Retaining Platinum

[fmckenzie]

I THINK I have been comped to platinum after being told that no, they didn't do that any more
on my QF page it says.......
.........................................................................................................
Current Status:Platinum
Status reassessment will occur:31 Aug 2007
Status credits earned from 01 Sep 2007:0
Additional Status credits required by 31 Aug 2008 to retain Platinum: 1,200
Additional Status credits required by 31 Aug 2008 to receive
complimentary 'Partner Gold' membership: 2,100
..........................................................................................................
my only concern is that it still says status reassessment will occur 31 Aug 2007 and it is 1st Sept.

thoughts anyone??

 

[straitman]

thoughts anyone??

Look again tomorrow :!:

It does look promising though.

 

[kiwial]

As far as the guilt thing goes, it crossed my mind at one point. Have used the new MEL FCL lounge three times - flying TG, NZ & SQ respectively but not yet whilst flying QF.

However on the third visit I had no pangs of guilt as I'd just had 11 QF domestic sectors in the previous 2.5 weeks - most in K class or above. Swings and roundabouts.

I was reading this thread this morning prior to heading for Mumbai (interesting trip - more on that later) and noted that you have been in the FCL without flying on QF - what is your secret? I tried this when flying NZ recently and was kindly advised that I needed to be on a QF flight on the day in question.

When reading through the "rule book", this backs up the FCL staff not letting me in. Do you you have a special relationship with the MEL team? Any hints appreciated.

As for todays flight, we were late leaving SYD as the inbound aircraft was late and then the caterers decided the 333 next to ours should get our meals and that we should get those for the PVG flight. Funnier still... on our first sector to DRW (enroute to BOM) we had 3 Chinese speakers and I was told that the PVG flight had 1 - go figure!

Well when we finally got to DRW, we had a touch and go landing due to wind sheer, so we went around again - same deal. The pilot was very informative at every step and he advised us that if we didn't get down the 3rd time, we'd be off sightseeing around Kimberley. Well it was lucky number 3.

Our departure didn't fair much better, as the expected sea breeze never eventuated and the temp was around 33 degrees. We were hot and heavy. They offloaded a fair amount of freight whilst waiting for the temp to drop - that gave us 1 degree of relief. We then taxied around the airport for a while burning off more fuel to get us a little lighter still. The temp had now dropped under 31 degrees and and off we went! Something a little different!

One thing the captain mentioned when he was explaining the delay on the ground in DRW (individually to all in business), was that next year QF will go direct with the smaller 332 (when they get them from Airbus) as it has a large centre fuel tank, negating the DRW stop. Back to the days of the 743 direct flights! Can't say I'll miss the DRW stop, however the crew said they will - back luck them I say! Maybe the BOM-SYD flights will have a better chance of departing on time.

Does anyone know if the 332's that JQ have are equipped with the extra tank and have the capacity to fly the SYD-BOM sector? I recall hearing that they might, however the issue was that they needed a strengthened floor to enable fitting of the Skybeds? Is this correct and if so is this why they were palmed off to JQ?

 

[NM]

Does anyone know if the 332's that JQ have are equipped with the extra tank and have the capacity to fly the SYD-BOM sector? I recall hearing that they might, however the issue was that they needed a strengthened floor to enable fitting of the Skybeds? Is this correct and if so is this why they were palmed off to JQ?

Yes, the cost of strengthening the floor of the JQ A330-200s meant those aircraft were better suited to the current seating arrangement and hence JQ International services and later to return to domestic and trans-Tasman services when JQi get their 787s.

Note that the new QF A330-200s will have more Skybeds fitted than the current A330-300s. They will be 36J/201Y config, compared with the A330-300 being 30J/267Y and the JQ A330-200 being 38W/265Y.

 

[fmckenzie]

Though my summary page still says status reassessment on 31/08/2007 still platinum and this morning happily sitting in Syd FCL, , enjoying my coffee after a very nice breakfast.

