Discussion/Q&A on Best QF Status Run Options

[support]

This thread is for Questions and General discussion regarding the Best Status Run Options for QFF as per this thread:

Overview of Best Status Run Options [not the discussion thread]

Please keep your questions and queries to this thread and avoid posting in the other.

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You can also get some status run inspiration from this AFF article:

The Best Qantas Frequent Flyer Status Runs

Haven't earned enough status credits in your Qantas membership year? Here is a selection of the best Qantas Frequent Flyer status runs.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[gizzard]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Gizzard do you know if there's any increase in the points required for a JASA MEL-ADL-ASP ret compared to using SYD ?
It should be the same ?

I don't know for sure but I'd imagine it would be fewer as you would be gaining fewer SCs as the ADL-ASP leg only earns you 60 instead of 80 via SYD so 40 fewer on a return.

 

[markis10]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

There are more serious runners out there than me.

I'd be looking to get to the USA and do a LAS-SJU return fro about $1000 and earn easily 700 SC's. If you are points rich, look at a JASA from AKL to the USA and back to earn 520 SC's and at last count NZD830 and 168K QFF.

Only trouble is that U award for the transpacic by february would be very thin on the ground.

DRW-xSYD-NRT may be an option.

FJ NAN LAX at $2300 is pretty good value for J.

 

[zainman]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

There are more serious runners out there than me.

I'd be looking to get to the USA and do a LAS-SJU return for about $1000 and earn easily 700 SC's. If you are points rich, look at a JASA from AKL to the USA and back to earn 520 SC's and at last count NZD830 and 168K QFF.

Only trouble is that U award for the transpacific by February would be very thin on the ground.

DRW-xSYD-NRT may be an option.

Thanks for the tips serfty!

Looking at the spreadsheet in more detail and putting some formulas and filters etc in, the best value for money award I have found is:

CBR-SYD-HBA-SYD-CBR for 32,000 points and $300 co-pay. This earns 200 SC.

times it by 6 give me the 1200 SC required and costs 192,000 points, but being WP I should also earn (according to the earn calculator on QF.com), around 34,000 points so that helps.

bottom line, for 158,000 points and around $1800, I can retain WP. This seems to be a whole better than the JASA from AKL to USA at 168k points and only earning 520 SC.

Does the co-pay value always stay the same?

 

[markis10]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Thanks for the tips serfty!

Looking at the spreadsheet in more detail and putting some formulas and filters etc in, the best value for money award I have found is:

CBR-SYD-HBA-SYD-CBR for 32,000 points and $300 co-pay. This earns 200 SC.

times it by 6 give me the 1200 SC required and costs 192,000 points, but being WP I should also earn (according to the earn calculator on QF.com), around 34,000 points so that helps.

bottom line, for 158,000 points and around $1800, I can retain WP. This seems to be a whole better than the JASA from AKL to USA at 168k points and only earning 520 SC.

Does the co-pay value always stay the same?

That run is not the best value for money, it comes in third behind TSV-DRW and BNE-KTA on SC earned and real points costs after points earn is taken into account, more importantly you need to look at availability, over summer HBA gets busy and also accommodation costs when staying between legs.

 

[kevrosmith]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Thanks for the tips serfty!

Looking at the spreadsheet in more detail and putting some formulas and filters etc in, the best value for money award I have found is:

CBR-SYD-HBA-SYD-CBR for 32,000 points and $300 co-pay. This earns 200 SC.

times it by 6 give me the 1200 SC required and costs 192,000 points, but being WP I should also earn (according to the earn calculator on QF.com), around 34,000 points so that helps.

bottom line, for 158,000 points and around $1800, I can retain WP. This seems to be a whole better than the JASA from AKL to USA at 168k points and only earning 520 SC.

Does the co-pay value always stay the same?

I haven't looked to see if it's still possible under the new booking method (aka via phone) but if you can get over to HBA and start from there, HBA-SYD-BNE-CNS for 36K + $211 (160 SCs one way) or HBA-MEL-BNE-CNS for 36K + $322 (160 SCs one way) were possible. Finding U class was a bit tricky sometimes, but they were there on occasion. Given there's no direct HBA-CNS, perhaps the routing and similar co-payments are still available...?

 

[serfty]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Don't forget a WP earns ~45K QFF points on the AKL/LAX run as well as another 8K with the loyalty bonus for a nett ~120K.

