Bronze QFF travel experience maximisation

[humanuscomotose]

Hello all,

I am a humble Bronze QFF, for which I do not complain as it means I have more time at home with my wife and kids rather than being in the winged torpedoes that do grace our skies. However, my job requires the infrequent interstate and occasional overseas trip. Hence I am seeking advice/tips/tricks on how to maximise my travel experience, from arrival at the airport prior to departure to my arrival back home, given that Bronze QFF enjoy no perks save for the mandatory welcome aboard every Qantas flight that we share with our more esteemed and revered QFFs and One World associates. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[opusman]

About all you can do is join the Qantas Club - if your workplace offers a salary sacrificed/corporate scheme, all the better

 

[SeatBackForward]

Bronze is the entry level status, it actually offers very little of itself, however there are always options: to help you out we need a bit more info,
How frequent (as opposed to infrequent) are your trips? and typically where are they from/to ? Do you typically fly in Economy or will they pay for Business for longer flights? Have you got any Credit Cards linked to your Qantas FF number?

 

[blu]

How to maximise your economy flying experience - expect nothing & be pleasantly surprised when good.
For me it's usually getting the best available seat.
Determine your preferred seat position for flying - eg: max legroom, no one in front (reclining), or no one behind (pushing/kicking your seat), aisle or window, etc.
Research the best seating options. Join Expert Flyer for seat alerts. Learn how T-80 (hours) can improve seat availability.
Familiarise yourself with status credits & then aim for Silver/Gold.

 

[SeatBackForward]

How to maximise your flying experience - expect nothing & be pleasantly surprised when good.
For me it's usually getting the best available seat.
Determine your preferred seat position for flying - eg: max legroom, no one in front (reclining), or no one behind (pushing/kicking your seat), aisle or window, etc.
Research the best seating options. Join Expert Flyer for seat alerts. Learn how T-80 (hours) can improve seat availability.
Familiarise yourself with status credits & then aim for Silver/Gold.

Bronze still need to pay for advanced seat selection on international flights. But otherwise your advice above is true within 24hrs of the flight using online check in.

 

[legroom]

Hello all,

I am a humble Bronze QFF, for which I do not complain as it means I have more time at home with my wife and kids rather than being in the winged torpedoes that do grace our skies. However, my job requires the infrequent interstate and occasional overseas trip. Hence I am seeking advice/tips/tricks on how to maximise my travel experience, from arrival at the airport prior to departure to my arrival back home, given that Bronze QFF enjoy no perks save for the mandatory welcome aboard every Qantas flight that we share with our more esteemed and revered QFFs and One World associates. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bronze actually means "no" status in the scheme of priority seating / boarding / lounge etc..

If possible, I'd suggest you consider some paid-for enhancements such as exit row seating, upgrade to Business Class (by cash or points).

I doubt that you could select any "better" seats at T-80 (given the number of pax with higher status) but that depends on some luck, I guess, so yes, have a look at T-80 to see if your preferred seats become available for selection.

If you often check in early, then Qantas Club (QC) membership will grant you access to lounges where you could relax away from the masses (relatively speaking only).

In summary, echoing one of the earlier posts, expect nothing except by chance.

Anything else would be considered a bonus.

 

[Mattyana2003]

If you are Bronze does it work out more worthwhile to upgrade to business class by cash or points?

 

[richie9x]

Really all bronze that allows you over a non FF passenger is the ability to earn frequent flyer points and status credits.

One new benefit is that the new bronze FF cards that will come soon will have the Q card chip inside them. So you'll be able to use the next-gen Q card readers to check in. Currently the bronze cards don't have a chip in them so you have to be silver or higher to use the Q card readers. Although the kiosks work fine.

 

[Skyring]

A 30 day Admirals Club pass from American Airways gets you into oneworld (read Qantas) lounges for $99. I've just bought one for a month of no status travel coming up.

Platinum can be obtained for $6K and ten days with a DONE4 out of Johannesburg, could be worth saving up for - get your timing right and you'll have two years of status.

 

[drewbles]

A 30 day Admirals Club pass from American Airways gets you into oneworld (read Qantas) lounges for $99. I've just bought one for a month of no status travel coming up.

Platinum can be obtained for $6K and ten days with a DONE4 out of Johannesburg, could be worth saving up for - get your timing right and you'll have two years of status.

It doesn't get you in to any oneworld lounges, only AA and QF I believe (and perhaps BA).

Also, you can get Platinum for substantially less than $6k if you're in the USA; Around $1400, not including flights there.

 

[SeatBackForward]

There's no point in paying to get Platinum if you aren't going to be flying enough to get the benefits from having it.

 

[Skyring]

There's no point in paying to get Platinum if you aren't going to be flying enough to get the benefits from having it.

Very true. I must confess that the process of achieving it is very pleasant for me, And it's kind of a circular logic to maximise the amenity of the flights I need to achieve the status. Realistically, a hard-headed traveller could spend the money on other things. Such as family. Or a good hotel.

