Now that I was on track to reach 350 Status Credits I was pretty happy with that as that wouldn't get charged for baggage fees when traveling on American Airlines.

Then that all changed when I started to read this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qanta...leage-run.html. this wasn’t the only thread that had mentioned of the great business class special to Fiji, as it was also mentioned on AFF, and then I started to search for some dates that would suit. The great thing with the Fiji sale was that I could start and finish the trip in Brisbane so I wasn’t wasting time or money to get to another location. With this deal I could be Gold before went to the US, a nice bonus to the mileage balance with a 50% loading which is handy on the 7,000 miles across the Pacific. Anat0l was also interested in some status credits, and Wunala Dreaming said that dates suited him so the 3 of us made a booking. Wunala Dreaming did a nice trip report of the outbound journey to Fiji, Bula – Fiji With Air Pacific & Qantas (+ Pics) I am not going to try and copy that effort.

13 MAR 10
BNE-MEL QF601 2C 737-438 VH-TJR
Status Credits 60 Total 345

You need to make sacrifices when mileage running and this meant getting up at 3:30am to get to the airport on time. At least we would be flying business class so any sleep that I missed I could catch up on the flight. Breakfast was served on the flight down to Melbourne.

13 MAR 2010
MEL-SYD QF418 2J 767-336 VH-ZXA
Status Credits 40 Total 385

After stopping by the Qantas business lounge we soon boarded the flight to Sydney. The meal on this mornings flight was morning tea.

13 MAR 2010
SYD-NAN FJ910 1J 747-400 DQ-FJK
Status Credits 80 Total 465

We had to transfer from the domestic terminal to the international terminal. QF NB was catching up with a friend in Sydney so Anat0l and myself headed to the Qantas First lounge for more breakfast.

Flight was called on time for a departure at 1:00pm. Really nice when you board the aircraft and your boarding pass has a seat in row 1. QF NB did a nice report on our trip to Fiji, including photos.

Air Pacific doesn't have the best IFE but it was acceptable for the 4 hour flight to Fiji, the seat was ok and the cabin crew were excellent with a Fiji style.

15 MAR 2010
NAN-SYD FJ911 1C 747-400 DQ-FJK
Status Credits 80 Total 545

After spending 2 nights at Fiji Beach Resort & Spa managed by Hilton on Denarau Island which is about 30 minutes from the airport, it was time to head back to the airport. We had been lucky in that we had traveled to Fiji in cyclone season and Cyclone Tomas was bearing down on Fiji. There was quite a bit of rain about but our flight was still showing on time.

The flight departed at 9:00am and we were served a 2 course breakfast. Fruit with cereal(cornflakes) which was then served with a hot breakfast.

Our flight arrived at 11:25am, we de-boarded and our plane was left to spend the night in Sydney.

15 MAR 2010
SYD-MEL QF437 1C 738-838 VH-VYB
Status Credits 40 Total 585

We transferred to the domestic terminal and waited for our flight to Sydney, almost completely in the opposite direction to our home in Brisbane. But I was getting 100SCs for an afternoon of flight.

The 1:35pm flight was a lunch service and on this flight was a few famous people on this flight, The passenger next to me I had no idea who he was but the other person who was seated next to Anat0l was more famous.

15 MAR 2010
MEL-BNE QF628 1C 737-838 VH-VXJ
Status Credits 60 Total 645

The final flight up to Brisbane, was a standard flight with afternoon tea. I wouldn't need to be eating any more after this weekend.

24 APR 2010
BNE – SYD QF517 767-336 VH-ZXD
Status Credits 10 Total 655

Now Qantas Gold was in sight, but another short trip to Melbourne to enjoy some F lounging.

A great trip report can be found here written by Anat0l

Samh004 and I was on QF517 where we would meet up with Anat0l and another Flyertalk member Skoogle.

This flight for both of us was in economy, I got a lift to the airport from Sam. We were delayed through security, Sam did choose the security check point that was going to be less busy which he then got pulled for explosive check.

We still had some breakfast in the lounge before our flight down to Sydney.

Qantas on 20 April 2010 released check in via Phone where a link was sent via text message and you used your phone to get scanned, the system surprised me on how well it worked. You had to scan your own phone and then a small receipt was printed off to show you your seat selection but it also proved your flight details.

We landed in Sydney at 11:55pm and we made it onboard to the shuttle to the intenational terminal, as the shuttle was delayed to 12:05pm. Sometimes airport delays work in your favour.

24 APR 10
SYD – MEL JQ35 A330-200 VH-EBC
Status Credits 0 Total 655

JQ35 is flight operated by Jetstar Airways(International) and this flight runs between the Sydney international and Melbourne international airports before the flight continues onto Bali.