Anyhoo, I included that one due to your desire "least number of flights".

 

[Nizar]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

CBR-SYD-HBA-SYD-CBR for 32,000 points and $300 co-pay. This earns 200 SC.

Are there any return 32k points SC runs from MEL that can be done in a single day ?
Something like MEL-SYD-HBA return perhaps ?
Annoying how there is no longer the slider and we cannot test things for ourselves online.

I already have the DSC offer so 3x 200 SC runs should do me ok, considering I have 150 SC of flights to take in the next two months as well as 100 SCs already banked for this membership year.
If I can save 13k nett per run over 3 runs is almost 40k, nothing to scoff at.

Availability of the MEL-SYD component of the MEL-SYD-ASP run seems to be a bit thin in Nov too.
Plenty of MEL-ADL but I fear it will still cost me 48k QFF points even though it netts only 200 SCs ? Or is this 32k only ?

 

[zainman]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

That run is not the best value for money, it comes in third behind TSV-DRW and BNE-KTA on SC earned and real points costs after points earn is taken into account, more importantly you need to look at availability, over summer HBA gets busy and also accommodation costs when staying between legs.

I do remember you telling me about this one personally at Rockpool last month, I will study the TSV-DRW option in more detail, thanks markis!

I haven't looked to see if it's still possible under the new booking method (aka via phone) but if you can get over to HBA and start from there, HBA-SYD-BNE-CNS for 36K + $211 (160 SCs one way) or HBA-MEL-BNE-CNS for 36K + $322 (160 SCs one way) were possible. Finding U class was a bit tricky sometimes, but they were there on occasion. Given there's no direct HBA-CNS, perhaps the routing and similar co-payments are still available...?

I see one such example in the spreadsheet:

[TABLE="width: 249"]
[TR]
[TD]HBA-SYD-BNE-CNS-BNE-SYD-HBA, 72k + $595 co-payment to earn 320SC[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Don't forget a WP earns ~45K QFF points on the AKL/LAX run as well as another 8K with the loyalty bonus for a nett ~120K.

Anyhoo, I included that one due to your desire "least number of flights".

I have a flight with QR in December, which is after they join OW, MEL-DOH-KHI, If I don't credit it to my QR account I won't be retaining gold there. I think it might be a better option to credit that to QF and get started on at least trying to get to 1200 SC by end of Feb. Not sure how many SC that route will earn but should be 200+ (it's in J)

Also found out by calling the ASA booking line that I can book a MEL-DXB-MEL JASA for 192,000 plus a co-payment of ~ $850. This earns 360 SC, not bad considering the classic award rate is 192,000 + ~ $550 and earns nothing. Just another data point to add I suppose.

Thanks all for your responses so far!

 

[CaviAck]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

That run is not the best value for money, it comes in third behind TSV-DRW and BNE-KTA on SC earned and real points costs after points earn is taken into account, more importantly you need to look at availability, over summer HBA gets busy and also accommodation costs when staying between legs.

Is it me or has the TSV-DRW run shot up in price? I'm looking at TSV-DRW-TSV and it's asking for 100k points as a classic...

 

[kevrosmith]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Is it me or has the TSV-DRW run shot up in price? I'm looking at TSV-DRW-TSV and it's asking for 100k points as a classic...

Would the fact that there are direct TSV-DRW flights on Airnorth (a QF partner Frequent Flyer - Earning Points - Fly - Airline Partners) affect this? They only fly certain days (Google: flights from tsv to drw) - maybe try the days they don't fly for comparison...?

 

[JessicaTam]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Is it me or has the TSV-DRW run shot up in price? I'm looking at TSV-DRW-TSV and it's asking for 100k points as a classic...

Ouch, that is a bit of a hike.

 

[anat0l]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Is it me or has the TSV-DRW run shot up in price? I'm looking at TSV-DRW-TSV and it's asking for 100k points as a classic...

Ouch, that is a bit of a hike.

I don't even know how that is even computed...

Even if you took it as counting each sector you use (assuming TSV-BNE-DRW-BNE-TSV), that would be 24k + 36k = 60k per one-way or 120k total.

If you took it as the straight line distance between TSV and DRW, of course it is 48k (just!).

