Starting Again...

[Bajar]

Hi AFF family,

Well - thanks to the economy and shrinking work opportunities, come next month I will see my Qantas FF status reduced down to Bronze for the first time since 2011 .

Seeing as flying Qantas won't carry the usual perks of lounge access and the like, I am taking stock of my memberships and looking to develop a travel strategy for the next 12 months once the anniversary dates rolls by. On the horizon I have at least two return trips to SEAsia and five return domestic trips (Melbourne & Sydney being the destinations) booked in as well, all ex. Canberra.

Currently I have memberships with Qantas, Virgin, Etihad, Singapore and American with only Qantas being above the base level. My question is - which memberships give the most bang for their buck for my travel plans? Do I have much of a chance of getting above the basic level with any of these airlines, or am I best just hunting price?

Thanks for your time and thoughts, I truly appreciate it!

 

[Dr Ralph]

The answer to your question depends on who you intend to fly with for your planned trips. Concentrating your flights with one carrier will offer the best rewards.

 

[UP4014]

Hi there, just seeing that you're based in Canberra makes me think I'd go for the home team there QF.

 

[Mattg]

As you're based in Canberra and do a fair bit of domestic travel, I would probably choose either Qantas or Virgin - and on balance, between QF and VA I'd probably stick with Qantas.

American did have a pretty good program, however this has recently been devalued to make it harder to earn status, and they've increased the number of points required for a redemption (although they are still pretty low, and there are no fuel surcharges). They've also recently removed the minimum mileage guarantee on Qantas flights, meaning points earn for domestic flights will reduce significantly.

Singapore KrisFlyer could be worthwhile though if you plan to use Singapore Airlines on your South-East Asian flights. Considering they also fly to Canberra now, it's not a bad way to get to Asia from your home city. And you can earn/redeem points with VA domestically (as well as on Singapore Airlines itself, and any other Star Alliance airline).

 

[Bajar]

Singapore KrisFlyer could be worthwhile though if you plan to use Singapore Airlines on your South-East Asian flights. Considering they also fly to Canberra now, it's not a bad way to get to Asia from your home city. And you can earn/redeem points with VA domestically (as well as on Singapore Airlines itself, and any other Star Alliance airline).

Yeah, it was the Singapore/Virgin thing that makes them appealing. Do you know if it is possible to redeem Velocity points with SA?

 

[Mattg]

Yeah, it was the Singapore/Virgin thing that makes them appealing. Do you know if it is possible to redeem Velocity points with SA?

Yes, it is possible to redeem Velocity points for Singapore Airlines flights - just not for First class on the A380 or 777-300ER. You can however convert the Velocity points to KrisFlyer and then redeem on any available Singapore flight/product.