Qantas ranked 24th in the world for Frequent Flyer Programs

[Mwenenzi]

Virgin Australia Velocity finished 33rd on 26.39 per cent, the same as Air New Zealand’s Airpoints.

Why is the thread title not Virgin Australia ranked 33rd in the world for Frequent Flyer Programs?
So a balanced view and not just another QF bashing rant

Travel tech company PointMe undertook the analysis over several months, allocating marks to each program across several criteria including the ease of earning miles or points, redemption rates, ease of booking and customer service quality.”

Easy to change the outcome by changing the weighting for each criteria

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Why is the thread title not Virgin Australia ranked 33rd in the world for Frequent Flyer Programs?
So a balanced view and not just another QF bashing rant


Easy to change the outcome by changing the weighting for each criteria

I read the thread title as an expression of surprise, that QF ranked so low Not that it was a position that was deserved.

Whereas the VA ranking is probably of little surprise to anyone?

 

[justinbrett]

For sure the lack of a global alliance would be a massive detriment to VA. As bad as AirPoints is, as least it gives you status on *A.

 

[levelnine]

Not sure why this ranking is of any interest to anyone in Australia. It's written by a US website for a US audience.

The most important factor is ease of earning miles (25% of the score) and that is solely based on the ease of earning miles in the US.

 

[CaptJCool]

Not sure why this ranking is of any interest to anyone in Australia. It's written by a US website for a US audience.

The most important factor is ease of earning miles (25% of the score) and that is solely based on the ease of earning miles in the US.

Which aside expats no American is going to manage 4 eligible QF flights to get ongoing status.

 

[harryhv]

And no American is going to join QFF when AA has the exact same awards as QF for half the miles and less than half the fees

 

[elanshin]

And no American is going to join QFF when AA has the exact same awards as QF for half the miles and less than half the fees

EK.

That would be the main reason. Granted you could also get it via AC (albeit sr higher points cost but lower fees).

 

[levelnine]

And no American is going to join QFF when AA has the exact same awards as QF for half the miles and less than half the fees

Not quite. QFF's popularity is among the fastest growing in the US among points enthusiasts atm.

The reason is that AA miles are hard to earn because they are not a transfer partner of any of the major currencies.

So if you bank with Chase, Amex or Capital One, for example, you need to book AA award flights with partners.

Traditionally Avios-based programs were the preferred option, but they have undergone several significant devaluations on North American routes in the past 12 months.

That means Qantas is often as cheap, if not cheaper, than any other partner to book domestic AA.

 

[lovestotravel]

Maybe it’s the timeframe I’ve been looking? But there have been months on end when there’s been no saver award availability. I tried to use my 90k orphan miles before expiry without luck

Wow - I can normally find a seat even a month or so out, excluding 15 Dec to 15 Jan and some school holiday periods and NH Mid Summer

I can never find a QF seat to Europe despite hours of searching. Yes no status

 

[SYD]

Not quite. QFF's popularity is among the fastest growing in the US among points enthusiasts atm.

The reason is that AA miles are hard to earn because they are not a transfer partner of any of the major currencies.

So if you bank with Chase, Amex or Capital One, for example, you need to book AA award flights with partners.

Traditionally Avios-based programs were the preferred option, but they have undergone several significant devaluations on North American routes in the past 12 months.

That means Qantas is often as cheap, if not cheaper, than any other partner to book domestic AA.

and quite a few US based QP members accessing ACs!

 

[moa999]

AA elites don't get domestic lounge access which is a reason some look elsewhere.. plus it's switch like many to a $ rather than mileage based earn.

 

[justinbrett]

Access to Flagship lounges on a domestic itinerary is quite an epic perk for an American. Certainly worth an annual status run to Oz.

 

[Tiki]

That means Qantas is often as cheap, if not cheaper, than any other partner to book domestic AA.

