Maximising SC on BNE-DRW return J flights

[dr3tz]

Hi all

I'll be commuting from Brisbane to Darwin for the next few months. I anticipate 5 return trips in J. At the moment I'm a QF gold member with 390 SC for this membership year (resets in March 31, 2009).

If my calculation is correct after the end of these 5 trips I'll have 1190 SC which is still 210 SC short of attaining Platinum. I'm planning a few international trip at the end of the year and it would be good to have platinum so I have access to the First lounge :mrgreen:

In one of my previous trip, I took a detour on my way back by flying DRW-ADL-SYD in J for an additional $60 (DRW-SYD in J was full). I then bought a one way red-deal ticket SYD-BNE for $120. This will get me an additional 70 SC for ~$180 ($2.57 / SC) which I think is quite cheap. The trip to SYD was not solely for the additional SC as I was planning to visit my family and friends there.

What I was thinking is to re-route 3 out of the 5 return trips as my previous DRW-ADL-SYD-BNE trip.

So some questions:
1) Are there any other routes that I can consider to maximise SC with minimum outlay? I also have families in PER so that will also be good.
2) Why are some indirect J flights cheaper (DRW-ADL-SYD for example) than some other similar distance route (DRW-ADL-PER)?
3) Is there a way for me to access Qantas corporate rate for J flights (just for reference)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JohnK]

Your calculations and assumptions are very accurate.

1) Are there any other routes that I can consider to maximise SC with minimum outlay? I also have families in PER so that will also be good.

DRW-ADL-SYD or DRW-BNE-SYD do not cost much more than a direct DRW-BNE in business class. All other routes are much more expensive.

2) Why are some indirect J flights cheaper (DRW-ADL-SYD for example) than some other similar distance route (DRW-ADL-PER)?

Yield management voodoo! Supply and demand! I think number of flights per day on the ADL-SYD route may play a part in the pricing. There are 5 flights a day ADL-PER where as there are 11 flights a day ADL-SYD.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Hi all
So some questions:
2) Why are some indirect J flights cheaper (DRW-ADL-SYD for example) than some other similar distance route (DRW-ADL-PER)?

In addition to the number of flights per day, ADL-SYD is 720 miles and ADL-PER is 1310 miles, so there is a bit of a disparity between those two flights.