BNE-CNS-BNE QF J - Thankyou QF double SC run

[chooms]

Talk about spur of the moment... With one month left until the end of my membership year as a QF WP, I had one work trip BNE-CBR-BNE planned and 150SCs to gain to retain WP for another year.

I was resigned to praying to the QF gods for a comp year thinking there was no chance of attaining the additional 150SCs.

And then... the QF gods came through with the goods - a double SC promotion.

I had held off booking the CBR visit in case of a promotion like this and boom - 60SCs courtesy of work.

So, another 90SCs to get.

Asking the QF SC run thread for some advice, I was given the cheap BNE-SYD-CHC-SYD-BNE via Saver Fare and OOL-SYD-ADL-SYD-OOL via one Red e-Deal and one Flex fare to attain my original calculation of 120SCs. I was all geared up and ready to book a visit to CHC to coincide with a Crusaders v Waratahs game when MrsChooms helpfully pointed out my math was wrong - I only needed 90SCs.

Excellent. No overnight visit and only a direct return flight required.

I looked at BNE-MEL-BNE and BNE-ADL-BNE... but I thought I could at somewhere better than that. I had tentatively decided to just do the CHC visit (despite SC earn being 4.14 per AUD), when I got a message from my childhood best friend and best man at my wedding who happens to live in Cairns.

Hmmm... wouldn't be bad to visit Cairns for a morning, grab some lunch and get back to BNE in time for the A-League Grand Final.

I jumped on the QF website and sure enough, cheaper Red e-Deals and Flex fares than BNE-SYD-BNE, let alone BNE-MEL or ADL-BNE. With an existing voucher of ~$230 to use and only an additional payment of $291, I managed to work out a visit to CNS via one Red e-Deal and one Flex would net me the required 90SCs exactly for 3.2SCs per AUD. That is some US AA mileage run value right there.

Sure, it was a Sunday on a long weekend, but we had planned to go away until a family illness kept us in Brisbane anyway. I sought approval from SWMBO which was met with a "why don't we both do a weekend up there... I wouldn't mind coming along etc". We then looked at calendars for May... we couldn't do it before the end of the month. I was then granted permission and I set about booking the flights at 9pm the night before.

I texted my mate back with the surprise visit... and he subsequently thought I was crazy. Despite being a pilot himself, he couldn't believe I was doing this just to keep WP.

I said it was done and I would see him at CNS airport at around 0930 the next morning.

 

[Steady]

With an existing voucher of ~$230 to use and only an additional payment of $291, I managed to work out a visit to CNS via one Red e-Deal and one Flex would net me the required 90SCs

I thought you needed to use a voucher purchased during the promotion?

 

[chooms]

Qantas Flight 798
Brisbane – Cairns

0700-0925 (Scheduled)
0710-0912 (Actual)
B737-800
Seat: 1A

The following morning, my trusty alarm of SWMBO woke me up at 0540 with a whack around the head followed by a "why can't you just get a bloody Uber to the airport..."

Stumbling out of bed, showered and packing the backpack with a freshly charged iPad, spare shirt and a copy of Pamela Williams' 'The Victory' we hit the Gateway Motorway en route to BNE Domestic Terminal.

Security was a breeze (not one person in the queue or at the scanner... I could get used to this) and I was up the escalator to the QF J Lounge.

I didn't look in the QP, but it was the most empty I had ever seen the BNE J Lounge. Just six other people in the entire place - and that included four staff!

I grabbed a skim flat white and propped myself up at the centre bar with a powerpoint to charge my depleted iPhone... I had noticed the plug in the wall at home had come out and didn't charge it up so I was down to 14 per cent.

Food was standard J Lounge breakfast fare... Bacon, scrambled eggs, baked beans and a surprise of hard-boiled eggs.

I stuck to my usual of bacon and scrambled eggs. As far as I'm concerned, baked beans would have to be one of the worst foods ever invented.



OLCI was done the previous night and I had selected 4F in the first row of Y for the 2.5hr flight to CNS.

I decided to have a quick look at EF to see what the loads where like and Y actually looked pretty full. I still had a spare seat next to me, but I decided to treat myself. Hell, it was a trip to be celebrated so why not go J. Loading in J was J07 so I trundled off to visit the lounge dragon who subsequently tried to talk me out of it as catering wasn't assured. I thought meh, I had my bacon and eggs I can slum it in whY for 2.5hrs... I'll save the points.

Off I went back to my seat when the lounge dragon then came to visit a couple of minutes later to say out of the two people already in J, one was a tech crew so I would be served before that person anyway. Would I like to do it. Well, how could I send her away with a 'no thanks' after coming to find me? 15k FFPs lighter, I was now sitting in 1A. I know it isn't the best use of points, but what the hell.



