Sydney to Paris CDG - Newbie Questions

[robolb]

Please forgive the rather newbie type questions, but this stuff confuses the hell out of me!

I'm flying Sydney - Paris (CDG) - Sydney April 2018.
I want to buy economy seats for my wife and I, with the best chance of upgrade to Business.

I could go Qantas or Thai.

My Thai status is only basic, but a mate will give us points to upgrade. (that worked last year for us, 3 sectors out of 4.)

I'd prefer to go Qantas as I'd like to reach LTG before I retire in a couple of years.

I am Silver, just about to go back up to Gold and will make sure I stay there.
Wife is Bronze.

My concerns/questions with Qantas are these:

Many Qantas International flights are now code share in Emirates aircraft.
I find it harder to get upgrades on those and I can't do online upgrades/seat allocations.

Q. On a codeshare flight it looks like I get less Qantas points and Status points. True?

Q. Is it actually harder to get upgrades on codeshare flights? If so, I'll stick to Qantas aircraft.

Q. When I go to book the Qantas flights online, I get 3 options in economy. Sale, Saver & Flex.
And yet there are 11 economy booking classes.
So what are the other 8? Special deals?

Q. Does the booking class have a big impact on the likelihood of an upgrade?
i.e. is it better to buy Saver or Flex.

If you were me basically, what class of ticket would you buy?
And would you stick to Qantas aircraft (means another sector via London)

Sorry for all the questions, but hopefully the answer is simple.

 

[thebmw]

1. False, as long as you're booked on a QF code, you get points/status as if it was a Qantas plane.

2. Yes, points upgrades are only available on QF operated flights.

3. Those three groups actually cover multiple fare buckets. Once the cheapest bucket in each group is sold out, the group moves on to the next cheapest and so on.

4. Sale fares generally can't be upgraded on international (barring the occasional promotion)

 

[robolb]

1. False, as long as you're booked on a QF code, you get points/status as if it was a Qantas plane.

2. Yes, points upgrades are only available on QF operated flights.

3. Those three groups actually cover multiple fare buckets. Once the cheapest bucket in each group is sold out, the group moves on to the next cheapest and so on.

4. Sale fares generally can't be upgraded on international (barring the occasional promotion)

Many thanks. The difference in points for the code share flights must have been the number of sectors.
Kind of begs the question, "why fly a code share flight" though if wanting an upgrade.

Though to further complicate matters, I did get a points upgrade on an Emirates flight Sydney-Dubai in 2015.

Maybe the rules have since changed.

 

[Bilton]

Many Qantas International flights are now code share in Emirates aircraft.
I find it harder to get upgrades on those and I can't do online upgrades/seat allocations.

As far as I am aware you can't get a QFF points upgrade on any flight not operating on QF metal.

Q. On a codeshare flight it looks like I get less Qantas points and Status points. True?

All QFF points should be the same as for a flight operated on QF metal, if the flight has a QF number.

Q. Does the booking class have a big impact on the likelihood of an upgrade?
i.e. is it better to buy Saver or Flex.

In general, the more you pay for your ticket, the better chance you will have of an upgrade. In my experience upgrades from Saver fares are very hard to come by.

If you were me basically, what class of ticket would you buy?

I would be doing some research on how likely it is that an upgrade would be possible during the times you intend to fly and on the routes you intend to fly, before spending more than I need to on a ticket.

 

[robolb]

As far as I am aware you can't get a QFF points upgrade on any flight not operating on QF metal.

I can assure you I did. April 2015. Syd-Dubai.

I would be doing some research on how likely it is that an upgrade would be possible during the times you intend to fly and on the routes you intend to fly, before spending more than I need to on a ticket.

How would you do that? Call Qantas?

Many Thanks

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

If upgrades are of the most importance to you, you fly QF via SIN to LHR, $$$, as a PS, or if you get to SG by then, and have a haul of QFF points, your chances of upgrading with points, flying QF as PS/SG, is much higher than a NB.
From LHR, you can get a cheap tix to CDG.
QF81 still flies from SYD to SIN direct, and from there, you can get the A380 onto LHR.
There is a low percentage chance, you might get an upgrade with a QF ticket but an EK plane, but you can never know too far in advance... op upgrade, or for some reason, they (EK) feel you might meet some "criteria".
If upgrades are of a second consideration, and you want to feel the EK service, in flight, then book with the EK flight with a QF flight number, and sit in Y but still earn full QFF points and QF SC as if flying a QF aircraft, depending on the fare you bought.
I have flown QF's 330 PER - SIN return when it still flew that route on the 330, and also EK's plane to NZ, in Y, 330 is ok, but if you somehow got J/subclass of J, EK's the one to go for.

