How much Does it Cost to Earn P1?

[kangarooflyer88]

14k LTSC is still a fair whack. I mean for the vast majority of leisure pax and medium level travellers that's probably a bit too far.. or at the very least may be reached after 20+ years of flying

And this is one of the key selling points of Qantas Platinum 1 - 4 years of that status and you'll earn Lifetime Gold!

 

[Hvr]

And this is one of the key selling points of Qantas Platinum 1 - 4 years of that status and you'll earn Lifetime Gold!

Not quite.
1 x 1400 +
10 x 1200 = 13,400

So 11 years of basic Platinum and you've still got another 600 SC to go,

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Not quite.
1 x 1400 +
10 x 1200 = 13,400

So 11 years of basic Platinum and you've still got another 600 SC to go,

Platinum 1

 

[Hvr]

Platinum 1

So 4 x 3,600 = 14,400, yep LTG

 

[serfty]

So 4 x 3,600 = 14,400, yep LTG

Anyone earning 2700SC per year on Qantas marketed flight is generating significant revenue for Qantas. Hard to put a figure on, but start at $8k per annum. Then there's the other 12k SC to consider.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Anyone earning 2700SC per year on Qantas marketed flight is generating significant revenue for Qantas. Hard to.put a figure on, but start at $8k per annum. Then there's the other 12k SC to consider.

Whether that represents significant revenue for QF is up for debate but I reckon there are some people who easily make that flying OPM even in coach (that's roughly 10 round the world trips in a year which if you attend conferences and business meetings on a monthly or semi-weekly basis can be a cakewalk). Certainly for those lucky enough to be in this position, have it at boss in four years time you'll have lifetime QF status. Then move on to the next big thing be it lifetime status with UA (for Star Alliance) or Delta (for SkyTeam). With enough planning it probably isn't too hard to earn mid-tier lifetime status across all these airlines in the course of 20 years.

-RooFlyer88

 

[CaptJCool]

Weekly full Flexi fares on the shortest runs would yield 40SC X 52 weeks makes 2,080

with a DSC it’s 80SC

tRavelling Canberra - Perth via Mel you’re racking up 120SC per week

 

[serfty]

Whether that represents significant revenue for QF is up for debate but I reckon there are some people who easily make that flying OPM even in coach (that's roughly 10 round the world trips in a year which if you attend conferences and business meetings on a monthly or semi-weekly basis can be a cakewalk)

Those earning P1 from flying on OPM would be generating well over $20,000 PA in revenue for Qantas.

Only travel on QF marketed flight numbers counts to the 2700.

The earn from Full Flex economy LHR-SYD is 140SC and DFW-SYD is 100SC. A DFW flex. evonomy return can be booked on Qantas.com for a bit more than $4500 and earn 200 SC's. LHR return from $3400 to earn 280 SC's.

Corporate travel often have discounts in the order of 20%, so $3600 & $2800 respectively. So 10 trips to LHR to earn 2800 at a cost of $27,000 leaving only 800 for that corporate traveller. For business class travel, basically double (or more) the fares and double the SC's.

Applying similar logic to @CaptJCool 's CBR-xMEL-PER return trips to earn 120 SC's, they come in at $2150. Less the corporate 20% comes to $1700. You just need 23 of those over 12 months to get 2700 SC's - so $39,000 and one still needs another 900 SC's.

To earn 2700 QF marketed SC's flying SYD-MEL return would require 68 such journeys per year in Flex. With the 20% discount the cost would be over $90,000.

There are cheaper ways to earn QF SC's, generally by booking with origins outside of Australia. e.g. A oneworld 4 Continent around the World Business class fare can be had with a base fare from around AU$8K (to start in Australia costs AU$14K) which can be leveraged to earn more than 1200 SC's on QF marketed flights. There are other ways that pop up from time to time which many here would leverage.

 

[whughes3]

Well, I will end this membership year with about 2200 SC's, which has cost me about $25K (all international J with some domestic connections). So extrapolating from that, P1 would have cost me about $40K. No doubt of course it can be done for much less.

 

[Princess Fiona]

P1 can be done with 2700 SC on QF metal as DSC if you are lucky so paid revenue 1350. Then there’s another 900SC elsewhere.

There have been a handful of people on AFF over the years who have gotten P1 for novelty value off a million DSC/ companion seat flights that they took purely to get that status at the cheapest possible price.

