What's Stopping You from Leaving QFF and Are You as Valuable to QF as You Think?

[TonyHancock]

It is a very wet and miserable Sunday afternoon in Melbourne and I'm sitting in a toastie warm room thinking about my future travel plans.

I started thinking about the specifics of my travel and how QF/QFF fitted in. Two things dawned on me:

1. I am trapped in the QFF program
2. I don't actually provide QF with that much value.

My new QFF year starts on 1st August, and I have 3390 SC's of travel already booked for it. 1560 of that is JASA/FASA combinations, 1120 is paid BA J, and 160 is paid LAN J.

I still have a fair bit of domestic Y to book, which will be QF, but overall QF is not making a huge amount out of me. On average I will be making 6 return trips a year to the UK, comprising 3 JASA's and 3 paid J. With CC expenditure I can earn 800,000 FF points to make my travel sustainable in this form. :shock:

The JASA is essential to me, but QF paid J is too expensive so I need BA paid J to sustain my points collection. (I lose the extra cabin bonus with BA but the status bonus, and existing cabin bonus is very nice.) At the moment I can't see another way for me to achieve my goal other than as a member of the QFF program. However, whilst I am loyal to QFF I am not actually very loyal to QF.

So I don't think I can leave QFF and either find a new FF scheme, or even split my loyalty. If QF remove the international JASA I will definitely have to rethink my travel plans, but at the moment I may be unhappy with the recent "enhancements" but I'm not in a position to leave. If I did leave I would not be the greatest loss to QF though.

The important "extras" for being a WP are 100% status bonuses, F check-in, advanced seat selection, and F lounges, but only the status bonuses are critical to me. (Including 50,000 points at 2400 SC's and 32,000 in bonuses - a total of 10% of my yearly earn)

Anyone else trapped in the QFF scheme?

 

[MelUser]

If AA metal flew to Australia and I could join the AA program and have credit card spend go there then I would probably change to AAdvantage.

I would forgo domestic points upgrades but really one should be able to survive a domestic flight in economy (I say this typing from the J lounge in Sydney about to board a J flight back to Mel!)

 

[connieguy]

It is a very wet and miserable Sunday afternoon in Melbourne and I'm sitting in a toastie warm room thinking about my future travel plans...

Ditto for Adelaide

...Anyone else trapped in the QFF scheme?

The QF FFer program is a very effective set of Golden Handcuffs. We are all trapped and QF know it. So enjoy the benefits earned.

My company has joined the DJ corp program and got 2 DJ Gold cards as a result. This move enabled me to move my domestic travel to DJ as I then have anytime lounge access plus real priority boarding. As for my other travel I use Air Pacific in J to get to LA and then AA around the states, Canada and South America using YUPs where available. Some LAN Oz to South America as well. For Asia I use JQ *Class to Bkk and then CX J for India, and the EU. Likewise this year should see SC earn of at least 3,600.

So except for my domestic travel, I'm still with OW/QF for the FLounges and the CC/flight points generated JASAs from QF as you use. Gotta get those 4 "~" somehow.

 

[connieguy]

If AA metal flew to Australia and I could join the AA program and have credit card spend go there then I would probably change to AAdvantage.

I would forgo domestic points upgrades but really one should be able to survive a domestic flight in economy (I say this typing from the J lounge in Sydney about to board a J flight back to Mel!)

Only flown domestic J twice and they were opups. Normally fly exit rows being 1.9 mtr tall (6'3") so I'm fine with domestic Y-.

 

[markis10]

Well I am sitting on the fence and enjoying the benefits of competition, which includes sharing the hotel pool in darwin with both DJ&QFlink crews as I type this in balmy thirty degree weather .

Sent from my LG-P500 using AustFreqFly App

 

[serfty]

I was comped to NZ Gold Elite in 2009 and have since requalified twice.

On of the best part of being GE is that if I intend to travel long haul I look for those flights with "R" class (I do plan well ahead) and can upgrade right into Business Premium as soon as my booking is ticketed.

None of this QFF lottery, plus one can upgrade from ANY booking class, even awards.

Doubles bonus is that I can now access DJ lounges when flying Virgin going forward.

 

[TonyHancock]

I was comped to NZ Gold Elite in 2009 and have since requalified twice.

On of the best part of being GE is that if I intend to travel long haul I look for those flights with "R" class (I do plan well ahead) and can upgrade right into Business Premium as soon as my booking is ticketed.