Traveling on Qantas, oneworld airline flight numbers, or Jetstar with a Qantas Platinum member traveling with a guest gives access to Qantas First lounge. It was nice to be back in the Sydney F lounge yeah been here before always very nice settings. Samh004 could not decide which so the lounge staff offered a range of 6 different red wines, photo from twitter.

After a few hours in the lounge it was time to catch Jetstar down to Melbourne, Jetstar is a low cost airline that is why you take a bottled water with you from the lounge. You need it to help you sober up from all the alcohol you had consumed in the First lounge.

We landed into a rainy Melbourne after a standard flight down to Melbourne.

I caught up with another Flyertalk member Penegal to watch an AFL(Australian Football League) game which featured a Melbourne team against my home team Brisbane Lions. Brisbane lost the game but I still had an enjoyable night at the football. Anat0l and Samh004 enjoy the executive lounge at the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf.

On the Sunday we caught up with more flyertalk members for lunch before having dinner at one of the flyertalk members home in outer Melbourne.

26 APR 10
MEL – SYD JQ3 A330-200 VH-EBC
Status Credits 0 Total 655

Anat0l and myself were joined by another Melbourne based flyertalker Serfty for the flight up to Sydney on another Jetstar operated international sector. JQ3 flies from Melbourne to Sydney and continues onto Hawaii. 26 April 2010 was a public holiday. ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance

The Melbourne F lounge is similar to the Qantas Sydney First Lounge, The lounge on this public holiday was almost completely empty. The first batch of flights to New Zealand and the US had departed and the flights to Asia weren't due out for a few hours.

As the lounge was empty we were offered spa treatment. Onboarding the flight I felt rather embarrassed to have brought a $69 Jetstar fare and enjoyed the First Class lounge with food alcohol and a spa treatment.

Standard flight up to Sydney in economy, the other 2 were traveling in business class(Jetstar call their business class Star class)

26 APR 10
SYD – BNE QF546 737-438 VH-TJR
Status Credits 10 Total 665

Another transfer on the shuttle from international to domestic where there were more staff and passengers. I was guested into the Qantas J lounge by Serfty who was heading back to Melbourne. The beer fridge was available but the hot food took a while to turn up.

The flight up to Brisbane was a standard Qantas evening departure with hot food and IFE.

Ozfest Adelaide,

Accommodation specials were released in January and so the cheap accommodation had to be locked in before the 31 January deadline and the price to stay 4 nights was the same if I stayed for 3 nights so I booked for 4 nights. This timing gave me almost 4 months to plan flights.

Qantas now run 4 direct flights a day from Brisbane to Adelaide but there are any number of indirect options so with a mixture of purchase and points I found a multi stop to Adelaide.

I also found that Aeropelican was now part of the Qantas frequent flyer program I could book the Newcastle-Sydney route, booking 4 months in advance as some advantages.

Booking Brisbane-Newcastle-Sydney, 4 months in advance as some advantages.

With 4 nights in Adelaide I had a spare day. I knew that Alliance Airlines now flies 3 times daily to Olympic Dam on the Fokker50. Originally Alliance code shared with Virgin Blue but then the code share was swapped to Qantas so now you could book flights with Alliance through the Qantas website.

I booked a Sydney-Adelaide flight on Qantas, and I had the option to BPay or use credit card and then I thought could I add an Adelaide-Olympic Dam on the same ticket spreading the $7.70 fee over 3 flights instead of 1. Surprising the times I wanted to travel meant that I was able to find an Adelaide-Olympic Dam-Adelaide same day return for just over $100 each way, and not just same day but a straight turn around.

I booked a standard Qantas flight back to Brisbane via Melbourne, 25status credits as I had originally planned 4 months ago.

27 MAY 2010
BNE-NTL QF2425 Qantaslink Dash 8-300 VH-TQL Seat 2A
Status Credits 0 Total 665 (Qantas award flight)

Now that Aeropelican has joined the Qantas frequent flyer program you can now redeem flights on that airline and the Qantas website has a nice feature that you can book a Brisbane-Newcastle-Sydney flight for 8,000 points and about $13.00 in tax, the standard Brisbane-Sydney flight is 8,000 points so with a few hours spare I could fly via a different airport all on the same ticket.

The Qantas flight to Newcastle was the standard Dash8-300 with an afternoon tea snack with water and tea and coffee. Not a lot to report on the flight down to Newcastle.

We arrived into Newcastle and I had almost 90 minutes between flights. My oversized bag; well it was only 7kgs but oversized for prop jets was tagged from Brisbane to Sydney with a transfer on the tag; but knowing that Newcastle almost never sees transfer tags after deboarding the flight I went to the baggage carousel to find my bag on the carousel. I guess the baggage handlers didn’t want to hold onto it so I got it back.

