New QF Frequent Flyer with some questions

[sinophile888]

Also you can pay 1.9 times the adult fare per person, and get an empty seat next to you.
Ergo, just like business class, but cheaper.
Qantas sells these as a comfort seat request, long haul its nice having 3 seats in a row, between 2 people, the seat in between purposely kept empty for you 2 to share.

I used this approach with SQ last year to travel PER -> SIN-> HKG and return. On three of the four flights the seat between us was the only vacant seat in Y. It worked very well especially as there was a very reasonably priced fare in Y at the time.

 

[Matt_01]

Welcome to the redemption game.

So the first question I have is which Amex card did you sign up for there have been a few recently offering the 100K bonus. One was the QF ultimate (your points are now with QF, this card is excellent for QF points earn, hotels and overseas spend, I have one of these), the platinum charge (sweep card lots of options, good for restaurants, Amex lounge benefits, priority pass, Delta and fast track to elite status with multiple hotel chains and overseas spend but very expensive annual fee, yep have one of the as well) and one other the explorer?? Not sure on this one I think it is a sweep card excluding QF so I had no interest.

So why do I ask this question? It may help to achieve your goal. Sweep cards allow you to move points to other carriers which may present better options and after a little more research you may find it it better to create an off shore FF program and move points (sweep) to them. There are program that allow unristricted point purchase, but unless these have a good buy and possibly bonus points can be expensive.

I do not profess to be an expert (Jr member of this forum) but have spent a number of years in various FF programs, looking at some of the contributors to you thread you are already getting years worth of hard earned travelling advice. So what next, you are planning a trip in May 18, correct? Spend the next 3-4 months doing some research and asking questions not just on this forum but others such as flyertalk, AusBt, pointshack ect (sorry AFF) to learn as much as possible. In May 17 redemptions will start appear.

Without not trying to burst you bubble, unfortunately 140K worth of FF points doesn't get you very far without a larger cash outlay and status.

Last point research the the advice being offered, some contributors have a wealth of knowledge on OW, *A et.al and some on all. I would take advice offered by plane spotters, NB and PS with a grain of salt, and pay more attention to that offered from higher tier fliers (WP equivalent) and other life time travelers such as LTG or *A equivalent and learn from their insights.

 

[Anna]

One option, instead of going business class, is to pay for QF's Qantas Club membership which gives you access to international business class lounges when you fly overseas.

If you decide to pay for Qantas Club because you are hoping to get lounge access in Europe, you will need to do your homework very carefully in advance to check what lounges you can get into. I am not sure what lounge access there is even at LHR for a non status QP member travelling in Y, and pretty much everywhere else in Europe there would very probably be no lounge access at all.

Being a QP member is fine as long as there is a QP to get into, but without status you don't get access to other airline lounges overseas when flying Y. Even the EK lounges at DXB do not give automatic access to non status QP members any more. I am not sure what the rules at DXB are now for non status QP members seeking access when flying Y.

 

[mannej]

If you decide to pay for Qantas Club because you are hoping to get lounge access in Europe, you will need to do your homework very carefully in advance to check what lounges you can get into. I am not sure what lounge access there is even at LHR for a non status QP member travelling in Y, and pretty much everywhere else in Europe there would very probably be no lounge access at all.

Being a QP member is fine as long as there is a QP to get into, but without status you don't get access to other airline lounges overseas when flying Y. Even the EK lounges at DXB do not give automatic access to non status QP members any more. I am not sure what the rules at DXB are now for non status QP members seeking access when flying Y.

AA lounge at LHR http://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/qantas-club-lounge-access/global/en

For QP member to access the EK J Lounge at DXB, their next flight must be a QF flight number. This information is fairly easily accessible on the QF site.

 

[PaulST]

Welcome to the forum!
I won't repeat what others have said but one important piece of info to be aware of is to NOT expect a paid one-way ticket to be half the price of a return ticket. Airlines obviously want you to flying both directions with them, so they rather rudely/cleverly (depends on your perspective) jack up the one-way prices.