A bronze flyer is basically someone whose only significant benefit from the program is to accumulate airmiles, which can be occasionally traded in for something, like an upgrade or a toaster.

The benefits of advice from this community are, in my opinion, worth a lot more than anything to be had from Qantas as a NB. Advice on seat selection, routes, alternate carriers, special offers. What to do in a strange city or terminal. A bit of a double-edged sword, as one may save thousands, but be subtly spurred on to spend thousands.

As I know to my cost. And benefit.

The 30 day pass from American is a steal at $99 - if flying on the appropriate routes. My upcoming trip doesn't have any carriers other than AA, QF and BA, and for a lot of the legs I'll have lounge access anyway, simply by flying D. But not for the positioning flights nor a few others.

So for an occasional international traveller, lounges might be very useful, and my best use has been to grab a shower and a bit of internet on a long day - or night - of travel. To escape from the purgatory of hours in a terminal, and LAX springs to mind here, though Heathrow has its grey spots, and even Sydney can get fairly tedious.

A drinker could easily get through the value of the pass in a couple of visits. I know that a long Y flight can be very pleasantly enhanced by the addition of a few flutes of bubbly, first as an upper to make the process more pleasant, and later on as an aid to sleeping in difficult conditions. Wobble along to the next lounge before the next flight, repeat the process, and in no time you are on the other side of the world, with no unpleasant memories of how you got there. Just a present hangover...

But again, one needs the travel to make the thing worthwhile. For the occasional MEL-SYD flight, hell, just get a couple of ciders into you and the seats at the back of the bus become bearable. Any decent food from an airside restaurant is going to be better than the salty, fatty, sugary fare in a lounge, or the plastic delights served aboard.

 

[humanuscomotose]

Hello SeatBackForward,

I usually have 4-5 domestic trips per year and maybe 1 international trip per year. Typically I fly from Sydney to the Gold Coast, Adelaide or Melbourne so nothing that could remotely be considered long haul. As I work for a not-for-profit we have never heard of anything so luxurious as Business class . I do have one credit card linked to my QFF. I suppose with my infrequency of travel I should aim for lifetime silver status by the age of 103

 

[SeatBackForward]

Hello SeatBackForward,

I usually have 4-5 domestic trips per year and maybe 1 international trip per year. Typically I fly from Sydney to the Gold Coast, Adelaide or Melbourne so nothing that could remotely be considered long haul. As I work for a not-for-profit we have never heard of anything so luxurious as Business class . I do have one credit card linked to my QFF. I suppose with my infrequency of travel I should aim for lifetime silver status by the age of 103

Thanks for the info. So based on your domestic travelling, and assuming that its all done in either discount economy (international/domestic) or at most economy (domestic), then at a guess:

Domestic SC's earned, say 150SCs per year - assuming a mix of economy and discount economy
International, assuming you may go as far as say Singapore or Hong Kong, but in discount economy, thats another 60SC's

So all up you'd potentially get somewhere between 200 and say 250 SC's, which might put you near the level required for Silver (300).

The benefits of silver are the complimentary Qantas Club invitation, and One World Ruby status which lets you use priorty check in and preferred seating on interntional flights. Plus you earn QFF points at a higher rate.

The other option that you do have, is depending upon your credit card spend, to use up QFF points to redeem Any Seat Awards, potentially in Business Class, where you will earn the additional SC's to bump up to the next level.

Personally, as I said on a previous post, I wouldn't think its worth simply spending money on unneccesary flights, or purchasing QC membership, if you aren't doing the travel to make use of having that status. You're better off spending that money on other things. But thats only my opinion.

 

[puppysparkes]

Thanks for the info. So based on your domestic travelling, and assuming that its all done in either discount economy (international/domestic) or at most economy (domestic), then at a guess:

Domestic SC's earned, say 150SCs per year - assuming a mix of economy and discount economy
International, assuming you may go as far as say Singapore or Hong Kong, but in discount economy, thats another 60SC's

So all up you'd potentially get somewhere between 200 and say 250 SC's, which might put you near the level required for Silver (300).

The benefits of silver are the complimentary Qantas Club invitation, and One World Ruby status which lets you use priorty check in and preferred seating on interntional flights. Plus you earn QFF points at a higher rate.

The other option that you do have, is depending upon your credit card spend, to use up QFF points to redeem Any Seat Awards, potentially in Business Class, where you will earn the additional SC's to bump up to the next level.

Personally, as I said on a previous post, I wouldn't think its worth simply spending money on unneccesary flights, or purchasing QC membership, if you aren't doing the travel to make use of having that status. You're better off spending that money on other things. But thats only my opinion.

I'd have to agree with these comments. Although you may want to keep an eye out for QP membership promotion they offer from time to time which may tempt you. Buy 1 year get another free effectively brings the cost down to $400 per year.