The vast majority of P1 get there purely as a by product of their travel.
Then there’s a middle group maybe at 2400 and up who leverage remaining earnings to get there.

None of it is really cheap and of the big tier OW airlines only really QF mandates so much travel on their own metal to get there.

 

[Ansett]

Thanks to the 1800 rollover and 4 trips to NZ in J via BNE using DSC offer, it cost less than 4.5K to Retain P1 for the next 12 months.

 

[Matt_01]

Under normal circumstances i.e. no SC rollover, no DSCs, IMO it costs way to much for the published benefits gained over WP. I get there are the AV enthusiasts who want to have the white card and then get disappointed when they are not upgraded, shadows do not stick etc. I am a longer term P1 and in the early days it was a very different program, once you could just walk into the lounge and ask to be upgraded and it just happened, free of charge and no points required.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Interesting to see this new thread created out of the air!

In terms of costs to earn P1 I suppose it really depends on a number of factors including your flexibility to travel, availability of promotional fares, double status credits and how much of your travel is paid by your employer. Indeed, I reckon there are likely quite a few QF P1 who spent well under $1000 out of pocket to earn P1 since their employer requires them to travel regularly, and puts them either in a Flexible Y fare or in J.

The published requirements for Platinum 1 are that you must earn 3,600 status credits each and every year (no discounts for renewal) of which 2,700 status credits must come from flights with a QF flight number (i.e. JQ need not apply). To give you a sense of how much 2,700 status credits is, a roundtrip to LHR from SYD in J would net you 560 status credits. A return in business from SYD to DFW would net you 400 status credits. In other words you would need to take 5 trips to London in business or about 7 trips to Dallas in business during a given year to earn those 2700 status credits, and even then you would still need to earn a further 900 status credits to earn/keep P1. This easily works out to tens of thousands on QF fares. Is this the cheapest way to earn QF P1? Absolutely not! Earlier this month I flew SYD > AKL (via MEL) and AKL > MEL (via SYD) in QF J for ~$1100 AUD return during a double status credit promotion which netted me 480 status credits. In that respect (and supposing double status credits count towards status credits earned on QF flights), those 2700 status credits could be earned on 6 trips across the ditch so roughly $6,600 AUD. I have no doubts that P1 could be earned for under $10,000 annually provided you book strategically, focusing on sale fares offered during double status credit promotions.

The real question, though, is whether it is worth it and what the opportunity costs are to focusing that much on QF. For the many thousands you spend moving from WP to P1 you could easily have earned mid-tier status on airlines in other alliances (i.e. Star Alliance, SkyTeam) which would provide you with lounges, extra baggage allowance, etc. Case in point, Delta Airlines offers Gold Medallion status for flying just 50,000 miles with them and a number of partners in a given year (and even less if you decide to take them up on a status match offer). Similarly, Virgin Australia offers status for substantially less than QF with their fares often being considerably cheaper than QF (and often with service being considerably better, particularly for domestic sectors). And what else do P1 get you? A signed letter from Uncle Alan? If anything this requirement to fly QF so much is really a disincentive in the sense that you must deal with QF more often with reservations falling through the cracks. I've flown many airlines: Air Canada, United, Delta, American, Lufthansa, ANA, etc., and QF was the first one that lost entire sectors on me requiring me to chase them down to get them to reappear on my ticket!

-RooFlyer88

 

[Princess Fiona]

Interesting to see this new thread created out of the air!

In terms of costs to earn P1 I suppose it really depends on a number of factors including your flexibility to travel, availability of promotional fares, double status credits and how much of your travel is paid by your employer. Indeed, I reckon there are likely quite a few QF P1 who spent well under $1000 out of pocket to earn P1 since their employer requires them to travel regularly, and puts them either in a Flexible Y fare or in J.

The published requirements for Platinum 1 are that you must earn 3,600 status credits each and every year (no discounts for renewal) of which 2,700 status credits must come from flights with a QF flight number (i.e. JQ need not apply). To give you a sense of how much 2,700 status credits is, a roundtrip to LHR from SYD in J would net you 560 status credits. A return in business from SYD to DFW would net you 400 status credits. In other words you would need to take 5 trips to London in business or about 7 trips to Dallas in business during a given year to earn those 2700 status credits, and even then you would still need to earn a further 900 status credits to earn/keep P1. This easily works out to tens of thousands on QF fares. Is this the cheapest way to earn QF P1? Absolutely not! Earlier this month I flew SYD > AKL (via MEL) and AKL > MEL (via SYD) in QF J for ~$1100 AUD return during a double status credit promotion which netted me 480 status credits. In that respect (and supposing double status credits count towards status credits earned on QF flights), those 2700 status credits could be earned on 6 trips across the ditch so roughly $6,600 AUD. I have no doubts that P1 could be earned for under $10,000 annually provided you book strategically, focusing on sale fares offered during double status credit promotions.