A very happy traveller

 

[Shano]

Though my summary page still says status reassessment on 31/08/2007 still platinum and this morning happily sitting in Syd FCL, , enjoying my coffee after a very nice breakfast.

A very happy traveller

If you have in fact been comp'd then that will make breakfast even nicer.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[serfty]

I was reading this thread this morning prior to heading for Mumbai (interesting trip - more on that later) and noted that you have been in the FCL without flying on QF - what is your secret? I tried this when flying NZ recently and was kindly advised that I needed to be on a QF flight on the day in question.

When reading through the "rule book", this backs up the FCL staff not letting me in. Do you you have a special relationship with the MEL team? Any hints appreciated. ...

G'day kiwial, welcome to AFF.

• Have a look at the Lounge Access (Qantas Lounges) page on Qantas.com.
• Look at the table "Qantas Club and Frequent Flyers" and the first row of references to QF WP. See where it's written "Member and 1 guest can access lounge any time.^" and "Member and 2 guests can access lounge any time.".
• Note the ^ - the point indicated is: "^ Must be travelling, not necessarily on Qantas, British Airways or Jetstar to access the lounge. ".

The agent at the Lounge was incorrect.

Internationally, you do need to be travelling (and NZ is 'international' to Qantas), but is can be on any airline. All you need is your BP and WP card.

Last year I flew NZ725 AKL-MEL and as a WP used the Qantas First Lounge before departed.

There's more discussion in this thread: http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/jetstar-and-first-lounge-10346.html

 

[rhjames]

G'day kiwial, welcome to AFF.

• Look at the table "Qantas Club and Frequent Flyers" and the first row of references to QF WP. See where it's written "Member and 1 guest can access lounge any time.^" and "Member and 2 guests can access lounge any time.".
• Note the ^ - the point indicated is: "^ Must be travelling, not necessarily on Qantas, British Airways or Jetstar to access the lounge. ".

The agent at the Lounge was incorrect.

Internationally, you do need to be travelling (and NZ is 'international' to Qantas), but is can be on any airline. All you need is your BP and WP card.

Last year I flew NZ725 AKL-MEL and as a WP used the Qantas First Lounge before departed.

I have found the same. Called Qantas FF and was told that despite Pt, I need a Qantas (or partner) ticket to access the lounge. This didn't sound right, so I chased up further, and was eventually clearly told that I and a guest can use the lounge any time, no matter which airline I'm flying. If I'm on that side of customs and have my Pt card, I can go in.

 

[kiwial]

Thank you all for your quick and helpful replies!

The link provided by serfty is fairly clear that I should have been allowed into the FCL. Will be flying again on NZ (using Airpoints bucks before they expire) when I get back from India, so will take a printed copy with me (once bitten, twice shy!) and hopefully no dramas in getting in.

The long walk between terminals at SYD is a small price to pay for access to the FCL.

My flight delays continue again today.... 9W flight from BOM to DEL cancelled. Didn't tell me at check in - they said the flight was on time. Only when I got to the lounge did I realise they had booked me on a later flight - another Kingfisher I hear you say?

 

[Mal]

Thank you all for your quick and helpful replies!

The link provided by serfty is fairly clear that I should have been allowed into the FCL.

Please log feedback with Qantas over your refusal of admission. It won't mean much (except you get a grovelling staffer calling you to apologise) but will ensure that the frontline staff there are trained/coached appropriately.

 

[v8Statesman]

I have found the same. Called Qantas FF and was told that despite Pt, I need a Qantas (or partner) ticket to access the lounge. This didn't sound right, so I chased up further, and was eventually clearly told that I and a guest can use the lounge any time, no matter which airline I'm flying. If I'm on that side of customs and have my Pt card, I can go in.

Do you really have to fly??? What if you where a WP and worked for the Duty Free store air side? Free lunch everyday?

 

[vt01]

Thank you QF for allowing me to retain my WP status!

I only had 260 SC's this year. No warning letter so I thought I would lose WP for sure this year. But QF comped me to Platinum until 2008!

