How to benefit with lowest status rank

[big_RED]

Hi AFF's,

I fly to the east coast of the USA 1-2 times a year purchasing the cheapest Qantas economy seats. And might do 1 domestic flight in Australia a year.
Everything I do I try to earn points on (specifically Qantas). E.g purchasing a car, put it on the CC. I have credit cards that get me the highest possible points across regular purchases such as woolies, petrol, Qantas products etc.
And then anything else I put on the credit cards to get points. I also sign up for credit cards to get the bonus points which I know everyone here typically recommends for easy points. In 3-4 years I've earnt around 800,000 points and currently have 600k points.

My question is - I don't fly enough to go above my bronze Qantas status, and I don't book enough stays with hotels either to rise the status ladder. So how does someone like me (and I know there are many others here) get ahead to get special offers, seat upgrades or room upgrades etc? Or is it really not too realistic?

I sometimes use points to make my economy seats cheaper (which I know isn't the best use of them). I could purchase the normal full fare economy seat and pay with points for an upgrade to business, but since I'm bronze I wouldn't get an upgrade and I'd have paid more for my seat with no reward.
I could purchase an award seat outright, however from searching this forum I believe you don't earn status or points, so that wouldn't help any future chances for upgrades etc. Same goes for hotels. I could purchase the hotel through Qantas but I wouldn't earn any hotel points/status (although I would get some Qantas points).

Is it really a case of the customer needing to be of a high status (due to very regular use/investment in that company) to benefit? And for someone like myself who is loyal, but doesn't fly enough there isn't too much which can be done?

Would be interest to hear what you all think and if there is anything that can be done for a low user?

Cheers!

 

[mooingchicken]

With 600k points I would be just booking business awards outright, then status doesn't really matter. you get all the same benefits

As you said you will be down lower on the bid for upgrades, so better off booking outright.

Sounds like you don't fly near enough to bother chasing status and even if you got it you wouldn't really get any advantages with the little amount you fly. Status isnt a free ticket to upgrades, most gold don't get any, Platinum very little aswell. So I wouldnt even bother trying to get higher status...as its costs a lot to fly enough to get status (probably around $4000 for gold a year) which is fine if you need to fly that much but pointless if doing it just to earn status.

1-2 flights international and 1 domestic a year means 5 visits tops to the lounge (for a bit of food and a drink worth maybe $25 bucks a time). and very little else unless you get lucky and do score a free upgrade for PE (which you can get sale fares for about $1000-1500 more than econ prices) (But these are very rare and would go to higher status and people before you still, which is more than likely on the USA routes for chances are very slim).

Buy the food and the PE fare twice a year still works out cheaper.


600k is 2 RTW fares in business (280k each) or 4 in econ. or 3 seperate trips in business (if allowing 200k per trip) so thats your travel covered for atleast 2-3 years and no need for status

 

[OATEK]

There are some benefits if you can from achieve Silver, as you only need 300 status credits and four flights. This allows you to pick a seat when booking, and you get an extra 50% points on flights. But as mooingchicken says, if you use your points for business award seats you get all the benefits of lounge access, priority boarding etc. I use most of my points for classic award J bookings, and really enjoy the experience up the pointy end.

 

[Mattg]

I am aware of a number of people on this forum who have no status with any airline, yet quite happily fly all over the world in the pointy end. My suggestion to you would be to focus on points, and not status. You can use those points to book seats in premium cabins, in which case you get most of the benefits of status anyway (lounge access, priority check-in etc.) It doesn't make sense to me that you would buy an economy ticket in order to earn points and status credits, then don't know what to do with the points and don't fly enough to achieve status!

600K Qantas points is enough for quite a few trips in Business or even some in First, so perhaps that's where you should be looking towards.

Having said all that... if you really want to earn status, consider doing some flying in American Airlines First class when you are in the USA. It's not too expensive, and you earn full first class status credits on longer domestic flights. You should be able to earn enough SCs to get you to Gold status or so without spending thousands.

 

[Moopere]

Its such a shame that there isn't an independent lounge operation inside australia. Almost all other ports I visit seem to have at least one privately run lounge which can be accessed by paying anything from about AU$20 - $50. For those odd times I find myself flying with a strange airline these really work for me.

800K in 4 years is darn good going I'd suggest, you must be reaping those CC points very well indeed! By comparison to yourself I fly a lot but have probably gathered slightly less than this across both QF and VA over that time.

At first glance, my thought was that you might like to reconsider which program you are putting your efforts into. If you could somehow scrape into VA gold you'd solve almost all your reported goals. VA Gold would give you limited international lounge access (depending on port and partner airline) and also the possibility to join either Hilton or IHG hotel programs as a gold status holder. There isn't much benefit to IHG gold imho (I am one) but Hilton gold, particularly outside of Australia (though not so much in the USA) is worth having.