The real question, though, is whether it is worth it and what the opportunity costs are to focusing that much on QF. For the many thousands you spend moving from WP to P1 you could easily have earned mid-tier status on airlines in other alliances (i.e. Star Alliance, SkyTeam) which would provide you with lounges, extra baggage allowance, etc. Case in point, Delta Airlines offers Gold Medallion status for flying just 50,000 miles with them and a number of partners in a given year (and even less if you decide to take them up on a status match offer). Similarly, Virgin Australia offers status for substantially less than QF with their fares often being considerably cheaper than QF (and often with service being considerably better, particularly for domestic sectors). And what else do P1 get you? A signed letter from Uncle Alan? If anything this requirement to fly QF so much is really a disincentive in the sense that you must deal with QF more often with reservations falling through the cracks. I've flown many airlines: Air Canada, United, Delta, American, Lufthansa, ANA, etc., and QF was the first one that lost entire sectors on me requiring me to chase them down to get them to reappear on my ticket!

-RooFlyer88

When you are P1 and QF flights get disrupted etc you absolutely do get looked after very well. In fact QF has a team dedicated to this.
So no I disagree that the QF earn requirement is a disincentive in that respect.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

When you are P1 and QF flights get disrupted etc you absolutely do get looked after very well. In fact QF has a team dedicated to this.
So no I disagree that the QF earn requirement is a disincentive in that respect.

Yes and this extends to mixed qf/other airline itineraries. Several years ago my LA flight was delayed by about 16 hours forcing misconnects on qf, and also missing a flight on separate ticket on nz. Qf rebooked me to my final destination on the next available flight after arriving in Australia and remained in business.

 

[Matt_01]

I reckon there are likely quite a few QF P1 who spent well under $1000 out of pocket to earn P1 since their employer requires them to travel regularly, and puts them either in a Flexible Y fare or in J.

A lot on this site talk about employers paying for sites and OPM. Little consideration seems to be given to the employer especially SME privately owner entities, trust or partnerships. When I was running my own show paying for staff travel was essentially my money, sure the business can expense the travel but it all adds up.

I have no doubts that P1 could be earned for under $10,000 annually provided you book strategically, focusing on sale fares offered during double status credit promotions.

Maybe you are correct however most P1s I know their status is gained through normal travel and it just happens rather than chasing. Also I think DSCs only came along in 2017 but these days most seem to think they have always been around.

The real question, though, is whether it is worth it and what the opportunity costs are to focusing that much on QF. For the many thousands you spend moving from WP to P1 you could easily have earned mid-tier status on airlines in other alliances (i.e. Star Alliance, SkyTeam) which would provide you with lounges, extra baggage allowance, etc. Case in point, Delta Airlines offers Gold Medallion status for flying just 50,000 miles with them and a number of partners in a given year (and even less if you decide to take them up on a status match offer).

I only fly the required number of SC to retain P1 and not to many more. I diversify and have VA WP and *G with SQ. Between these 3 airlines I can travel to most places and get status benefits.

Similarly, Virgin Australia offers status for substantially less than QF with their fares often being considerably cheaper than QF (and often with service being considerably better, particularly for domestic sectors).

IME it goes in swings and roundabouts, over the years both VA and QF have had periods when they out did each other in terms of service and prior to covid the fares seemed to be similar.

And what else do P1 get you? A signed letter from Uncle Alan? If anything this requirement to fly QF so much is really a disincentive in the sense that you must deal with QF more often with reservations falling through the cracks. I've flown many airlines: Air Canada, United, Delta, American, Lufthansa, ANA, etc., and QF was the first one that lost entire sectors on me requiring me to chase them down to get them to reappear on my ticket!

Although there are the published benefits most P1s I know are fully aware of what they can and cannot get away with, I will not call these unpublished benefits as individual experiences differ. For me the fact that my wife is given WP status enables our travelling party of 3 to access OW F lounges is a benefit as is requesting seat release which has rarely been knocked back and if it was the review process often saw the seats being released.