I still have no idea how they work this out. But I'm not complaining!

I take it all back. After reading the post from fmckenzie I thought I'd check my status page again as i didn't take any notice of what it said about status reassessment - only the date to reain platinum had changed to 2008. Sure enough, my status is now Gold.

Looks like it took a few days for QF to catch up. Perhaps it is a manual process where QF get a report of all expiring SC's where there were not enough SC's..

But hey, I was comped by QF at least twice and have enjoyed the access to the FCL for quite a few years. As points are more important to me now, switching to AA has still been the right thing for me to do.

 

[straitman]

vt01,

If you're happy with the path you've taken then that is what is the most important. There are still plenty of people here who would happily 'guest' you if the timing is right.

 

[fmckenzie]

It was case of premature celebration - by the time I got to Joburg I was back down to gold Must have taken time over the weekend to upgrade the web site to reflect my new lowly status.

Oh well, I enjoyed the nice coffee while it lasted

 

[vt01]

vt01,

If you're happy with the path you've taken then that is what is the most important. There are still plenty of people here who would happily 'guest' you if the timing is right.

Cheers Bill . Will just have to time my trips better..

 

[simongr]

Hmm - just checked my account and it seems I might have been comped.

I gave them all of my flight details for the next few months and now the website says:

Current Status: Gold
Status reassessment will occur: 30 Sep 2008
Status credits earned from 01 Oct 2006: 345
Additional Status credits required by 30 Sep 2007 to attain Platinum: 1,055
Qantas segments flown: 2

You must fly a minimum four eligible flight segments on Qantas, QantasLink or Jetstar and earn the required status credits to retain/attain during your membership Year

Now the big question is - if I don't put those flights to QF that I said I was taking - will they reverse this?

Certainly makes my decision about whether to try for SG/WP a little more interesting - certainly easier now ot make it to SG again...

 

[dripool]

Interestingly enough, I too just received the email requesting future plans, 1 month to the day of expiry as well, on retaining gold.

fyi lowly gold people:
I filled in the future plan info last week, didn't hear anything - so I called and talked to agent. She comped status for me (short 20 credits) for gold.

 

[Optics]

Hmm - just checked my account and it seems I might have been comped.

I gave them all of my flight details for the next few months and now the website says:

Current Status: Gold
Status reassessment will occur: 30 Sep 2008
Status credits earned from 01 Oct 2006: 345
Additional Status credits required by 30 Sep 2007 to attain Platinum: 1,055
Qantas segments flown: 2

You must fly a minimum four eligible flight segments on Qantas, QantasLink or Jetstar and earn the required status credits to retain/attain during your membership Year

Now the big question is - if I don't put those flights to QF that I said I was taking - will they reverse this?

Certainly makes my decision about whether to try for SG/WP a little more interesting - certainly easier now ot make it to SG again...

A number of years ago I was comp'd to retain WP, after providing them a list of my proposed travel plans for the following year. As it turns out, I did not do as much travel the next year as proposed, and so did not earn the required SC to retain the WP. However, my WP status was not reversed for that year, and I was put back to SG for the following year.

So your comp'd status should be safe for the full membership year, even if you don't do the flights you proposed (unless they have changed the policy/practise in the last few years).

 

[simongr]

Well I have decided to put all my flights post 1 Sep to QF which will give me gold to Sep 09 - I might need some QF points anyway and might need some y -> J upgrades

 

[oz_mark]

A number of years ago I was comp'd to retain WP, after providing them a list of my proposed travel plans for the following year. As it turns out, I did not do as much travel the next year as proposed, and so did not earn the required SC to retain the WP. However, my WP status was not reversed for that year, and I was put back to SG for the following year.

So your comp'd status should be safe for the full membership year, even if you don't do the flights you proposed (unless they have changed the policy/practise in the last few years).

This is my experience as well. My proposed travel did not happen as planned (basically due to a reduction in travel for six months which put me behind the eight ball when the travel recommenced). Once they have comped you they stick with it.