 

[robolb]

If upgrades are of the most importance to you, you fly QF via SIN to LHR, $$$, as a PS, or if you get to SG by then, and have a haul of QFF points, your chances of upgrading with points, flying QF as PS/SG, is much higher than a NB.
From LHR, you can get a cheap tix to CDG.
QF81 still flies from SYD to SIN direct, and from there, you can get the A380 onto LHR.
There is a low percentage chance, you might get an upgrade with a QF ticket but an EK plane, but you can never know too far in advance... op upgrade, or for some reason, they (EK) feel you might meet some "criteria".
If upgrades are of a second consideration, and you want to feel the EK service, in flight, then book with the EK flight with a QF flight number, and sit in Y but still earn full QFF points and QF SC as if flying a QF aircraft, depending on the fare you bought.
I have flown QF's 330 PER - SIN return when it still flew that route on the 330, and also EK's plane to NZ, in Y, 330 is ok, but if you somehow got J/subclass of J, EK's the one to go for.

Sorry. PS, SG, NB?

 

[defurax]

I did get a points upgrade on an Emirates flight Sydney-Dubai in 2015.

QF points upgrade have never been available on EK metal (https://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-emirates-no-plans-for-points-upgrades-between-airlines).
You should look at your QFF activity statements from 2015. If you received an upgrade it was an operational upgrade, not a points upgrade.

 

[kermatu]

Sorry. PS, SG, NB?

Shorthand for status levels. Silver, gold, bronze in the above ordering. Though obviously gold is higher.

 

[love_the_life]

This thread might help though I see it is up to 23 pages now and some of the abbreviations have probably fallen out of use now:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ions/abbreviations-and-explanations-5056.html

 

[robolb]

QF points upgrade have never been available on EK metal (https://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-emirates-no-plans-for-points-upgrades-between-airlines).
You should look at your QFF activity statements from 2015. If you received an upgrade it was an operational upgrade, not a points upgrade.

Must have been then. Went to check but statements don't go back that far.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

You can contact QFF and they can email copies of your past statement.
There might be a "penalty"/usage of points for it, but it will show definitely what the seating in subclass of J was about.

 

[defurax]

You can contact QFF and they can email copies of your past statement.
There might be a "penalty"/usage of points for it, but it will show definitely what the seating in subclass of J was about.

The simplest way to access previous statements online is to bring up the statement for the month you are interested in and then manually change the year in the address bar of the browser (I.e. change Apr17 to Apr09)

 

[robolb]

The simplest way to access previous statements online is to bring up the statement for the month you are interested in and then manually change the year in the address bar of the browser (I.e. change Apr17 to Apr09)

They must have changed something. The month and year don't appear in the address bar.......
Even tried 3 different browsers.

 

[kitkatff]

When flying to Dubai try to go midweek, more chances to upgrade at that time as a few less business people in business class. Unless you go to london, your flights to/from dubai are the only ones where you'll have a chance for an upgrade, and only if flying on QF metal - it won't happen if you fly a QF ticket on an emirates flight, as far as I know. That can be tricky when booking, check the details of the flights.

To CDG if you want a guaranteed better experience, rather than a chance at an upgrade, you could try either buying a premium economy ticket on QF, so you'd have the Australia-dubai-australia segments more comfortable (Emirates doesn't have premium eco), or have a look at Japan airlines, their premium economy product is not bad at all by all accounts, and can be had to Paris return around $3,000. I was just looking at premium eco fares for 3 in December/January and being flexible with dates I could get MEL/SYD-HND/NRT-CDG and return for $9.5K for 3 adults. Way better deal than Qantas premium eco and you still get QF status and points (though less on AU-JP as QF does fly there too). You may have to spend a night in Tokyo depending on flights and if you have to change airport (depends on routing chosen), but there are worse places to do that

If you want business class all the way regardless of QF status/points, look at Vietnam airlines, last I checked MEL-CDG was a bit above $4K in business, which may be cheaper than QF's premium eco. A bit of a long layover in vietnam, and in some routes a change of airport via a domestic flight. They're either using Air Vietnam or Air France planes on the segment to Paris. But I always thought if I did that I'd take a few days off in Vietnam at the same time. Needs a visa though, so check that out first.