None of this QFF lottery, plus one can upgrade from ANY booking class, even awards.

I like the sound of that, but I'm not sure my travel requirements would be sustainable unfortunately.

 

[harvyk]

Nothing is stopping me leaving QF... But the thing is, for all it's faults (which I am quite vocal and opinionated about here) I do actually like flying with them and will probably fly them to the bitter end... (I've only flown a handful of times with other carriers even though there was a QF option).

When I'm complaining here, apart of me is hoping that a QF big wig will see my comments and like a lightbulb moment they will realise that they are doing things wrong, then the realist kicks back in and says "not whilst there are accountants running the show"

 

[Sprucegoose]

Does WP1 excite anyone then, I was thinking of you Tony Hancock?

 

[TonyHancock]

Does WP1 excite anyone then, I was thinking of you Tony Hancock?

It certainly interests me, but I suspect my travel won't get me there. (I fear JASA's and FASA's might not count.) I'd like a year at WP1 whatever QF offer with it. (As a one dimensional, baking dish shallow individual the "status" appeals!!!)

I'm not sure what WP1 would give that would excite me though. The only thing that would be really good for me would be more Op-Ups. (I think it is fair to say points upgrades are now less important for me.) Perhaps an unlimited supply of F lounge chips!!!

 

[drron]

Still come back to AA.Doesn't matter who you fly to europe with you get the same miles,EQP and EQM,same status bonus-which is 100% for both OWS and OWE.
3 paid MEL-LHR in J would very nearly put you at EXP.If prepared to do MEL-SYD-SIN-LHR then you make EXP.So Flounge access taken care of.
So it comes down to the Awards.You would earn enough AA miles to get 1 J return with AA.So will the points from CC spend + 2 JASas give you enough to continue taking 2 JASAs?
Now the AA award wont earn you any points but you can use QF,BA,CX or JAL to get to LHR so should definitely be available when you want it.
You would have enough AA points left over to do a J return to NZ or PER each year.Or save them up for a really good award.And you can buy 20000 miles each year-usually with some sort of bonus.
For airlines you get the status bonus on see here-
Elite Status Bonus

For info on what you earn on various airlines and their ticket classes go here-
https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/travel/airlines/main.jsp

And if you really do get into a problem with finances then Y+ will get you virtually identical earning as J.The only difference is 10% cabin bonus instead of 25%.ie only 3000 miles less for the MEL-LHR-MEL ticket.

 

[TonyHancock]

So will the points from CC spend + 2 JASas give you enough to continue taking 2 JASAs?

This is the real issue for me and one I need to investigate further.

At the moment, well from December, hitting 3200 SC's with QF and 3 JASA's with QF account for 245,000 FF points, and that is a big chunk of points.

I have been very tempted by AA. Part of the problem is fear of change. I have something that works so I stick with it. I can't believe there aren't other folk in the same boat, and I also can't believe that QF won't close what I see as a loophole with JASA's.

Thanks for your post drron, you have me thinking.

 

[connieguy]

Does WP1 excite anyone then, I was thinking of you Tony Hancock?

It would be nice if WP1 blew me off my feet but only expect a yawn. I do all my own flight, hotel, car, etc bookings and don't need someone else to work that out. But hey it is my $ being spent so others mileage may vary. The upgrade systems AA EXPs get would get me excited but from past experience that idea has less chance of happening than a snow ball surviving in hell.

So my path this QF year is to get AA EXP, while maintaining QF WP and DJ Gold. I see that as being worth a lot more than WP1 but I may be wrong.

 

[serfty]

I was comped to NZ Gold Elite in 2009 and have since requalified twice.

On of the best part of being GE is that if I intend to travel long haul I look for those flights with "R" class (I do plan well ahead) and can upgrade right into Business Premium as soon as my booking is ticketed.

None of this QFF lottery, plus one can upgrade from ANY booking class, even awards.

I like the sound of that, but I'm not sure my travel requirements would be sustainable unfortunately.

Doubles bonus is that I can access DJ lounges if flying Virgin going forward.

 

[Fantic125]

I don't have a great deal of choice with my flight selections - 95% of my travel is company paid and cheapest fare, although I can choose my carrier if the quotes are similar in price (say up to $500 difference).

