Article: Is Airline Status Worthwhile If Flying Business Class?

[Beano]

I don't travel J very often but as a QP I feel that the onboard service is a bit better. Apart from extra luggage it does get you into F lounges.

 

[NoName]

For our situation I’ve never seen any value in status at all. And infact the only time I’ve ever held it was when a work trip to Asia on QF got me silver and when SQ was giving elite miles for transferring CC points to KF which got me Elite Gold.

For our long haul flights we almost always use points for J or F awards and for domestic the flights are short enough that lounge access isn’t a huge priority. We get enough lounge passes through points club and credit cards for our needs anyway.

If we were more frequent domestic fliers I could probably see the benefit.

 

[SOPOOR]

Absolutely not a chance for me,
I dont travel for work, and ive compared a few of the benefits for status, and each time it seems to be lounge access, extra luggage, priority entry, seat selection, bonus mileage earnt,

of which if I redeem a business class+ using miles is all included (except for bonus mileage)
i even had a friend visit me from overseas for 2-3 days just to do a status run with their own money ($1000) to maintain status i thought was absolutely crazy

 

[Beano]

It seems that J and F travellers are happy with their lot and not bother with chasing status. Here is a question, are J travellers happy with the J lounges? There are some flights with no F class, so the only way to get into the F lounge is by attaining Platinum/Emerald status. F lounges are scarce, but there is access in at least Australia, DBX, LAX and LHR. That is an experience you need to have.

 

[Bindibuys]

I have not chased status in the past, but this year went from zero to hero due to DSC runs. Bronze to Platinum.
Both my kids are getting married next year, and both want honeymoons overseas, I opted to pursue Plat this year to enable me to get them J seats, either on line or ask for release.
Also we are in USA for 5 weeks next year, all internal flights are Y, (7) so my status will give luggage/lounge extras.
Will I actively chase again - probably not.

 

[SYD]

It seems that J and F travellers are happy with their lot and not bother with chasing status. Here is a question, are J travellers happy with the J lounges? There are some flights with no F class, so the only way to get into the F lounge is by attaining Platinum/Emerald status. F lounges are scarce, but there is access in at least Australia, DBX, LAX and LHR. That is an experience you need to have.

...HKG, DOH (QR WP get access) and special mention to AUH (where VA WP get access!).

*A is coughty for giving better than Gold benefits but many member airlines give their own top tier FFs perks (like 1st Lounge access).

 

[AnneB]

My family and I enjoy the status if we can get it. Apart from using points it has allowed us to upgrade from Business to First on overseas flights 3 times now on Qantas. The higher the status the better chance of this occurring. Enjoying our next flight next month to the UK.

 

[levelnine]

Qantas' attitude towards status is interesting.

On the one hand, they like to degrade the benefits of status through the expansion of combined J/F lounges that give no incentive to chase Platinum.

On the other hand, they try to make Platinum worthwhile through a combination of reduced earn requirements (eg green tier, PCP), inferior domestic lounges (esp for poor MEL-based flyers with dungeons at both the international and domestic terminal) and occasional big perks (release of award seats can sometimes be a game changer).

 

[gaz0303]

My status on QF is from entirely work funded travel. J travel with the family (n=5) is never going to happen. The status helps to get family in the lounge when we fly together (their Y tickets funded by points) and the extra baggage allowance to take a bike helps. They still think that priority boarding and lounge food is a good experience.

 

[siri]

If you are flying business class , status or points are not much of a issue but you will earn good points that may be used for future point ticket. One bonus is life gold which used to be a value but not with current qantas plans. Overall global airlines are changing their ff alliance’s redemption and facilities and passengers need to be aware of these changes.
I find that you get more points from alliance airlines than qantas and its more value if you have a United ff rather than sing air since united used sectors for reward tickets and can be valuable on sing air..