 

[robolb]

When flying to Dubai try to go midweek, more chances to upgrade at that time as a few less business people in business class. Unless you go to london, your flights to/from dubai are the only ones where you'll have a chance for an upgrade, and only if flying on QF metal - it won't happen if you fly a QF ticket on an emirates flight, as far as I know. That can be tricky when booking, check the details of the flights.

To CDG if you want a guaranteed better experience, rather than a chance at an upgrade, you could try either buying a premium economy ticket on QF, so you'd have the Australia-dubai-australia segments more comfortable (Emirates doesn't have premium eco), or have a look at Japan airlines, their premium economy product is not bad at all by all accounts, and can be had to Paris return around $3,000. I was just looking at premium eco fares for 3 in December/January and being flexible with dates I could get MEL/SYD-HND/NRT-CDG and return for $9.5K for 3 adults. Way better deal than Qantas premium eco and you still get QF status and points (though less on AU-JP as QF does fly there too). You may have to spend a night in Tokyo depending on flights and if you have to change airport (depends on routing chosen), but there are worse places to do that

If you want business class all the way regardless of QF status/points, look at Vietnam airlines, last I checked MEL-CDG was a bit above $4K in business, which may be cheaper than QF's premium eco. A bit of a long layover in vietnam, and in some routes a change of airport via a domestic flight. They're either using Air Vietnam or Air France planes on the segment to Paris. But I always thought if I did that I'd take a few days off in Vietnam at the same time. Needs a visa though, so check that out first.

Many thanks. Though my understanding is QF Don't use QF metal via Dubai anymore, only via Singapore.

As I need the status points to get to LG As well as an upgrade chance), I'll probably go QF Via Singapore. Midweek is a good idea.

 

[Himeno]

Many thanks. Though my understanding is QF Don't use QF metal via Dubai anymore, only via Singapore.

As I need the status points to get to LG As well as an upgrade chance), I'll probably go QF Via Singapore. Midweek is a good idea.

That's from March 25 next year. Assuming the ACCC approves a 5 year extension to the QF/EK deal (If they don't, something may change).
QF1/2, A380 SYD-SIN-LHR
QF9/10, 787 MEL-PER-LHR

 

[kitkatff]

I think Robolb mentioned he'll be flying in April, so he should be fine for SIN.

 

[Himeno]

The simplest way to access previous statements online is to bring up the statement for the month you are interested in and then manually change the year in the address bar of the browser (I.e. change Apr17 to Apr09)

They must have changed something. The month and year don't appear in the address bar.......
Even tried 3 different browsers.

It looks like they changed something.

On the activity page, using the month selection drop down or the prev transactions button adds "/yourActivity?monthChoice=Sep16&sortMethod=sortByDate&displayAction=month&statementEarliestDate=16Mar17&statementLatestDate=03Sep17" to the url.
You used to be able to manually alter the dates in the address to whatever you wanted. I've gone back years before doing that.

Doing that now just redirects to the 13 month ago list and using the prev button brings up a "You may not request a period more than 13 months in the past." message

 

[defurax]

It looks like they changed something.

On the activity page, using the month selection drop down or the prev transactions button adds "/yourActivity?monthChoice=Sep16&sortMethod=sortByDate&displayAction=month&statementEarliestDate=16Mar17&statementLatestDate=03Sep17" to the url.
You used to be able to manually alter the dates in the address to whatever you wanted. I've gone back years before doing that.

Doing that now just redirects to the 13 month ago list and using the prev button brings up a "You may not request a period more than 13 months in the past." message

I know this is very OT, but I just looked at my September 2014 activity after initially selecting September 2016. I simply changed the first occurence of the year in the address (I'm using Chrome).
https://www.qantas.com/fflyer/do/dyns/auth/youractivity/yourActivity?monthChoice=Sep14&sortMethod=sortByDate&displayAction....