As for your comment about QF losing sectors, was that QF or partner airlines. There are many reported cases on this site of sectors being lost and it is normally with the likes of QR, EK, MH and to a lesser degree JL. All these airlines have TTL that are often not met when QF sends a revised flight off to be reticketed. Over the years I have lost sectors (rewards) on all these carriers as flights were not ticketed in time however a call to SST/ VIP has resulted in the flights being reinstated normally within 1-2 days however sometimes took up to a week. I think that status most likely played a part in the level of effort QF put in to reinstate lost reward seats especially when it comes to QR.

These are just my thoughts and I have been P1 for a number of years.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

A lot on this site talk about employers paying for sites and OPM. Little consideration seems to be given to the employer especially SME privately owner entities, trust or partnerships. When I was running my own show paying for staff travel was essentially my money, sure the business can expense the travel but it all adds up.

As someone who coordinated travel at a startup before they got acquired, what I found after a while was purchasing flight products engineered for the needs of the business was actually cheaper than going out on Google flights to book a flight, particularly if people travelled a route regularly. And those products generally booked into a generous fare class (i.e. Flex fare). For instance, Air Canada offered flight passes that would let you book flights between Toronto and San Francisco at the last minute for around $625 CAD/one way. On the surface that sounds expensive given it's not uncommon to find a cheap DL or WS fare for half of that. However, those fares came with hefty penalties for cancellations effectively making the value of the ticket worthless. At the same time those fares had to be booked out weeks in advanced and often needed to be booked as a round trip (whereas I could book each flight one at a time on an as needed bases). In the end I did some analysis on how much money we "saved" booking in advanced and then having to make changes versus purchasing a flight pass and it worked out that it was a wash between the two, but the flight pass removed a lot of stress from my job since I didn't have to monitor fares anymore or spend time on the phone changing flights booked.

Maybe you are correct however most P1s I know their status is gained through normal travel and it just happens rather than chasing. Also I think DSCs only came along in 2017 but these days most seem to think they have always been around.

Now that would make an interesting thread!

I only fly the required number of SC to retain P1 and not to many more. I diversify and have VA WP and *G with SQ. Between these 3 airlines I can travel to most places and get status benefits.

Fair point, although I should point out that for those who mostly travel on their own dime, it can be challenging to accumulate status across multiple airlines, particularly if they are aiming for something like P1 which could easily chew up a lot of long haul international segments to earn the coveted status. Then again if you have a player 2 then this could be something that works out.

IME it goes in swings and roundabouts, over the years both VA and QF have had periods when they out did each other in terms of service and prior to covid the fares seemed to be similar.

Fair point. And I suspect Virgin is stepping up their game to improve their appearance after years of COVID lockdown, cancellations and bankruptcy that removed the lustre of the airline. At some point, though, the bean counters will come in and experiences will be "enhanced" to strengthen their bottom line, bloggers on AFF be damned!

Although there are the published benefits most P1s I know are fully aware of what they can and cannot get away with, I will not call these unpublished benefits as individual experiences differ. For me the fact that my wife is given WP status enables our travelling party of 3 to access OW F lounges is a benefit as is requesting seat release which has rarely been knocked back and if it was the review process often saw the seats being released.

That's the other thing, unpublished benefits - like what does that even mean? It means the airline is unwilling to commit to treating its top tier elites a whole lot better than their dime a dozen Golds! Let's take United's top tier 1K status as an example. Are there benefits of it over the lower tier Platinum or Gold status? Absolutely! For one thing you have a ton more global upgrade credits which can be used to upgrade from economy into business on United, ANA and Lufthansa group flights. This instrument alone is extremely valuable for the frequent flyer since it works out to 3 deep discount long haul flights upgraded from economy to J, 7 regular economy long haul flights upgraded to J, or 9 Premium Plus (Premium Economy) flights upgraded to J. And remember these upgrade credits can be used not just on United but also ANA and Lufthansa! And if all of that wasn't enough, with United you don't have to play the gate lottery to see if you get upgraded with instant upgrades to J being possible at time of booking!

As for your comment about QF losing sectors, was that QF or partner airlines. There are many reported cases on this site of sectors being lost and it is normally with the likes of QR, EK, MH and to a lesser degree JL. All these airlines have TTL that are often not met when QF sends a revised flight off to be reticketed. Over the years I have lost sectors (rewards) on all these carriers as flights were not ticketed in time however a call to SST/ VIP has resulted in the flights being reinstated normally within 1-2 days however sometimes took up to a week. I think that status most likely played a part in the level of effort QF put in to reinstate lost reward seats especially when it comes to QR.

