QF Questions??? answers needed

[coyote501]

Am a newbie to this forum.... but have been reading over the last few days and have a couple of questions.

I have just taken out a new QF club membership (I was a member 5+ years ago however let it lapse) because I plan on doing a number or trips this year including a RTW trip in May/June 07.

1) Am I right in my readings that I have little to no chance in actually requesting an upgrade from Y to J on any QF flights because of my status (Bronze). Even though I have about 250K in points I will be at the back of the que..Right????

P.s. I realise I can transfer points to a family member with higher status, however can only transfer 100K points which is not enough. Any other suggestions???

1a) Can anyone suggest the best way to check if upgrades are available on a specific QF flight prior to me booking it. Does each flight have the same number of Upgrades or is one flight better that the other.

2) Also I have read conflicting info (on another forum) re access to AA and BA lounges whilst a QC member. Thinking about my upcomming RTW trip....Are QC Bronze members able to use affiliates lounges while travelling on a Y ticket.

3)Finally I have also read several posts on switching from QFF to AA Advantage. It is a difficult decision.

Given the number of points I already have with QF as opposed to the number I could potentially earn on my RTW trip (ok its only 30K or so but its a start) I would be interested in peoples views on whether I am better starting a new AA membership or keeping with my existing QFF.

Many thanks....

 

[NM]

1) Am I right in my readings that I have little to no chance in actually requesting an upgrade from Y to J on any QF flights because of my status (Bronze). Even though I have about 250K in points I will be at the back of the que..Right????

Yes, you are correct. Upgrades on international flights must be waitlisted and all Silver, Gold and Platinum member's requests are processed before and Bronze members. This was specifically done by QF to recognise their higher status FF members ahead of people who earn large numbers of points from credit cards etc.

P.s. I realise I can transfer points to a family member with higher status, however can only transfer 100K points which is not enough. Any other suggestions???

Not much else you can do except to choose a flight where there is likely to be less demand from business class seats or higher status members waitlisting for upgrades.

Only other option is to look for business class award seats and book it as an award flight and not as a paid economy seat with an upgrade. Will cost more points but it confirmed at the time of booking.

1a) Can anyone suggest the best way to check if upgrades are available on a specific QF flight prior to me booking it. Does each flight have the same number of Upgrades or is one flight better that the other.

For domestic upgrades, you can book and confirm them before departure. You just need to check if there is a business class award seat available on the flight you want. If so, you can request that as a confirmed upgrade. But not this is for domestic flights only.

For international flights there is no way to know how many seats will be made available for upgrades. This decision will be made by Qantas Yield Management dept sometime in the 24 hours before departure. They are unlikely to allocate all unsold business class seats for upgrades as the like to keep some available for last minute displaced passengers (such as someone who missed a connection onto a previous flight) or last minute changes.

2) Also I have read conflicting info (on another forum) re access to AA and BA lounges whilst a QC member. Thinking about my upcomming RTW trip....Are QC Bronze members able to use affiliates lounges while travelling on a Y ticket.

A Qantas Club member can access a BA or AA lounge when departing on a BA or AA flight respectively. This is irrigardless of your Qantas FF status or class of ticket purchased.

However, note that some lounges that BA use for their high status or premium cabin passengers may not actually be a BA lounge. For example, at CDG, BA allows their Silver and Gold FF members and Club Europe passengers to use the AF lounge. They do not extend this to Qantas Club members or other OneWorld status members. This is because it is not a BA lounge, but an AF lounge that BA pays for access for their own members.

3)Finally I have also read several posts on switching from QFF to AA Advantage. It is a difficult decision.

It all depends on your travel patterns. For some people AA is going to be better, and for some people QF will be better. You will need to do your own comparison based on your travel patters, fare classes paid and goals for awards from the programs.

Given the number of points I already have with QF as opposed to the number I could potentially earn on my RTW trip (ok its only 30K or so but its a start) I would be interested in peoples views on whether I am better starting a new AA membership or keeping with my existing QFF.

To do that we need to know more about your planned ATW itinerary and other likely travel plans.

 

[DJ737]

irrigardless

Hi there

Sorry, but this one made me laugh:mrgreen:

Cheers
DJ737

 

[NM]

Hi there

Sorry, but this one made me laugh:mrgreen:

Cheers
DJ737

You obviously have not read too many of my posts. Typing has never been my string point :shock: .

 

[straitman]

You obviously have not read too many of my posts. Typing has never been my string point :shock: .

Just don't break the 'string' :mrgreen:

 

[coyote501]

Thanks for your reply.... It helps a lot.

One final question.... Is it possibly to book a RTW on points. Looking at the QF website I dont think it can be done?? Also if it can be done.... any idea on how many points?

P.S. - Irrigardless.... doesn't matter....I know what you mean

 

[straitman]

Thanks for your reply.... It helps a lot.

One final question.... Is it possibly to book a RTW on points. Looking at the QF website I dont think it can be done?? Also if it can be done.... any idea on how many points?

P.S. - Irrigardless.... doesn't matter....I know what you mean

I've done it recently, almost managed on line however had to resort to getting help from QF (another 2500 points)

Cost was 140,000 economy,
280,000 business or
420,000 first.

Must use 3 (or more) airlines and a max of (maybe) 5 stops.

 

[NM]

One final question.... Is it possibly to book a RTW on points. Looking at the QF website I dont think it can be done?? Also if it can be done.... any idea on how many points?

Yes, you can. Its called a OneWorld award and has some slightly different conditions. To summarise:

• Up to 5 stopovers includes and no extras can be added. A stopover is defined as more that 24 hours between arrival and departure from the same port.
• Maximum of 16 segments
• Must use two OneWorld carriers other than Qantas
• Points required depends on total mileage (zones)
• Surface sectors count as a stopover and are included in the total mileage calculation but not the sector count
• Does not need to be Around The World
• Mileage is calculated back to the starting point, so not efficient for one-way awards
• Cannot continue past point of origin once you have returned to that point

 

[coyote501]

I've done it recently, almost managed on line however had to resort to getting help from QF (another 2500 points)

Cost was 140,000 economy,
280,000 business or
420,000 first.

Must use 3 (or more) airlines and a max of (maybe) 5 stops.

Straitman..... did you book it online? If so... How?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

You can book online provided your routing is available as online award destinations (hundreds are not currently bookable online), and of course subject to availability and having enough points.

For popular routes/dates/classes, be as flexible as possible and allow plenty of time to try out the various routing/date options - the default search will not necessarily find all options available and so the more you can break it down into searching specific flights the better.

 

[serfty]

Straitman..... did you book it online? If so... How?

Easiest way to book a QFF oneWORLD award online is to select the "Multi-Destination" option when you start. Carefully select your flights. As soon as you select a third oneWORLD carrier (including Qantas) the software will promote the award as oneWORLD.

 

[straitman]

Straitman..... did you book it online? If so... How?

coyote501,

In the end I didn't as I had one leg that wasn't in the QF online booking engine and I had an open jaw in the middle. Other than that it would/could have worked.

As serfty said just use the FF booking engine and select a multi leg trip. It's pretty smart at working out the points.

Good luck.

 

[Shano]

Please excuse my ignorance, can you define the term "jaw" in reference to your ATW booking

...and I had an open jaw in the middle.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I presume means surface segment.

 

[Shano]

Thanks. I thought as much and have seen the term used in other posts, but just wanted to make sure I understood correctly

 

[Skyring]

Please excuse my ignorance, can you define the term "jaw" in reference to your ATW booking

An "open jaw" trip (as opposed to a return) is one where there is a gap in the itinerary. Say you fly from Perth to Sydney, then travel by scooter down to Melbourne and fly back to Perth, that's an open jaw because it looks like one when you plot the flights on a map.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Open jaw has a technical meaning that makes sense in the context of a round trip, but I'm not sure it makes sense in a RTW.

An open jaw is surface travel such that the surface travel is shorter distance than the flown travel legs. Open jaw can be single or double.

SYD-AKL-MEL is open jaw since SYD-MEL is shorter than both SYD-AKL and AKL-MEL. However MEL-SYD-AKL is not an open jaw but rather one-way, because MEL-AKL is longer than the flown legs.

SYD-AKL/CHC-MEL is a double open jaw since SYD-MEL and AKL-CHC are both shorter than SYD-AKL and CHC-MEL. However SYD-MEL/CHC-AKL is not because the unflown legs are longer than the flown legs.

 

[straitman]

Please excuse my ignorance, can you define the term "jaw" in reference to your ATW booking

Shano,

Now all the complicated answers are out of the way.

I meant I was flying into PBI and out of MCO. The bits in between were planned as surface transport.