How to get to EQM / EQP in Australia / outside US

[djfuzz]

So I've been looking at my post-PLT challenge points balance and how it will look after we complete our DONE4 at the end of the year, and I can see that I will be about 6000 EQP / 18000 EQM short of reaching EXP before the qualification period ends.

I still have a bit of domestic travel to plan on QF, and I understand that -

a ) Some red e-deals are no good for earning miles on AAdvantage; and
b ) With the 1 January changes to mileage earning, short city hops between MEL/SYD/CBR no longer have as much EQP / EQM earning potential - even with the MMG, most eligible economy fares will only net 250 EQP / 250 EQM (whereas they earn discount economy SCs and minimum 1000 points on QF).

Given the above, I imagine it would be quite difficult to make up what seems to be a pretty small gap to get to EXP.

Just wondering whether any AAdvantage members here consider it worthwhile to credit domestic Australian flights to AA to advance their status (rather than from an RDM perspective), and whether there are any particular ways / deals to maximise EQP / EQM while flying domestically or with OneWorld airlines outside the US?

 

[NM]

If flying QF domestic in discounted economy fares, then its going to be a big task to reach AA EXP status.

The most efficient fare type for earning status on AA is generally B, especially for international flights. B fares earn the same EQP rate as J or even F.

In my case, I have QF Lifetime Gold status, so I might as well keep earning AA miles. This year I am not going to do enough flights to get to QF Platinum, so why both earning SCs that would only me to Gold status that I will retain even if not posting a single flight to QF. But I also won't retain my AA EXP status for next year. But even at Plat status level I still get the 100% bonus miles earning rate and the AA burn rate is so much better than QF for the redemptions I seek that for me it is about the miles rather than the status.

I never fly on Red-e-Deals. They don't have the flexibility I need for work travel and all my personal travel is on FF redemptions. Last year I had exactly 150% EQP compared with EQM, so each and every flight for the year earned 1.5 EQP/mile flown, ending the year at just under 110K EQP. That included a reasonable number of QF domestic flights booked in B and Y, as well as several international flights booked in B.

But I have never undertaken to fly just for the sake of earning status. I have flown ATW when I only needed point-to-point, but that only takes a little more time and worked out cheaper than a p-2-p fare anyway. If I was going to end the year 6000 EQP short of EXP I would not be paying to fly just to earn the extra 6000 points. But I do understand there are plenty of regulars here that would make the investment in their status. If I was travelling anyway, then I may consider paying the extra to upgrade to a B fare for the accelerated EQP earning rate.

 

[djfuzz]

Thanks NM.

It's more a case of trying to fit the travel that I have planned and that may come up around the aim of maximising EQM / EQP - I'm not particularly fussed if I don't make it (seems pretty unlikely anyway), but I'd rather have tried than waste those flights on non-mileage earning fares (or possibly even consider whether it makes sense to credit to QF at all).

 

[Dave Noble]

a ) Some red e-deals are no good for earning miles on AAdvantage; and
b ) With the 1 January changes to mileage earning, short city hops between MEL/SYD/CBR no longer have as much EQP / EQM earning potential - even with the MMG, most eligible economy fares will only net 250 EQP / 250 EQM (whereas they earn discount economy SCs and minimum 1000 points on QF).

As a platinum member the mileage earning has not changed. You will still earn 500 EQMs plus 500 redeemable miles with 500 bonus. EQPs are affected ( so only 250 of those ) but EQMs are still the same

Dave

 

[serfty]

...
a ) Some red e-deals are no good for earning miles on AAdvantage; and
...

Domestically, O class red e-deals are eligible, others (E, N, Q) are not.

In relation to Dave Noble's post, as a Plat the minimum earning for travel in O class is 500 EQMs plus 500 redeemable miles with 500 bonus and 250 EQPs.

See these threads for information on how to ascertain the booking class before booking (you need to look for O):

• http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...tic-red-e-deals-pricing-16012.html#post214831
• http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/booking-class-e-qf-domestic-14967.html

 

[wandering_fred]

Just a different perspective and it depends on your flying patterns

Making AA EXP can be a much better deal than making QF PLT
mainly as a result of the 8 SWU/VIPs And the miles earned as a AA PLT are much more useful if/when you want award flights. (Including PER-AKL for 20K miles in Y)

In my case - normally flying in/out of PER the North Pacific routing (to/from USA) is not all that much more of a hassle than transiting SYD. Which means AA transPAC and JL or CX to SIN and a cheap QF ticket SIN-PER-SIN.

But if you fly more or less continuously for work (I don't) then getting on a plane for more flying may not be your idea of "fun".

Some fare notes
T class (especially on BA - note we are earning Qpoints not status miles) is often less expensive than B class. So a quick round trip to SIN would work in BA WT+ or (QF K class).
Or 3 really cheap QF O class round trip to PER.
Or a mid fare JL Y round trip ticket SYD-NRT (70% Qpoint no bonus)
Happy wandering - good luck getting the VIPs

Fred

 

[djfuzz]

Just a different perspective and it depends on your flying patterns

Making AA EXP can be a much better deal than making QF PLT
mainly as a result of the 8 SWU/VIPs And the miles earned as a AA PLT are much more useful if/when you want award flights. (Including PER-AKL for 20K miles in Y)

In my case - normally flying in/out of PER the North Pacific routing (to/from USA) is not all that much more of a hassle than transiting SYD. Which means AA transPAC and JL or CX to SIN and a cheap QF ticket SIN-PER-SIN.

But if you fly more or less continuously for work (I don't) then getting on a plane for more flying may not be your idea of "fun".

Some fare notes
T class (especially on BA - note we are earning Qpoints not status miles) is often less expensive than B class. So a quick round trip to SIN would work in BA WT+ or (QF K class).
Or 3 really cheap QF O class round trip to PER.
Or a mid fare JL Y round trip ticket SYD-NRT (70% Qpoint no bonus)
Happy wandering - good luck getting the VIPs

Fred

Thanks Fred, this is pretty much what I've been thinking - the domestic flights will probably have to be chosen for the RDM-earning potential, but status might be better achieved on short H, K, B, Y / T, W fares into SIN or Asia.

Now I just have to see if going through Asia works its way into any additional plans later this year.