Help with Status Runs and USA trip.

[Abrcrmb]

Ok,

FFF (Frequent Flyer Freshman) here, still trying to get a grasp of all the acronyms and industry speak going on around here, so forgive me if some of the questions use plain English and are a bit obvious.

Current situation: I have flown a lot for business to Malaysia and China in the last 6 months. I signed up for QFF, Velocity and Enrich Miles. At present I have 990SCs which have all been attained on flights with partner airlines and thus, I still need to fly the 4 Qantas segments.

Thankfully, I have trips planned which can be used to qualify those segments and also yield some SCs if economical (preferably 410 SCs).

Sydney – Auckland – Sydney – 4[SUP]th[/SUP] March returning on the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] March
Sydney – Melbourne Sydney – 16[SUP]th[/SUP] March returning on the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] March
Sydney – Adelaide – Sydney - 27[SUP]th[/SUP] April returning on the 30[SUP]th[/SUP] April

I also have an extensive holiday through USA and Canada with my fiancée planned for July, flying Qantas SYD-LAX-JFK-LAX-SYD and various other airlines to other destinations, preferably OW but I hear bad things about AA domestic?.

I would like to reach WP prior to departure to allow for better access to point upgrades and to be able to utilise the lounges in SYD, LAX and JFK where we have numerous visits and layovers. Make the trip a bit more memorable for the recently engaged couple. I'd like to attempt an upgrade to PE on the SYD-LAX A380 and PE or J on the return LAX-SYD A380.

I am not 100% sure that there will be further business trips to China/Malaysia between now and then which would contribute further SCs towards attaining WP, so I would like to achieve them on the three trips out of Sydney somehow.

Delving in to the infinite pool of wisdom here in AFF, my questions are this;

Is there a difference between airlines and the amount of SCs they award to QFF for the same leg in the same class?

What sort of priority is given to WP over SG for the chance to points upgrade on the SYD-LAX-SYD legs? Or would the flights all be full due to their summer holiday period?

The trip to Adelaide is for business and can be done in J, would it be worthwhile re-routing through some other cities and using this as a status run?

Similarly, the trip to Auckland is for business and Is the SYD-AKL-SYD in J cost-effective for a status run on LAN? Or better with QF/NZ? Would it be worthwhile re-routing through some other cities and using this as a status run?

The trip to Melbourne is for fun (Formula 1), and I would like opinions on the most cost-effective way to get there and back, whilst still bumping a little something in to the SC column.

The other alternative is to cancel the status runs Adelaide/Auckland trips and achieve WP whilst in the US. How long does this take to register in the system (if flown on Qantas or if flown on AA?) and would it impact upon the chances of points upgrading and lounge access for the return LAX-SYD flight?

Any previous experience with other airlines and their programs joining the OW alliance programs. I have a fair few Enrich Miles with Malaysia airlines, but it is unlikely that I will ever fly the 40 sectors (am i reading this correctly?) required to make a status jump and would like to know if there was a possibility to transfer points to QFF once the merger happens. I will need to renew them between now and then and would only do so if there was a reasonable chance of migrating points across to QFF.

Open to suggestions, opinions, abuse, affection.

Thanks.

 

[serfty]

SYD-AKL vv in J earn 160 SC's

SYD-ADL vv in J direct earns 120 SC's, Via MEL earns 160 SC's

SYD-MEL vv would earn 20 SC's.

So that's up to 340, totaling 1330 - you need 70 more.

All WP upgrade requests for specific get processed before SG requests.

A JASA MR (Mileage Run) SYD-CBR vv costs 32K QFF and $170 - there's 80 SC's - can be done on the one day.

 

[drron]

Adding to Serfty's advice probably consider a JASA SYD-MEL-SYD.This is an any seat reward not a classic award and earns you points + SCs.
Looked up your dates and plenty availability at the lowest poits cost SYD-MEL but limited coming back from 1630 onwards-nothing in the morning if you were planning that.That would cost 45026 points but net you 80SCs leaving you just 10 short of WP as all up the 3 trips nett you 400 SCs.You can also do points + pay which would be 32000 points + $131.14.

 

[bucketlist]

Just completed a US trip and found that AA flight credits were attributed very quickly (usually within 24 hrs) and that status on my profile got upgraded accordingly (although was already OW), so perhaps may not be of much benefit on your outbound, but could help with your inbound upgrade requests. That said, had never had any luck with upgrades for more than one pax, especially Y to J. maybe from J to P you would have a better chance with the fallback that you might have to do without the wool skin in J.

 

[AirKat]

The F lounge in Sydney is well worth the access and a lovely way to begin your trip. For me it would make it worthwhile to try and achieve WP before you go. And would give you a slightly better chance of an op-up

 

[Abrcrmb]

Wow, thanks for all the tips guys. Love this place!

A least I now have some researching to do on this rainy Saturday.

Will let you know how I go and how the trips pan out.

 

[DeKa]

Be careful with AA. The cheapest fares don't earn points or SCs. Look up the Airline Earning Table on Qantas.com
The AA site shows the booking class as you book so it's easy to cross reference.

 

[Abrcrmb]

Excellent, I just had some lost points and SCs from a HKG-PEK-HKG flight come through which I thought were lost for ever - a nice little bonus!

Now I still have the unenviable task of acquiring 370SCs by the end of March to get WP. My other primary concern is I still need to fly the four eligible flights and just what qualifies and doesn't qualify for that.

I have to go to Auckland for a conference - Flying LAN for the 160 SCs out of SYD. Now the clincher is that I have a spare day Tuesday and I could potentially make another AKL-SYD-AKL run. Has anyone ever done this route on the same day? The AKL-SYD flight gets in at 7:40 and the SYD-AKL flight departs at 9:25. I assume it's the same plane, same flight staff etc.. The LAN website seems to let you book the flight - for only $631 AUD too!

I am also hoping to detour via Christchurch while there on Jetstar. They don't seem to have any Business fares on the AKL-CHC route. Is it possible to book in to a business fare for domestic NZ on Jetstar, just not available on their website? Would a JetStarterPlus fare obtain one of the elusive ~ ? I don't see any real advantage to the additional $150 each way for a JetStarterMax fare over the JetStarterPlus, other than the Plus fare earning 20SCs return and the Max fare 40SCs. Am i missing something?

That would give me 340SCs and with a trip to Melbourne coming up mid March, should be able to reach the magical 370 mark!

 

[ReLoad]

Firstly welcome aboard!

You have the A-Team of helpers here already answering your questions!

In terms of the upgrade requests on your SYD-LAX flights with your fiancée, they are very hit and miss, WP will certainly help your chances, but wise advise from the powers that be is always be prepared to travel in the class you book, never expect that an upgrade will come through.

Speaking to someone at QF last week, in 2011 SG had upgrade requests come through at 55% and WP at 60% no idea on the break down between classes or destinations etc, but is a pretty good guesstimate on chances of the upgrade by points lottery.

Look at the JASA options if you have plenty of points, a great way to get SC's here in AU.