Is there Lifetime Platinum on QF?

[rhjames]

AA miles will get you to all the same places as QF points, but in nearly all cases for a lot less points/miles, especially in business or first class.

Great info. Do you happen to know if you earn miles at the same rate as points. For example, if I fly to LAX on AA and Qantas, will the points on QF be similar to the miles on AA? If the miles accumulation is lower with AA, could this offset the lower miles redemption of AA?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Depends on your pattern (who you fly, what class of travel, etc). Can be higher or lower.

The net earn/burn rate on AA is generally much better than on QF.

 

[NM]

Great info. Do you happen to know if you earn miles at the same rate as points. For example, if I fly to LAX on AA and Qantas, will the points on QF be similar to the miles on AA? If the miles accumulation is lower with AA, could this offset the lower miles redemption of AA?

Generally, if you fly enough the AA miles accumulation is the same or better than QF. Once you complete the AA Platinum Challenge (and that is one SYD-LAX flight with a fare of B, Y, D, J, A or F) you earn 100% status bonus miles, the same as QF Platinum and better than QF's 50% bonus for Gold FF members (both QF Gold and AA Platinum are the equivalent OneWorld Sapphire status level). Oh yes, and they give you the 100% bonus on the challenge qualifying flight too!

However, there is a difference in that QF only pays the status bonus when you fly with QF, AA or BA, while AA pay their status bonus for all OneWorld carriers. So if you fly with CX, AY, IB, LA you get the 100% bonus with AA and not with QF.

If flying in economy, it varies depending on the fare purchased.

No AA miles are earned on BA flights between UK and USA - but they are earned on all other BA flights including to/from Canada, Mexico etc.

My last DONE4 trip would have earned 80,300 QF FF points if posted to QF. But instead it earned 92,472 AA miles for me since it included a few CX flights which AA pay 100% status bonus and QF would not have paid their status bonus.

Also note that AA is generous with paying miles for compensation for flight or service problems. They gave me 6000 miles for a flight delay and I didn't even complain. I just received an email apologising for the inconvenience and telling me they had given me 6000 miles.

 

[rhjames]

Thanks everyone for the info re Qantas compared to AA benefits. It looks like AA wins all ways. I'm lifetime Gold and already retained Platinum with Qantas for next year, so it makes sense for me to join AA and fly them for the rest of the year. Hang on, with the bonus points for being platinum, wouldn't this offset the benefits of starting at the lowest level with AA? Probably not if I can get to Pt with just one Sydney/LAX flight. AA still looks good!!!

 

[NM]

Thanks everyone for the info re Qantas compared to AA benefits. It looks like AA wins all ways. I'm lifetime Gold and already retained Platinum with Qantas for next year, so it makes sense for me to join AA and fly them for the rest of the year. Hang on, with the bonus points for being platinum, wouldn't this offset the benefits of starting at the lowest level with AA? Probably not if I can get to Pt with just one Sydney/LAX flight. AA still looks good!!!

Time the start of your platinum challenge well and you earn the bonus from the beginning. I use a MEL-LHR flight for my Platinum Challenge. Got to Plat status in the one flight and earned 26,450 miles for the flight (10,580 base miles, 10,580 Platinum Bonus, and 5,290 cabin bonus since AA paid me for F cabin even though I used QF FF points to upgrade from business to first class - the best of both worlds).

Also note that for each 10,000 base miles earned, you get 4 x 500 miles upgrade e-certifications for use on AA domestic flights. These can be converted to 2000 AA miles if you don't fly AA domestic economy class. So my DONE4 could have had an extra 6,000 AA miles if I convert my upgrade certs to miles. This compares with QF's loyalty bonus that is paid for each 450 SCs earned.

And if you do the Plat Challenge starting after 16th July, your status is good until the end of Feb 2008. But one DONE4 type fare can be enough to re-qualify AA Platinum (50,000 Elite Qualifying Points) anyway. Two DONE4s and you are Exec Platinum and that gives you 8 e-VIP upgrades.