But they are a pita to deal with when schedule changes mess up your itinerary. Last year, if I had accepted their "married" schedule change with a 55 min layover in DFW I would have missed the flight to MIA and subsequent non-daily flight to BON. I had to make several calls to QF because while the flights that would give me a better layover were available, they were married to the MIA BON segment which was no longer available. I finally did get through to someone on the email posted last year to a dedicated customer service team and after a few more phone calls I got an acceptable rebooked itinerary.

The same thing happened this year with my flights MAO-BSB-MIA-SEA on GOL and AA booked with AA miles. I did research, identified a better itinerary and made ONE phone call to AA, told the person which flights I wanted to be rebooked on and it was done in 10 minutes.

 

[elanshin]

Access to Flagship lounges on a domestic itinerary is quite an epic perk for an American. Certainly worth an annual status run to Oz.

Although most do BA to maintain status (or AT after it was discovered how easy and cheap it was to status boost and you don't care about LT). AA tends to be easy to get anyways if you have a cobranded card.

The acquisition of status is a bit different to points collection and use and honestly QFFs biggest advantage is access to EK awards.

VAs biggest one is NH right now and with NA all seemingly wanting to go to JP having cheapish NH awards is rare.

Beyond that, personally I would say that whilst this type of ranking help, ultimately it depends on your personal travel patterns and preferences.

I have a friend that absolutely hates layovers even in F. So I've been convincing him that he should be primarily on VFF as he flies to JP twice a year and its easier to get NH awards than QF/JL.

 

[justinbrett]

Although most do BA to maintain status (or AT after it was discovered how easy and cheap it was to status boost and you don't care about LT). AA tends to be easy to get anyways if you have a cobranded card.

The acquisition of status is a bit different to points collection and use and honestly QFFs biggest advantage is access to EK awards.

VAs biggest one is NH right now and with NA all seemingly wanting to go to JP having cheapish NH awards is rare.

Beyond that, personally I would say that whilst this type of ranking help, ultimately it depends on your personal travel patterns and preferences.

I have a friend that absolutely hates layovers even in F. So I've been convincing him that he should be primarily on VFF as he flies to JP twice a year and its easier to get NH awards than QF/JL.

It will be interesting to see how that goes with the BA changes.

AA domestic F is one of the best ways to earn QF SCs so I’d imagine it would be pretty easy to maintain WP if you can squeeze in a trip to AU/NZ once a year.

 

[elanshin]

It will be interesting to see how that goes with the BA changes.

AA domestic F is one of the best ways to earn QF SCs so I’d imagine it would be pretty easy to maintain WP if you can squeeze in a trip to AU/NZ once a year.

Yes but it's cheaper and quicker to take one status run to Casablanca for OWE

 

[wandering_fred]

And no American is going to join QFF when AA has the exact same awards as QF for half the miles and less than half the fees

Well there are pluses and minuses. Since I have lifetime OW Ruby in both. And age will likely prevent further "enhancement" to that.

All airlines no longer credit economy fares well.
AA's change to Loyalty Points makes status earning more creative unless USA resident. And earning benefits from status.
QFF seems to value Woolworth's shopping highly. Unlikely a benefit outside of Australia.
And QFF does need 4 Qantas group earning flights to receive status.
Others have mentioned that QFF status can provide USA lounge access, though AA members do receive it for domestic connections of international itineraries.
All first work problems related to wandering
Fred

 

[justinbrett]

Yes but it's cheaper and quicker to take one status run to Casablanca for OWE

I mean a Y return fare to Oz is what, US$800? You can barely get to HNL for that from LAX.

 

[levelnine]

No idea why people are talking about status in this thread. This chart/ranking is about points earning and redeeming.

 

[Lynda2475]

Probably because the article is ignores status perks in its ranking which can be hugely beneficial especially in non US programs for those who actually fly.

Higher status pax can:
* earn double the points for the same flight as non status pax,
* be treated better during irrops,
* get priority access to seat releases and premium care teams,
* request release of reward seats
* get free seat selection and preferred access to best seats
* enjoy lounge perks .

Ignoring status perks in scoring usefulness is flawed imo, since status does contribute to how easily you can earn and burn points.