which frequent flyer programme?

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pianoperson

Junior Member
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Aug 24, 2007
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Hi!
HELP??!!
I am relocating to New Z later this year and will be doing travelling back to the UK several times a year - mainly on RTW Oneworld tickets in F or J.
I need to realign my Frequent Flyer memberships.
Which is the best scheme to sign up to?
I plan to fly Cathay as much as possible but in US will mainly be on AA for obvious reasons.
Also any other tips for maximizing miles once I'm Down Under eg best credit cards etc
Look forward to some advice!
Thanks

Mark
 
Try AAdvantage since you're mainly in J/F. Very generous awards. No fuel surcharges will be imposed on awards either.

Plus since you mentioned that you'd actually be flying AA a fair bit, you can sign up for the Platinum Challenge which is a backdoor to AA Platinum/sapphire status. Earn 10 000 Qpoints in 3 months/90 days on AA flight numbers (including codeshares operated by partner airlines) and viola! PLT and EXP earn an additional 100% mileage bonus. :)

Your only downside would be the inability to fly BA US-UK (unless it's the AA codeshare on BA MAN-JFK), but you do get EVIP certs as an EXP which you can use for one class upgrades. Flying AA F has got to be nicer than BA J! BA flights to the Carribean, Canada and Mexico are eligible though if you don't mind a little detouring. ;)

Status wise - it'd be far easier to make oneworld emerald on QFF flying J/F, however after much soul searching this past year I've come to the conclusion that I was willing to wait longer for emerald status when AAdvantage miles are much better value. You'd need 100k Qmiles or Qpoints to make EXP, to put this into perspective that's approximately 66 666 flown miles in J/F or BA WTP or the higher Y buckets (100k Qpoints divided by 1.5 Qpt/flown mile).
 
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Just as an example I booked an AAward for mrssimongr SYD-DRW-SYD BUSINESS CLASS - 35K points and $46 taxes etc. On QF an economy award is 32K points and $133.

However the big kicker is how much you spend on CCs - if you spent a lot more proportionately on CCs than you fly (i.e. if you normally earn 200K on flights and 400K on CCs) then QF may work better for you.

How many NZ-UK flights are you thinking? You might able to get QF patinum and AA EXP ;)
 
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iI'd have to agree with previous posters about AAdvantage probably being the FF program of choice for you. Of course, there are always proviso's. simongr's final point is also attainable where you have 3 or more J or F paid RTW trips like you espoused.

The first two RTW's can be credited to AA in order to qualify for AA Executive Platinum (equivalent to QF Platinum and OW Emerald). As QF009 advised, the AA Platinum Challenge will be a great starter for you, to leapfrog to elite status. A must read is the Wikipedia page for how to achieve the AA Platinum Challenge. AA elite status will be handy for your international and internal USA flights on AA. Plus the earn ratios are good but the burn (redemption) point requirements are simply the best (as pointed out above by simongr).

Then the final RTW can be credited to QF Platinum (which is easier to achieve with only 1 RTW). Similar to AA, QF Plat status is handy for a range of benefits (lounge access in USA, F lounges in Australia, etc). Their earn ratio is alright, but the burn ratio is atrocious in comparison to AA.

Don't try to mix a RTW itinerary between FF programs, it will only get ugly and mis-post when you least need it to (just ask simongr).
 
And as another example - I just tried a bit of a dummy trip. I promised mrssimongr that as we aren't flying in F for the trip next year (RTW 24,500 miles in J for 300K miles total) I would take her away one weekend at short notice in F.

I jumped on the QF site today just see what you could get at short notice. Flying SYD-SIN in BA First on this thursday returning saturday on BA in First there is availability! Total points cost would be 360K points - more than my RTW trip! The points cost on AA would be 180K points - c'mon people do the math (as my American clleagues would say)!

I should have enough AA points for this very trip after SOB and CircleAsia Redux.
 
It really depends what you want from your FF program.I want RTW business awards.On paid flights I dont want to risk sitting down the back if an upgrade doesnt come through.So I have gone for AA because-Easier to get award.
-less points
-Less in fuel fines.
-and as I fly a few AA domestic legs means I get into first whether an award or a DONE ticket.On QF you get booked into coach.
Fortunately when younger I joined as a life member of the Qantas club so have admirals club access anyway.
 
simongr said:
I jumped on the QF site today just see what you could get at short notice. Flying SYD-SIN in BA First on this thursday returning saturday on BA in First there is availability! Total points cost would be 360K points - more than my RTW trip! The points cost on AA would be 180K points - c'mon people do the math (as my American clleagues would say)!
.

Don't forget the $400 ish Fuel fines on top of the extra 180,000 points charged by QF. Include that in the Arithmetic ( doesn't seem much mathematical about it, seems simple arithmetic )

Dave
 
Hi folks,

Can the Qantas FF points accrued be used on American Airlines (AAdvantage) flights between Melbourne and (say) Los Angeles?
Thank you for your replies...
 
BARNABY said:
Hi folks,

Can the Qantas FF points accrued be used on American Airlines (AAdvantage) flights between Melbourne and (say) Los Angeles?
Thank you for your replies...

