WP worth it? Need 120SC

[wizzy]

Hi all - sorry if this is repetitive - it's my first post. I've been reading for ages and it's all so interesting and everyone has such helpful suggestions, but I was wondering if someone could please provide some assistance on my situation. Due to some well timed work trips, after being Bronze since 1999 I am now Gold QF status...and I know it's a bit silly but I'd really love to be WP before my status changes on 31 May. I have a J booking in April Syd - LA - NY (make my own way) Chicago - LA - Syd. Once I take this, I think I will be approx 100 SC short of WP. I have read numerous forums and I would love to get to this before 31 May. Unfortunately I have no days of annual leave left so whatever I do will need to be on a weekend. Is WP really worth it? Because if my company didn't pay for me to fly J class there's no way I could afford it (I am a Red E Deal kinda gal) and if yes, can anyone suggest any status runs from Sydney please? Thank you so much.

 

[straitman]

Hi all - sorry if this is repetitive - it's my first post. I've been reading for ages and it's all so interesting and everyone has such helpful suggestions, but I was wondering if someone could please provide some assistance on my situation. Due to some well timed work trips, after being Bronze since 1999 I am now Gold QF status...and I know it's a bit silly but I'd really love to be WP before my status changes on 31 May. I have a J booking in April Syd - LA - NY (make my own way) Chicago - LA - Syd. Once I take this, I think I will be approx 100 SC short of WP. I have read numerous forums and I would love to get to this before 31 May. Unfortunately I have no days of annual leave left so whatever I do will need to be on a weekend. Is WP really worth it? Because if my company didn't pay for me to fly J class there's no way I could afford it (I am a Red E Deal kinda gal) and if yes, can anyone suggest any status runs from Sydney please? Thank you so much.

wizzy,

Welcome to AFF.

Only you can really answer the question. Out of SYD you can often get reasonable J tickets to CBR and return which will get you most of the way.

IF the price is right and you can afford it then I would say go for it. The use of the International F lounge and the Domestic J lounge coupled with extra FF availability, better seating options and the Premium desk when you call makes it, IMHO worthwhile.

 

[notzac]

...and I know it's a bit silly but I'd really love to be WP before my status changes on 31 May. I have a J booking in April Syd - LA - NY (make my own way) Chicago - LA - Syd. Once I take this, I think I will be approx 100 SC short of WP. I have read numerous forums and I would love to get to this before 31 May.

Do you have any time spare in the US - and/or what are your current travel plans for whilst in the US? 100 SCs should be plenty easy to get while you're over there.

BTW, welcome to AFF!

 

[straitman]

Do you have any time spare in the US - and/or what are your current travel plans for whilst in the US? 100 SCs should be plenty easy to get while you're over there.

BTW, welcome to AFF!

notzac,

Good idea. I forgot to mention the old Yupp fares.

 

[wizzy]

Hi straitman and notzac...that was fast! And thank you for the warm welcome. This forum is so cool. It's one of my favourite web sites. Thank you so much for your tips. And straitman you are right, only I can make the choice to go WP. I think after reading all the useful forums on this site, I'm pretty sure I want to spend the $$ to upgrade. At least because it will be nice while it lasts!

I do actually have about a week in the US spare...can I earn points on AA there? I didn't think I could. That would be handy!

Thank you all in advance for your helpful suggestions.

 

[notzac]

I do actually have about a week in the US spare...can I earn points on AA there? I didn't think I could. That would be handy!

Yes, absolutely (as long as it's booked in to the a fare that earns something..)

Do you have any current flights planned on AA or other carriers? Best to work with what you already have .. otherwise, if you have some spare time on the west coast - a quick return SFO/LAX/SFO or LAX/SFO/LAX in discounted F would nett you 120 SCs .. I'm sure other members have plenty of other suggestions as well

As for value in doing so - once you've had your first few pre-flight champagnes and a meal at the First lounge in SYD or MEL, the value of WP becomes readily apparent!

 

[wizzy]

Thank you notzac - that sounds like a great suggestion, as I love SFO and would definitely be worth going there from LA before I head back home to Syd. I am assuming I can book this directly on the AA website. I will check it out. And yes...First class looks so very nice from the pictures!!

 

[Alanslegal]

I do actually have about a week in the US spare...can I earn points on AA there? I didn't think I could. That would be handy!

Thank you all in advance for your helpful suggestions.

hi wizzy

a week spare? that's plenty of time in the frequent flyer world

given you are making your own way from New York to Chicago ... why not fly the scenic way, like via Miami and Dallas for example

 

[Alanslegal]

And yes...First class looks so very nice from the pictures!!

No no, flying First Class domestically is OK only.

