BA Gold moving back to QF Platinum- any ways to speed up the process?

[Berlin]

Hi everyone,

it has been over two years since I've posted here because I ended up moving to the UK for work. Well, it majorly sucks over here and now it finally looks as if I've secured a job back in Sydney so I can move home soon (yay!) just in time for Aussie summer (double yay!).

When I moved up here, I decided to swap my OW frequent flyer from QF Platinum over to BA Gold the annoying way: I booked all my flights via Qantas to get my priority seat selection and to get into the (totally sub-par) F lounge here in Heathrow and then went to the counter to swap over my FF number from Qantas to BA just before the flight. It was damn annoying for both myself and the lounge ladies (they knew me after a while as the weirdo who always wants his FF number changed) but worked a treat and I had turned Gold on BA within a couple of month.

Now, it's time to go back and of course I'd like to go back into the warm arms of my well-loved Aussie airline. I'm currently in the middle of my status credit collection year with BA and well on the way to get it renewed (I don't worry about that- if I look like failing, then I just fly more, ideally in Business or First class, right? ) and on QF I'm now down at Silver with absolutely zero status credits. So- of course, I could do the same again now, stick to BA for now and then change back my FF number in the lounges to QF to collect there again up until Platinum status. Question is- does anyone have an idea how to do that somehow easier? Might it be worth to send a friendly letter (email) to Qantas and ask them to match my status back to not annoy myself and their own staff and waste everyone's time every single time I fly (and I assume it will be quite a fair bit in my new job)? I had been Platinum with QF for years before moving overseas so they'd hopefully know I'll be a good customer again. Oh, and my Partner is BA Silver so he'd have to be matched over to QF Gold as well so to not mess things up further. Any suggestions or advice? Any idea who to contact at QF of it might be worth a shot at all? Many thanks, can't wait to get home!

 

[austom]

AFAIK you can get into the QF lounge by just showing your BA gold card, even if you have your QFF silver number on your boarding pass. So the only benefit you laid out for booking under your BA number is the priority seat selection.

If you book using the BA number and then choose a priority seat, I would try using one of the other oneworld carrier websites to pull up your booking and change your frequent flyer number to your Qantas one.

As a tip, try the Finnair or Qatar website (use the manage my booking section), as their websites seem to let people make changes that QF doesn't online.

I booked a ticket through QF and can view it on both AY and QR's website and make changes, but my ticket does include segments on those carrier so YMMV. Not sure if that's a requirement of being able to log in to those sites. Worth a try though.

 

[aussiel]

Question is- does anyone have an idea how to do that somehow easier? Might it be worth to send a friendly letter (email) to Qantas and ask them to match my status back to not annoy myself and their own staff and waste everyone's time every single time I fly (and I assume it will be quite a fair bit in my new job)? I had been Platinum with QF for years before moving overseas so they'd hopefully know I'll be a good customer again. Oh, and my Partner is BA Silver so he'd have to be matched over to QF Gold as well so to not mess things up further. Any suggestions or advice? Any idea who to contact at QF of it might be worth a shot at all? Many thanks, can't wait to get home!

If you are going to fly the minimum number of sectors with BA to requalify as BA GOLD (OWE), perhaps it is worthwhile just sticking with them? If you do want to get back to QF WP, it is definitely worthwhile asking the question. I have 'heard' of status challenges being set for matching status with a non OW airline before. This may at least reduce the number of times you want to change your FF status at the lounge!

 

[Berlin]

I have 'heard' of status challenges being set for matching status with a non OW airline before. This may at least reduce the number of times you want to change your FF status at the lounge!

Yea, I might just try that. I don't really want to stay with BA because I'll be based in Australia again so most points-earning opportunities like credit cards and so on will be applicable to QF rather. Plus in the longer term, it will be much easier for me to fly those minimum sectors a year with Qantas. Never really fancied BA and had awful experiences with them while living here- the only reason really was the fact that I was living close to Heathrow over the past few years!

 

[funkyr]

I had the exact same issue a few years back after moving back from the UK. I was BAEC Gold and QFF Bronze at the time.


Unfortunately you have to start from scratch in QF. There's no status match/status challenge etc.


To enjoy the premium benefits of your OWE with BAEC Gold you can book the flights with your BAEC Gold (to get the seat selection and other benefits etc). At the counter at check in/customer service ask to change the booking to your QFF number to earn points on QFF. At the lounge just show your BAEC Gold and they'll let you into the F lounge. It's a pain but I had to do this until I reached QFF Platinum on my transition year.


The other valid issue already raised is how far away are you from BA lifetime Gold?

 

[Berlin]

Thanks a lot Funkyr, that's what I'll have to do I guess. I expect quite a bit of travel for work too so hopefully the painful process won't take too long!

 

[bismarck]

Interesting that many here are dropping QF for BAEC. Particularly with the prospect of Lifetime Emerald. Do BA have a minimum requirement for own-metal flights? It honestly may be worth sticking with them.....give it some thought.

Otherwise, I'm afraid the process you've described is likely to be what's required. I did the switch from AirBerlin. I found that booking online (with my corporate travel agent) with my AB # would allow priority seat selection. When I would then check-in at the kiosks I was able to update my QF #. I'd show both boarding pass and AB card at the lounge entrance which 90% of the time would permit entry no trouble. Sometimes they would (incorrectly) tell me I had to have my AB number on the boarding pass. So I'd let them change it at the lounge entry, then get the service desk inside to change it back to my QF number on the way out.

 

[bismarck]

You could also just try emailing [email protected] and laying out the story to see if they'll match you.

 

[Berlin]

You could also just try emailing [email protected] and laying out the story to see if they'll match you.

Thanks and yes, I might still do that, can't harm to try, right!

 

[ozmille]

I am in the process of moving SWMBO over to BAEC, on QF she just gets to Silver, but with our travel she would get Silver on BA...

 

[tyrolean]

BA has 4 minimum sectors for Status - like most Oneworld Airlines.

Following flights count:
- All flights operated by BA
- Codeshare flights when booked under BA code
- IB flights on IB metal

 

[Berlin]

BA has 4 minimum sectors for Status - like most Oneworld Airlines.

Following flights count:
- All flights operated by BA
- Codeshare flights when booked under BA code
- IB flights on IB metal

Thanks a lot Tyrolean- I didn't realize that code share flights count. And getting my 4 BA segments a year is one of the reasons I wanted to move back.

 

[funkyr]

Thanks a lot Tyrolean- I didn't realize that code share flights count. And getting my 4 BA segments a year is one of the reasons I wanted to move back.

Another consideration is that the points earn if holding BAEC on QF flights is much inferior to holding QFF on QF flights. Unless you're aiming for BAEC lifetime Gold it would be probably better to switch back to QFF.

Lastly you may already know that BAEC requires a UK address and doesn't allow an Australian address (unless things have changed).

 

[Princess Fiona]

Another consideration is that the points earn if holding BAEC on QF flights is much inferior to holding QFF on QF flights. Unless you're aiming for BAEC lifetime Gold it would be probably better to switch back to QFF.

Lastly you may already know that BAEC requires a UK address and doesn't allow an Australian address (unless things have changed).

Slight correction. It requires an Address that's not in Australia/NZ. Anywhere else in the world is fine.

 

[Berlin]

Slight correction. It requires an Address that's not in Australia/NZ. Anywhere else in the world is fine.

Oh dear, this is more complicated than I thought! I could use an address in Germany for the time being. But really- I'm not after BA lifetime Gold and also have, sorry, sentimental feelings about coming back to QF

 

[tyrolean]

Oh dear, this is more complicated than I thought! I could use an address in Germany for the time being. But really- I'm not after BA lifetime Gold and also have, sorry, sentimental feelings about coming back to QF

Warning: Do not try to change your BA Adress to an Australian/NZ address. There are reports that they will shut down your account and you have 6 months to spend your Avios (OK you could transfer them to an IB or Avios account...).

 

[Berlin]

Thanks and yes, I might still do that, can't harm to try, right!

That doesn't seem to have worked. Not that I expected a positive response but I haven't gotten a reply at all which is a bit disappointing. Not even a friendly no :-|