In my case QF lost a sector on a ticket I booked with them that was entirely operated by them. This for me was the big surprise. Like the itinerary was fine one day and then fast forward a couple of weeks and all of a sudden the outbound sector disappeared. And as I mentioned earlier having flown a ton of different airlines over the years, this is the first time this has ever happened to me. That QF has dedicated support for P1s is great but it frankly shouldn't need to come to that to get service. I have been treated far better as a lowly Premier Gold with United on the phone, at the airport and on the plane than as a QF Gold. That being said, QF remains one of the cheaper ways to earn normal and lifetime OW status so I'll hang in there!

 

[Captain Halliday]

I think that status most likely played a part in the level of effort QF put in to reinstate lost reward seats especially when it comes to QR.

I suspect you’re right.

I’m zero from two on reinstatement requests as a WP.

 

[Matt_01]

As someone who coordinated travel at a startup before they got acquired, what I found after a while was purchasing flight products engineered for the needs of the business was actually cheaper than going out on Google flights to book a flight, particularly if people travelled a route regularly.

If a business flys regular routes you can normally get in touch with the airline that services these and get substantial savings. In 2006 we set up an account to fly with SQ and the savings were significant however we did have to prove previous travel expenditure and commit to spending a minimum of SGD250K per year for three years. In the fine print the lawyers worked out that we only needed to spend 750K over a three year period which was great news as at the time we were needing to spend around 600K within the next few months. From memory the route deal was further negotiated to get even more savings. Sure we had some staff who wanted to travel on their prefered airline, which we allowed however the rules were simple any cost to the business that was above what we would pay had to be met by the staff member. Needless to say we had a number off staff that were happy to to SQ J. I no longer run my own show and am a wage slave to a global organisation, when we book flights I am of the understanding that the organisation does not pay change or cancellation fees to any airline.

Now that would make an interesting thread!

I think there was one created in the past or I read comments along these lines

That's the other thing, unpublished benefits - like what does that even mean? It means the airline is unwilling to commit to treating its top tier elites a whole lot better than their dime a dozen Golds! Let's take United's top tier 1K status as an example. Are there benefits of it over the lower tier Platinum or Gold status? Absolutely! For one thing you have a ton more global upgrade credits which can be used to upgrade from economy into business on United, ANA and Lufthansa group flights. This instrument alone is extremely valuable for the frequent flyer since it works out to 3 deep discount long haul flights upgraded from economy to J, 7 regular economy long haul flights upgraded to J, or 9 Premium Plus (Premium Economy) flights upgraded to J. And remember these upgrade credits can be used not just on United but also ANA and Lufthansa! And if all of that wasn't enough, with United you don't have to play the gate lottery to see if you get upgraded with instant upgrades to J being possible at time of booking!

QF have published benefit for P1s and that is all I expect. At lounges in AU getting access to the other lounge can be a benefit as is upgrades but this is usually at the discretion of the lounge manager who may be trying accommodate the requests of others. Most or the airlines you mention are *A, I am a OW traveller and more akin to the benefits they offer. I believe BA is a good program if you can get to GGL but this is a parth I did not go down and in hindsight probably should have.

 

[RichardMEL]

Under normal circumstances i.e. no SC rollover, no DSCs, IMO it costs way to much for the published benefits gained over WP. I get there are the AV enthusiasts who want to have the white card and then get disappointed when they are not upgraded, shadows do not stick etc. I am a longer term P1 and in the early days it was a very different program, once you could just walk into the lounge and ask to be upgraded and it just happened, free of charge and no points required.

And these days the white card (physically) is hard to come by!! (I suppose for new attainers of course one would be issued.. but my current physical white card has a stated expiry date in 2020.. but then again my UA 1K card shows 2021. ah fun pandemic times).

just going to add the comment here rather than quote one of the lower post comments regardiing VA.. Yes, their status levels may be easier to attain (and they have family pooling) but, right now, they have no lifetime recognition that I am aware of, and certainly no higher earn P1 equivalent. Yes, there's a new "The Club" (CL clone) but that's a totally separate thing). Currently VA has no equivalent to P1 so... apples and oranges.

Oh, and some can attain P1 and high level status with their own dime.. but I digress...