Qatar vs Airfrance (for status)

[KingHuang]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to get your view on this based on my current situation - how you would approach this from a status point of view:

Currently:
- Main status is on QFF Gold, but most likely platinum in 2025
- trying to decide which airline to fly predominantly for Europe (either from Australia or from Taiwan)
- trying to decide Qatar or Airfrance for status after Qantas (thoughts are with OW sapphire and potentially emerald next year from Qantas, not much point in going for Qatar and still book Qatar in rewards? And should diversify into skyteam instead?
- to note, starting to collect velocity points to be able to book QR/Singapore airlines to Europe as well (although not intending on flying virgin as Qantas would be main)
- also considering collecting MR through Amex and considering subscribing to Avios membership through BA to maximise the reward J on QR
- my other thought was that if it was Airfrance, could use Qantas award from Sydney to Taipei, then look for award from Taipei to Europe?

Im still relatively new to all of this so hopefully my question makes sense.

Thank you!

 

[RooFlyer]

I wouldn’t be looking at Air France, as you’d be diluting your points earning centres too much. Sky team is pretty weak to earn and burn out of Australia but I see you’re thinking about relying on Qantas partnership. I have never checked on AF availability on QFF but you can bet they are not abundant.

When I fly QR revenue I have been crediting to QFF but now I’m getting pretty Long in Avios due to purchases and flying with Finnair, I think I’ll be crediting thm direct to QR now.

But my main points gathering Centre other than QFF is Virgin Velocity. I either transfer them across to SQ KrisFlyer and redeem directly on SQ where there are usually abundant business seats available usually at saver level OR like more recently redeeming directly from VFF into a QR business award. If you can look a fair way out like I was, there were abundant solutions to choose from.

 

[elanshin]

I think what you want to consider is which airline (s) you want to ideally fly then seeing which program makes the most sense.

For example, you might want to consider Star A and status match your QF Plat into Turkish status. This would see you having Star A Gold even on SQ (you could potentially try for SQ match too).

Another possibility is Etihad. Skyteam is ok, but a bit limited in getting from Australia to Europe. It is doable but you'd be looking at China Airlines, China Eastern and Korean Air. Incidentally you can status match with Delta or Garuda although benefits are the weakest of the 3 alliance.

If you're doing QR secondary, perhaps BA might be a better parking spot? Or you could consider a full transition to BA as well.

I'd just see which airline you'd like to fly first and you could potentially chop and change a bit too and use status match to get "elite" status for a while with the alliance while you try it out.