AA Challenges - Questions and General Discussion

[serfty]

I see reports on other parts of the internet claiming that QF has been removed from the list of eligible partners for status challenge purposes... hmm. Perhaps someone here can confirm?

The Hyatt / AAdvantage partnership challenge (only works with AA, AY, IB, BA & JL) but I have seen nothing on QF being excluded from the 'regular' paid challenges.

 

[ajd]

The Hyatt / AAdvantage partnership challenge (only works with AA, IB, BA & JL) but I have seen nothing on QF being excliuded from the 'regular' paid challenges.

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They don't say whether they did the Hyatt partnership or the regular one.

 

[Danger]

I'm flying SYD - LAX return in J on Qantas in August. So I assume from the article going for the AA Platinum challenge is a no brainer (I'm Bronze on Qantas).

Question is, when I make future Qantas bookings while I have the AA status, do I need to quote my AA number to get the privileges and therefore won't receive any Qantas points or status on those flights? E.g I pretend I am a AA member for every Qantas booking until my AA status runs out to benefit from the status correct?

This is a little tricky.

To receive your oneworld Sapphire benefits, your AA Platinum status needs to be in the booking. If you want to actually accrue points and status credits with QF, however, you will need to replace your AA number with your QF number prior to flying. Ideally, this is done as late as possible (even as late as when you're bum is in the seat) to ensure that you're other benefits, particularly lounge access, are provided. However, there are multiple reports on AFF of Qantas not taking too kindly to this practice which it considers to be double-dipping (i.e. using status benefits of one program but accruing to another). If I remember correctly this came out of the EK partnership where QF found that its members were using Qantas Club status to access the EK lounges but accruing to EK's program. In reality, I don't believe oneworld or the QF program specifically prohibit this practice. That said, AA does, but I believe it's only the other way around (i.e. if you had Sapphire with QF and nothing with AA, using your QF status to access the AA lounge but then changing your number to accrue to AA). In reality, however, I don't believe there's a way for airlines to police it, particularly as it's possible to use the FInnair website to change frequent flyer numbers from one program to another, thereby bypassing any human interaction that might give rise to a flag. (The Amadeus system also has a feature that allows four different frequent flyer numbers to be assigned to specific fields within a reservation. One of those is for points accrual and another is for status benefits. However, in my experience, QF agents routinely either don't know how to do this or botch it so it's best to avoid this method.)

 

[big_RED]

This is a little tricky.

Thanks so much for the detailed reply! That makes complete sense. I'll give it a go and see how it works after I get the benefits!

So really you'd only use the AA status when flying on paid flights. E.g there's no point using AA status when booking J or F award seats on QFF as you get all the benefits anyway with the seats.

But is there anyway to see the award availability with the higher status? I assume I need to review awards on the AA website and then call Qantas to ask for the award seat under my AA status... But then give them my QFF number to use those points... Confusing! Is that correct?

 

[serfty]

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They don't say whether they did the Hyatt partnership or the regular one.

The Hyatt AAdvantage challenge is not Paid - it's complimentary for Explorist and Globalist. Need to register by September 30th.

As a Globalist I could shoot for EXP with $5,000 EQDs and either 35,000 EQMs or 40 EQSs and have Platinum in the mean time.

As I'm QF WP, I have little need to do so.

 

[ajd]

But is there anyway to see the award availability with the higher status? I assume I need to review awards on the AA website and then call Qantas to ask for the award seat under my AA status... But then give them my QFF number to use those points... Confusing! Is that correct?

You'd only get award availability benefits when booking AAdvantage rewards through AA.

 

[ajd]

The Hyatt AAdvantage challenge is not Paid - it's complimentary for Explorist and Globalist. Need to register by September 30th.

As a Globalist I could shoot for EXP with $5,000 EQDs and either 35,000 EQMs or 40 EQSs and have Platinum in the mean time.

As I'm QF WP, I have little need to do so.

Right, though neither of the commenters I linked to mentioned anything about Hyatt, so one can guess they probably did the regular paid version and were told QF no longer counts.

