Who has achieved WP only flying in -Y?

[mrpooky]

It's really not that hard, return trips from Sydney to any other Australian city/town every week.

It is if you go discount Y, even if you work every week of the year: 52 x 2 x 10 = 1040 = not enough for WP. If you're not already WP, that leaves another 360 SCs needed.

 

[userlame]

It is if you go discount Y, even if you work every week of the year: 52 x 2 x 10 = 1040 = not enough for WP. If you're not already WP, that leaves another 360 SCs needed.

Yes, but Adelaide is 15, Perth is 20, and somewhere like Port Hedland, Mt Isa, etc, is two hops, which means two sets of status credits. I know it's possible because I'm doing it.

 

[kevrosmith]

The old adage 'work smarter, not harder' certainly applies in this case. WP in Y- is certainly possible though with a few smart JASAs and why-fly-direct-when-you-can-connect options thrown in certainly helps make it easier... that's the 'smarter' bit. A good points-earning credit card certainly helps achieve that too. There's plenty of hints, tips and gems on this site if you hang around long enough and pick them up throughout the threads.

Good luck!

 

[amaroo]

Four years straight I made WP on J* flying Jetflex MCY-SYD-MCY weekly........not discount but very much whY.

 

[kevrosmith]

Four years straight I made WP on J* flying Jetflex MCY-SYD-MCY weekly........not discount but very much whY.

J* only ever earn Discount Y SCs... don't they?

 

[mrpooky]

The old adage 'work smarter, not harder' certainly applies in this case. WP in Y- is certainly possible though with a few smart JASAs and why-fly-direct-when-you-can-connect options thrown in certainly helps make it easier... that's the 'smarter' bit. A good points-earning credit card certainly helps achieve that too. There's plenty of hints, tips and gems on this site if you hang around long enough and pick them up throughout the threads.

Indeed, but given the OP works for a company with a travel policy much like mine, I was just pointing out that it's not always quite as easy for all of us as it is for some of us, if you know what I mean. I wasn't saying it wasn't possible, merely that saying "it's not that hard" doesn't take into account the circumstances the OP sounds like he (?) is in.

My first post (noob questions) provided some information on my company's travel policy and asked some questions regarding how I might be able to get around some of it to 'work smarter', as you say. Unfortunately, discussions with our travel agent reached a stand still with no movement at all. From the OP's follow up here, it sounds like he (?) is in the same boat. I long for a travel policy that's nicer on us workers. Jobs with such policies do seem to be harder to find these days than they were 5-10 years ago, unfortunately.

This forum is fantastic for information and I learn something new here every day (these days, more than one something). It does provoke 'class envy' in some of us though. ;-)

 

[serfty]

J* only ever earn Discount Y SCs... don't they?

Originally JQ flights earned nothing - no gave QP access.

Obviously there was a significant enough drop in trade to have Qantas decide to allow for Point/SC earn on Flex JQ flights - at that time if SC's were earned it was as for "economy", not "Discount Economy".

These days there are two levels of economy add-ons to earn SC's, "Plus" gives "Discount Economy", "Max" gives "Economy".

 

[NM]

I made AA EXP through all economy travel. But if crediting that same travel to QF, I would have only just earned enough SCs to retain Gold status (which I have anyway through lifetime Gold), so not nearly as much economy travel as someone who achieves Qantas Platinum through Y-only.

 

[Jack_OC]

Anyway, I do think that there is too much of a disparity between SCs earnt between fare classes - earning WP "the hard way" seems to me to be worth more than one who is flown J.

I couldn’t disagree more. International J gets you 4 times the SCs with QF compared to discount Y, but the fares are virtually always more than 4 times the cost of discount Y. For example, MEL-LHR-MEL in Y with QF can be less than $2k, but it’s a rarity to see a J fare for less than $10k. So by flying discount Y, you are actually earning more SCs per $ spend than someone flying in J. I don’t understand how you can believe you are being hard done by there.

Frankly I'm surprised that there are still companies out there whose policy it is to fly J, with the economy the way it is.

I fly int'l at least once a month, but only in Discount Economy, so I get very few SCs.

Just checking, is your travel mostly to NZ? Even if you were only going to Singapore, 12 rtn discount economy flights per year would get you to Gold, and if you were going further afield (e.g. Europe) then Platinum would be easily achievable. If you are talking about NZ, it would explain why you’re surprised that companies still pay for J, as in my experience that is still very much the norm for long haul travel (and rightly so).

 

[ReLoad]

My first year here on aff was all Y on the monorail MEL/SYD/MEL, 1420 SC in Domestic Y. I did manage to get some flexi tickets in which helped.

