A couple of questions from an AAdvantage newbie

[zarzuela]

Hello!
Has anyone cancelled award bookings through the Australian call centre?
I understand that there is a USD $150 miles reinstatement fee, but will I have to pay the usual $80 AUD "service fee" from the Aussie call centre?
Thanks guys.

 

[Danger]

Hello!
Has anyone cancelled award bookings through the Australian call centre?
I understand that there is a USD $150 miles reinstatement fee, but will I have to pay the usual $80 AUD "service fee" from the Aussie call centre?
Thanks guys.

You shouldn't have to pay the $80 service fee but you will have to pay the $150 reinstatement fee, unless you are AA EXP.

 

[Doggy]

Hi all, calling on the experience of the masses here. I've booked a trip to Sth America in Feb and I've crunched the #s and found that I would pass the Platinum challenge if I opted in and paid the $240 fee. The question for me is, is it worth it? Factors for me are:

- This trip will get me AA Gold anyway (which is probably mostly useless)
- I'm currently PS with QF (crediting this trip would still leave me ~120 SC off SG)
- During the time I would have AA Plat, I will travel to India (all in J with CX), and to Europe for my honeymoon (which I'm planning to use miles on for J/F redemption). Outside of that will be domestic trips (usually SYD-MEL) every month or two
- I won't pass the Plat challenge until my 2nd last flight of this trip (ie. I'll only be able to utilise it for lounge access for one flight)

So my concerns with getting AA Plat are that:
- I won't get many chances to use it for lounge access
- I don't plan to visit the US for a while after that so I won't be able to try for upgrades

The advantage would be:
- A few times I could use it for lounge access
- Extra mile earn (I want to credit most of my travel to AA from here on - much better redemption value than QF)

Are there other advantages I'm not taking into account? Some AFF wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
d

 

[knasty]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

For me it's always been a no brainer as I have had a couple of longhauls subsequent to completing the challenge and the 100% mileage bonus has made it worthwhile let alone the other benefits.

 

[wandering_fred]

AA Gold is not totally useless as it will get you one bag free on AA/US domestically.
Any USA domestic flights in you trip? Not combined with the South America PNR? Converting one or more of those (which you will take anyway) to First will certainly boost the QF SC totals - two perhaps would be enough to see QF SG?

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[Doggy]

AA Gold is not totally useless as it will get you one bag free on AA/US domestically.
Any USA domestic flights in you trip? Not combined with the South America PNR? Converting one or more of those (which you will take anyway) to First will certainly boost the QF SC totals - two perhaps would be enough to see QF SG?

Happy wandering

Fred

Thanks for the reply guys. The internal US flights are both part of a PNR to and from LIM, so baggage comes as standard. Regardless, I wouldn't actually achieve the Plat challenge until the last segment of the return to LAX, so it's moot. Also, there are two F/J segments as part of the trip. Got them for a bargain.

120 SC is a little much to try a SC run for IMO - it would be cheaper to just pay for the challenge no? Besides, I'm loathe to credit many (if any) flights to QF these days given the horrible value of QFFP when you consider redemption taxes. I'm pretty much convinved that the only flights worth crediting to QF are Red e-deals.

100% mileage bonus hey? Wasn't aware of that. Pretty generous, that might tip the scales for me.

 

[hossein_au]

Hi all, calling on the experience of the masses here. I've booked a trip to Sth America in Feb and I've crunched the #s and found that I would pass the Platinum challenge if I opted in and paid the $240 fee. The question for me is, is it worth it? Factors for me are:

- This trip will get me AA Gold anyway (which is probably mostly useless)
- I'm currently PS with QF (crediting this trip would still leave me ~120 SC off SG)
- During the time I would have AA Plat, I will travel to India (all in J with CX), and to Europe for my honeymoon (which I'm planning to use miles on for J/F redemption). Outside of that will be domestic trips (usually SYD-MEL) every month or two
- I won't pass the Plat challenge until my 2nd last flight of this trip (ie. I'll only be able to utilise it for lounge access for one flight)

So my concerns with getting AA Plat are that:
- I won't get many chances to use it for lounge access
- I don't plan to visit the US for a while after that so I won't be able to try for upgrades

The advantage would be:
- A few times I could use it for lounge access
- Extra mile earn (I want to credit most of my travel to AA from here on - much better redemption value than QF)

Are there other advantages I'm not taking into account? Some AFF wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
d

Excuse my ignorance (I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong), but wouldn't AA gives you some form of status WHILE you're doing the challenge?

