tacommuter

Please forgive some fairly basic questions. I have been for years Chairmans with USAirways and Platinum with Delta, at a time when my flying pattern was an almost-weekly commute between the US and Europe. Now my flying has shifted to being mostly back and forth between Austalia and Hong Kong with a couple of trips per year to Europe, and I never set foot in the US any more, so it doesn't really make sense to continue to try to maintain status with US carriers. So, I am looking at Cathay and Qantas. I have done some investigation on their web sites, without finding clear answers to some pretty basic questions. So, if you will forgive me, I will draw on your collective wisdom.

1) Will Qantas ever status match? I can't imagine dropping below Gold while earning status in a new program.

2) Maintaining at least gold with somewhat-reduced flying would be substantially easier if I could get a boost in elite qualification from credit card spend, as I always have from both Delta and USAirways-branded cards. Are there any cards that contribute toward elite qualification for Qantas?

3) Looking at the Qantas earnings tables, the elite qualification requirements seem unreasonably high. In a US program, six round trips per year between Sydney and Hong Kong would put me over 50,000 and gold. If I am understanding the Qantas tables, I would have to make twelve such trips before earning the 700 points required for qualification. Is that right? Is their program really that much less rewarding?

Thanks in advance for your any information/advice.


Cheers,

David

Supersonic Swinger

1) I don't think QF does status matches although they may offer you a challenge - http://statusmatcher.com/company/21401

2) QF doesn't have an equivalent to the Delta or US cards in which spending can earn towards status. The only option you have is to earn QFF points and then use them (at roughly 0.78 cents each) to offset the cash price of a fare using Points + Pay. Great value... not

3) If you think the status qualification requirements are unreasonably high, just wait until you try to redeem. On international economy redemptions, the fees and taxes can be almost as high as a paid fare. International business or first redemptions are like four leaf clovers, and if found, will still have massive fees and taxes, or wonderful fine print like a business award SYD-MEL-LHR saying "Your flight from MEL to LHR will be in economy".

Status qualification requirements are not high if you fly a lot on paid business or first fares. Status with Qantas is a good thing to have, but the points aren't really worth chasing.

My suggestion would be to stick with US as it folds into AAdvantage, it will still give you lounge access, and get a credit card which you can recycle through SPG into AAdvantage (such as a high earning Amex Membership Rewards card or the Diners + Mastercard combo). Just be careful of Cathay economy fares as many lower fare classes aren't eligible for AA earn.

Mwenenzi

No. Especially from a OW ffp

Not in Australia. Maybe an Amex cc in HKG will give you status (QF or CX)

Yes. and its worse that what you have read, as most awards need a large cash co-payment. Look here post 330 QF vs AA awards And status earning on non QF flight is a lot less than on QF flights

QF is a very poor FFP (being polite!). You will be better off staying with US/AA. [Compared to QF/AA by a factor of 2] But you will need 4 AA/US flights for status.

CX is reported as being good with their own high status passengers.

Go with CX or stay with US/AA. Forget about QF.

Be careful referring to "gold". Gold is not gold: Better to refer to OneWorld emerald/sapphire/ruby status

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...help-here.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html
www.oneworld.com

Edit:
The sibling thread fron the Cx forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...spend-etc.html

m0hamed

AMEX Platinum and Centurion cards in Australia afford CX equivalent Saphire and Emerald respectively.

Supersonic Swinger

It looks like that has been removed and may have been replaced with a discounted status tier requirement - http://www.australianfrequentflyer.c...has-59411.html

Isochronous

I would suggest BA.

DownUnderFlyer

It was always designed as a one year benefit only. There was no renewal planned. So a discount off the renewal would already be better than what was originally advertised.

[mod hat] As this is about comparing different OW programs, I will move this to the OW forum. [/mod hat]