I look back rather fondly at those days, QF400 every Monday morning with a plane half full of people doing the same thing. Whilst we never spoke, instead we gave the nod of "morning, yup we are doing it again"

Then I found out about a new world of points, status runs, upgrades etc..... The world is now a different place

 

[Flying mermaid]

Anyway, I do think that there is too much of a disparity between SCs earnt between fare classes - earning WP "the hard way" seems to me to be worth more than one who is flown J. Frankly I'm surprised that there are still companies out there whose policy it is to fly J, with the economy the way it is.

A few years ago I spent a fair bit of time trying to work out who was of more value to Qantas - someone flying lots of discount Y or a more infrequent premium flyer. I had lots of variables like food and use of check in and baggage handling! Eventually I decided that Qantas had already done my work, with status credits and the no of status credits awarded equaled value to Qantas. Of course there are lots of tricks on here that help to change that equation, like indirect routings, JASAs and USA legs in YUPPs.

 

[ashleyn]

Just 1 J Melb-Per, the rest was all in Y.

 

[amaroo]

J* only ever earn Discount Y SCs... don't they?

Return trip was worth 40SC......I've racked up over 7,000 SC & over 360,000 points doing this milk run the cost to do so was > $100,000:shock: I think J* make pretty good money on sectors where QF don't service:idea:

 

[Archphoto]

I've only recently started to frequently fly, but it seems impossible that anyone with WP, let alone WP1 exclusively flies Discount Economy!. . . . . .

Achieved and maintained WP for 2.5 years flying Discount Economy Y - 95% international (the other 5% were 4.95% domestic connection to those international flights and .5% domestic only.)

It's a killer on the system, but was a fantastic feeling to achieve (and maintain it) and I was sad to lose it when my location changed and the ADL-SYD-??? trips dried up.

Would I do it all over again? Y.E.S!!!! Sure I was away from home 300 days out of 365 for every year I had WP, but the places I got to see and experience on the clients dime was worth it (the cramped seats, sometimes offensive passengers and often woeful food aside:mrgreen.

 

[DrDazza]

G'day, I made it to WP1 using only domestic discounted economy. It's a life of airports and re-runs of the same programs. I've wasted around 15 hours this year watching (ignoring) the safety demo.
WP1 has presented me with very little advantage and not worth striving for.
I agree that status points are not always an indication of loyalty. A couple of first class flights to London and you are WP, but fly Syd to Melb every week on discount deep discount economy and you only make Gold. The true "Frequent Flyer" misses out.

 

[MatF]

I'm kind of in this boat. For the last 4 years I've maintained WP on lots of short 20SC fully flexible domestic Y sectors (mostly WGA-SYD-BNE-SYD-WGA every second week). I normally hit around 110 sectors and between 1800-2500SCs in a year. Last year I had one work trip to the US, which bumped me over the Partner Gold level. J upgraded to F both ways for SYD-LAX-SYD was a highlight

This qual year (mine ends at the end of March), I've been booked on red-e-deals instead when available (which has been 90+% of the time), so my earn has halved (10SCs per sector). I doubt I'll retain WP this year without a status run of some kind (though I may get close).

I'm currently on 1050SCs, and have another 40SCs booked. With Christmas coming up, and a baby due in early Feb, it's quite possible I may not earn any more this qual year. At best, I suspect I'll earn another 40SCs, so that still won't get me there. I haven't benefited from any double SC offer for a few years now - man I could have used one this year! Unfortunately if I do happen to luck out and get the "You're nearly there! Here, have a double SC offer to get you there" offer between now and the end of March, I may not be able to take any advantage of it anyway.

 

[rotor]

Regarding value of SCs for Discount Economy versus J etc, I realise that in dollar terms it makes sense, my beef I guess is that it's a lot harder on the body and mind to endure X amount of hours in Discount Economy versus Y hours in the comfort of J. So I'm thinking about it in terms of my time and energy (including convincing the PA to send me Qantas), and not in terms of dollar value to Qantas. Arguably I am more loyal to Qantas due to "effort", but that isn't what the SC is all about, and I can understand that, doesn't mean I have to like it

In terms of working smarter and not harder - when you're struggling to get the company just to send you on the one airline/alliance (where feasible), good luck trying to get multiple hops in a journey. The PA doesn't understand it, the travel agency doesn't understand it. There's no alternative but to "work harder"

My flights have been intercontinental - you can be flying 40 hours, still needs to be cheapest available. This from a company worth 10s of Billions of $US. I'm sure it's not the only company like this. It makes me wonder why airlines are not trying to bed down more contracts with big companies for a guaranteed income.