 

[AllanG]

Re: [Confirmed] QF removing [cheap] ASAs [from web booking engine Jun 26] was 10Apri

The 'cheap' JASA/FASA's book into U and P class on QF. Travel in these classes (as well as Z and X) on QF flight numbers does not earn anything with AAdvantage (although one might put yon AAdvantage Number into the booking to take advanatge of an AA status).

Can someone please tell me where I go to find out firstly what U, P,Z,X,Y class means? Secondly how do I tell from my booking what class it is in. Thank you

 

[Mattg]

Can someone please tell me where I go to find out firstly what U, P,Z,X,Y class means? Secondly how do I tell from my booking what class it is in. Thank you

P, U, Z and X are Classic Flight Reward (award) booking fare classes on Qantas.

Y class refers to "Economy". There is a list of other AFF abbreviations here - Abbreviations and explanations

Some more info about how to find your fare class here - What is a Fare Class and Why Does it Matter?

Note that the JASA discussion from the start of this thread is several years old and no longer relevant.

 

[big_RED]

Bad news sorry everyone... Just called AAdvantage to setup the status challenge and asked to confirm my QF flights would go towards the challenge and he said Qantas wasn't on the list at all for status challenges!

Japan, Iberia, BA and AA he said....

Anyone think this was misinformation and I should call back and speak to someone else?

 

[ajd]

Bad news sorry everyone... Just called AAdvantage to setup the status challenge and asked to confirm my QF flights would go towards the challenge and he said Qantas wasn't on the list at all for status challenges!

Japan, Iberia, BA and AA he said....

Anyone think this was misinformation and I should call back and speak to someone else?

Per the links I mentioned above, it appears other internet commenters looking at the AA challenge over the last few months have reported exactly the same thing.

 

[big_RED]

internet commenters looking at the AA challenge over the last few months have reported exactly the same thing

Sad times.

 

[madrooster]

(The Amadeus system also has a feature that allows four different frequent flyer numbers to be assigned to specific fields within a reservation. One of those is for points accrual and another is for status benefits. However, in my experience, QF agents routinely either don't know how to do this or botch it so it's best to avoid this method.)

These would be FQTR, FQTS, FQTV and FQTU. It actually doesn't work properly because QF (and other oneworld carriers) doesn't actually have the functionality enabled.

The functionality existing is one thing, but it actually being enabled for a certain carrier is another and in the case of QF, only FQTR and FQTV are used. FQTU and FQTS are not activated.

 

[Danger]

These would be FQTR, FQTS, FQTV and FQTU. It actually doesn't work properly because QF (and other oneworld carriers) doesn't actually have the functionality enabled.

The functionality existing is one thing, but it actually being enabled for a certain carrier is another and in the case of QF, only FQTR and FQTV are used. FQTU and FQTS are not activated.

What are each of the four fields used for?

 

[madrooster]

What are each of the four fields used for?

FQTS is used to indicate status FFP. FQTV is used to indicate accrual FFP. FQTU is used for indicating what FFP account to pull points/miles from for upgrades (not many carriers actually use it). FQTR is used to indicate the FFP account the points/miles were redeemed from.

 

[Danger]

FQTS is used to indicate status FFP. FQTV is used to indicate accrual FFP. FQTU is used for indicating what FFP account to pull points/miles from for upgrades (not many carriers actually use it). FQTR is used to indicate the FFP account the points/miles were redeemed from.

Very helpful. Thank you. Are you saying, though, that even if I asked a QF or AA agent, for example, to put X FF number against FQTS and Y FF number against FQTV, even if the agents knew what I was talking about and knew how to access those fields, it would't work anyway?

 

[madrooster]

Very helpful. Thank you. Are you saying, though, that even if I asked a QF or AA agent, for example, to put X FF number against FQTS and Y FF number against FQTV, even if the agents knew what I was talking about and knew how to access those fields, it would't work anyway?

AA's system has zero real support for such a field ie. it does not exist effectively. The system accepts it if you manually enter it, but it does absolutely zilch.

QF's system has support for it, but for QF it's not activated which means it does pretty much zilch.