I don't want to come across as a VA shill, but the opportunity to gain gold with them is far easier than with QF. Family pooling for example, might help you to get that initial 500SC required, and after that you only need 400 a year to maintain (though you'll only get your hotel status 'free' upgrade once). I regularly travel to HKG on SQ (a VA partner) with my wife. With family pooling, and careful ticket selection, a single round trip can earn me 320SC - its probable that you'd get similar benefit in your flights to the USA if the right VA partner can be found. Add 1-2 domestic flights per year, again, carefully chosen for SC earn, and you should get your 500.

Redemptions are also easier imho on VA. I don't normally have any issues booking J seats domestically, though the lack of the membership to a proper alliance restricts your ability to score international points upgrades which is pretty annoying.

 

[big_RED]

Appreciate all the replies. Some very valid points in there.

With 600k points I would be just booking business awards outright, then status doesn't really matter. you get all the same benefits
600k is 2 RTW fares in business (280k each) or 4 in econ. or 3 seperate trips in business (if allowing 200k per trip) so thats your travel covered for atleast 2-3 years and no need for status

Good points. SYD - LA in business = 196k in points. So roughly 400k for myself and fiance for 1 x flight a year. Or I could just do points for premium economy (PE?) as well if I wanted the points to go further.

I use most of my points for classic award J bookings, and really enjoy the experience up the pointy end.

Are "Classic Award" seats "Classic Flights Rewards" seats when booking with QA? And are the price of these award seats the same no matter what time of year? (I understand they are limited though so I assume busier times it's much harder to find the seats...)
I've just done 2 quick searched for Syd to LA for July and September next year. In July there weren't any Business seats listed at all, and September had me flying to LA with Cathay Pacific. Is it normally that hard to find seats?

I am aware of a number of people on this forum who have no status with any airline, yet quite happily fly all over the world in the pointy end. My suggestion to you would be to focus on points, and not status

I think this is what I'll do. However, and it's just a reality I assume that I need to get over, is that I would spend 4k (2 economy tickets) to fly to USA East coast. That on the CC = 10,000 points + another 16k in points with QA for taking the flight. Do that twice a year and I get roughly 50k of points. So the amount of points I earn each year would go down quite a bit and I probably wouldn't be able to keep up my number of points to continue doing the business class award seats. But as I said, just something I'd have to get use to I assume.

I don't want to come across as a VA shill, but the opportunity to gain gold with them is far easier than with QF.

I have read a fair bit here where this does seem to be what happens... and I did think about moving over to Virgin but I think I'm just a Qantas guy through and through. If VA was a fair bit cheaper for my general flights then I'd book with them. But having all my CC's with QA it'd be a bit of a headache changing things. But I get where you're coming from.

 

[Mattg]

Classic award seats and classic flight rewards are the same thing, yes. (Qantas started calling them "rewards" earlier this year.) Prices are the same year-round, but availability can be a big problem. Clearly, there will be fewer seats available in peak travel times. As a medium to long term strategy, locking the seats in when they are released 353 days in advance may be the best way to overcome this.

And yes, you won't earn points for flights booked with points. So your points earning would drop. But there are plenty of other ways to earn points on the ground (e.g. credit cards) to hopefully make up for this.

 

[Limewood]

I'm moving down the status chain gradually since being self funded, so we fly Y domestically and J internationally using a combination of QF, AA & AS points (latter 2 purchased), this then allows for the benefits that J has.

 

[Deleted member]

If it were me , and knowing what I know now from listening to contributors on this forum , I would pony up the $$ for the flights that gave me the comfort and associated lounge access luggage etc. but without knowing your personal circumstances it would be presumptuous to suggest you do the same.
But it's also fair to say that this forum is all about making frequency more affordable and comfortable , the operative word being frequency. It is always more difficult to work the system if you lack status. My flying patterns will fall away for the next few years, I shall have to pay full freight and or chance my arm in points redemptions ( I have around 1.5 mil QF points) to get the premium experience. I have enjoyed my WP ride and that has contributed to my decision to fly less but fly better .

 

[big_RED]

Classic award seats and classic flight rewards are the same thing, yes. As a medium to long term strategy, locking the seats in when they are released 353 days in advance may be the best way to overcome this.

Thanks for the info. Will remember this and start looking around!

 

[Quickstatus]

Chasing status can be a bit like a hamster on a wheel. You really need a good reason to chase then maintain status.
Airlines want you to maintain loyalty with them and to change your spending habits in doing so. The point at which they return the favour can be quite expensive to attain.

