emmeff

I've accrued well over the number of status credits to qualify for Gold, but I don't have the four 'eligible flights' required to unlock my progress. I earned all the credits on Oneworld carriers in Europe, which is where I spend most of my time. I did take two domestic Jetstar flights earlier in the year but those generated no points or status credits and so didn't count as contributing towards the required four 'eligible flights'.

In this situation, must I travel on four QF flights operated by Qantas to advance my status, or will QF flights operated by (most likely) Emirates also count?

Also, I don't understand which domestic Jetstar fares generate status benefits. To me, the 'Qantas and Jetstar earning table' is a clear as mud on this issue. How do I decipher it?

With thanks for sharing your wisdom and experience.

Airvan00

QF flight numbers on EK aircraft count, and you get the "~".
Just flew QF8071, DXB-CDG, but I assume if you booked on EK71 ( same aircraft) it would not count.

Globaliser

Welcome to FT, emmeff!It's not quite what you're directly asking, but if you are mostly based in Europe you will find that QFFF is not a good option for trying to get to higher tier membership, precisely because of this four sector rule. The opportunities for someone in Europe to collect four QF sectors every year are pretty thin, unless they go to Australia on a regular basis.

emmeff

Thank you. I've lurked for about a decade, and have learned much.

I agree that living in Europe does not make Qantas an obvious FF choice, but until the change to status earnings from partner airlines occurred this year I was encouraged to continue to stack up credits towards LTG. But perhaps no longer.

Returning to my OP, perhaps forum members could cast their votes regarding this scenario. I'm looking at BKK to SYD, and one itinerary offered by the Qantas site is an economy Saver fare with a connection in SIN:

- BKK-SIN QF 4215 (operated by Jetstar Asia)
- SIN-SYD QF6

The notes for the Saver fare:

According to the Qantas page on fare types, Qantas international economy saver is K, M, L, S or G.

According to the earning table:

How can I work out which letter of the alphabet applies to this fare, and whether the Jetstar sector qualifies for status points (and will be included as one of the four mandatory sectors)?

If I can gain two of the mandatory sectors from this one journey, then I'll go for it.

jona970318

You will be able to get segments as long as you book a SC earning fare class with a QF code(QF marketed)

serfty

Note you can also get the ~ with Jetstar flight number (JQ, 3K, GK, VF etc.) by purchasing a Plus or Max upgrade.

For some flights this might only be a little bit more than the starter fare.

RichardMEL

Since that itin via SIN is a QF flight number, the rule for the Jetstar flights doesn't apply, since that only is relevant if you booked the jetstar asia flight number. the QF 4125(or whatever) is the key, and it would be in an eligible booking class.
Now that would give you 2 sectors, if you do the reverse to BKK you get 4. You *may* however have some luck if you write to QF and explain about the previous JQ sectors (btw JQ Flex fares earn SC's and would thus give ~ credit) and they MAY take pity and give you the ~ credit, but that's a big if.

good luck!

serfty

Just for example, you could book SIN-KUL return (starter $42) with a $30 plus add-on to earn a ~.

Total cost for SIN-KUL-SIN to earn 2 x ~ can be as low as SG$136.

travelislife

I don't think that is correct. You won't earn the ~ or any points or SC's on the QF4215 codeshare on Jetstar (even when booked through Qantas) as per the line item you quoted off the website. Even though you can't see it I can nearly guarantee it won't be in Y B H K or L.

Status Credits are earned on all eligible booking classes
Excluded:
* Qantas Points and Status Credits are not earned on Qantas Codeshare flights (ie with a QF flight number) operated by Jetstar Airline other than in booking classes of Y B H K or L (earn in L class is eligible only when travelling on a oneworld fare product)

The easiest way to see the actual booking class is to do a dummy booking for your itinerary on Expedia. I just did one and the Jetstar BKK-SIN leg booked in to S class so wouldn't earn anything or be counted as an eligible sector.

emmeff

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread.

And thanks to travelislife for the tip re Expedia, although it only seems to work on the .com.au site and not the .com site. All the same, it's a very useful resource to know about.

Anyway, I think I'm good. I found another itinerary -- BKK-SIN-MEL-SYD (QF4215 [Jetstar Asia]/QF36/QF420) -- for about AUD 50 less than the two-sector fare I originally cited.

According to expedia.com.au the fare class types on the sectors are K-K-O. According to the Qantas site, where I made this booking, I will get 65 status credits. When I decipher this total on the earning table it would appear to break down as 15-40-10.

I'll report back to this thread after the flights, in about two weeks.

Thanks again to all for the work you put into this board.

aster

Are there any OW flights in Europe that can be bought with a QF codeshare flight number? Or as mentioned some really cheap EK flights with a QF number?

Globaliser

Yes, for all higher tiers. The relevant part of the T&C is:-The P1 requirement is additional to that.

[EDIT:] I see the previous post has now been edited to ask a different question.

aster

Sorry, I edited as soon as I saw the info on one of QF's pages just minutes later (their main page about tiers doesn't mention this though, except for the Plat One level).

At the same time I was thinking of EK's local network and with a bit of luck there might be some hidden gems one could use as long as such flights are also marketed by QF. I recall one such route was the one from Malta to Dubai which happened to have a stop in Cyprus. Now if one could purchase just the first bit without the onwards journey to DXB at a low price (and marketed as a QF flight number), then things would be a lot easier with getting those 4 segments locally...

RichardMEL

Thanks travelislife - I did indeed miss that. that's not nice at all of QF. I get it but it's not great. thanks for the correction on that to help everyone out

travelislife

Yeah it is pretty crappy, a QF flight number and you get nothing. I dunno but I have a hunch it may change down the track if Qantas pursues this strategy in Asia as so many of tier connections are pushed on to Jetstar with QF numbers. They are being half full service and half LCC when they do this and I can't see it being good for business.