More Value Status Runs

[JohnK]

For anyone contemplating a Status run there are some good value runs on sale until midnight Tuesday 21 March 2006 (AEDT) for travel from Friday 14 April until Monday 1 May 2006. The ones I have looked at have plenty of weekend availability.

BNE-BLT          $54.00    10SC's
BLT-EMD-BNE     $109.00    20SC's
Total           $163.00    30SC's    @ $5.43/SC

BNE-MEL-ADL     $181.00    25SC's
ADL-MEL-BNE     $179.00    25SC's
Total           $360.00    50SC's    @ $7.20/SC

Also for travel from Tuesday 2 May until Friday 30 June 2006. The ones I have looked at have plenty of weekend availability.

BNE-MEL-ADL     $152.00    25SC's
ADL-MEL-BNE     $149.00    25SC's
Total           $301.00    50SC's    @ $6.02/SC

CBR-MEL-ADL     $119.00    20SC's
ADL-MEL-CBR     $122.00    20SC's
Total           $241.00    40SC's    @ $6.02/SC

BNE-SYD-ADL     $165.00    25SC's
ADL-SYD-BNE     $163.00    25SC's
Total           $328.00    50SC's    @ $6.56/SC

BNE-SYD-CBR     $136.00    20SC's
CBR-SYD-BNE     $145.00    20SC's
Total           $281.00    40SC's    @ $7.02/SC

OR business class
CBR-MEL-ADL     $581.00    80SC's
ADL-MEL-CBR     $580.00    80SC's
Total          $1161.00   160SC's    @ $7.25/SC

SYD-MEL-ADL     $149.00    20SC's
ADL-MEL-SYD     $149.00    20SC's
Total           $298.00    40SC's    @ $7.45/SC

 

[aus_flyer]

Some really good SC deals there.

Also worth considering are BA's World Traveller Plus specials with full Y SC earn. Sure the SC cost is more, but at least you actually get a decent trip somewhere - rather than Blackwater!

 

[DPG]

Below are some other great Status runs if you end up with some spare time in the UK...

They are all Discount Business (I Class)...

LGW-PRG-LGW
635m     120 SC     £200     $478     @ $3.98/SC
LGW-BCN-LGW
689m     120 SC     £204     $488     @ $4.07/SC
LHR-CPH-LHR
608m     120 SC     £208     $497     @ $4.14/SC
LHR-ARN-LHR
908m     120 SC     £210     $502     @ $4.18/SC
LGW-NAP-LGW
988m     120 SC     £230     $550     @ $4.58/SC

I am sure that there are more, but the above is just a few examples!

So great value to be had with BA's Discount Business!

D P G from Stockholm on a $4.18/SC Run!

 

[dishwashhands]

In case anyone missed my Q the other day about SC runs, I've taken doherty's advice and am doing a run between Sydney & Canberra in business class earning 80 point for around $550, which was the best I could find for the minimum fuss too. Thanks again for the advice... I just need 5 more points before May 1st......

 

[JohnK]

Not many value status runs remain in Australia!

The SYD-CBR business class return was good at $550 for 80 SC's at just under $7/SC. The new return airfare is now $584 + c/c service fee at ~$7.4/SC.

Are there any other's at under $8/SC apart from specials?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Just goes to show how poor MR/SC runs are in this part of the world. I can get $3 per SC in the US and even DONEx departing from Oz/NZ can be around $5-6 per SC (and less than this if starting from cheaper origin).

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

There's still some marginal runs in NZ, especially for aussies with the NZ$ falling so much. My next QF flights are at NZ$8.68 (ie about A$7) per SC, and 60% of that is "tax".

 

[JohnK]

Just goes to show how poor MR/SC runs are in this part of the world. I can get $3 per SC in the US and even DONEx departing from Oz/NZ can be around $5-6 per SC (and less than this if starting from cheaper origin).

Yes they are very poor in Australia/NZ. Even Europe on BA there are short haul SC runs in Business at $3-4/SC. With the monopoly in Australia/NZ we suffer from lack of competition.

DONEx and AONEx can be good but for my purpose of a status run require too much time and money. It would be nice if one could hop on a plane on a Sunday morning, return Sunday evening spend $600 and receive 160 SC's.

 

[Mal]

There are still some good ones in Australia.

I havn't priced my personal favourite out recently, but when I did (circa 3 weeks ago) it was still roughly $6/Sc.