Wear the non status badge with pride. You will be able to source best fare of the day, more direct flights, spend according to your wishes, try other brands, not have to sit in an airline's lounge because you feel you have to get something "free" back from the airline and not be like a hamster stuck in a wheel.

 

[Fifa]

Regarding hotel status - the Hilton Macquarie Visa is $295 per year (but cheaper offers sometimes pop up) which gives you HHonors Gold and a free night anywhere in the world subject to minimum spend.
Gold membership offers free breakfast for 2 and other goodies including upgrades and exec lounge access if you are lucky.

 

[badseed]

I'm similar in that I maybe fly twice a year domestically (MEL to SYD / CBR or ADL) for business, about the same for personal holidays etc and one or two long-haul trips self-funded.

I'm much more focused on just accumulating points at the moment and I supplement this with a Qantas Club membership for that little bit of lounge access and the extra luggage. I've also got a Priority Pass that came in useful on a recent CX Europe trip (MEL - HKG - ZRH / CDG - HKG - MEL) that was so much cheaper than going QF that I couldn't ignore it.

Status is really only worth aspiring to, and spending more than you would otherwise to acquire, IF it provides you with a worthwhile material benefit. Personally, I find the QP card, whilst always being downwardly 'enhanced', to be an OK substitute so I don't feel I need to spend that extra $500 to $1500 to get to Silver. If I got that close to Gold it would be worth it for me.

Like in all things, the value to you of the benefits of Silver or Gold may be vastly different to my opinion.

 

[adamp05]

Back when the Wright brothers were piloting planes I purchased a lifetime Qantas Club membership (I think about $3000...money had just been invented).So I use this and both not chasing status...Unless your work is paying you to fly often it is a way to expensive for the return on investment.

 

[Gazza129]

We also have accumulated over 2 million points using CCs. Have never bothered with SC as we rarely pay for flights. We did get to Silver once with VA and yes it does get into your craw that you want to maintain/increase your SC level, but after you get the letter saying you're back to red/bronze you get over it !

 

[timster]

Use your points to book Y, Y+ or J outright. Or just buy BFOD with QF or AA (the latter of course now flies AUS-US too). If Y or Y+ to US, get 30-day Admirals Club membership for US$99 to cover QP or AC access (with guest) when flying QF or AA, assuming you will hit enough lounges in that time to justify it. Or if you can get a premium CC, look into those with Priority Pass membership included. Avoid QC membership given your flying patterns; the cost isn't justified.
If you really want status, the only somewhat easier options are not in OW (ie *A), so your successful QF point accumulation strategy (despite horrendous taxes) would be moot.

 

[Buzzard]

Regarding hotel status - the Hilton Macquarie Visa is $295 per year (but cheaper offers sometimes pop up) which gives you HHonors Gold and a free night anywhere in the world subject to minimum spend.
Gold membership offers free breakfast for 2 and other goodies including upgrades and exec lounge access if you are lucky.

The current offer is spend $12,000 pa for a free night.
When I signed up it was one free night each year (pays for the card effectively) on your anniversary and a bonus one off free night after the first $12,000 spend.
Those free nights gave me one in SYD and one in AKL when the rate was over $1,000!!

 

[grov]

About two years ago, when I retired from full-time work, I started chasing QF SCs and was able to maintain Gold each year. And it WAS expensive to keep doing this. However, I've recently realised that it's a lot more fun and a heck of a lot cheaper flying on different airlines than Qantas. I still accumulate lots of points from my CC and have had over 2.5 million of them - just keep running everything through your CC and watch them build up. Unless your company flies you in J everywhere, you're just not going to obtain any useful status that will benefit you when flying for private reasons. So now I keep an eye out for J specials and grab those. Then I have all the benefits of status (Without status, I still end up in Emerald City on the QF 380) without having to pay an excessive amount for status. So my personal view now is that status is very over-rated and certainly not worth pursuing.

 

[zoomzoom]

My advice is spend your points or cash on the product best for you, value, convenience. For years I was loyal to QF but I was cut loose/freed my self and it is very liberating. For international travel in most cases QF is uncompetitive often both on price and product. You are the buyer, look around, buy the best for you, forget loyalty to any airline, they aren't loyal back, its purely commercial, take commercial decisions and reap the rewards.

 

[grov]

Well said zoomzoom. I also believe that QF are rapidly falling behind, with vague promises for future improvements while other airlines, particularly the gulf airlines, forge ahead with far better offerings. They actually do something; with QF it's all talk. A recent J trip with Qatar to the UK was great, love the CX J seat. From PER, will now look at flying to the States or Canada via the gulf. I believe the airlines game is undergoing huge changes, leaving QF floundering in the dust.