Both AA and QF FF members

[gumpy]

I have noticed that many people are members of both loyalty programs so I was wondering why?

What are the benefits of doing this? Are you able to get the best of both worlds and cover gaps in one programs benefits? Surely you can't earn points for both programs on the same flight?

Would appreciate any heads up on this as I'll be hitting up the US in a big way early 2011.

thanks

 

[JetLagged]

Good question, gumpy - have been wondering the same myself: hardly touch the USofA but times change sometimes. So eager to read the responses.

 

[Dave Noble]

The AA scheme has a *much* better redemption rate than the QF scheme and is where I collect points for OW travel these days. e.g. 1st class redemption one way Sydney-Europe is 80k vs 192-404k using QF points plus there are no fuel fines to pay. It costs more for a QF Economy award ( 64k ) than for a business class award using AA points (60k)

for a flight anywhere in AU/NZ to anywhere else in AU/NZ , the AA business redemption cost is 17.5k whilst QF will range from 16k for a SYD-MEL distance up to 50k for a longer trip

Mileage earning bonuses are far higher at the Sapphire level at 100% vs 50% and for international economy travellers (esp those to USA who can use the AA codeshares et al ) tend to be able to attain status much more easily than on Qantas

IMO, from being an excellent programme in 2000/2001 , QFF has now plumeted to being a joke in terms of redemption value.

Dave

 

[markis10]

Getting status on QF while getting miles on AA would seem to be a good way of making the most of the programs benefits, ig you have QP or LTG it makes a lot more sense, with QF credits coming from sources that dont credit AA, like Woolworths.

 

[djfuzz]

I started off crediting to AA before deciding to switch back to QF.

There's nothing beneficial per se about having status on two airlines, but there may be reasons to chop and change or switch when necessary. A quick snapshot:

AA = better earn / burn rates, Platinum challenge means getting to Sapphire can be quicker (much more difficult to get to Emerald), however earning points on domestic QF flights can be more difficult. Usually much better status and earning promotions. Easier to earn miles and retain status if flying regularly on AA, particularly throughout the US. All redeemable miles earned go towards lifetime status.

QF = not as good earn / burn rates, but definitely better suited if flying extensively domestically and earning points through direct earn cards and other programs. Quicker ways to get to Emerald if selecting specific status maximising routes. Promotions are heavily targeted so can be useless if you're not in the anointed few. New Any Seat Awards actually provide a number of benefits, including more flexible and sometimes competitive award availability, as well as some good status credit runs. Only status credits go towards lifetime status.

As for having both or switching - just depends what works for you at any particular time I guess. If you've got lifetime status with one airline, I can imagine that there are benefits to credit to another, for example. Or if your flying patterns change, or you want to get different things out of your loyalty program at different times.

 

[moa999]

IMO, from being an excellent programme in 2000/2001 , QFF has now plumeted to being a joke in terms of redemption value.

Whil agreeing with the sentiment, I like many others on this Board are holding on for the WP status and the slightly better home airline benefits, as well as chasing Lifetime Gold status.

I also think the recent introduction of JASAs earning points and the availability (albeit limited) of some cheap routes has helped improve the QFF program in my eyes.

 

[JetLagged]

IMO, from being an excellent programme in 2000/2001 , QFF has now plumeted to being a joke in terms of redemption value. Dave

Dave, do you book with the AA site, or what? For instance, when flying Sydney to LHR - AA site

a) wants to fly you via US (suppose naturally enough)
b) hence has flight times of about 30 hrs
c) is actually quite a bit more expensive than Qantas (14K as against 11K)

I could well be missing sometime here - so advice, pease.

 

[Dave Noble]

Dave, do you book with the AA site, or what? For instance, when flying Sydney to LHR - AA site

a) wants to fly you via US (suppose naturally enough)
b) hence has flight times of about 30 hrs
c) is actually quite a bit more expensive than Qantas (14K as against 11K)

I could well be missing sometime here - so advice, pease.

