OneWorld Infrequent Flyer

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Lazy Emu

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Sep 15, 2005
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I'm planning a RTW-type itinerary flying economy with mainly BA and Qantas.

I've no idea how my fare generates points, or if it is does at all - do all fares generate points?, but my itinerary is a reasonable milage probabably around 26000 miles.

I'm not a frequent traveller, but I'm hoping there might be something I could actually do with these points.

I'd like to know what is the best (in)Frequent Flyer Scheme I could join and how to best make use of these points.

Thanks for any advice.
 
Lazy Emu, we need clarification on a couple of things from you before we can make any pinpoint recommendations as to which program suits:

1. What is the itinerary? *
2. What class of travel (expect it would be economy, but what sub-class of economy)?
3. What are you looking for in a program - status, lounges, upgrades
4, Where do you expect to do your future flying (after this trip) - say to use your FF points?

There will probably be more questions, but that's enough to start.

* use the following format, between the city pairs is the airline, eg:

BNE QF SYD BA BKK etc....
 
1/.
SYD QF LAX .. SFO AA NYC BA LHR .. NIC BA NRT QA SYD
(where .. is a surface sector)

2/. Not ticketed yet, but assume the lowest of the low

3/. Something for nothing and chicks for free. As I said, I fly practically never so anything tangible would be a bonus.

4/. Whereever I can go on those points from Syd, either in Aus or OS round-trip preferably. Can I use points generated on the start of the trip to apply to any other sector?

If you're asking where might I spend my own money toward a ticket, probably to anywhere in Aus other than WA and NT.
 
Lazy Emu, you need to look at the AA earning tables for the carriers you are travelling.

AA Flights
BA Flights
QF Flights

watch the * points in each table as it could trip you up, particularly this one for your JFK/LHR on BA:

** Transatlantic flights to/from the U.S. are not eligible for mileage accrual.

and the double kicker on AA:

** Tickets between North America and Europe, India, Asia and Latin America booked in O and Transatlantic tickets booked in Q are not eligible for mileage credit.

(Therefore, you may look at switching to an AA flight, or the codeshare flight number, not in O or Q class, to get 100% mileage - personally I'd go for the AA flight because by then you might be able to upgrade using your status, points/upgrades).

This will assist you in points 1 and 2 - particularly which fare you decide to buy. Not worth buying a no-earning fare class if you can pay a little more and earn 50% mileage or even 100% (as well as the q-points).

Point 3: you'll get something for nothing all right. Chicks for free - well, you'll have to organise that personally, I'm sorry (but status will help if you see one checking in for your flight and you can ask her does she want to spend the time waiting for the flight with you in your airport lounge and free drinks/eats)...

Point 4: Well, I would presume that you'd meet the AA Platinum Challenge (I haven't done any calculations as we need to know what fare basis you are considering ticketing), but certainly enough for you to get free flights. AA redemption rates for award tickets is much better than QF's. Check out the AA award redemption chart...

You could only use the AA points on AA flights (or use your upgrades if you have hit AA Plat). I'm not 100% certain of this fact (having not experienced it yet, but we may in Dec/Jan durig our trip to USA/Jamaica/Canada), but another AA guru (well known to others on this board) tells me that they do have some discount method where you are using recently earned points. Again, I'm not sure whether it's true but I'm prepared to believe the source.

Tip for the day: a surface sector is known as an open jaw.
 
Round the Worlds tend to be in "L" class (both Oneworld Explorer and Global Explorer are). Not lowest of the low, but it presents a few difficulties.

If you're thinking of going for the American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer scheme, "L" class flights on QF earn only 0.5 program miles per actual mile flown. That's the bad news. The good news is that SYD-LAX flights on QF are also AA codeshares, and if you book on the AA flight number you earn 1 program mile for each actual mile.

Then there is the problem of crossing the Atlantic. If you insist on using BA then you need to go up to Canada before crossing the Atlantic if you want to earn AA miles. That's because, as Lindsay Wilson pointed out, USA to UK flights on BA do not accrue points in AA.

If you do go up to Canada, the L class ticket on BA will only earn (if I recall correctly - don't sue me) 0.25 program miles per mile flown. Might be worth crossing the pond on AA.

