If you’re relatively new to the Australian Frequent Flyer (AFF) forum, you may have noticed that our members tend to use a few different abbreviations and acronyms in their posts.
This is not designed to make the forum difficult to understand. After all, we want as many people as possible to learn and benefit from AFF!
The main reason for the use of abbreviations is that they are a lot faster to write and read. For example, it’s faster to write “MEL” than “Melbourne Tullamarine Airport”. Some long-standing members may also simply use abbreviations out of habit.
We appreciate that some of these abbreviations and acronyms may be a bit confusing for new AFF members. So, to help you get started, here is a glossary of some of the most commonly-used abbreviations on our forum:
Classes of travel
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Y | Economy Class |
| PE, W or Y+ | Premium Economy Class |
| J | Business Class |
| F | First Class |
Airline status tiers
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| NB | Bronze status (Qantas) |
| PS | Silver status (Qantas/Virgin) |
| SG | Gold status (Qantas/Virgin) |
| WP | Platinum status (Qantas/Virgin) |
| P1 (or WP1) | Platinum One status (Qantas) |
| OWE | Oneworld Emerald status |
| *G | Star Alliance Gold status |
You can read about the history of the acronyms used on AFF to describe Qantas & Virgin status tiers here.
Airport lounges
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| QP (QC) | Qantas Pub (meaning: Qantas Club) |
| J Lounge | Business Class Lounge |
| F Lounge | First Class Lounge |
Common acronyms
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| RTW | Round The World |
| SC | Status credit |
| DSC | Double Status Credits (a semi-regular promotion) |
| QFF | Qantas Frequent Flyer |
| VFF | Velocity Frequent Flyer |
| IFE | In-Flight Entertainment |
| ATC | Air Traffic Control |
| OLCI | Online Check-in |
| OP | Original Poster (the person who started this thread) |
| HUACA | Hang Up And Call Again (a common airline call centre strategy) |
| FWIW | For what it’s worth… |
| IIRC | If I recall correctly… |
| AFAIK | As far as I know… |
Airline and airport codes
When referring to airlines and airports, AFF members will often use their designated IATA (International Air Transport Association) codes. These are two letter codes for airlines such as “QF” for Qantas, “VA” for Virgin Australia, “SQ” for Singapore Airlines or “QR” for Qatar Airways.
Standard IATA airport codes have three letters, such as “SYD” for Sydney, “BNE” for Brisbane, “AKL” for Auckland or “LHR” for London Heathrow.
Please see our guide to IATA airport and airline codes for the most common ones.
The use of abbreviations on the forum
We understand that many AFF members prefer to use abbreviations when posting on the forum. But please try to be mindful that some people may not be able to understand what you’re writing, particularly if you’re responding to a new member.
BTW (or “by the way”), if you’re a new AFF member and you have a question about Qantas or Virgin Australia – but you don’t know where to start – feel free to post in our dedicated newbie threads 🙂
The list of acronyms in this article is not exhaustive. The closest thing we have to an exhaustive list of AFF abbreviations can be found here.