If booking awards on airlines other than AA, then need to be booked over the phone. AU-Europe is 60k/80k for J/F as long as connect in Asia at HKG/TYO/BKK or SIN . Can use any AA partner carrier

If just booking a paid ticket and wanting to use the AA site, make sure to change the option such that ALL airlines is selected; sometimes can be beneficial with J/F tickets to book on AA.com

 

[markis10]

Dave, do you book with the AA site, or what? For instance, when flying Sydney to LHR - AA site

a) wants to fly you via US (suppose naturally enough)
b) hence has flight times of about 30 hrs
c) is actually quite a bit more expensive than Qantas (14K as against 11K)

I could well be missing sometime here - so advice, pease.

Are you talking about redemptions, normal crediting can be done by booking a QF flight in the appropriate fare bucket for earning AA credit.

 

[Dave Noble]

Whil agreeing with the sentiment, I like many others on this Board are holding on for the WP status and the slightly better home airline benefits, as well as chasing Lifetime Gold status.

Personally, I don't see that Platinum status gives me any real benefit domestically since I cant pre-select exit row seats even as a platinum member if in economy

 

[drron]

Well i belong to both.My major program is AA.This suits me because my major travel is international J.Better earn/burn rates in general with AA.Better upgrade availability-I can ring up and ask any time after ticketed and have my upgrade confirmed immediately or soon after.This is true whether it is a QF issued ticket or the upgrade is for someone else.Lifetime status for me is easier on AA as all miles count.i have been putting DC and Amex points to AA.Also hotel points,rental cars etc.I have accumulated 700000 points in 2 years-1mm gives you LTG,2mm LTP.
Also I have found it much better to get premium awards through AA than QF.Eg last year I was able to get a J award on QF2 BKK-SYD through Aadvantage yet mrsdrron couldn't get it through QF.
Top status though with my travel is easier to earn on QF.Therefore mrsdrron now has her major program as QF.My QF points get transferred to her account.

 

[NM]

I have taken advantage of the superior earn/burn rates from AA ever since the day I attained Lifetime Gold with Qantas. I still have about 100K QFF points remaining and the only source of QF FF points growth now is Everyday Rewards. I use the QF FF points now for international upgrades. In the 4 years or so I have been using AAdvantage, I have earned almost 1.4M miles and still have almost 900K miles in the bank. If all travel was posted to QF FF program in that time the total points available to me would have been well short of 900K and the 900K AA miles will take me a lot further in more comfort than the same number of QF FF points.

Now if I was only travelling on AA flights I might be able to use the 12 EVIPs in my account for my own benefit.

 

[Dave Noble]

I have taken advantage of the superior earn/burn rates from AA ever since the day I attained Lifetime Gold with Qantas. I still have about 100K QFF points remaining and the only source of QF FF points growth now is Everyday Rewards. I use the QF FF points now for international upgrades. In the 4 years or so I have been using AAdvantage, I have earned almost 1.4M miles and still have almost 900K miles in the bank. If all travel was posted to QF FF program in that time the total points available to me would have been well short of 900K and the 900K AA miles will take me a lot further in more comfort than the same number of QF FF points.

Now if I was only travelling on AA flights I might be able to use the 12 EVIPs in my account for my own benefit.

But , of course, you did have to be a "disloyal australian" to get all these benefits

Dave

 

[Siegfried]

A question for those with "dual citizenship" - i.e. AA and QF. Does the AA lounge access issue affect you if you are flying on an AA ticket (with miles accruing to AA), but can flash a QF WP / OWE card? How about if flying on a QF ticket with the miles accruing to AA?

I'm interested in this, because although its been a fairly quiet year travelwise, I did make LTG. I am also 380 pts short of retaining WP, so I was planning to do a couple of BNE-MEL-ADL-MEL-BNE JASA's to retain WP, then look at either a *A or SkyTeam program.

Most of my travel is international J (mostly US and South America at the moment, but it could be Africa and Europe as well in the next couple of years), so from what I'm seeing, it might be better to start accruing miles with AA.
So, back to my original questions - is it worth doing the JASA's to retain WP while building status with AA, or will it not confer any extra benefits?