Most of my travel is international, and being based in ADL if I'm flying OW my domestic travel is usually just a connecting flight to get me to MEL, SYD or BNE for my international flights. If I'm flying *A I can usually get ADL-SIN (as I am today, sitting in the *A Lounge having just got off SQ278).

I'm happy to credit to QFF for most of my OW flights, but will credit to AA if the mileage return is better. Flying mostly -Y I'll be happy to maintain WP going forward (mainly just for FLounge access), but I'll also ensure I fly enough with *A carriers to maintain *Gold. (I'm with Asiana, 40k miles over 2 year to attain and maintain).

As for value to QF, my company would spend about 30k a year on flights just for me. Our Adelaide site would usually have about 10 people in the air at any given time, so we're not most probably not high value.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

The August 24 announcement will also change things for QF International and this will affect a lot of us here I suspect.

This is a year of major change for Australia in terms of aviation & flying programs, etc. By New Years' Eve I suspect the landscape to be very different to what it was Jan 1st, 2011, and also the question of 'what does QF mean to me?'.

 

[medhead]

What keeps me with QF is that the last VA flight SYD-ADL is at 6pm. Can't see this changing anytime soon.

As for my value, I know that I'm valuable enough for QF to give me platinum. But I would be at the low end of the platinum value range.

 

[OverrideServlet]

Due to circumstances beyond my control I flew HBA-MEL with Jetstar yesterday.

It was a truly horrible experience.

• The HBA lounge is a dive at the best of times, I couldn't even use it last night because the last Qantas flight had already left for the day.
• I overheard a conversation between the (seemingly) senior FAs on the flight saying that one of the new staff they had on the flight hadn't yet been shown how to operate the aircraft doors correctly. Thankfully she was not stationed near my closest exit.
• And, as usual they were over an hour late.

It's experiences like this that stop me from leaving QFF, as all I have left to choose from are low cost carriers (Virgin isn't quite up to scratch yet I believe).

 

[QF WP]

TonyHancock, I am joined at the hip to QF, in a smilar frame of mind to you (loyal to QFF, but not particularly to QF).

As most here know, I switched to partial crediting to AA in 2003 and put sufficient to get AA Plat in 2003 (flights BNE/USA/BNE on a Plat Challenge) but been back to Gold then cardboard thereafter.

I credit the following points to QF - QF paid & JASA flights; as well as ANZ CC (auto-credit to QF). I credit all car hire and Amex CC (when needed), as well as one flight this year just because I credited all our flights there (BA Y LHR/PRG).

Status in AA doesn't matter to me, as I travel infrequently to USA - just the ability to use the point on AA J awards and I have reaped the rewards this year.

My thought also here about moving to DJ.

I thought we had convinced you to move some flights to AA. Might have to work on you some more, along with drron and others. I know there are plenty of people who have multi elite status across Alliances.

 

[TonyHancock]

I thought we had convinced you to move some flights to AA. Might have to work on you some more, along with drron and others. I know there are plenty of people who have multi elite status across Alliances.

I was close, actually still am because it is dominating my travel thoughts!

I'm a little frightened of messing about with something that is working for me. It may not be as efficient as it could be, but it meets my need of avoiding Y and Y+ on my UK trips.

The JASA's and FASA I have lined up in my next membership year will do three things for me.

1. Get me past 3200 SC's and maximise the SC bonus at 32000 points
2. Secure me 50,000 points for hitting 2400 SC's
3. Nett me 167,998 points to be used for more JASA's

This just about pays for one JASA.

As things stand it is essential, as a minimum, to maintain WP, so that can I maximise points earning on QF/BA/AA flights. In truth if QF took away F lounge access, F check in, and preferential seat selection I would be pretty fed up but I'm not sure I be driven away unless I could secure, elsewhere, 6 J return flights per year to the UK with my budget restraints. (Approx $25-30k)

What surprised this "loyal" QFF was just how little paid travel I do with QF. (Hence the question in the thread title.) I'll hit around 4000 SC's this year and will spend a total of about $20k with QF. :shock: I'm not sure I'm the sort of customer I'd want if I was a QF exec!!!!!

I'm also just hanging on to see what transpires with Platinum One. If SC earn from JASA's and FASA's will count, and the QF metal "content" is set at say 2000 SC's then I'll make it. (Based on what is currently known - 3600 SC's with the likelyhood of a QF metal requirement) I'm curious to see what QF will offer and wouldn't mind a year as an elite!!