To AA or QF - the big question

Steal the candy or bank for Lifetime Gold?


  • Total voters
    18
Status
Not open for further replies.

duffshot

Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2005
Posts
121
OK here is the dillemma (I have posted before on this but still need convincing) and I need advice team.

Current QFF status is as follows:

QF WP
LT Silver
Status reassessment occurs 30 NOV 2006
Already have 2185 in the bank this year so have WP for next year and partner gold (Almost useless to me but hey)

8920 lifetime status credits

Only real target remaining for me with QFF is LTG. It's attractive to me because I don't expect to maintain the earn rates I have now forever.

Currently 2 yrs into a job which requires random amounts of international J and lots of domestic Y. Last QFF year I did 4765 SCs and could almost get there again this year, but it just as likely to drop back to barely enough to maintain WP - hard to tell!

Anyway dillemma is whether to jump ship to AA for the rest of the year or try and get as close as possible as quickly as possible to LTG. AA upgrades are not very attractive to me as most travel I do on AA is 2 class in F (J). Obviously the earn and burn rate is attractive but I still can't bring myself to squander my SC opportunities on anything other than getting to LTG.

Off on a DONE4 next week BNE-LAX-ORD-YUL-LHR-SIN-BNE (might even turn into BNE-LAX-SAT-DFW-YUL-LHR-SIN-BNE if I could find some D seats to suit an earlier departure out of BNE on Jun 18!).

OK so give me your opinions with backup - do some candy stealing on the DONE4 or bank to LTG.
 
Stealing the candy is the way forward I would suggest

The miles earned on AA will have a much higher value than on QF , much more so than using them as a way towards Lifetime Gold.

Based on current itinery you will attain Platinum on your first flight and so earn platinum bonuses the whole way

The mileage earned would be 53713 and the upgrade credits earned would boost that to 57713 . For redemption value 35k is a r/t J flight to anywhere in oz/nz with no fuel fines and , saving up, you are almost 1/5 way to a J r/t to Europe ( 120K needed ). Compare that against the value that points credited to QF would give

If you do 2 DONEs a year, then you can also get EXP status and get the 8 eVIPs which you may well be able to convert to something useful on FTs coupon connection. The eVIPs do have a few hundred USD value to them each

Also, if you want to do award travel to USA, using AA points you will be charged a lot lower ( e.g. flying to ORD on a J award with QF and you will languish in economy from LAX-ORD whilst on the AA equivalent, you will be able to travel 1st )

Dave
 
Do you have a need to burn many points in the next year or two? From my limited knowledge of the challenge, this is the only big advantage to you at the moment, points earning.

For me, I would go for LTG, as it has long term benefits, no matter what I did, I would have good status in the future. Who knows what is around the corner....
 
jasonja3 said:
Do you have a need to burn many points in the next year or two? From my limited knowledge of the challenge, this is the only big advantage to you at the moment, points earning.

For me, I would go for LTG, as it has long term benefits, no matter what I did, I would have good status in the future. Who knows what is around the corner....

Conversely I would say that if permanent lounge acess is desired, there would be better value in accruing to AA and if necessary , purchase a QF Club membership. The value of miles earned in accruing 6000SCs is likely to be extremely significant

Dave
 
As permanent as my Ansett lounge membership was anyway....

It is another point to consider though. QF will always be around but what about AA? Unlikely to go but someone has to in the LOTFAP eventually.
 
duffshot said:
As permanent as my Ansett lounge membership was anyway....

It is another point to consider though. QF will always be around but what about AA? Unlikely to go but someone has to in the LOTFAP eventually.

Qantas being around for ever is a rash assumption and I wouldn't expect AA to be disappearing anytime soon, they are not one of the most poorly carriers there

Dave
 
i am in almost the identical position as you duffshot ...8940 sc's in the past 3 years. by the end of june i will have requalified for WP and my year started on 30 April 2006.

i do heaps of travel to the LOTFAP (once per month in 2006) and have decided to keep plugging away to LTG. i know that my travel to the LOTFAP is not going to last and may turn the other way from Australia (ie europe) more often that it does presently in the future.

i guess it depends on what you will be doing in the future. if doing lots of travel in the US or on AA then perhaps it would be worth it.

i am in the fortunate position of always having someone (client) paying for my airfares so i usually get straight up return fares which cost a bundle and yet still get me the SC's cause i do so many of them

i have chosen to stick to getting LTG ... if for no other reason than cause i reckon i can get it by 2008.
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Was not gunna vote but after reading the threads, if I was in your shoes duffshot, I would go for QF LTG as well as getting the points on AA.

Have a look at a few recent posts on FT by number_6.... thre seems to be a method of having it each way!

BTW I voted for LTG :cool: (specifically to your situation)
 
Likewise. There are definite advantages for very frequent flyers to racking up on multiple FFPs.
 
Dave Noble said:
Qantas being around for ever is a rash assumption and I wouldn't expect AA to be disappearing anytime soon, they are not one of the most poorly carriers there

Dave

Hi Dave,

Sorry for the newbie question, what do 'DONe(s)' and 'LOTFAP' stand for? :confused:

Thanks

BL
 
DONEx is the fare code for the business class One World Explorer Around the World ticket

LOTFAP = USA ( Land of the Free and Paranoid)

Dave
 
Dave Noble said:
DONEx is the fare code for the business class One World Explorer Around the World ticket

LOTFAP = USA ( Land of the Free and Paranoid)

Dave

The x in DONEx refers to how many continents visited (or transitted).
LONEx is in economy and AONEx is in first.
 
Big Question, Short Answer. I voted for LTG. Couple of reasons.
I'm young and can see a long term benefit to LTG, especially if I don't travel for several years (argh) and otherwise would fall to NB.
I know that you are going to miss out on alot of "value" if the points are sent to QF, however you seem to be earning them quickly. If you earn them fast enough (and not have too much time for personal trips) you may not have burnt the QF points by the time you have reached LTG and earnt enough on AA for an award. This IMHO would make the loss of value less of an inconvience.

Mal.
 
serfty said:
Have a look at a few recent posts on FT by number_6.... thre seems to be a method of having it each way!

Serfty - can you be more specific? number_6 is a prolific poster and I couldn't find the posts. PM me if you prefer.
 
duffshot said:
Serfty - can you be more specific? number_6 is a prolific poster and I couldn't find the posts. PM me if you prefer.
I don't proclaim to be an expert in these things but for me, LTG would be the way to go to assure free lounge entry into the future when you may be travelling less. I don't particularly want get on any more planes than I currently do (and that's as SG) so crediting points in AA to get better burn rates is not really what I want.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Enhance your AFF viewing experience!!

From just $6 we'll remove all advertisements so that you can enjoy a cleaner and uninterupted viewing experience.

And you'll be supporting us so that we can continue to provide this valuable resource :)


Sample AFF with no advertisements? More..
Back
Top