Young flyer with various questions (Melbourne - Honolulu Promotion)

[Mattg]

So your saying there's no chance I can get a upgrade opportunity because it's a sale fare?

There's no chance to do a classic upgrade with points. Your only chance will be if you're offered a Bid Now upgrade 2 weeks out.

 

[mlob]

has anyone here actually been able to nab a Classic award Business class seat to Honolulu? have been following the availability as they have been released and currently seeing only economy availability. Star class then coming online some weeks later.

 

[AlexanderWalker]

has anyone here actually been able to nab a Classic award Business class seat to Honolulu? have been following the availability as they have been released and currently seeing only economy availability. Star class then coming online some weeks later.

How do you follow the availability? Just online search or is it best to call Qantas for grabbing classic award seats?

 

[greenfish]

Online search, or use a pay for service such as Expertflyer with email alerts etc

 

[Capricornus]

Alexander, regarding your use of the qantas lounge pass, there is a 'trick' I once tried which worked and could work for you. If you arrive early enough in MEL for checkin and ask nicely, they just might put you on an earlier domestic flight to SYD meaning more time in SYD international business lounge. Depending on the time of your flight there usually some spare seats on the domestic leg and Qantas generally wouldn't care which flight you take as long as you're already at the airport. If it doesn't work out you can still use the pass in MEL QP.

As for your use of points my advise would be to hold offs until you accumulate large enough balance for a decent upgrade. I seriously started points hunting only after getting an op-up by Emirates. So be warned - once you try, there is no going back! but in many ways seeing your balance grow is a big incentive in itself. I blew a large portion on SYD-LHR-SYD PE>J upgrade and don't regret it. Btw it was on QF1 in July August last year, peak season, I was silver, so it is possible but I may have been lucky (both ways, two of us!).

 

[AlexanderWalker]

If you arrive early enough in MEL for checkin and ask nicely, they just might put you on an earlier domestic flight to SYD meaning more time in SYD international business lounge.

That's an great suggestion thank you. How early do you suggest, 2 hours? 3?

 

[AlexanderWalker]

I was reading up on some travel hacking blogs and I keep reading comments about Qantas like "they have one of the worst award charts in the world at least for premium cabin long haul travel."

With that being said what do you guys think of that statement? Granted it is from an a American's perspective and not a local.

So what are some better options we have for airlines here? Is it more beneficial staying loyal to a foreign airliner like AA or British Airways instead?

 

[Capricornus]

That's an great suggestion thank you. How early do you suggest, 2 hours? 3?

I would say with 3 hours you have more chances as flights leave every hour or sometimes every 30 minutes in peak. If there's no seats you can still kill the time at the Qantas club using the voucher in MEL. So kinda you're not gonna loose much.

 

[Mattg]

I was reading up on some travel hacking blogs and I keep reading comments about Qantas like "they have one of the worst award charts in the world at least for premium cabin long haul travel."

With that being said what do you guys think of that statement? Granted it is from an a American's perspective and not a local.

So what are some better options we have for airlines here? Is it more beneficial staying loyal to a foreign airliner like AA or British Airways instead?

Interesting comment. What reasons did they give for it being the worst? Worst value for your points? Too confusing? Not enough redemption options within the USA? (If it's from an American perspective a pinch of salt is sometimes necessary.)

For the record, I consider Air New Zealand's program to be one of the worst in the world - and the value of Qantas' program looks amazing in comparison.

 

[AlexanderWalker]

Here's the article and bellow is are some quotes I pulled from it.

"Qantas is the brand new addition this week. [talking about Citibank partner addition] At first brush it would seem like that would be great for travel to Australia. Except that they have one of the worst award charts in the world at least for premium cabin long haul travel. And they release very little award space.

Anything you can book on Qantas you can do at a better value using points from a different airline’s program. There’s a trick to it that you should know but it’s possible to book Qantas premium cabin seats at a real discount.
"Qantas is a useful program for folks who regularly fly the airline itself, to earn eltie status with Qantas and be able to use their miles for upgrades. If you aren’t earning elite status with Qantas it’s almost always better to accrue miles in another program. And if you want Qantas flights it’s almost always better to redeem them from another program’s miles."