 

[Princess Fiona]

It seems that J and F travellers are happy with their lot and not bother with chasing status. Here is a question, are J travellers happy with the J lounges? There are some flights with no F class, so the only way to get into the F lounge is by attaining Platinum/Emerald status. F lounges are scarce, but there is access in at least Australia, DBX, LAX and LHR. That is an experience you need to have.

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.

 

[jase05]

Although we travel the vast majority of flights in J both domestically and Internationally status does come handy at times. Still plenty of Y only routes domestically and so it’s good to still get lounge access at some and yes the F lounges are a nice bonus

 

[Chrizztofa]

I don't think there's a right answer for this one, since it's so dependent on various factors (which routes you usually travel, how frequently, what benefits you use, etc).

For someone in Leon Loganathan's position I can see why his approach would make sense, especially as he's based in DRW (also my home port):
* The primary international flight is SQ to SIN - so flying any other airline will require some back-tracking (except to the Americas)
* There's often only one or two flights to each city each day from DRW on QF and VA, so flight schedules are probably a bit more important compared to a MEL-SYD flight where you have a lot more options.
* Qantas Club is paid for by his employer anyway and there's no QF J lounge in DRW. So the advantage of WP/P1 is lower unless you fly regularly from BNE/MEL/PER or internationally where there is a F lounge. However, it may be a different proposition if you have to pay for Qantas Club out of pocket and fly regularly enough to be close to Gold
*If you're flying regularly to some outstations, then Priority Pass would be beneficial...although from what I've read, some of these lounges are pretty average!

Having said that, the article seems to gloss over the fact that you'll often need a lot of schedule flexibility if you're buying or redeeming points (especially internationally) - we saw with QF's "apology" last week how quickly reward seats can be snapped up. So that's dependent on your family and work situation. Not sure it's so easy to just "earn and burn" by buying points.

Not to mention lifetime status, if you're in a position to use it one day!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

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:

Does *Alliance have LTG?

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

 

[MH_fan]

I usually fly enough to maintain status over 3 programmes and that allows me to choose which flights suit me since I normally buy J outright on long-haul flights. If it's a tie, then status does help to swing the decision.

 

[andye]

...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..

BA Gold is OWE in their programme though. Much fewer DSC offers with BA but they don't penalise flights with other airlines as QF do

 

[RooFlyer]

I don't travel J very often but as a QP I feel that the onboard service is a bit better. Apart from extra luggage it does get you into F lounges.

Sadly, the world of F lounges is getting smaller and smaller, partic on Qantas. Now mixed J/F premium lounges.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I usually fly enough to maintain status over 3 programmes and that allows me to choose which flights suit me since I normally buy J outright on long-haul flights. If it's a tie, then status does help to swing the decision.

You're certainly not the only person who is in that boat. I know a couple people who are Global Services with United which typically requires >$50K USD on spend on UA airfare before they'll even consider you. Certainly when you are splashing that much money at travel be it OPM or otherwise, it would certainly make sense to be strategic about status. Certainly at the $50K USD spend per year you could easily hit top tier status on the three major alliances albeit you may have to hunt around to see which programs let you do it optimally. And the thing is, when you hit that level of travel spend, things like airline aren't as important as routing. Saving 5 hours on a trip because you don't have to transit at KUL or LAX may be more important than the fact that you have high tier status with a given airline. That being said, having high tier status with all alliances may be beneficial in certain circumstances.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Hvr]

Probably the main reason for status when exclusively flying F or J is if there are irrops.
Being first among equals does have its advantages.

 

[ChrisMars]

Qantas' attitude towards status is interesting.

On the one hand, they like to degrade the benefits of status through the expansion of combined J/F lounges that give no incentive to chase Platinum.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the numer of Qantas F lounge has grow from 3 to 4 in recent year (MEL SYD LAX SIN). That s ignoring AUK F lounge which really is an average J, and which will be better once combined and renovated. For F lounge fans, WP also provide OW F lounge access, this didnt change neither. So where is the devaluation?