The only way I see it is adding up the mileage of TSV-BNE and BNE-DRW, that comes to just over 2,400 miles. Then, using the tables, that is 50k points in J. Double that gives you 100k. But I have not seen that method of calculating a Classic Award ever before.

Did the Classic engine ever report this correctly? I thought the Classic engine had a different method to the method that the ASA engine used to calculate the "equivalent Classic" points cost (i.e. the latter was based on the direct distance between the two points, as long as there was a published fare between them).

 

[CaviAck]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

I don't even know how that is even computed...

Even if you took it as counting each sector you use (assuming TSV-BNE-DRW-BNE-TSV), that would be 24k + 36k = 60k per one-way or 120k total.

If you took it as the straight line distance between TSV and DRW, of course it is 48k (just!).

The only way I see it is adding up the mileage of TSV-BNE and BNE-DRW, that comes to just over 2,400 miles. Then, using the tables, that is 50k points in J. Double that gives you 100k. But I have not seen that method of calculating a Classic Award ever before.

Did the Classic engine ever report this correctly? I thought the Classic engine had a different method to the method that the ASA engine used to calculate the "equivalent Classic" points cost (i.e. the latter was based on the direct distance between the two points, as long as there was a published fare between them).

That might be it! Maybe the fares haven't been hiked but it's just calculated differently as a classic award. Time to give QF a call I guess...

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

AFAIK those routes are now priced differently for classic but for ASA it's the old way. CBR-SYD-HBA is 24k as classic where it was 16k before, I thought though the ASA by phone is still 16k

 

[serfty]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Is it me or has the TSV-DRW run shot up in price? I'm looking at TSV-DRW-TSV and it's asking for 100k points as a classic...

Is that 100K direct each way (as i two segemnt for the entire round trip)?

TSV-xBNE-DRW is showing as 50K and that is I guess, due to the two segments. Taken singularly, TSV-BNE is zone 2 at 24000 points BNE-DRW is Zone 3 at 36000 points.

Stragely I tought it should have bee 60K each way. Anyhoo, that is for classics and MASA use a different system for minimum points.

 

[CaviAck]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Is that 100K direct each way (as i two segemnt for the entire round trip)?

TSV-xBNE-DRW is showing as 50K and that is I guess, due to the two segments. Taken singularly, TSV-BNE is zone 2 at 24000 points BNE-DRW is Zone 3 at 36000 points.

Stragely I tought it should have bee 60K each way. Anyhoo, that is for classics and MASA use a different system for minimum points.

No, that was TSV-xBNE-DRW-xBNE-TSV.

 

[HB7]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Hi All,

I'm based in Melbourne and I need to earn 170 SC to get to gold. I have 48,000 points and in general I don't have a ton of time, so I'd have to do a status run probably during the weekend. I don't mind using up all 48,000 points I have, but I'm looking for the financially cheapest option to get that gold.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[gizzard]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

I'm based in Melbourne and I need to earn 170 SC to get to gold. I have 48,000 points and in general I don't have a ton of time, so I'd have to do a status run probably during the weekend. I don't mind using up all 48,000 points I have, but I'm looking for the financially cheapest option to get that gold.

There aren't always many J flights at the weekend but you could take a look at MEL-xSYD-OOL xASA for 200 SC. If you have the 50% extra SC offer then you could simply go MEL-BNE for 180 SC, if not then you could do it once for 120 and then look at MEL-anywhere in J for another 40 or more and then return in Y if you preferred for 120+40+10.

 

[gizzard]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

AFAIK those routes are now priced differently for classic but for ASA it's the old way. CBR-SYD-HBA is 24k as classic where it was 16k before, I thought though the ASA by phone is still 16k

Yes, there are definitely cases emerging where it's fewer points required on a xASA than showing with classics. That's why Jessica's spreadsheet is so useful to check against. Hopefully it will be included in a sticky somewhere soon.

 

[tm.smile]

Re: Best Status Run Options - Questions and General Discussion

Yes, there are definitely cases emerging where it's fewer points required on a xASA than showing with classics. That's why Jessica's spreadsheet is so useful to check against. Hopefully it will be included in a sticky somewhere soon.

xASA for TSV-BNE-DRW is definitely cheaper than a Classic. Both bookings I've made in the last month were 91,173 for a JASA. Wish more routes were calculated this way!