In addition, I read a comment from someone suggesting alternative airlines I wanted to get your opinion on this Matt.

"it is often better to hold points in Cathay's Asia Miles or Singapore Airlines' Krisflyer, as these both offer better value, point for point, when redeeming for award flights. You need to use far more Qantas points to get the same flight. Since Cathay is a One World partner, you can use Asia Miles to book the same flight that you would with Qantas. You just redeem through Cathay."

"One of the best options in Oz is to have an Amex card that gives you Membership Rewards Points. These points are very flexible and can be converted into Asia Miles, Krisflyer, and a bunch of others. This gives you the option of choosing which airline to redeem your miles with depending on where you'll be travelling."

 

[Mattg]

Here's the article and bellow is are some quotes I pulled from it.

"Qantas is the brand new addition this week. [talking about Citibank partner addition] At first brush it would seem like that would be great for travel to Australia. Except that they have one of the worst award charts in the world at least for premium cabin long haul travel. And they release very little award space.

Anything you can book on Qantas you can do at a better value using points from a different airline’s program. There’s a trick to it that you should know but it’s possible to book Qantas premium cabin seats at a real discount.
"Qantas is a useful program for folks who regularly fly the airline itself, to earn eltie status with Qantas and be able to use their miles for upgrades. If you aren’t earning elite status with Qantas it’s almost always better to accrue miles in another program. And if you want Qantas flights it’s almost always better to redeem them from another program’s miles."

In addition, I read a comment from someone suggesting alternative airlines I wanted to get your opinion on this Matt.

"it is often better to hold points in Cathay's Asia Miles or Singapore Airlines' Krisflyer, as these both offer better value, point for point, when redeeming for award flights. You need to use far more Qantas points to get the same flight. Since Cathay is a One World partner, you can use Asia Miles to book the same flight that you would with Qantas. You just redeem through Cathay."

"One of the best options in Oz is to have an Amex card that gives you Membership Rewards Points. These points are very flexible and can be converted into Asia Miles, Krisflyer, and a bunch of others. This gives you the option of choosing which airline to redeem your miles with depending on where you'll be travelling."

I just read the article. I would agree with much of what it said, actually. It's true that Qantas's award costs are rather high, particularly when you take into account fuel surcharges. As is pointed out, it's usually better to use AA miles to book QF, however there are a few problems with that. Firstly, AA only has access to QF award seats 330 days out - which is fine for economy or domestic/trans-Tasman seats however the most highly sought-after seats (e.g. J or F international) will mostly be taken by this time. It's also quite difficult for an Australian to earn AA miles without flying. And for someone who flies Qantas regularly, Qantas points are the only ones that can be used to request upgrades on the airline. AA miles are useless for that. So, for someone who mostly flies QF, I do think it's better to stick with that. But AA and other programs do have their advantages.

One other thing to consider is that Qantas' oneworld awards are particularly excellent value and not available through programs like AAdvantage. I would never redeem 256,000 points to fly in J to New York or London anyway when I could fly around the world for 280,000 points!

 

[RichardMEL]

Agree too. The high points count (specially now that accural of points, CC's etc aside, is now more restricted on lower fares) plus the huge surcharges make QFF not great value for certain things. However for some in oz, it's the only useful thing (say you live at the end of a route only served by QF, or they provide the best options from your location - so not really PER and so on).

So true, you can compare a QF F seat MEL-LAX cost in points and charges vs an AA F award on the same flight etc. Yep, AA the better value, if they can get the inventory.

With those of us in oz, tied to a local program makes more sense specially for those chasing upgrade ops (not available currently from other programs, though the QF/LA upgrade deal seems to be opening the door slightly on that) and there just may be times where QF is more useful than another program.

Everyone finds value in different ways - what works for me may be ridiculous for you, or unthinkable for someone else. Each to their own.