SYD-LAX-New York is very, very close to 10,000 miles, which in the right booking classes is enough to give you AA Platinum via the Platinum Challenge. Bad news again - one milage tool I have puts it at 9973 miles! You'll need to check what AA calculates the mileage to be. If it is just short, consider a quick return flight in Oz before you go, or route LAX-somewhere else-New York. AA give a minimum of 500 miles per sector.

If you can get Platinum by New York, you will have Oneworld lounge access for the rest of the trip, as long as the flights have posted to your account. Convincing non-AA airlines might be a problem, but we can tackle that when and if it becomes a problem (e.g. you can get AA to send you a letter on AA letterhead confirming your status prior to your magic card arriving).

Good news: 20,000 AA miles gives you an award flight between any two cities in Oz/New Zealand (AA treat us as one country). 35,000 in Business.

That's probably enough info for a start.
 
Thanks for the advice. Is it worthwhile for me to pay the money to join the Qantas scheme? I would most likely redeem any points on QF - BA advise to use the Qantas one. Is it pointless to join the scheme of a carrier that you are not flying with and/or don't want to redeem on ? The AA elite thingie sounds nice. Assuming worst case points earning with Qantas what might I get?

Ok, the tables make it clear that at least in the case of AA, points are discounted across airlines when earning them. Are they also discounted when redeeming?

BTW, the travel agent said the correct name is "surface sectors", open jaw only applies to the endpoints of the itinerary.
 
Is it worthwhile for me to pay the money to join the Qantas scheme
I can see we still have some convincing to do that the AA FF program will be better for you, Lazy Emu...the simple answer is no, don't join QF. Joining AAdvantage costs nothing and is simple over the internet.

I would most likely redeem any points on QF - BA advise to use the Qantas one.
That's because you can't join the BA Exec Club as you're an Australian resident - and you take the advice of an airline over people on a bulletin board who are here to help you and have advised of an excellent legal scheme to give you advanced eite status... :?

Is it pointless to join the scheme of a carrier that you are not flying with and/or don't want to redeem on ?
No, it's pointless joining a FF scheme like QF where after all your RTW flights, you're still a Bronze member (maybe reached the dizzy heights of Silver) and have earned no bonuses and have barely enough FF points to fly anywhere decent.

Compare this with AA, where based on your proposed itinerary (assuming you take our advice by flying on the right airlines and get a positioning flight in there somewhere), you'll be AA Plat (uquivalent to QF Gold or Oneworld Sapphire status) by the time you hit JFK, or at worst on your next flight JFK/LHR.

The AA elite thingie sounds nice. Assuming worst case points earning with Qantas what might I get? Ok, the tables make it clear that at least in the case of AA, points are discounted across airlines when earning them. Are they also discounted when redeeming?

Ah, we are getting there. Let me calculate it for you. Discount economy fares are discounted earning, but at no worse than the QF FF program. Burning points is better under the AA scheme - using Alan in CBR's correct information, 20,000 AA miles gives you an award flight between any two cities in Oz/New Zealand (AA treat us as one country). 35,000 in Business.

Tell me what are the corresponding point requirements under the QFF program?? You don't have to think - they're much more... :roll:

I can tell you, had I known about the AA FF program before I joined QF (February 1987) and subsequently got high elite status; I'd have been an AA Executive Platinum member for years now and be reaching the 1MM (one million miles flown) mark. AA know how to reward their top tier FF's; I'm not that convinced as a top tier QFF'er.
 
I've joined now and I'll switch my booking to it. Please forgive me, I saw all the positive things you were saying about it but my sleep deprived parser wasn't interpreting it as your number one recommendation. Thanks for spelling it out for the dummy.

Unfortunately, the main fare I'm using has restricted routing - its just a fare to Europe with 2 stop-overs and the next fare along is quite a bit more.

Alan in CBR, I'm flying out from SFO, which tips it over 10000. Fingers cross things credit as the full rate.
 
Phew, I'm glad :D

Okay, so your itin looks something like this now:
SYD QF LAX .. SFO AA JFK AA* LHR .. NIC BA NRT QF SYD

(* note I changed the BA JFK/LHR to AA)

Let me get some sleep and I'll calculate the points for you tomorrow. Do you have any idea what the class of travel or fare basis is (ask your TA??)Suffice to say, I don't think there's a problem with your achieving the AA Lack of Challenge.
 
