Partner airlines - worth the effort? (USA domestic flights specifically)

[jpboyce]

Hi all,

Previously when I'd gone over to the US, I had booked directly with US airlines, mainly on the basis of who did flights to where I wanted to go and times (at the time me being ignorant of the benefits of airport lounges, so flight times were booked around hotel check-in/check-out times). This has resulted in accounts with the frequent flyer programs of those airlines with a very small pool of points and not much value at the moment.

Now I'm a bit wiser and aware of these partner airlines and how I could potentially get points and status credits towards my Qantas account if I use them. So I guess the point is, is it worth using them? The first one I became aware of was US Airways, but it seems the reviews of their flights are pretty negative. Seems American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are partners, although Alaska don't earn points. I'm assuming I'd have to book any such flights over the phone with Qantas as well? Any thoughts, suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[BD1959]

Hi jpboyce,

Suggest you have a good look at the current Partner Airline Earning table.

US Airways are now a oneWorld affiliate and so you can earn SCs and points with them. Alaska are a partner and - again - points can be earned in certain fare classes.

No need to book with QF over the phone, can be booked directly with the airlines concerned or online Travel Agents. The difficulty - as always - may be in determining into which fare class a fare falls.

Regards,

BD

 

[RooFlyer]

Unless you think you might earn enough points / status miles with the overseas airlines FF programs to be useful, then definitely credit partner flights to your QFF number although the earning has been much reduced since 'simpler and fairer' (TM) was introduced by Qantas (That's a bit of an inside joke here - QF used the terms 'simpler and fairer' to describe the changes but to many of us they were anything but simpler and definitely not fairer!).

Several ways to do this. You might find an American Airlines or Alaskan flight with a QF flight number (ie QF code share) - it will earn much better than the same flight using the AA or AS flight numbers. However the fare may well be higher as well. Or just book the AA or AS flight as you did before either over the phone with the airline, or on-line, or via a Travel Agent - but put your QFF number in the booking, not the AA etc number. If you do this, you can use the privileges of your QFF status (as allowed by the partner); higher baggage for instance.

Ad BD1959 cautions, not all fare classes with overseas carriers earn on QFF.

 

[jpboyce]

Hi BD and RooFlyer, thanks for the quick replies. The link BD supplied is a good reference, I'll definitely be using it when I investigate all this further.

Unless you think you might earn enough points / status miles with the overseas airlines FF programs to be useful, then definitely credit partner flights to your QFF number although the earning has been much reduced since 'simpler and fairer' (TM) was introduced by Qantas (That's a bit of an inside joke here - QF used the terms 'simpler and fairer' to describe the changes but to many of us they were anything but simpler and definitely not fairer!).

Up until now, it's only been once a year I go over there, which is why I'm thinking at the moment, the tiny isolated pools of points/benefits are nearly useless (especially since I've used a different airline almost every leg). Might as well funnel then into my main FF account and get some benefit.

Several ways to do this. You might find an American Airlines or Alaskan flight with a QF flight number (ie QF code share) - it will earn much better than the same flight using the AA or AS flight numbers. However the fare may well be higher as well. Or just book the AA or AS flight as you did before either over the phone with the airline, or on-line, or via a Travel Agent - but put your QFF number in the booking, not the AA etc number. If you do this, you can use the privileges of your QFF status (as allowed by the partner); higher baggage for instance.

I think this was the bit of info I was looking for, how to tell the airline "hey, can you flick those points over to this other FF account". Thanks.

 

[RooFlyer]

<snip>

I think this was the bit of info I was looking for, how to tell the airline "hey, can you flick those points over to this other FF account". Thanks.

If you are talking about flicking existing points, sorry, no, you can't do that. Once the points are in another FF account, they are usually stuck there (Virgin/SQ is an exception).

Only with new flights on AA say, can you earn on QFF if the QFF number is in the booking. If the QFF number is in the AA booking, the airline will not even know about your AA account in respect of that flight.

 

[jpboyce]

Yeah I meant for any bookings I make in the future.

 

[BD1959]

Yeah I meant for any bookings I make in the future.

You can also switch any existing bookings not yet flown.

Another reason to have a higher-status membership number against an American airline booking is for the instance of wait-listing. SG may allow you a quicker getaway if you miss your original flight.

Regards,

BD

 

[RichardMEL]

Also note oneworld (OW) benefits apply if you have status to AA flights - not only priority for waitlists/standby and lounge (such as they are, unless Emerald access to the few F lounges) but the free bags when flying Y can be helpful too. eg: QF Silver/OWR gets first bag free, QF Gold/OWS gets first 2 checked bags free, and QF Plat/Plat1/OWE gets 3 bags.

AA have definitely treated me very well for stanbdby and so on as a QF WP/WP1.

Note: Alaska (AS) do not earn Status Credits, but DO earn QFF points on AS flight numbers. If a QF or AA flight number you earn Status Credits.

Note#2: note earnings tables of some discounted Y fares. eg: AA booking class O earns 0.25 points/mile, and there are a few others. This may or may not be important.