 

[knasty]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

They give you gold immediately upon registration for the challenge. So you get 25% mileage bonus from day 1

 

[Doggy]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

They give you gold immediately upon registration for the challenge. So you get 25% mileage bonus from day 1

Do you have a source for that? I know the USDM trial preferred works that way, however I read at One Mile at a Time that the AA Plat Challenge is not that way. Source below:

It’s worth noting that you don’t get the status upfront, unlike with US Airways. You only receive the status you’re “challenging” for upon completion of the challenge.

American AAdvantage Status Challenges & Matches - One Mile at a Time

 

[knasty]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Do you have a source for that? I know the USDM trial preferred works that way, however I read at One Mile at a Time that the AA Plat Challenge is not that way. Source below:

American AAdvantage Status Challenges & Matches - One Mile at a Time

I did it in March, and did the previous one in 2011 I think. On both occasions I was given Gold immediately.

See post #628 from only last week. You can always ring and ask; there's no compulsion to go through with it if the answers aren't to your liking. It's only ~5 mins on the phone to do it.

Help Desk: AAdvantage Elite Status Challenge (Gold and Platinum) - Page 42 - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[Doggy]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I did it in March, and did the previous one in 2011 I think. On both occasions I was given Gold immediately.

See post #628 from only last week. You can always ring and ask; there's no compulsion to go through with it if the answers aren't to your liking. It's only ~5 mins on the phone to do it.

Help Desk: AAdvantage Elite Status Challenge (Gold and Platinum) - Page 42 - FlyerTalk Forums

That's brilliant news if so. Stuff like this is exactly why I asked the question.

I'll give them a buzz to confirm. Thanks again!

 

[hossein_au]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

That's brilliant news if so. Stuff like this is exactly why I asked the question.

I'll give them a buzz to confirm. Thanks again!

Would you mind reporting back once you've confirmed this with AA? I for one would love to know the verdict Thank you.

 

[serfty]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

YMMV on this one - from my reading those calling with an existing high status on a competing airline/alliance are more likely to be offered the interim Gold than those doing it cold.

 

[legroom]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I was offered "interim" Gold for 3 months pending the Plat challenge [being a QF WP].

That helped as it boosted the earn rate during the challenge.

YMMV on this one - from my reading those calling with an existing high status on a competing airline/alliance are more likely to be offered the interim Gold than those doing it cold.

 

[knasty]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

In my case I had no relevant status with another airline, and the question was never asked of me. I was just told on the call once I confirmed I wanted to do it. So if you don't have status and are asked maybe HUACA.

 

[Nizar]

Does anyone know if you earn QF points as per this table

https://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/partners/airline/american-airlines

for AA flights booked through the AA website but operated by US metal ?

Thanks

 

[Hvr]

I flew US metal on AA codes earlier this year and received SCs and point with no problems.

 

[serfty]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

For the American carriers everything is as per the marketed flight number so you need to check each individual segment.

That table for American Airlines (AA) flight numbers and the US airways table for their flight numbers.

It has nothing to do with the ticketing airline or who you booked the flights through.

 

[Nizar]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

For the American carriers everything is as per the marketed flight number so you need to check each individual segment.

That table for American Airlines (AA) flight numbers and the US airways table for their flight numbers.

It has nothing to do with the ticketing airline or who you booked the flights through.

Ok thanks.
One more thing, can I use my QFF points to book flights on USDM flights ?

Thanks

 

[knasty]

Us Airways is oneworld so yes you can book Us flights using QFF.