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Feel free to suggest an article to AFF Editors where they compare the best program for people do the majority of their flying outside of Australia. You might be waiting a while though. I would guess it isn't high on the list due to ... a lack of readership.

Why would you, as an overseas based member who earns the majority of their status overseas on flights not touching Australia, be considering the cost of acquiring status on an Australian airline that is not part of an international alliance that does not fly international (apart from a few...

I'm not sure why you cannot comprehend that there's no point doing a head to head comparison if there's no comparison. Who makes the best hybrid SUV? Qantas v Toyota lol

And why would you even consider pursuing status with VA if you do not live in Australia? It doesn't want you as a member — it is telling you that by having a 50% VA SC requirement! QF is happy to have overseas members — it has US credit card transfer partners, is part of an international...

The point is very simple. VA has no interest in overseas based members. They do not want you. Why would you do a head to head comparison between two companies in a segment where one company expressly avoids that segment?

Why would a Qantas v Virgin comparison include 'overseas based users of AFF' when one of the programs does not even allow non-residents to join (excluding NZ and a handful of Pacific countries)? Virgin is not the program for you — they literally prohibit you from signing up! Very bizarre. If...

Don't need to. Simply read the forum. Status runs in the US are a rare sight these days, especially with the high price of travel there and the weak Australian dollar. It is a stark contrast to the late 2000s when the forum was awash with YUPP runs and the Australian dollar was strong.

For those 'who gets a majority of their status flying on overseas partners, not to/from Australia (ie, AA domestic)', unlikely even for AFF. Not sure I follow the point of your post, but I do agree Qantas is great for anyone who is remotely savvy. I acquire WP for a fraction of your cost.

They cover that in the very last paragraph in the article. And I'm not sure it is feasible to make a category for every single configuration of traveller. There was also no category for someone who gets their status from classic award seats, for example.

Depends on the card issuer. Chase & Amex tend to charge a hidden spread in the ballpark of 0.5-1% on foreign transactions.

No forex fees on most US cards. US cards award sign-up bonuses that an Australian card user could only dream of.

Really interesting analysis. This will certainly be a tough pill to swallow for those in the Virgin status thread who think people are now going to leave Virgin en masse. The other thing this analysis really shows is why airlines love status: the non-gamer is paying tens of thousands of...

I totally get you. Two additional thoughts: 1. The only reliable way to get award flights to the US is to have QF Platinum and request award seat releases. Is it possible that you can devote some time/energy to working out if that can be attained for cheap? 2. Business class return cash fares...

What will you do if there's no award availability on the route? Currently, United is only releasing 'saver-level' award availability to its own card holders and elites. Qantas sometimes releases a little to LAX, but generally it is Platinum request only on routes to the US. American releases...

You can also think about spending on a card that gives you a spend bonus (eg a Hilton/Hyatt card that gives you a free night award after $X spend).

I think the first part of the project is possible (working out the optimal card portfolio given a certain spend profile), but I do think the second part (working out which gives the best points strategy on a particular route) is not. The main reason is that a lot of award availability is...

There's plenty of signs that they're struggling with retention of status members atm: multiple DSCs, handing out completely free SCs as a 'thank you for your loyalty', the ability to earn SCs on the ground promotion.

20% bonus on Citi TYP to Qantas through Nov 9.

Number of passengers only works for certain airlines, I believe.

You're probably searching for 2+ pax. The availability is there. Just for 1 pax.