 

[Dave Noble]

A question for those with "dual citizenship" - i.e. AA and QF. Does the AA lounge access issue affect you if you are flying on an AA ticket (with miles accruing to AA), but can flash a QF WP / OWE card? How about if flying on a QF ticket with the miles accruing to AA?

No. If you have a OWS/OWE/Qantas Club card you can access the AA lounge on a domestic itinerary regardless of where the points are accruing

1 way to USA in business class on the AA codeshare whilst registered for a Platinum Challenge and you will have platinum AA status. You will get better benefits as a AA PLT on AA than you would as a QF Platinum member. If flying J and able to keep platinum ( which it seems you would ) the earnings value is far far better than you will get to QFF

Dave

 

[markis10]

I'm interested in this, because although its been a fairly quiet year travelwise, I did make LTG. I am also 380 pts short of retaining WP, so I was planning to do a couple of BNE-MEL-ADL-MEL-BNE JASA's to retain WP, then look at either a *A or SkyTeam program.

You should be looking at a JASA TSV-ADL if you need to go to Adelaide, its slightly OT but one of the better burn optys with QF now in terms of SCs and initial points cost. Conversely if you need to go to DRW then an ASA ex TSV is also good value

 

[gumpy]

I have taken advantage of the superior earn/burn rates from AA ever since the day I attained Lifetime Gold with Qantas. I still have about 100K QFF points remaining and the only source of QF FF points growth now is Everyday Rewards. I use the QF FF points now for international upgrades. In the 4 years or so I have been using AAdvantage, I have earned almost 1.4M miles and still have almost 900K miles in the bank. If all travel was posted to QF FF program in that time the total points available to me would have been well short of 900K and the 900K AA miles will take me a lot further in more comfort than the same number of QF FF points.

Now if I was only travelling on AA flights I might be able to use the 12 EVIPs in my account for my own benefit.

did you get a plane named after you? that would be awesome..

 

[Dave Noble]

did you get a plane named after you? that would be awesome..

AA doesn't name aeroplanes after passengers ; that is just artistic licence by a movie company... my understanding in the movie was that the fictitious feature was at 10M

 

[markis10]

AA doesn't name aeroplanes after passengers ; that is just artistic licence by a movie company... my understanding in the movie was that the fictitious feature was at 10M

Actually its confusion with UA, that have named aircraft after their passengers as well as other people they consider significant including employees, in particular the 777 fleet:

N766UA NANCY J. MEYER CUSTOMER
N767UA SAM SOTOODEH CUSTOMER
N768UA MARCELO AMODEO CUSTOMER
N769UA D. TIMOTHY TAMANY CUSTOMER
N770UA THOMAS R. STUKER CUSTOMER
N771UA FRANK GRIFFITH CUSTOMER
N772UA MARY BETH LOESCH CUSTOMER
N773UA RICHARD H. LEUNG CUSTOMER
N774UA GREG MILANO CUSTOMER
N775UA SCOTT A. NEUMAYER CUSTOMER

Interestingly the list also included some QF 747-238 birds they owned:

N159UA VH-EBK 01/91 * BOBBI PHILLIPS CUSTOMER
N160UA VH-EBL 02/91 * HARRY M. KUBETZ CUSTOMER
N164UA VH-EBO 07/91 * JHANE BARNES CUSTOMER
N165UA VH-EBP 08/91 * DANIEL J. TERRA CUSTOMER

http://www.airliners.net/photo/United-Airlines/Boeing-747-238B/0488294/M/


Maybe one day -
A380-842 VH-OQI MARKIS10 CUSTOMER LOL

 

[Siegfried]

No. If you have a OWS/OWE/Qantas Club card you can access the AA lounge on a domestic itinerary regardless of where the points are accruing

1 way to USA in business class on the AA codeshare whilst registered for a Platinum Challenge and you will have platinum AA status. You will get better benefits as a AA PLT on AA than you would as a QF Platinum member. If flying J and able to keep platinum ( which it seems you would ) the earnings value is far far better than you will get to QFF

Dave

Thanks, Dave - your advice is much appreciated.