Umm... AA doesn't fly between MEL and LAX ( other than as a codeshare ) .. Both AA and QF miles can be used on the QF flights for award flights on that route though

Dave
 
Dave Noble said:
Umm... AA doesn't fly between MEL and LAX ( other than as a codeshare ) .. Both AA and QF miles can be used on the QF flights for award flights on that route though

Dave
But only QF FF points can be used to upgrade on that route since its operated by QF.
 
simongr said:
I should have enough AA points for this very trip after SOB and CircleAsia Redux.
Horses for courses.

Most people do earn not earn FF points as quickly as you do. And the majority of these people would not waste FF points on J/F awards regardless of whether or not $400 fuel surcharges were levied on the award.

For most people having top tier status with the airline they fly most is more important.
 
JohnK said:
And the majority of these people would not waste FF points on J/F awards regardless of whether or not $400 fuel surcharges were levied on the award.

Very interesting comment, and I hope you're just speaking for yourself there. I'm not quite sure 'the majority of...people' would think the same way when they realise that it costs almost as much burning QFF points on Y awards as it does with burning AAdvantage miles on J/F awards.
 
QF009 said:
Very interesting comment, and I hope you're just speaking for yourself there.
No, I wasn't just speaking for myself.

Most people do not earn FF points as quickly as some people on this site. Fact? More than likely.

Now as a subset of the above mentioned people, the majority of people, ie those who do not earn FF points quickly enough, would not waste their points on J/F awards. Speculation? Yes. Fact? More than likely.

You don't believe me? Then do what I do and speak to people who only earn 10,000 FF points or 20,000 FF points a year, or some even less, and ask them where they spend their FF points when they do have enough. I can almost guarantee you that it is not on a J award and most certainly not an F award.
 
In that case john lets assume that people don't want to waste points on a J/F award flight and they are happy to fly RTW in whY (quite flying in luxury is so abhorrent to most people I dont know - people seem to waste money on BMWs, hyped up japanese cars, designer clothes, tiffany jewellery - but let's assume that they dont want to fly in F/J).

Doing a quick and dirty test on syd-lax-jfk-fra-hkg-syd. That is a 24,116 mile journey and would cost 140K miles on QF as a OW award + fuel surcharges. On AA that would be 120k miles with no fuel surcharges. So given that most people earn miles at a lesser rate than I do - they should aim for lower cost awards surely?

Similarly if the person in question was a QF SG and could be a AA Plat then they would earn at a higher rate.

I just do not understand your pathological dislike for recommending the AA program to people. It workls for me. If you look through my posts on this subject I always advise people to consider their own circumstances and what they want from the program. People often ask "which program can I get to OWE fastest?" without an indication of travel profile, CC spend and what they actually want from the program.

Personally - I would think that for a lot of low mileage QFFers they might actually be seeking J awatds - the chance to tarvel in luxury when they don't normally.

I am still personally undecided about which program is the long term program for me - a lot will change potentially with any job changes for me next year - I will do an objective comparison when I know that my travel patterns will be and make a decision based on my own wants.

I aslo fundamentally disagree about the status being a driver. For the massive majority of flyers status is irrelevant - if it was relevant then LCCs would be out of business. Very few of my colleagues who travel are really aware of what the status levels are - they just want a comfy seat in J and the chance for a little trip using points when they can...
 
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JohnK said:
You don't believe me? Then do what I do and speak to people who only earn 10,000 FF points or 20,000 FF points a year, or some even less, and ask them where they spend their FF points when they do have enough. I can almost guarantee you that it is not on a J award and most certainly not an F award.

There is a massive gap between people earning 10-20k a year and those earning 500K a year. I am personally making recommendations to the group in the middle or maybe a little lower than the middle. Frankly if you are earning 10-20K in FF points a year then you are better off flying on the cheapest ticket that you can and using any money you save for other flights.
 
simongr said:
I just do not understand your pathological dislike for recommending the AA program to people. It workls for me. If you look through my posts on this subject I always advise people to consider their own circumstances and what they want from the program. People often ask "which program can I get to OWE fastest?" without an indication of travel profile, CC spend and what they actually want from the program.
Spot on. And I do not understand why the debate was even commenced in a thread where it is very clear that the OP has outlined his/her travel profile and very obviously does not fit into the class of flyers defined by JohnK.

Most of the time I do qualify my advice with disclaimers that such advice is general and dependent on specific travel profiles. And in the case of the OP, it is clear that s/he has a travel profile that best fits the AAdvantage program. Personally I rack up miles slower than the OP but if the program works so well for a mid-level flyer like me, I daresay it'd work EVEN better for the OP. Like you said it yourself JohnK, horses for courses. ;)
 
simongr said:
Doing a quick and dirty test on syd-lax-jfk-fra-hkg-syd. That is a 24,116 mile journey and would cost 140K miles on QF as a OW award + fuel surcharges. On AA that would be 120k miles with no fuel surcharges. So given that most people earn miles at a lesser rate than I do - they should aim for lower cost awards surely?
And don't forget that the same itinerary in business class would be 150K AA miles, which is only slightly more then the QF economy class award.
 
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