline, destination, and cost. Plus, me and missus are both late 40's (son is nearly 12) and figure that since we love travelling as much as the destination we travel to, why not include the cost of the premium class cabin into the holiday. FWIW, we have a combined income of approaching 200K, and live a pretty modest existence in-between our twice-yearly trips abroad.

 

[Nizar]

This is an enjoyable thread. I became keen on flying J after we did J RTW in 2010. I booked for me, the missus and son using a Lufthansa fare - approx. $6,500 per ticket. For the excellent level of comfort (including QF A380 from SYD to LAX), the extra baggage we were entitled to, the many lounges we passed through, and the miles we accumulated, I believe it was great value for the money. Ultimately, the experience made future trips very hard to do in Y!

Didn't know you could accumulate miles on RTW fares with OW ?