First/business classic award release for Bronze FF

[geoffshaw]

Thanks to you both. Now I'll sit here helplessly for 3 weeks and hope they don't get taken!

 

[bismarck]

Thanks to you both. Now I'll sit here helplessly for 3 weeks and hope they don't get taken!

Have you tried ringing and just asking for them?

 

[geoffshaw]

Yep, have tried twice and they wouldn't have a bar of it. Now I know there is definitely something there though I guess it's worth another crack.

 

[bismarck]

Yep, have tried twice and they wouldn't have a bar of it. Now I know there is definitely something there though I guess it's worth another crack.

Can't hurt.

 

[BriarFlyer]

You can get lucky. My NB sister called and was able to book J SYD-YVR return in peak January holiday season before any availability was showing online for NBs. I'd been checking each day at release time, telling her "nah, nothing." She got impatient, called, and pretty much told me I was doing it wrong.

 

[geoffshaw]

Did not end up getting onto a QF SIN-MEL flight but after a bit of searching the agent found JL flights all the way through that ended up being better for us anyway. Amazing what can happen when the person on the other end of the phone wants to help.

 

[ramboflyer]

I've noticed that it is significantly harder now than in recent years to get award seats as a Bronze FF. As an example in 2015 my wife and I were in J seats on QF from JOH -SYD (coming back from London, PE from LHR to JOH) thanks to a suggestion from Mattg. Now I read that there is virtually no award seats on that route with QF or to Europe or Santiago or....... Even on partner airlines award seats are scarcer and scarcer. Have a look at trying to get a J seat from DUB or DOH or NAR next August/September with any partner. Lucky to see any Y seats.

Now you have to wait 297 days to feed on the QF scraps left from those with higher status. I was lucky to get J BA/EK seats return to Europe next year but it took a lot of time and luck waiting for the seats to become available, particularly coming back. Still cost $3000 in fees and taxes for 2.

I'm going to review how I accumulate my points from now on and look at a membership with options on converting points to other programs. On the QFF program you compete with 10 million other members and the seats are becoming harder to get.

 

[rock86]

I've noticed that it is significantly harder now than in recent years to get award seats as a Bronze FF. As an example in 2015 my wife and I were in J seats on QF from JOH -SYD (coming back from London, PE from LHR to JOH) thanks to a suggestion from Mattg. Now I read that there is virtually no award seats on that route with QF or to Europe or Santiago or....... Even on partner airlines award seats are scarcer and scarcer. Have a look at trying to get a J seat from DUB or DOH or NAR next August/September with any partner. Lucky to see any Y seats.

Now you have to wait 297 days to feed on the QF scraps left from those with higher status. I was lucky to get J BA/EK seats return to Europe next year but it took a lot of time and luck waiting for the seats to become available, particularly coming back. Still cost $3000 in fees and taxes for 2.

I'm going to review how I accumulate my points from now on and look at a membership with options on converting points to other programs. On the QFF program you compete with 10 million other members and the seats are becoming harder to get.

Yep, I'm definitely going to look at accumulating points at least in one other program also. This will probably be VA, not because they provide great access to awards, but for the fact that there is still some good co-branding opportunities available to accumulate points and can then transfer them to Krisflyer at a rate of 0.74:1 - where awards seem to be more readily available and also cost a whole lot less in fees + taxes.

QFF still has some great uses for the bottom feeding members, mostly through its OW peers. But given some of the most recent changes, I think everyone who is a lowly member of QFF should rethink their overall points accumulating strategy.

 

[lobby]

Yep, I'm definitely going to look at accumulating points at least in one other program also. This will probably be VA, not because they provide great access to awards, but for the fact that there is still some good co-branding opportunities available to accumulate points and can then transfer them to Krisflyer at a rate of 0.74:1 - where awards seem to be more readily available and also cost a whole lot less in fees + taxes.

QFF still has some great uses for the bottom feeding members, mostly through its OW peers. But given some of the most recent changes, I think everyone who is a lowly member of QFF should rethink their overall points accumulating strategy.

With all my travel in premium cabins points only, and not enough paid flights, I'm also a NB. The only reason I collect QF points is for domestic only. Also being based in Perth, much easier to fly SQ around the world and get reward seats. Even looking at CX these days, I used to be able to get 4 reward seats out of Perth on the same flight for my family in J but that seems to have been cut down to 2.

 

[Jos888]

I've noticed that it is significantly harder now than in recent years to get award seats as a Bronze FF. As an example in 2015 my wife and I were in J seats on QF from JOH -SYD (coming back from London, PE from LHR to JOH) thanks to a suggestion from Mattg. Now I read that there is virtually no award seats on that route with QF or to Europe or Santiago or....... Even on partner airlines award seats are scarcer and scarcer. Have a look at trying to get a J seat from DUB or DOH or NAR next August/September with any partner. Lucky to see any Y seats.

Now you have to wait 297 days to feed on the QF scraps left from those with higher status. I was lucky to get J BA/EK seats return to Europe next year but it took a lot of time and luck waiting for the seats to become available, particularly coming back. Still cost $3000 in fees and taxes for 2.

I'm going to review how I accumulate my points from now on and look at a membership with options on converting points to other programs. On the QFF program you compete with 10 million other members and the seats are becoming harder to get.

......and the points are becoming ridiculously easy to get!