QF Status Credit on partner airlines

[winfred]

After a few years of not having to worry about status credit, the game is on again. I noticed that there were signficant changes to discourage people flying partner airlines. For example, I looked at CX HKG-DXB flights. Flexible economy = 0 status credit. As a lifetime gold member, I am wondering if I should forget about qualifying and just get the best option, in my current case fly EK instead of CX.

 

[defurax]

HKG-DXB in Y class (Flex Economy) on CX should earns 60 QF SC. B,H and K earn at Economy rate. M and L at discount Economy rate.

 

[winfred]

HKG-DXB in Y class (Flex Economy) on CX should earns 60 QF SC. B,H and K earn at Economy rate. M and L at discount Economy rate.

That's what I thought but the Flexible Economy fare I can book are Q and N class fares. They are the most expensive ones on CX website and are called (Economy Flex). They both don't earn me any QF SC.

 

[MELso]

After a few years of not having to worry about status credit, the game is on again. I noticed that there were signficant changes to discourage people flying partner airlines. For example, I looked at CX HKG-DXB flights. Flexible economy = 0 status credit. As a lifetime gold member, I am wondering if I should forget about qualifying and just get the best option, in my current case fly EK instead of CX.

Sure you're not looking at the EK rates? EK flights on an EK number (rather than QF or CX) don't earn status credits on QF.

 

[encryptededdy]

That's what I thought but the Flexible Economy fare I can book are Q and N class fares. They are the most expensive ones on CX website and are called (Economy Flex). They both don't earn me any QF SC.

Yep, that's a persistent issue with CX's horizontal fare products. They book into the same fare class regardless of if you book lite or flex. You can read more about that here: Article: Branded Fares Create Frequent Flyer Earn Confusion

Depending on PE pricing you could avoid this by booking PE fares, I suppose. Alternatively a travel agent could help you book a specific fare class.

 

[oz_boater]

Sure you're not looking at the EK rates? EK flights on an EK number (rather than QF or CX) don't earn status credits on QF.

Here is the table

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/earn-points/airline-earning-tables/partner-airline-earning-tables.html?int_cam=au%3Aairline-earning-tables%3Aarticle%3Apartner-airline-earning-tables%3Aen%3Ann

I am showing 0 SC for partners to DXB from Oz & from South East Europe
Flipping over to the calculator https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/calculators.html#/ I am showing 60 SC in economy on Cathay (0 on EK)

Interestingly, regardless of what 'Economy' fare class you pick for the calculator it shows 'Flex Economy' only. Is the fare that can be booked not considered 'Flex' ? Because that would be pretty misleading - you put in one fare class for the calc and it substitutes another in the result



Q & N do not appear on the list of valid fare classes for CX

So they are apparently not any sort of Economy fares as far as QANTAS is concerned.
This does look like a bug.

 

[tdimdad]

It may be a bug in the QF calculator but the fare class and use of branded fares certainly is purposeful from CX. It's just be pity those particular fare classes fall outside of the ones QFF currently recognises for SC's (which, again, may be intended).

 

[kangarooflyer88]

first congrats on the LTG it’s certainly an achievement! My question for you is what are you looking to get out of the booking? Higher status? If so, you may want to look at BA’s program which offers lifetime OneWorld Emerald status at 35,000 tier points and likely has better tier point accruals with partners like Cathay. Alternatively you might want to look at accumulating lifetime status with another alliance. Air France (SkyTeam) gives you lifetime top tier status after earning top tier status for 10 consecutive years. Asiana (Star Alliance) gives you lifetime Star Gold after flying half a million miles with them and partners. One nice thing about departing a major Asian hub like Honkers is you have good connection options across a number of airlines as Honkers historically has been a rich market for the airlines

If you do need to collect QF SC you may want to try calling Cathay to see if they can price out the itinerary on the desire fare code.

 

[elanshin]

Asiana (Star Alliance) gives you lifetime Star Gold after flying half a million miles with them and partners.

Just be careful with this. Who knows when that will become KE and Skyteam instead.

 

[winfred]

first congrats on the LTG it’s certainly an achievement! My question for you is what are you looking to get out of the booking? Higher status? If so, you may want to look at BA’s program which offers lifetime OneWorld Emerald status at 35,000 tier points and likely has better tier point accruals with partners like Cathay. Alternatively you might want to look at accumulating lifetime status with another alliance. Air France (SkyTeam) gives you lifetime top tier status after earning top tier status for 10 consecutive years. Asiana (Star Alliance) gives you lifetime Star Gold after flying half a million miles with them and partners. One nice thing about departing a major Asian hub like Honkers is you have good connection options across a number of airlines as Honkers historically has been a rich market for the airlines

If you do need to collect QF SC you may want to try calling Cathay to see if they can price out the itinerary on the desire fare code.