Soon enough, boarding was called and off I trundled to Gate 20. I could see the freshly painted tail of VH-XZA in the distance and was pleasantly surprised to see the blue glow of a BSI bird as I turned the corner down the airbridge.

Despite the Y+ style, I actually quite like the new red leather QF 737 J seats. I usually don't like row 1 because of the bulkhead, but the other two pax were on either side of row 2. But, for the price I paid, I got an entire row of J to myself




Obligatory leg room shot (in 2F):



PDB was a Cranberry juice:



QF have relatively new headphone for pax in J... I didn't try them as I had my Bose QC25’s but they looked better quality than the old flimsy mesh ones:



After listening to music through the iPhone for a while, I thought I needed a laugh and attempted to use the AVOD... Unfortunately the sound was broken. After talking to the FA, apparently there have been issues for the particular seat for some time. Nice QF, how about blocking it off until it is fixed (particularly when only 3 pax are in a cabin of 12 seats).

Anyway, I picked up my things and moved across to 1F. I don't like the F seats of a morning heading north as you get the sun... So window shades down for the rest of the trip.

Not long later, breakfast was served. Choices were poached eggs with bacon, tomato and spinach and some sort of Bircher musli. I went the hot breakfast.



The eggs were inedible (like rubber), but the rest was OK.



It didn't take much convincing to have a bottle of - as the FA called it - 'champagne' with orange juice:



The mini bottle of ‘champagne’ was left with me and I was provided a little jug of orange juice to mix my own.

Only had one glass and stuck to the soon provided coffee.

Soon enough we were on descent into CNS and experiencing some pretty rough turbulence, but got there safely in the end.

 

[chooms]

On arriving into CNS, I found a packed terminal 2. It was like everyone in the town was abandoning the place. The tourism industry must be going pretty well up here at the moment.

Anyway, before braving the humidity, I ducked up to the QP to see if I could request an ODU for the flight back. The return flight was the Flex fare, so only 7,500 FFPs. EF was showing J03 the previous night, so I wasn't too hopeful. The lounge dragon was quite nice and said even though it was outside the three hour window, she would see what she could do. I left my boarding pass with her and exited the terminal to see my mate rolling up in the car.

We decided to head north rather than head into the city. I've been to CNS heaps of times, so not really fussed as to what we would do.

First stop was Holloway Beach (?) for a quick takeaway coffee by the water. By quick, I mean 20mins wait... Even with no customers. Ridiculous. The 'barista' would have copped a verbal whack from anyone down in Sydney or Melbourne for taking that long.

It was a nice spot, but not much to do. No chance of a swim with the stinger signs up...

We then decided to drive up to Palm Cove. There are a few Cafes around there we could grab a bite to eat at.



What we didn't count on was the usual Sunday markets along the beachfront... Whilst it may be a romantic walk with your significant other looking a trinkets and tourist traps, it really wasn't for us. But, with no-where else to really go, we went out to watch some of the fisherman on the pier before retiring back to the Surf Club for some refreshments (read: Beers).

Time passed pretty quickly catching up on things and soon enough it was time to head back to the airport.

 

[chooms]

Qantas Flight 649
Cairns - Brisbane

1255-1505 (Scheduled)
1257- 1450 (Actual)
B737-800
Seat: 2A


Terminal 2 (Domestic) check-in was relatively quiet when I arrived, but I soon realised everyone was already airside.

Security was a breeze with only one person in front of me, but my belt set the scanner off this time (I find this happens more in the regional airports than the main capital city ones). I was also selected for the explosives test.

Finally through airside and I make my way through the masses and up the escalator to the (relatively) quieter QP. At reception, nice lounge dragon had processed my ODU and I was now to be seated in 2A. Excellent.



I had seen the new CNS QP before, but there seemed to be more people in here than usual. Hardly a seat available in the place. I didn't take any photos as there were too many people around.

I made my way to the bar for another 'refreshment' ahead of boarding and made a ham, cheese & tomato toastie. I find this is the best you can expect in QPs these days... Even in J Lounges sometimes, and this QP was no exception. Food choices were woeful. Pancake machine still going though.

Soon enough, boarding was called and I head off toward Gate 19. The line up in the Priority line was as long as the pleb line... I really hate the expansion of priority to include SG now...

Anyway, up the ramp and turned the corner to see the delightful blue hues of BSI again. Nice. Even with the amount of BNE-SYD-BNE trips I do, I almost always get an old bird, so it's nice to get a 'new' one.

I had a seat mate in 2B when I arrived on the plane, but 1F & 1D were vacant. The FA offered my seat mate to move to 1F... I had the headphones on (nice Bose noise cancelling so no seat mate chatter), so I didn't hear the reason why, but I hoped I didn't smell or anything.... But he accepted her offer, which left me with an empty seat next to me. Excellent. Almost as good as QF F suite... Well, not really.