Still that one is fairly unique. Happy hunting!!

(Oh, and BNE-MEL-ADL is one of my favourite runs too when i need status. A decent day trip and at the right price when sales are on).

 

[v8Statesman]

(Oh, and BNE-MEL-ADL is one of my favourite runs too when i need status. A decent day trip and at the right price when sales are on).

This is how I am finishing off my DONE4 in August (will there is a -PER at the end) My only gripe and I will look at changing it later is they are all 73H's and I hate them! Gimmi a 332 anyday, or a 767 at a push.

Why o why did Qantas buy so god damn many of them!

 

[JohnK]

There are still some good ones in Australia.

Debatable on what you call good.

I havn't priced my personal favourite out recently, but when I did (circa 3 weeks ago) it was still roughly $6/Sc.

Still that one is fairly unique. Happy hunting!!

Ah yes, the elusive status run @ $6/SC. I have not been able to find this one in any of my research.

(Oh, and BNE-MEL-ADL is one of my favourite runs too when i need status. A decent day trip and at the right price when sales are on).

Yes this is good but even with specials could not be better than $8/SC.

 

[JohnK]

I have been looking at the BKK-SIN-BKK AY business class flights on the AY website and have noticed that the price has increased to 25,280 baht + taxes. Basically double what they were 3 months ago.

Anyone know what is going on here? Promotion has been discontinued? I have seen low prices advertised on some Thai travel agent websites but we do not trust these sites. Do we?

 

[Mal]

I have been looking at the BKK-SIN-BKK AY business class flights on the AY website and have noticed that the price has increased to 25,280 baht + taxes. Basically double what they were 3 months ago.

Anyone know what is going on here?

Could be a few things. The fights now appear to be 25820 (~$930) including taxes.

* Perceived higher demand for the flights (when there may be just a pseduo increased demand due to people using the flights just for S/C's) - This is the key reason to keep good SC runs quiet - although, it does go against the community spirit of sharing
* Fuel prices, airport charges et.al forcing AY to want more profit out of that sector.
* Competitors have been increasing their prices so AY thinks they can too.
* Promotion ending.
* Seasonal demand increasing.

Exact same thing has happened to the Lan Chile discount fares SYD-AKL. Good earning opportunites don't stay around forever. The task is to find the next one to use...

There are some reputable travel agencies in Thailand, Colombo and other Asian destinations. I don't trust the websites though - I find too many insecure forms, incorrect pricing and "aaah we'll just ignore your email" type companies for me to not trust the rest by (probably wrongful) inclusion. TA's do have access to local "industry" fares which are often cheaper.

 

[JohnK]

* Perceived higher demand for the flights (when there may be just a pseduo increased demand due to people using the flights just for S/C's) - This is the key reason to keep good SC runs quiet - although, it does go against the community spirit of sharing

I was banking on this deal to remain gold or even achieve platinum. Now I have to spend an arm and a leg to get there which is not easy on the budget. So much for community spirit and sharing! Too many people knew about this deal as it has been publicised in great detail on AFF and FT.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I think you're reading way too much into it. A handful of people on AFF or FT doing a status run won't cause the fare to change. When it becomes hundreds or thousands (eg ex-CAI RTWs) that may be a different matter.

Most likely it is some entirely unrelated reason. One of the *A runs I do from time to time has actually come down in price at the moment for low season.

 

[Mal]

I think you're reading way too much into it. A handful of people on AFF or FT doing a status run won't cause the fare to change. When it becomes hundreds or thousands (eg ex-CAI RTWs) that may be a different matter.

There are many people both on FT and here who knew about the AY special fares. It's been widely discussed. No-one can quantify how many people are flying each day in J (or D) on AY as a result of this special just for the SC's.

Add Lurkers, and this makes a sizeable population who know about this one.

Yes, the CAI F fares have been tamed, but is that any different to this? Or is it any different to the "Hilton get Gold free" promotion that was audited due to overuse.

I still see public dissemination of very cheap status runs as a bad idea. Online forums have way too much public exposure. Over at FT, the same issue is discussed quite often especially related to hotel pricing mistakes...

Note that I think there is a big difference between subtle clues and dissemination of the exact SCRun instructions. The smarter SCRunners will work it out eventually, vs anyone being able to use it.

