Status run to achieve Silver?

[deuteros]

Due to bad planning and short sightedness in saving the odd dollar here and there by booking non-Qantas flights, I am 105 points short of silver with 3 weeks to go. If I had come across AFF earlier and not just 2 months ago, I probably would've been a lot smarter.

As I'm anticipating 2 long haul and 3 domestics next 12 months (possibly more), is it worth doing a status run simply to achieve silver to give me a chance to earn 50% more points over the next 12 months?

If so, what's the most cost effective way to accrue 105 points? I'm in Perth.

Thanks.

 

[Hvr]

Apart from the increase in Qf points and two Qantas club passes are there any other benefits you're hoping to gain from having silver status?

I suggest you calculate how many status credits you will earn from your planned travel in your new membership year and maybe see if will achieve Silver (PS as we call it) or maybe even see if you're close enough to get Gold level (SG) with or without a status run.

It all comes down to what you think status is worth and what you're prepared to pay for it. You may pay >$600 for Silver when you could get different benefits by buying Qantas Club membership which may be worth more to you with your proposed travel.

Happy travelling.

 

[Joshua]

You'll get a variety of responses, many will argue that silver provides little - but they are probably also accustom to getting such benefits as extra luggage and preselected seating. Only you can decide what it's worth to you. The alternative is purchasing Qantas Club membership for possibly a similar cost. If you're international flights are going to be on Qantas then you'll get no benefit with status on OW.

Will those flights in the next 12 months be enough to maintain silver? If you're not flying that much then put the money towards paying for extra rows on those flights or lounge membership.

 

[deuteros]

Doing some fare searches, I suspect it would have to be domestic return business class simply to achieve what I need which will be >$1000. Kinda hard to justify in that respects I guess? Unless someone can come up with a brilliant idea for <$500?

It would just be mainly be the 50% extra points as I have MP Gold for lounge access and priority boarding. Seat selection is a pain, as I have to specify MP Gold, select seats, then change to QFF for points accrual.

I suspect the anticipated flights in the next 12 months is enough to maintain silver or will allow me to attain silver if i don't do a status run this year. But this is all guess work, completely dependent on the work situation.

 

[madrooster]

It would just be mainly be the 50% extra points as I have MP Gold for lounge access and priority boarding. Seat selection is a pain, as I have to specify MP Gold, select seats, then change to QFF for points accrual.

If you're already a CX gold then it would be pointless burning money on a SC run to achieve QF silver. CX gold would give you access to better seat selections than QF silver anyway.

 

[drewbles]

I'd suggest paying $50 to join the AFF Gold Member program, then using the corporate QF offering that comes with it. Silver won't get you lounge access, and if you have 3 international trips (on QF and AA) you'll at least get lounge access. IMHO the bonus points would not be worth it versus the benefit of having lounge access (at a much lower price than it would cost you to get silver, and still not have lounge access).

 

[samh004]

To weigh in, I too wasn't encouraged to aim for Silver, but look at me now (Platinum). The bonus points should be worthwhile, as will seat selection, but if you have another membership you're already using for seat selection then the need for Silver becomes less. Qantas Club might be a better purchase, but again you already have lounge access sorted. So perhaps you should aim for Qantas Club when your MPC Gold runs out, and maximise flights in the next membership year to get to Gold with QF. If you end up buying Qantas Club and later hit Gold, the remaining months are put on hold until your status drops anyway, so it's not a waste unless you hit Life Time Gold... much further down the track