My First Trip to the US

[Kendall Roy]

G'day all,

I've just confirmed flights for my trip to the states next April. This was also my first award booking and I'm pretty happy with the outcome (knowing it's basically impossible to score a J seat to/from the US).

Anyway it goes a little something like this:-
Fri 11 Apr 08 09:45 Sydney 06:05 Los Angeles QF149 1
Thu 17 Apr 08 11:55 Los Angeles 13:05 Las Vegas AA1915 4
Sun 20 Apr 08 22:40 San Francisco 06:20 Sydney (Tue) QF074 International

Cost= 168,000pts + $404 taxes.....
SYD-LAX is in Y
LAX-LAS is in 'F'
SFO-SYD is in J

I'll probably fly LAS-LAX-SFO (no direct flights with AA) on a paid fare in F. Is anyone able to tell me how many SC's I'll earn? I'll require 80 to maintain QF Silver which I'm aiming to accrue during this trip.

Also, I was told that QF provide PJ's on overnight flights. Is this correct for the SFO-SYD leg in J?

Appreciate any assistance & merry christmas to all

 

[littl_flier]

Hi sydbloke. Firstly, congratulations- what a great Christmas present.

LAS-LAX-SFO will earn you 120 SC's booked into First Class. I presume you've heard of the YUPP fares on AA where you select "First Class with Restrictions" on the AA website. This will help reduce the cost a little.

On the SYD routes between the US, I'm pretty sure you will get PJ's. There is a thread here that might help: http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/open-discussion/new-qf-j-class-inflight-9853.html

Congrats again and Merry Christmas.

EDIT: Woops, you've already asked the question in the other thread.

 

[littl_flier]

Actually, just had a good look at the thread I posted and noted that I was told that SFO-SYD does not get pyjamas so unless somethings changed, it may be some bad news. At least it's Business though.

Enjoy the Skybed!

 

[Kendall Roy]

Thanks for your assistance .

Do you have a link to a tool which calculates QF SC's whilst flying AA? $270 US for 120SCs makes a status run tempting

Cheers

 

[littl_flier]

Thanks for your assistance .

Do you have a link to a tool which calculates QF SC's whilst flying AA? $270 US for 120SCs makes a status run tempting

Cheers

No problems. As far as calculating the mileage, I used Mileage Monkey which is a handy little tool that links Great Circle Mapper in with mileage routings and an xONEx itinerary validator. MM will calculate the SC's on RTW itineraries but not for individual segments which might be a handy improvement. (unless I haven't worked that one out) For this, I would normally use my QF T&C's with the SC table but because it's relatively simple and most of my segs are short like that one too, I know it 20 for Y, 40 for Biz and 60 for F. (oh what a nerd )

PS. I just read in one of KiwiFlyer's Trip Reports that he received a "sweater" on one of the routes mentioned in the thread as non-premium so maybe something is being handed out now!????

 

[serfty]

Thanks for your assistance .

Do you have a link to a tool which calculates QF SC's whilst flying AA? $270 US for 120SCs makes a status run tempting

Cheers

I do a 'DUMMY' RTW and read only the bits I want from resultant output.

e.g. SYD-LHR-DFW-LAS-LAX-SFO-SYD

 

[Kendall Roy]

Just gave Mileage Monkey a run - nice little tool.

Another good question for any LAX experts......

I'm booked on to QF149 and have a close friend travelling on QF11 which arrives 3 and a bit hours later.

QF have advised that because I'm on an award they can't move me onto this seat due to availability. There was no option to send a couple of $$$ their way either. Does this sound correct?

In the event that I'm stuck at LAX for 3.5 hours after arrival, does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to kill time at the airport? I'll probably have the laptop on me which may keep me sane for a little while


Cheers

 

[littl_flier]

No LAX expert here but I've done it a couple of times. Unfortunately you will have to clear Immigration once you land so you will end up being in the non-sterile section. In the US, passengers aren't allowed past security into departures unless they have a BP and are flying onward. So I guess that rules out any lounges.

In true Aussie fashion, you could pull up some floor and plug in the lappy otherwise, the centrepoint/needle/observation tower can be good to pass some time. There's also a restaurant I believe but I have never tried it. Otherwise, you could take a walk (there's an In-N-Out burger a short walk away) though if it's your first time in the US, you'd be far more game than me to take a stroll.

If the loadings are still light quite close to departure, you could try ringing the FF desk and asking to be moved though this will probably yield the same results as already noted.

 

[JohnK]

In the event that I'm stuck at LAX for 3.5 hours after arrival, does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to kill time at the airport?

Find a nice little bar and have a couple of drinks watching the world go by. Works for me....

 

[Maca44]

In the event that I'm stuck at LAX for 3.5 hours after arrival, does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to kill time at the airport? I'll probably have the laptop on me which may keep me sane for a little while

On my last four trips to the USA I have entered through SFO, but with 3.5 hours after arrival in LAX doesn't give you much time to clear immigration, customs, change terminals and get back through security again for your short onward flight to LAS. I think you will find you won't have that much time to waste. Its luck of the draw at LAX with sometimes just entering LAX taking a long time whereas on one other occasion I was through in 30 mins.

 

[SFSC]

I do a 'DUMMY' RTW and read only the bits I want from resultant output.

e.g. SYD-LHR-DFW-LAS-LAX-SFO-SYD

I cut and paste the output from the point-to-point into Excel starting with the same cell each time. My rather ancient version of Excel will only accept so many nested if() formulae but it starts like this:

=IF(E4=0,0,IF(E4<600,40,IF(E4<1200,60,IF(E4<2400,80,IF(E4<3600,100,IF(E4<4600,120,IF(E4<5800,140,M4)))))))

with M4 in this case containing the nested if() for the remainder of the QF Status Credits table. Im sure those on the board who are computer literate would have a more elegant way of doing it but this works (or seems to work) for me.

 

[Kendall Roy]

Hi all,

Luck is on my side and an award seat on QF11 just opened up .

No 3.5hr wait at LAX!

 

[littl_flier]

I do a 'DUMMY' RTW and read only the bits I want from resultant output.

e.g. SYD-LHR-DFW-LAS-LAX-SFO-SYD

I was playing around last night and I noticed that if you just enter the segments you want SC's calculated on into the RTW Validator box and click the Ignore Errors box, it works fine and will tell you at the bottom of the page. Ie. SCL-EZE-MEX with "Ignore Errors" will tell me exactly how many SC's I'll earn in Business etc.

 

[serfty]

LOL - habits die hard.

SLF has only recently introduced the ignore errors option ....

I've been doing the 'dummy RTW' trick for years; hadn't thought about researching a better option.

 

[littl_flier]

LOL - habits die hard.

SLF has only recently introduced the ignore errors option ....

I've been doing the 'dummy RTW' trick for years; hadn't thought about researching a better option.

Lol, don't worry Serfty, I don't think we're the only ones that've been doing it. You just sparked my brain into thought last night. There's always a way to beat the system.

 

[Kendall Roy]

Unfortunately I've had to postpone my trip until further notice.

As a result, a J class award seat is now available for SFO-SYD on APR 20 for anyone who is interested

 

[pblackm]

Having been to the USA via LAX some 40-50 times over a 25 year period, recently I had a few hours to kill at LAX and had dinner in the needle/observation tower, expecting that it would be no better than mediocre. Surprisingly, the food was better than expected. given the limited amount if time available, it's either that or a few drinks in the bar or lounge.