I really don't care too much about the AY SCrun - too much setup in my case, but I think this serves as a small warning on giving out too many direct instructions.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

There are many people both on FT and here who knew about the AY special fares. It's been widely discussed. No-one can quantify how many people are flying each day in J (or D) on AY as a result of this special just for the SC's.

Add Lurkers, and this makes a sizeable population who know about this one.

Yes, the CAI F fares have been tamed, but is that any different to this? Or is it any different to the "Hilton get Gold free" promotion that was audited/ disappeared.

I still see public dissemination of very cheap status runs as a bad idea.

There's a huge difference between knowing about a cheap status run and actually doing it. There are hundreds of seats in business class each week on this flight - I'd be surprised if there are more than one or two AFFers/FTers and at the margins it wont make any difference.

 

[NM]

And it was all incremental revenue for AY. They are operating their aircraft on that route anyway, so why not fill the J cabin with some FF's looking for good status points? So long as it does not mean missing some other sales by actually filling the cabin!

And its only really of use to FF programs that rate status by segment type as with QF and BA. Its not nearly as good for mileage based programs like AA. And of course you first have to get to the Asian ports to make this one worthwhile, so that rules out most people in Europe and USA unless they happen to be on another trip.

I think it is more likely to be a seasonal change or just the usual realignment of fares that airlines undertake regularly.

 

[Dave Noble]

I was banking on this deal to remain gold or even achieve platinum. Now I have to spend an arm and a leg to get there which is not good for my health.

Le me tell you something about community spirit and sharing. Stuff it. Most people are in it for themselves and only ever help enough to get you a basic idea of what is required. If I find a deal like this again, and by the way this was never my find, I am going to keep my mouth shut and get the most out of it. I now have to consider spending some time with the paranoids and be treated like a criminal to try to get some decent deals. No thanks.

I'll remember that attitude next time I consider posting details of the good value AA YUP fares in the US

Looking at the fares on EF, it looks like AY does not currently offer any of their own fares and the fare you have looks like it could be the YY fare of 23,831 plus tax

Dave

 

[JohnK]

It is amazing what sort of interest can be generated when wording passionately a post out of sheer frustration. And yes the reasons behind the change could be many. Season changes, reallignment of fares, enough people doing the SIN or HKG turnaround arousing suspicion with FA's and airline. I am not an expert at finding special fares and I am not against sharing but saying too much leads to having nothing in then end. Giving small clues will still lead to some people benefitting from the clue.

I, like many others, have benefitted from advice given on this board tremendously, and hopefully I have given a little back, but for me this Scrun was bread and butter. The icing on the cake. Already travel to Thailand 2-3 times a year, so not really going out of the way for the AY runs, and what better way to increase status with a few short Scruns. CX have a super J deal BKK-SIN but there is only 1 flight a day and they leave BKK and SIN at around the same so not possible to do same day turnaround, so therefore need to factor in hotel accommodation and time taken into the deal.

I still see public dissemination of very cheap status runs as a bad idea. Online forums have way too much public exposure. Over at FT, the same issue is discussed quite often especially related to hotel pricing mistakes...

I think we have discussed it in too great a detail down to the point of even telling people how to book it, where to stay and even what taxi to take to the airport. And I am guilty here as well as I have posted many questions and details on this board.

I'll remember that attitude next time I consider posting details of the good value AA YUP fares in the US

Looking at the fares on EF, it looks like AY does not currently offer any of their own fares and the fare you have looks like it could be the YY fare of 23,831 plus tax

Dave your advice has been valuable enough but realistically the QUP/YUP fares are not going to go away soon enough and there are so many flavours available that posting one or two is not going to kill them. Yes QF and AA might eventually catch up with the booking code but that is another story. I am thinking of going to the US with a friend, once off trip, and wanted to a few Scruns while I was over there. I don't really want end up in LOTFAP or Europe as the only place available to do Scruns. It is just too far to go.

You have also helped out many people with the AA platinum challenge, which in itself is tremendous, but what will happen if AA turn around and change the AA platinum challenge to 25,000 EQM's because too many people have attained AA Platinum with the current target? A lot of people would be worse off. Look at what happened to "Tripoli it is then" thread on FT when given too much exposure. Yes it is still available but now a lot harder to get and some airlines have pulled out of the IATA fare because of the abuse that it received.

There is a J fare (not D fare) on the AY website and it varies between 21,000-25,000 baht without taxes. Double the price it was 3 months ago!