First Class Lounge - yes very nice

 

[drewbles]

Thank you notzac - that sounds like a great suggestion, as I love SFO and would definitely be worth going there from LA before I head back home to Syd. I am assuming I can book this directly on the AA website. I will check it out. And yes...First class looks so very nice from the pictures!!

As Alan said, AA First class is... not that great. It's nowhere near as good as QF J domestically (at least the short haul isn't).

For a quick 120 SC's you can do SFO-LAX-SFO, 60 each way for around $350-400ish AUD from memory.

 

[markis10]

Keep an eye on Flyer Talk with their mileage run discussions, there is every chance a cheap fare will pop up while you are over there that you can take advantage of!

 

[notzac]

Keep an eye on Flyer Talk with their mileage run discussions, there is every chance a cheap fare will pop up while you are over there that you can take advantage of!

The big problem with the cheap AA fares is that they often book in to Q, which earns you nada on your QFF account. In terms of getting status easily/cheaply, best thing to do is either "optimise" any existing bookings with AA or set up a Y/UP run - 120 SCs won't take much effort, fortunately.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Hi all - sorry if this is repetitive - it's my first post. I've been reading for ages and it's all so interesting and everyone has such helpful suggestions, but I was wondering if someone could please provide some assistance on my situation. Due to some well timed work trips, after being Bronze since 1999 I am now Gold QF status...and I know it's a bit silly but I'd really love to be WP before my status changes on 31 May. I have a J booking in April Syd - LA - NY (make my own way) Chicago - LA - Syd.

A direct flight on American Airlines from EWR-ORD is $787 + plus fees from American Airlines | Airline Tickets and Airline Reservations when you select First Class; the direct flight will only get you 60SCs, a flight via somewhere else will get you more. One example is EWR-MIA-MCO in AA First(Instant Upgrade) = $499 + fees. then MCO-ORD in Y(economy) = $112.00 + fees, so if you have a week spare then make your way to Chicago via Orlando(MCO) Tampa(TPA) or some other place you wish to visit.

So for about $700 you could get WP

Prices from American Airlines | Airline Tickets and Airline Reservations are priced in AUD.

 

[moa999]

wizzy,

Also welcome to AFF

Note in your comments that you didn't know you can get points (and SCs) on AAs.

Why don't you post your current Status Credit balance, and exact flights planned (including airlines) in the US and someone here will workout exactly what you need.

I suspect (if already flying AA in the US and given QF J tix usually book into First) that you may already be there.

 

[serfty]

The simplest, easiest way to get 120 additional SC's with your current planned travel is to fly LAX-SFO and SFO-LAX on "Instant Upgrade" fares.

This is due to you being in LA.

These fares can be booked online using AA.com (Australia) and currently costs $377.40AU all up return.

These book into First Class (P) and each segment will earn 60SC's giving you the 120. The fare basis is PUPPNR.

 

[wizzy]

Thank you all so much - you've all been so helpful! I really like the tips about LAX - SFO - LAX I think I will do that one. And thank you moa999 for your suggestion. I have 900 SCs and need 500 by 31 May. However, I have the SYD - LAX - NY (make my own way to Chicago) and then Chicago - LAX - SYD. I am not quite sure how many that leaves me, but guessed 120. I thought that route would give me 380 SCs. Anyway I have checked on the CBR suggestion and also the LA one and they both seem like great ideas! Thank you so much for the booking instructions too.

 

[harvyk]

If your flying J, from SYD - JFK "direct" (stop over in LAX, but no change of flight number) return on QF107 \ QF 108 you should net 480SC's.

If your flying J, from SYD - LAX on one flight number eg QF11 then connecting to say QF107 (or an AA flight) from LAX - JFK and you do the same in reverse then you'll net 560SC's.

So you may already be there with your current plans without having to do any more status runs...

 

[obrienja]

For the original poster (and anyone else interested) AA's got some pretty good deals on YUPP/KUPP fares at the moment (instant upgrade) on the AA.com site.

There's also about 12 hours left on their US/UK sale depending on which way you'd want to travel.

I've just taken advantage of a couple as I've got to fly from London to Madison, Wisconsin in July. There's some cheap J class deals via Orlando and thanks to the tips of a lot of the experienced people on AFF I strung together LHR-ORD-MIA-MCO-MIA-DFW-MSN-DFW-MIA-MCO-MIA-ORD-LHR for 930 SCs at a cost of about $4.00AU/SC.

 

[JohnK]

Platinum status is definitely worth it if you are going to get the full value out of the status.

I was going to be ~500SC's short this year and I spent ~AUD2,000 to get me over the line.

 

[markjb]

i will be doing a SFO-LAX-SEA-LAX-SFO run in next few weeks if you want to join in.......