I will be flying a lot over the next 5 years. In September alone I did 14 sectors, including domestic US in discounted economy, Asia short hauls and 2 transpacific flights. Oneworld Emerald was very handy especially for the US domestic flights. You get free bags (which can cost more than the airfare), free seat selection and get treated much better with delayed/cancelled flights which happens too often in the US. Other alliances simply not as good.

Will my QF Gold be good enough? Probably. I do take into account other factors such as costs when choosing which airline to fly. For example, I flew Starlux from Singapore to LA in PE. US$1,100 return. Much better value than anything else I can find by a huge margin.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Just be careful with this. Who knows when that will become KE and Skyteam instead.

That is certainly a risk, although it's hardly a guarantee that will go through. Still having lifetime SkyTeam status ain't nothing to sneeze at either!

I will be flying a lot over the next 5 years. In September alone I did 14 sectors, including domestic US in discounted economy, Asia short hauls and 2 transpacific flights. Oneworld Emerald was very handy especially for the US domestic flights. You get free bags (which can cost more than the airfare), free seat selection and get treated much better with delayed/cancelled flights which happens too often in the US. Other alliances simply not as good.

My question for you is what difference (if any) is there between holding OneWorld Sapphire (QF Gold) versus OneWorld Emerald (QF Platinum) on these routes? Sure, if there is an international Flounge, that is nice but what other perks are there? Sapphire gets you lounge access including AA Flagship lounge access when travelling domestically in the US, extra baggage allowance and seat selection.

SkyTeam status gives you free seat selection across all member airlines , lounge access (on international flights) and extra baggage allowance. Star Alliance status gives you free seat selection (with the airline you hold status with), lounge access and extra baggage allowance. Yes it is true that if you hold United Premier Gold status you cannot access United Clubs when travelling domestically although some would argue that is a benefit, if you ever had the "privilege" of going through one. But you can still access Lufthansa lounges, Air Canada lounge and lounges operated by any other Star Alliance partner when travelling domestically. And if you hold Star Alliance status with an airline other than United? Free lounge access across the board regardless of the Star Alliance itinerary you hold (including US domestic)

-RooFlyer88

 

[winfred]

That is certainly a risk, although it's hardly a guarantee that will go through. Still having lifetime SkyTeam status ain't nothing to sneeze at either!

My question for you is what difference (if any) is there between holding OneWorld Sapphire (QF Gold) versus OneWorld Emerald (QF Platinum) on these routes? Sure, if there is an international Flounge, that is nice but what other perks are there? Sapphire gets you lounge access including AA Flagship lounge access when travelling domestically in the US, extra baggage allowance and seat selection.

SkyTeam status gives you free seat selection across all member airlines , lounge access (on international flights) and extra baggage allowance. Star Alliance status gives you free seat selection (with the airline you hold status with), lounge access and extra baggage allowance. Yes it is true that if you hold United Premier Gold status you cannot access United Clubs when travelling domestically although some would argue that is a benefit, if you ever had the "privilege" of going through one. But you can still access Lufthansa lounges, Air Canada lounge and lounges operated by any other Star Alliance partner when travelling domestically. And if you hold Star Alliance status with an airline other than United? Free lounge access across the board regardless of the Star Alliance itinerary you hold (including US domestic)

-RooFlyer88

Yes true. Star Alliance & Skyteam gold will give me something similar but for the routes I usually take, OW just offered better choices. Also, the F lounges of CX, QF & EK are much better than other lounges.

 

[elanshin]

Yes true. Star Alliance & Skyteam gold will give me something similar but for the routes I usually take, OW just offered better choices. Also, the F lounges of CX, QF & EK are much better than other lounges.

I'd see if you can't get some form of status match on star alliance/skyteam from your OW and doing a bit to maintain.

 

[Himeno]

My question for you is what difference (if any) is there between holding OneWorld Sapphire (QF Gold) versus OneWorld Emerald (QF Platinum) on these routes? Sure, if there is an international Flounge, that is nice but what other perks are there? Sapphire gets you lounge access including AA Flagship lounge access when travelling domestically in the US, extra baggage allowance and seat selection.