Really when it comes to US domestic travel one legacy is much like the other IMHO - and I've flown most of them - AS/UA/AA/US(pre-merger),VX,B6 etc. Some have better product (VX=Virgin America, B6=jetBlue), some have better schedule/network coverage depending on where you need to go (eg: AA/US is not so great in some parts where UA is strong, while DL has you covered if you're going to the deep south etc). Price/schedule may well be your priority and that's fine, but if I had the choice between, say, DL and AA on a sector, I'd probably go for the AA flight for the (maybe small, but stll useful) QFF SC(more than points-but that's just me).

Finally, if you have a bit of $$ the "YUPP" type, "instant upgrade" fare can be VERY nice to sit in the "First"(yeah well) cabin and earn First Class points/SC for QFF earning, and these can be very handy if chasing status (and you get the bags free and priority etc) but that's for the slightly more interested in status runs and the like, which the OP may not be

(of course if you're a VA member, then DL might be very handy, but that's an issue for the Virgin board )

 

[jpboyce]

Hi RichardMEL,

From what I've seen of the US carriers so far, there didn't seem to be a lot separating them (from a limited sample in economy and "first"). I might have to look into this "instant upgrade" fare you've mentioned. Thanks for the tips.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The biggest reason for sticking with partner airlines (oneworld, not just 'partners' in general) is the lounge access and priority check-in you will get with your Qantas Gold.

That's invaluable for travel in the USA where delays can occur due to weather, and the lounges are the best place to get reaccommodated on other flights.

Just a tip... if you book american airlines or US airways, do it through their US website, not the aussie one. The Aussie one can be very expensive (same flights, same seats, just not the chepaest fares available).

 

[RichardMEL]

Agree totally with using the US based site.

Also some years back I had an odd experience with an AA fare I'd (stupidly) gotten from the AU site.

Whta had happened was, in a nutshell, another carrier had cancelled and I had to walk up to AA to get a flight to a nearby city (the details are not relevant to this point). AA wanted to charge me full-Y for the next flight (ugh). I said well hey I have this flight booked for the same city pair (the return, a one way sector) could perhaps this existing booking be used to offset the walkup. The agent thought that was a reasonable idea (she was fantastic really) and worked on it for a bit then exclaimed ! "the system won't let me do anything with this fare, even though it's issued by AA on 001 stock etc it's priced in AUD, and I simply can't do anything with this from here"(LAX). Now that may or may not have been true - I have no reason to doubt the ability or knowledge of the ticketing agent helping me, but the point is that the ticket issued through AA Syd threw a spanner in the works because of the different currency involved.

Since those days I book via aa.com (US site) or even a US OTA (eg: orbitz) and has been no issue with ticketing stuff.

hopefully a situation like the above never befalls anyone. It was quite costly (though insurance paid out on it)

 

[jpboyce]

The biggest reason for sticking with partner airlines (oneworld, not just 'partners' in general) is the lounge access and priority check-in you will get with your Qantas Gold.

That's invaluable for travel in the USA where delays can occur due to weather, and the lounges are the best place to get reaccommodated on other flights.

Just a tip... if you book american airlines or US airways, do it through their US website, not the aussie one. The Aussie one can be very expensive (same flights, same seats, just not the chepaest fares available).

Yeah I guess in past experiences I was dismissive/ignorant of the use of lounge access and would end up having to spend a lot of time lining up flights with each other...not too close, not too far, just right... Recently I went on a trip and used the lounge access, let's say I've seen the light with regards to it. I'll keep the point about using the US website in mind, but is that point still valid given the current exchange rate?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'll keep the point about using the US website in mind, but is that point still valid given the current exchange rate?

yes... I can be.

its a bit like qantas offering sale fares, then red e-deals, then saver, then flexi. Normally it doesn't matter which site or country you use... you can normally access the full range of fares including sale etc.

with the AA Australian site, they seem to restrict the full range of fares... like the equivalent of only offering saver and flexi, and the cheapest sales or red e-deals don't display. Sometimes the Aussie site will only list half of the schedule available on the U.S. site... leaving out lots of connections.

it's best to start looking at the U.S. based site, then see if the Aussie site also offers the same price and flight times. if the U.S. site has trouble taking your credit card, you can always book through someone like Expedia.com (the U.S. version of our one... just make sure you override the default which will want to bring you back to the Australian site)

 

[codash1099]

The biggest reason for sticking with partner airlines (oneworld, not just 'partners' in general) is the lounge access and priority check-in you will get with your Qantas Gold.

That's invaluable for travel in the USA where delays can occur due to weather, and the lounges are the best place to get reaccommodated on other flights.

Just a tip... if you book american airlines or US airways, do it through their US website, not the aussie one. The Aussie one can be very expensive (same flights, same seats, just not the chepaest fares available).

And keep in mind that if you book through QF you'll likely get a QF flight number. That means lower SC earn since AA F is only classed as J on Those numbers. Makes it all the more worthwhile to book through AA on an AA flight number.