 

[Jack_OC]

My flights have been intercontinental

If you fly intercontinental with QF at least once a month, then there is no doubt that you will attain at least Gold status within a year. AFAIK the minimum you can earn with a rtn QF intercontinental flight is 60 SC, and that’s if it’s just to Asia with no connections at either end. And in your initial post you referred to being airborne for over 20 hrs already and checking in for a connecting QF flight, which sounds like a trip that would earn 140 SCs at the very least. So is the issue that you just haven't been travelling this frequently for long enough to get elevated?

you can be flying 40 hours, still needs to be cheapest available. This from a company worth 10s of Billions of $US. I'm sure it's not the only company like this. It makes me wonder why airlines are not trying to bed down more contracts with big companies for a guaranteed income.

In my opinion, it’s unreasonable for a company to expect you travel for 40 hours in Y and then be functional at the other end. Not even willing to pay for Premium Economy?? That's not only unfair on you, but counterproductive, as it would have to adversely affect your performance. Maybe it depends what you're expected to do, but for example my last trip was 7 cities in 3 different continents within 10 days, and on 2 different occasions I had to go to meetings within a few hours of landing. I literally don't think I could have done that if I wasn't able to get some proper sleep on board, and seriously, I would just have refused to go on the trip if they weren't willing to pay for J.

Anyway, my observation has been that airlines have no great difficulty filling the J cabin on intl flights. When booking at short notice to/from SIN or the US, it can be hard to find availability in J even when you/your company is willing to pay full whack.

Having said that, if you are correct that fewer companies are willing to pay for J, then airlines will have to compete harder to get business class customers and do more to persuade people to make the leap to more expensive fares – meaning they should increase the discrepancy in SCs between different fare classes, not decrease it.

 

[TonyHancock]

In my opinion, it’s unreasonable for a company to expect you travel for 40 hours in Y and then be functional at the other end. Not even willing to pay for Premium Economy?? That's not only unfair on you, but counterproductive, as it would have to adversely affect your performance. Maybe it depends what you're expected to do, but for example my last trip was 7 cities in 3 different continents within 10 days, and on 2 different occasions I had to go to meetings within a few hours of landing. I literally don't think I could have done that if I wasn't able to get some proper sleep on board, and seriously, I would just have refused to go on the trip if they weren't willing to pay for J.

I have to say I disagree with you on this. I get to set policy in my business. That policy is based upon practicality and what is right for the business. In February I am flying Y to the UK....about three weeks after my accounts administrator, and business development manager are flying Y+. the journey will have no impact on my performance. Sure I'd like to be flying J or F, and will be doing so on several future flights (6-7 per year to LHR) I really do prefer the comfort, and use points to ensure this usually, but in reality I'll fly Y when it suits my business and it won't effect my performance. (For reference I'll be attending a board meeting and an International Standard's Committee Meeting, with 6 days between landing and departing.) FWIW the accounts administrator and business development manager don't travel regularly so I consider it more important to look after them than myself - I do fly a little bit more.

 

[Archphoto]

. . . . .
In my opinion, it’s unreasonable for a company to expect you travel for 40 hours in Y and then be functional at the other end. Not even willing to pay for Premium Economy?? That's not only unfair on you, but counterproductive, as it would have to adversely affect your performance. Maybe it depends what you're expected to do, but for example my last trip was 7 cities in 3 different continents within 10 days, and on 2 different occasions I had to go to meetings within a few hours of landing. I literally don't think I could have done that if I wasn't able to get some proper sleep on board, and seriously, I would just have refused to go on the trip if they weren't willing to pay for J. . . .

Sometimes they just don't care; I was expected to do the same - and all in Y (only my senior colleague flew J, and that became a rather huge issue); even got to the point where we were informed that we could have a "day off" between jobs - but it was to be the travel day (you know, up at 4am to make that 8am flight, spend umpteen hours crammed in a sardine can etc. etc)

It all comes down to $$$$, and if they can get you from A-B at the cheapest rate possible that's what you'll get. At one stage they were going to check us onto nothing but LLC - until we politely gave them estimates for excess and personal luggage. (I even had a routing suggested on a non-OW carrier that would have taken 18+ hours from BKK-NRT (via Seoul) because it would save $100!)

By being loyal to QF & OW, we garnered the SCs and points but the client also won out as well - 3 WPs saved them an absolute bucket load in excess baggage fees, pity they couldn't show a little bit of gratitude by paying for J for the Christmas flights home for an extra 2 people. (Try explaining to the better half why you want to sleep solid for 3 days, when you really should be enjoying the festivities. . . . . . ):mrgreen: