Is Platinum the Holy Grail?

[QF WP]

OMG......

I have been a member of this site for years. I can not believe JohnK still has stuff to learn! I'm TOTALLY nowhere compared to his knowledge!!

The moment we stop learning is the moment we stagnate...thus I now know little about international travel given my 3 year hiatus.

So..... From the time I joined..... I have always been in awe of the following members.

JohnK
Serfty
Lindsay Wilson
Simongr
NM aka Nelly Mobbs

You're kidding, me . The others in the list, plus Dave Noble, yes I can understand. Plus the ones you mention below:

More recently, the following have also proven to be a wealth of knowledge.

munitalP
notzac
anat01

Their collective knowledge along with their willingness to answer and re-answer questions from newbies (and others) makes AFF the great site it is.

Definitely, a good list - plus there are some others I would add...

bossreggie's "Holy Grail" would be to have a drink with each of them. They have ALL contributed to my knowledge of QFF and FF in general. Their tips have ensured that this weekend I will attain WP for the very 1st time and I thank them all for it!

Now that can be easily arranged for my part . Let me be one of the first to congratulate you post-event.

 

[Bang4Buck]

In times of trouble, perhaps ash in the air it would be great to have status for access to premium lines and more help from airlines.

ejb

Status is irrelevant in times of trouble; what is better is access to a jetski.

 

[simongr]

I have been ruminating on this recently. I waiting to see what happens jobwise over the next few months. if I have an increased int travel load then I am going to have a serious look at what I do with crediting flights. I am still going to be a OW obsessive for now.

I am wondering whether to credit to QF until hitting WP each year and then to AA or whether to credit to QF until LTG and then WP each year and AA after that.

WP PG is not that useful to me - mrssimongr either travels with me or if I have to send her anywhere by herself then I am likely to put her into J if at all possible...

 

[dajop]

I am still going to be a OW obsessive for now. .

Nah, you need to get over that and see the advantages of being on the dark side. ;-)

My earnest recommendation (based on my last 4-5 years of experience) if doing literally heaps of flying, particularly intl, is to consider star alliance gold once locking in WP (or even before if you know you will make WP). (of course it helps now that I am LTG, so have that to fall back on, although when I started doing this, i wasn't).

It's particularly beneficial on the redemption side, I have a whole stack of points I struggle to use when I want on QF, yet can usually use my star alliance points. Added to the star gold when you do have to travel star and it works really well, having lots of options. Incredibly liberating!

A couple of examples - 1) this morning trying to book flights for my brother to Kathmandu using his QFF pts, nothing anywhere near the dates he wants to join a trek, yet using SQ points can get exactly the dates 2) in Europe last year return flights LHR-croatia/italy-LHR BA were about $200AUD more than a LH/LX combo fare -so it was a no brainer and still enjoyed lounge access on my travels, same applied in US this year where I used AA in one dirn, UA in the other to take advantage of best fares .... etc etc.

 

[QF WP]

I have been ruminating on this recently. I waiting to see what happens jobwise over the next few months. if I have an increased int travel load then I am going to have a serious look at what I do with crediting flights. I am still going to be a OW obsessive for now.

I am wondering whether to credit to QF until hitting WP each year and then to AA or whether to credit to QF until LTG and then WP each year and AA after that.

WP PG is not that useful to me - mrssimongr either travels with me or if I have to send her anywhere by herself then I am likely to put her into J if at all possible...

Oh, what an issue to have

So long as you can get to your regular destinations without too much extra yardage, then you'll probably stick to OW.

Why push it all to QF (to achieve LTG) when you are already qualified Plat? I'd do the latter (as the points burning and eVIP's are the clinchers) and focus more on AA.

 

[codash1099]

I don't know whether WP is the Holy Grail or not, but QF do on occasions make it hard to achieve.

First, I have an argument with them on my hands over SC's and points for flights cancelled by BA during their strike. Now they award only Y points and SC's for 2 first class flights on AA and I will need to go through the whole justification process. (the flights were part of a DONE4 booked through QF)

If DJ ever join *A, I'll be in the queue to leave the QF ship.

 

[straitman]

If DJ ever join *A, I'll be in the queue to leave the QF ship.

If *A ever get their act together again in this part of the world there will be a lot of people in that queue. Then again if/when that happens I'm sure that QF and OW will lift their game :!:

 

[drron]

The Holy Grail will obviously be different to all of us.I accidentally joined Aadvantage before I found AFF.We would visit our son in LOTFAP twice a year and mrsdrron would refuse to go Y.JAL had great companion deals in J-half the QF cost so it was a no brainer.I could not earn QFF points on the NRT-JFK sector but could earn AA miles on all JAL sectors-though no status.Then on our first Aadvantage award we were both op upped to F NRT-LAX even though no status.
So when I found AFF and discovered the benefits of status I then had to think.Fortunately Lindsay Wilson had started a thread-the great points transfer to AA.I thought this was great and i have done that aggressively.I reached EXP and really enjoyed that.Unfortunately with the GFC it is now 1 DONE and 1 Circle Asia trip each year so I cant make EXP.The only thing i missed was Flounge access.Fortunately QF009 noted the same problem and recounted his decision to switch from AA to QFF as it is easier if travelling international J to reach WP with QF than EXP with AA.So now Mrsdrron is WP,I am AA plat and already LTG on AA-hopefully in 3 years LTP.Then i may reconsider.
So status for us more infrequent flyers has its benefit.The "Holy Grail" for most of us is top status in whatever program we belong to.
Another who has a great run with CX opups when AA EXP-we will see how we go now with Mrsdrron WP.
And JohnK I do get annoyed when bowled over by Y pax on deplaning but I really do not like the curtain being closed then either even though I am in the J cabin.

 

[Warks]

Well SG is my holy grail at present. Just renewed my QP membership but I'm only 160SCs short of SG with 8 months left to go.

Would it be possible to get to WP on red-e-deals domestically only? That's a LOT of flying!

 

[dajop]

Would it be possible to get to WP on red-e-deals domestically only? That's a LOT of flying!

One round trip between Melbourne and Brisbane every working week (assuming 4 weeks annual leave and 1 week extra to account for longer public holidays ...) 47x 30 = 1410.

But at least it can be done. On cheap fares on some airlines (thinking those tighta##es at SQ), on the cheapest sale fares - no amount of flying (out of SIN or AUST, anyway) will get you any sort of status. And getting the top two rungs of status, you are only eligible to accrue using J or F class.

 

[JohnK]

And JohnK I do get annoyed when bowled over by Y pax on deplaning but I really do not like the curtain being closed then either even though I am in the J cabin.

I stirred up a hornets nest with this one. I remember just after Christmas travelling business class BKK-TPE return at the front of the aircraft and on the upper deck of the KLM 747 and as both of these areas are away from economy the FAs would just block the economy class passengers whenever business class passengers were ready to deplane. Otherwise economy class passengers were just deplaning as normal. It would be sad if economy class passengers had to wait for all business class passengers to deplane before being allowed to deplane.

Would it be possible to get to WP on red-e-deals domestically only? That's a LOT of flying!

I guess it is possible. I do around 40 return trips SYD-BNE each year and that is 800 SCs. While not quite Platinum it is still a lot of domestic trips. If I am not mistaken munitalP would come close.

I used to work with someone who used to commute SYD-ADL every weekend.

 

[simongr]

The only thing i missed was Flounge access.Fortunately QF009 noted the same problem and recounted his decision to switch from AA to QFF as it is easier if travelling international J to reach WP with QF than EXP with AA.

I made a similar decision - to come back to QFF. I was comped to WP initially but will hit WP PG this year - though I am considering moving some flights back to AA once I hit that (currently at 700K lifetime miles on AA).

 

[Bang4Buck]

I stirred up a hornets nest with this one....

...It would be sad if economy class passengers had to wait for all business class passengers to deplane before being allowed to deplane.

Why is that, specifically?

I'm not sure whether you're an imbecile or just trying to "stir up the hornets nest".

 

[flyer4703]

\

I guess it is possible. I do around 40 return trips SYD-BNE each year and that is 800 SCs. While not quite Platinum it is still a lot of domestic trips. If I am not mistaken munitalP would come close.

I used to work with someone who used to commute SYD-ADL every weekend.

It is possible, I would have qualified for Platinum based only on my domestic travel every year for the last ten years. I always travel on red e deals or super saver fares

 

[straitman]

I guess it is possible. I do around 40 return trips SYD-BNE each year and that is 800 SCs. While not quite Platinum it is still a lot of domestic trips.

I used to work with someone who used to commute SYD-ADL every weekend.

This trip or MEL-BNE each week would be 1200 SC and WP.

 

[JohnK]

I stirred up a hornets nest with this one. I remember just after Christmas travelling business class BKK-TPE return at the front of the aircraft and on the upper deck of the KLM 747 and as both of these areas are away from economy the FAs would just block the economy class passengers whenever business class passengers were ready to deplane. Otherwise economy class passengers were just deplaning as normal. It would be sad if economy class passengers had to wait for all business class passengers to deplane before being allowed to deplane.

Why is that, specifically?

If a business class passenger takes 10-15 minutes to get off an aircraft do you think it is OK for all economy class passengers to wait for this one passenger before they can deplane? What if the business class passenger took 20-30 minutes to get off?

I'm not sure whether you're an imbecile or just trying to "stir up the hornets nest".

And why are you stirring trouble? You multi-quote my first and last sentence and then ask a dumb question I would expect from a child? I know the answer but cannot post it as it would be insulting another forum member....

 

[dajop]

If a business class passenger takes 10-15 minutes to get off an aircraft do you think it is OK for all economy class passengers to wait for this one passenger before they can deplane? What if the business class passenger took 20-30 minutes to get off? .

Now you are being ridiculous - or to avoid being too inflammatory, perhaps not ridiculous - but just pushing the boundaries of common sense a little, airlines try to turn around planes as quick as they can. On many occasions on SQ, I have seen (after the curtain has opened) business passengers still in their seats. On SQ at least, the crew are trained well enough to recognise this and as soon as the "flow" of J passengers cease, they open the curtains for Y pax to disembark. I have never seen them holding up the whole economy cabin for 1 or 2 J passengers remaining in their seat and taking their time to disembark.

 

[JohnK]

Now you are being ridiculous - or to avoid being too inflammatory, perhaps not ridiculous - but just pushing the boundaries of common sense a little, airlines try to turn around planes as quick as they can.

Perhaps you are right.

I know the crew uses common sense when making these decisions but I think some of the "people" who travel business class feel it is their right to deplane before any economy class passengers.

Just read posts #111 and #113 and then tell me I am being ridiculous....

 

[Dave Noble]

I know the crew uses common sense when making these decisions but I think some of the "people" who travel business class feel it is their right to deplane before any economy class passengers.
.

Several airlines actually advertise the quicker disembarkation as part of the benefit of business class

For example, BA states in the description for Club Europe

Enjoy an altogether smoother experience in Club Europe, a separate, quieter cabin and guaranteed window or aisle seat. With access to our lounges, segregated check-in and priority disembarkation.

I would say that people travelling CE would be right in thinking that they have a right to disembark ahead of economy

 

[JohnK]

I would say that people travelling CE would be right in thinking that they have a right to disembark ahead of economy

Without sounding ridiculous or naive how long do you think the crew should wait for a business class passngers to deplane before letting economy class passengers deplane?

There has to be a logical point in time where you lose your right to deplane before economy class passengers.