It's an important fact to be aware of if you plan to use points one-way, and pay for the return ticket.

Another trick I've recently learnt is to return from Europe via Cairo. Last month I booked a paid Emirates F ticket for Cairo-Dubai-Sydney for $2.6K! I was able to get it onto a QF flight number for $2.9K (which will almost completely retain Gold status for me). There was the option of catching QF2 from Dubai to Sydney for the same price, but I'm keen to try long-haul EK F. If I recall correctly, business class on the same route was around $1.5-2K which is amazing value!! Obviously you'll need to pay a few hundred bucks to get from Europe to Cairo.

 

[RichardMEL]

If you decide to pay for Qantas Club because you are hoping to get lounge access in Europe, you will need to do your homework very carefully in advance to check what lounges you can get into. I am not sure what lounge access there is even at LHR for a non status QP member travelling in Y, and pretty much everywhere else in Europe there would very probably be no lounge access at all.

Come May 2018 the QF London Lounge will be open and that would be fine for QP members at least.

 

[RobJ]

Welcome to the forum.
i'm a fairly newbie too and yes it seems a bit overwhelming at first and I still dont understand lots of the jargon. However, using some of the tips and planning has got my husband, who travels more than I, to Qantas Gold status. And therefore we have scored points upgrades last few trips (to South Africa).
I also joined him up to Qantas Acquire and means double up points plus various purchases help build too. We have stuck where possible to Qantas or their partners so always looking to earn points plus of course the all important status credits. We have been able to take advantage of 50% more status credits on at least two occasions which helped get him to Gold.
So keep reading this site, it becomes clearer and the members are incredibly helpful posting replies.

I have a slight advantage as a Gold member but I've usually got a requested upgrade but by being both a solo traveller and buying PE in the first instance. Without PE as a beginning it's hardly worth asking and the other two factors count also. Using points for a whole fare for the whole trip, or for part (perhaps continuing with another airline) for one way re the only realistic alternatives.

 

[andreas]

Another trick I've recently learnt is to return from Europe via Cairo. Last month I booked a paid Emirates F ticket for Cairo-Dubai-Sydney for $2.6K! I was able to get it onto a QF flight number for $2.9K (which will almost completely retain Gold status for me). There was the option of catching QF2 from Dubai to Sydney for the same price, but I'm keen to try long-haul EK F. If I recall correctly, business class on the same route was around $1.5-2K which is amazing value!! Obviously you'll need to pay a few hundred bucks to get from Europe to Cairo.

That's an awesome trick! Will definitely put that into the travel toolbox for future reference


Thanks, PaulST!

 

[Franky]

IMW - if you haven't found out yet, the jargon is explained by typing in 'abbreviations' in the search box up top RHS. It does make a lot of posts make more sense.

Welcome to the forum.
i'm a fairly newbie too and yes it seems a bit overwhelming at first and I still dont understand lots of the jargon. However, using some of the tips and planning has got my husband, who travels more than I, to Qantas Gold status. And therefore we have scored points upgrades last few trips (to South Africa).
I also joined him up to Qantas Acquire and means double up points plus various purchases help build too. We have stuck where possible to Qantas or their partners so always looking to earn points plus of course the all important status credits. We have been able to take advantage of 50% more status credits on at least two occasions which helped get him to Gold.
So keep reading this site, it becomes clearer and the members are incredibly helpful posting replies.

 

[Sammi]

Hi I just wanted to share my recent experience upgrading being a bronze member. Last year in July/August we successfully upgraded from Premium Economy to Business on flights from MEL to LAX, LAX to JFK,(JFK to LAX we didn't put in a request as we wanted to experience Premium Economy at least once and didn't like it much) and then we upgraded LAX to MEL. This was upgrading 3 of us, so it just goes to show it's not impossible.