Whilst that’s true for almost every truly top tier airline status. It’s not the case for QF. You are locked into QF tickets.
Eg. You can earn BA GGL and only fly 4 sectors on BA flights/ code or IB.
For QF P1 you need 2700 SC on QF flight numbers.
I think if the majority of your travel is leisure / pleasure in premium cabins then probably no point in bothering with Airline status.
Anyone who is on a schedule, regularly flying for work even in premium cabins is better off picking a FF program and getting status.
Seating, call Centre and IRROPS are all vastly better for the most part when you are at the top of the tier and not a random redeeming Amex points.
I think an argument could be made that the difference is between QF World Platinum and Platinum One is minimal, at best. Both confer One World Emerald status, the highest tier of recognition on OneWorld airlines. In addition, you can force Qantas to open award seats as a lowly World Platinum too (albeit Platinum One lets you choose from higher brackets to open from). And in the case of World Platinum there is no requirement to fly so many status credits with QF. In addition, given the fact that Qantas provides a soft landing should you not re-qualify for status down to the next lower tier (i.e. Gold) a argument could be made for pursuing QF World Platinum one year, then taking it easy on the subsequent years coasting off of World Platinum/Gold status whilst accruing status in another airline.
Don't forget the bonus of achieving lifetime status - I'm a million miler with United and that gives you lifetime Gold status on Star Alliance and the ability to nominate a second person for UA Gold status every year. Very handy when you stop flying for business
I'm about 10% of the way to achieving lifetime Gold on United and let me tell you it ain't easy. You need to fly 1,000,000 revenue miles with United. Travelling in business won't speed up your accrual of lifetime miles.
Undoubtedly, if you are going to get sucked into the Qantas LTG-chasing handcuffs, then it is not worth it.
Say what you will about Qantas but every flight you take with them and OneWorld partners gets you closer to lifetime status. Every double status credit promotion or J ticket accelerates your journey towards lifetime status.
I’m not sure I agree. Without WP status and the ability to request release of premium award seats, I would see very little value in my Qantas points balance.
There are better value FF programs around for sure, but it is just so easy to earn QFF points in Australia that maintaining status is almost essential to ensure they hold any real value.
What I will say as an impartial observer having held status in numerous alliances and airlines over the years is that everyone values the benefits of status differently. For me releasing classic awards isn't a huge benefit because I can often find QF classic awards on the domestic flights I book. At the same time, I'm not in a position to rack up the QF points as quickly as say AC or DL SkyPesos. For me though, what is huge is having the QF lounge, access to better Y seats, and checked bags when I do travel abroad on AA or other partners. In particular, I call your attention to the lounges found at US domestic airports which often lack much in the way of food, seating and
gasp showers. As someone who recently flew out of CNS on JQ, it was a real godsend having that shower stall available after spending a sweaty day there.
Sadly UA dropped the third free Y bag for Premier Executive (*G) members years ago but 2 bags at 32kg each is still not too shabby. It rises to 3 if you are in J
That is not true, at least for international itineraries, if you have Premier Gold and above you'll get 3 bags @ 32 kg/piece. A boon for those of us who move continents every now and then:
Some airlines have lifetime status programs which in turn confer lifetime status with the alliance they are part of. Some that come to mind include
United,
Air Canada,
Delta,
Qantas,
British Airways,
Asiana,
Air France/KLM to name but a few. Each of these programs have different requirements which may be favourable depending on your travel habits. To highlight just a couple: Air France/KLM will provide you with lifetime Platinum status (the highest status level available)
after maintaining 10 years of Platinum status with them which requires earning 300 XP per year which works out to two and a half return flights in J from Sydney to Heathrow via Saigon on Vietnam airlines. By contrast, Delta Airlines (also a SkyTeam partner) awards Medallion Silver (lowest tier of status) after accruing 1,000,000 MQMs and Gold (their mid tier status) after accruing 2,000,000 MQMs. 1 MQM is essentially one mile flown with some adjustments made if you are flying in a higher cabin (i.e. flying J earns MQMs at a rate of 1.5:1 or 2:1 depending on fare class). British Airways will only award lifetime status for Gold and only after accruing 35,000 tier points. So in some respects you could say that Lifetime status with Qantas is more favourable, especially for those seeking mid-tier lifetime status.
I fly almost exclusively J and sometimes F. Rarely in Y and no I’m not content with no status.
I would be far from an outlier here.
I suppose my argument to you is, what do you have to lose being strategic about how you credit your miles if it means you will get status (and potentially lifetime status)? On some airlines one or maybe two long haul trips in J will be more than enough to earn status without much effort. Case in points, I've got QF Gold through 2024 thanks in part to me flying SYD > AKL in J sale fare during the DSC promotion with QF.
-RooFlyer88
Maybe this explains:
