best use of Qantas ffp

[grahammaskiell]

A recent article in the Financial Review said it was possible to book throughAA to better utilize Qantas ffp.How does one do this?.Is it just a matter of joining AA rewards programme?

 

[littl_flier]

Hi grahammaskiell. Welcome to AFF.

All you need to do is join up with AA and then quote your AA number into your bookings rather than your QF number but this is if you want to credit to the AA program.

...possible to book throughAA to better utilize Qantas ffp...

Booking through AA won't enhance your QF ffp at all. Whether you book with AA or QF, if you credit to QF you will still receive the same SC's and points. There will be no advantage to your QF FF acount at all. If you are booking a RTW, then you may save a few $$ on fuel fines, but this won't change earning.

 

[bambbbam2]

We should post a caution about doing this too.. aren't some red-edeal flights on QF unable to post to your QFF account?

 

[straitman]

A recent article in the Financial Review said it was possible to book throughAA to better utilize Qantas ffp.How does one do this?.Is it just a matter of joining AA rewards programme?

grahammaskiell,

Welcome to AFF.

I think you need to be a little more specific with your question. The two answers you already have are different to my interpretation of your question.

There is a wealth of information on these subjects already posted, so try doing a search and the answer may well be there already. Good luck.

 

[littl_flier]

We should post a caution about doing this too.. aren't some red-edeal flights on QF unable to post to your QFF account?

Great idea bambbbam2. (though I'm not sure if the OP wants to credit to AA or is looking to better use their QF points)

But it's been widely debated that AA have a better rewards program and JohnK and Dave Noble have given both sides of the story here: http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/can-qff-points-transfered-11841.html and in another thread I can't lay my finger on regarding the merits of AA vs QF for Economy and Business Rewards.

Be aware that N & Q fares on QF won't accrue points on AA so be a little carful. Serfty's made a really good post so I'll quote him. http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/153813-5-post.html

One really important thing here is that you need to know the booking class of your Qantas flights.

Not all will credit to AAdvantage, in which case you would be better to leave it crediting to QFF.

If your booking class is not listed on this web page, it will not credit to AAdvantage when travelling Qantas:

• AAdvantage Partners - Qantas Airways

Common classes to avoid for this reason are N & Q.

You may be able to find this when viewing your bookings on Qantas.com or you can ask what the booking class is at the time you call Qantas to have your AAdvantage number inserted.

 

[JohnK]

aren't some red-edeal flights on QF unable to post to your QFF account?

No most QF flights are eligible for SCs and FF point accrual under the QFF program.

Some exceptions I can think of are award flights, competition prizes, charity flights.

 

[NM]

A recent article in the Financial Review said it was possible to book throughAA to better utilize Qantas ffp.How does one do this?.Is it just a matter of joining AA rewards programme?

Hi grahammaskiell and welcome to AFF.

The AFR article, which quoted our own Dave Noble, suggested you may be able to get better FF benefits by credit OneWorld flights (including Qantas flights) to AA's F program (called AAdvantage) rather than crediting the flights to Qantas' FF program.

This is due to several differences between the AA and QF FF programs, such as:

• AA awards generally require less points/miles, especially for awards in business and first class
• AA does not impose a fuel surcharge payment on FF award tickets, often saving several hundred dollars depending on the flights redeemed

However, as some other people have already noted, the cheapest Qantas on-line fares may not be eligible for earning FF miles in the AA program, so it depends on what type of fares you purchase.

Another point made in that AFR article was that you can save significant money by not purchasing tickets such as Around The World fares (like the OneWorld Explorer fares) from Qantas, but by purchasing the same ticket from AA. This is because AA does not charge fuel surcharges on all segments of the ticket (just Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific), while QF imposes their fuel surcharge on all segments except those within and between the USA and Canada.