(* note I changed the BA JFK/LHR to AA)
I understand why you did that but unfortunately I can't change it without making it a different and much more expensive fare.

I'll have all the (likely to be disappointing) details tomorrow.

see ya.
 
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To reiterate, it is absolutely vital to know what the fare booking class is, otherwise it could all go pear-shaped.

Please ask your travel agent and let us know when you find out.

Glad to hear about the LAX-SFO flight. It could make a big difference!

Cheers,
Alan.
 
Alan in CBR said:
SYD-LAX-New York is very, very close to 10,000 miles, which in the right booking classes is enough to give you AA Platinum via the Platinum Challenge. Bad news again - one milage tool I have puts it at 9973 miles! You'll need to check what AA calculates the mileage to be.

Having recently completed a oneworld explorer trip, I'm now AA Plat (thanks Lindsay! :wink: ), but just so you know, AA calculates the following for economy L class:

QANTAS AIRWAYS SYD/LAX 3,744
QANTAS AIRWAYS LAX/JFK 1,238
AMERICAN AIRLINES JFK/LHR 3,452

As mentioned earlier, by changing to an AA marketed/operated flight for the JFK/LHR segment, you take full advantage of the miles earn rate, especially if you subscribe to both the Gold and Platinum Challenges at the same time, as you'll qualify for the Gold bonus on that segment.
 
I've received ticketing for my trip. It is all in Q class. Doesn't look very promising to me but I haven't done a detailed calculation.
 
Okay, so your itinerary is now in Q class:

SYD QF LAX .. SFO AA JFK BA LHR .. NIC BA NRT QF SYD

QF SYD/LAX earns you nothing...Q isn't an eligible AA mileage earning class on QF flights
AA SFO/JFK earns 100% mileage and q-points
BA JFK/LHR earns you nothing...Q isn't eligible AA mileage earning on BA flights
BA NIC/NRT earns you 25% mileage and only half of that mileage in q-points (so effectively, 12.5% qpoints based on the full mileage flown)
QF NRT/SYD earns you nothing...Q isn't an eligible AA mileage earning class on QF flights

Without doing the actual sums, I'd be surprised if you make Gold on a Challenge.

Now, I'd be doing the QFF comparison to see if you get anywhere there...but I don't think (not having done the calcs though) that you would make QF Silver (equivalent of Oneworld Ruby or AA Gold) on the QFF
 
Ouch. Q class.

QF flight booked in Q earn nothing in AAdvantage. Therefore it is imperative to use the AA flight numbers for all your flights. If my reading is correct, that will earn 100% miles/points.

On preview, what Lindsay said. Unless you can change the SYD-LAX to the AA codeshare.
 
The only way to make Q fare work for the challenge is to book the AA codeshare trans-Pacific. Its also advisable to use trans-Atlantic. And in Europe look for whatever AA codeshares you can find.

If the flights are all locked in now, then the AA challenge may be better saved for another day.
 
Thanks. Can't change it, that's what you get when you go for an el-cheapo fare. What do you figure the extra worth of all the stuff you get when you do things the right way as you have recommended, he asks fearing the pain.
 
Hmmm, where do I start with what you missed by not getting AA Plat:

* Business Class check-in (saving ~ 30 mins to a hour easily each time you're checking in)
* Lounge access until 28 Feb 07 (sitting in air-conditioning, sipping free drinks and nibblies, not as many noisy kids running around)
* Pre-boarding at your leisure (well, on some OW carriers, not all)
* cheaper redemptions (i.e. less FF points needed for AA redemptions)

Value? Priceless....
 
Lindsay Wilson said:
Hmmm, where do I start with what you missed by not getting AA Plat:

* Business Class check-in (saving ~ 30 mins to a hour easily each time you're checking in)
* Lounge access until 28 Feb 07 (sitting in air-conditioning, sipping free drinks and nibblies, not as many noisy kids running around)
* Pre-boarding at your leisure (well, on some OW carriers, not all)
* cheaper redemptions (i.e. less FF points needed for AA redemptions)

Value? Priceless....
And 100% bonus miles for all qualifying flights.
 
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