After take off, a drinks service was offered. I was handed Brazil nuts (the worst of the nuts) and pretzels. Bring back the wasabi peas! I also asked for a G+T as I was getting a bit over the beer by now, and my hard work at the gym was just being wasted away...



I sat typing up the TR for a bit until food service started.

Options available were:

Roast beef and grilled mushroom toasted sandwich
Chicken and sweet corn soup
Some sort of potato salad

Even though I just had a toasted sandwich in the QP, how could I resist more carbs.

Wine options were a Shaw & Smith Sav Blanc and Punt Road Cab Sav.

I went with the Cab Sav, but wasn't the biggest fan.

The dessert option was a passion fruit tart.

Welcome to carb city:



I actually didn't mind the sandwich, although it was a little soggy on the bottom. Passion fruit tart wasn't bad either...

Finished the flight off with a couple more G+T's before landing back in soggy BNE.

Obligatory feet shot from seat 2A:



Overall, you can't really fault QF's domestic J. The new J seats in the A330's are good, but I think the Y+ style seats for the B737's are more than adequate. In saying that, I would hate to be stuck on one doing the PER-BNE red-eye (never again).

Food was OK, but not superb. The CNS-BNE option for a lunch service could have been a bit better. No-one wants a hot soup coming from the tropics...

Still, the purpose of the trip was to maintain WP for another 12months and this was achieved. Loyalty is big business in the airline industry and QF has got me hook, line and sinker.

 

[chooms]

I thought you needed to use a voucher purchased during the promotion?

Nothing about that it the T&C's at all as far as I can see.

 

[Pushka]

I think Steady is right

 

[blackcat20]

I think Steady is right

You should be able to ring and push for the extra SC, as technically the flight was booked in the promotion period.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Yeah you might have to fight for the double sc because of the voucher

 

[chooms]

You should be able to ring and push for the extra SC, as technically the flight was booked in the promotion period.

I'll give it to the middle of the month... if nothing posted, I'll ring QF.

I did go through T&C befor booking, nothing there. If someone has where it says no to using a voucher, I'd appreciated it.

 

[blackcat20]

I'll give it to the middle of the month... if nothing posted, I'll ring QF.

I did go through T&C befor booking, nothing there. If someone has where it says no to using a voucher, I'd appreciated it.

It doesn't say no voucher, but the pnr will show the date of voucher purchase rather than booking date.

 

[Pushka]

Must admit I've never used a voucher but thinking about doing so.

 

[chooms]

It doesn't say no voucher, but the pnr will show the date of voucher purchase rather than booking date.

E-ticket only has 30 April dates all over it.

No mention of any voucher.

If it helps, voucher was for a cancelled flight MEL-BNE last year.

 

[blackcat20]

Its not the use of the voucher but the date the voucher was first issued that counts.


Booked but not paid for.

According to QF: Book an eligible Qantas operated flight between 28 April and 4 May 2016, for travel from 28 April 2016 to 16 April 2017.

Technically it is booked then, regardless of the voucher purchase date. I'm sure a phone call could get it sorted.

 

[Pushka]

Agree. A phone call is best.

 

[kevrosmith]

This often happens for bonus promotions... especially for Gift Vouchers. If they automatically credit the bonus, then your voucher will probably not be picked up... but you may have room to convince them it is eligible. In past promotions, people have been known to receive the bonuses. YMMY.

Let us know how you get along though.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I sought approval from SWMBO which was met with a "why don't we both do a weekend up there... I wouldn't mind coming along etc".

We then looked at calendars for May... we couldn't do it before the end of the month. I was then granted permission and I set about booking the flights at 9pm the night before.

You could always do some kind of convoluted routing that includes flying SYD/CNS on JQ15 (?) that departs from SYD Intl & ops via CNS to KIX to take your very understanding SWMBO to the F Lounge in the near future to make up for her not being able to travel with you this time.

 

[chooms]

Hi all,

An update on the SC's.

A phone call was required as I was dropped down from WP to SC on 31 May.

Manager confirmed the flights were eligible for double SC's and should post within six weeks of the date of the original flight (still 1.5 weeks to go).

As the SC's had not posted yet, they are manually upgrading my account to WP for the time being. The SC's should still post by the end of the six weeks and it will show I earned the required SC's for retaining WP in my own right (not comped) for future account assessment.

Side note: I did find it interesting I wasn't comped WP anyway with just 45SC's short from the goal. I have earned collectively over 4,800 SC's in the past three years... goes to show you can't rely on a comp!

 

[kermatu]

Good outcome. Thanks for reporting back.