While both Sapphire and Emerald give extra baggage (and free baggage in the US), the extra allowance for Emerald status is more then that for Sapphire. (AA gives oneworld Sapphire 2 free checked bags, while oneworld Emerald get 3)
Sapphire/Emerald only gets you access to AA/AS domestic lounges if you aren't holding that status via the AA or AS programs.
A JL GCD, QF P or BA CG get more access to AA lounges then an AA ExP. (all Emerald)
A QFF Gold can get access to the DFW Flagship lounge prior to a flight to JFK, but a AAdvantage Platinum won't.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Yes true. Star Alliance & Skyteam gold will give me something similar but for the routes I usually take, OW just offered better choices. Also, the F lounges of CX, QF & EK are much better than other lounges.

But is OneWorld always the best in terms of schedule, price and routing? I find that hard to believe, and I say that as someone who has been trying hard to fly exclusively OneWorld for Platinum status. Looking back at the bookings I made, sometimes Star Alliance was better in terms of routing (i.e. SYD > PIT via SFO versus SYD >PIT via DFW, Star Alliance) or in terms of pricing (i.e. SYD > FRA via SGN on VN being $300 cheaper with 1 less connection, SkyTeam).

I'd see if you can't get some form of status match on star alliance/skyteam from your OW and doing a bit to maintain.

That is crucial here. I mean if you can get status by taking a couple of flights you would ordinarily have to take anyways what do you have to lose? Try out the status and see if you like what you see. You might find it surprising. For instance, United beats Qantas hands down on seating perks. A United Gold member gets access to all seating options when booking, whereas with QF you must be Platinum One to get such a perk, and even then only on flights departing Australia. If you don't like United or Star Alliance, that's fine you have justification to your approach. But you'll never know what you're missing out on unless you give the competitors a fair shake.

While both Sapphire and Emerald give extra baggage (and free baggage in the US), the extra allowance for Emerald status is more than that for Sapphire. (AA gives oneworld Sapphire 2 free checked bags, while oneworld Emerald get 3)

But the key question is when you'll ever make use of that 3 bag allowance? 2 bags, sure I could see it, but the only people who would use 3 bags to my knowledge are people who move countries regularly like yours truly. I will also point out that some frequent flyer programs (i.e. United) offer 3 free checked bags for their mid-tier elites.

A QFF Gold can get access to the DFW Flagship lounge prior to a flight to JFK, but a AAdvantage Platinum won't.

A QFF Gold can access any Flagship lounge so long as they are travelling on any OneWorld itinerary (including AA domestic).

 

[winfred]

But is OneWorld always the best in terms of schedule, price and routing? I find that hard to believe, and I say that as someone who has been trying hard to fly exclusively OneWorld for Platinum status. Looking back at the bookings I made, sometimes Star Alliance was better in terms of routing (i.e. SYD > PIT via SFO versus SYD >PIT via DFW, Star Alliance) or in terms of pricing (i.e. SYD > FRA via SGN on VN being $300 cheaper with 1 less connection, SkyTeam).

That is crucial here. I mean if you can get status by taking a couple of flights you would ordinarily have to take anyways what do you have to lose? Try out the status and see if you like what you see. You might find it surprising. For instance, United beats Qantas hands down on seating perks. A United Gold member gets access to all seating options when booking, whereas with QF you must be Platinum One to get such a perk, and even then only on flights departing Australia. If you don't like United or Star Alliance, that's fine you have justification to your approach. But you'll never know what you're missing out on unless you give the competitors a fair shake.

But the key question is when you'll ever make use of that 3 bag allowance? 2 bags, sure I could see it, but the only people who would use 3 bags to my knowledge are people who move countries regularly like yours truly. I will also point out that some frequent flyer programs (i.e. United) offer 3 free checked bags for their mid-tier elites.

A QFF Gold can access any Flagship lounge so long as they are travelling on any OneWorld itinerary (including AA domestic).

I have 3 cities that I travel from frequently: MEL (QF), HKG (CX) and KUL (MH). Cities I frequently travel to: LAX, SFO, NYC, BKK, DXB, RUH, SHA/PVG.

OW makes a lot more sense to me. I have done status match before. Never managed to re-qualify.

I try to travel as light as possible so the 3 bags allowance is not much use to me.

I agree than QF Gold is good enough for most situations for me. The marginal benefits of Plat is really marginal. I used to be able to get more award seats but I have been using a CX linked credit card and I am finding it as easy to get award seats on CX vs QF. I used to get upgrades from Y to Business. Got 3 upgrades for trans-pacific flights including 1 from Boston to HK in the space of 18 months. I haven't had any since late 2018.

Singapore Airlines is the only Star Alliance airline that may be good for me. If there is a SG status match or status challenge, I will most likely try it but I haven't seen one ever.