27 MAY 2010
NTL-SYD OT5020 Aeropelican Jetstream 32 VH-TJL

After lunch and a browse through the book shop I went and waited for Aeropelican check in to open up and then gave them my bag with the bag already tagged. This flight was on a Jetstream 32; I had previously flown on the larger Jetstream 41 but it was good to add another aircraft type to my list.



The flight was a little late in arriving from Sydney and then proceeded to the plane, as the plane is a Jetstream 32 then there is almost no room for carry on baggage, so anything more than about 1 kg had to be gate checked so there was a row of 10 bags. I don’t check computers of any kind so I had to gate check my smaller bag.

The flight took off from Newcastle and followed the coast down to Sydney and flew over Sydney and direct into Sydney airport. Aeropelican uses the main runway into Sydney which means it’s less than 5 minute taxi to the stand.



I collected my bag from the Aeropelican baggage carousel in T2 the terminal that is used by Aeropelican and Virgin Blue and proceeded to T3 the terminal used by Qantas. It’s a 10 minute walk between the terminals which is under ground, you follow the path to the airport train station and keep walking through to the other terminal.

27 MAY 2010
SYD-ADL QF743 Qantas 737-400 VH-TJL
Status Credits 15 Total 680

I had used the Qantas new mobile phone boarding pass, you can use the Qantas Iphone application to check in and then a text message is sent to your phone with a link to your boarding pass. The only problem with this method is that you cannot select a better seat during the check in process, so I ended up with a seat in the back of the plane. I have never had a seat that far back in a 737 is ages. As this flight was a jet flight then there was no need for me to check in any luggage.

I can usually pick when a flight is going to be late usually it is when I decide not to go to the lounge and instead head straight to the gate. Flight left 15 minutes late.

The Flight was fighting a strong head wind as there were a few bumps at a cruising altitude of 26,000 feet, so we were never going to catch up on time.

One thing I love about Qantas meal flights is that you get a good size meal with your choice of beer or wine on flights after 4:00pm on weekdays.



Flight arrived into Adelaide and caught a taxi to the hotel with some others who were on the same flight.

28 MAY 2010
ADL-OLP QF2604 Alliance Fokker50 VH-FKW
Status Credits 10 Total 690

I was up at 5:00am to head back to the airport to go flying on the Fokker 50. Alliance Airlines run the flight and Qantas market the flight as their own. So I was able to book the flight with a QF flight number, which would give me 1,000 points and I could reach Qantas Gold(Oneworld Sapphire) after the return trip.

I got the boarding passes from an agent and then proceed through security and headed to the Qantas lounge for breakfast. I wasn’t sure what to expect on the flight so thought I should get a hot drink and breakfast cereal. Flight was called at 6:10am and I headed down to the prop gate area

When I reached the gate area I was handed a new boarding pass. My original seat 2A was changed due to the light load of the flight.

A breakfast was served on the flight of cereal and yoghurt. Tea and coffee was served after the small serving trays were distributed. With the small amount of turbulence and the fact I had already eaten I didn’t touch any of the cereal.

The weather was overcast most of the way so there wasn’t a lot too see. The Fokker50 reminded me of a Dash 8 turbo prop.

Inside the lightly loaded Fokker50.



Descent into Olympic Dam; I can’t be sure of the view during the flight as we were above the cloud.



28 MAY 2010
OLP-ADL QF2605 Alliance Fokker50 VH-FKW
Status Credits 10 Total 700

Everyone got off the flight in Olympic Dam and as I had already received a boarding pass for both flights I just walked around and waited for everyones bags to be loaded on so we could re-board.



The flight was 100% full on the way back and the morning breakfast was exactly the same as on the way up.

Flight was a bit smoother and quicker I guess we were going with the wind, and we arrived back into Adelaide just before 10:00am.

I had to get back before lunch so I could get to the Adelaide Zoo.



Thanks to thewinchester for suggesting a visit to the zoo.

31 MAY 2010
ADL-MEL QF674 Qantas 737-800 VH-VZC
Status Credits 10 Total 710

6 O’clock in the morning and, yes it was Monday. Time to get up and catch a flight back to Brisbane, I was in the cab by 6:25am heading towards the airport. Check in was smooth and the boarding passes printed included my new Qantas status; Qantas Gold Oneworld Sapphire.

As it was almost 7:00am I went through security and the gate. I had already spent 30 minutes in the lounge on Friday morning and as I knew the flight to Melbourne was a breakfast flight then I didn’t really need to eat any more.

The breakfast on todays flight.



The flight arrived at 9:00am and this is when I realized the same plane would be taking me to Brisbane. I did a quick stop via the lounge for a drink before heading back to the gate and the same aircraft for the flight up to Brisbane.

31 MAY 2010
MEL-BNE QF612 Qantas 737-800 VH-VZC
Status Credit 15 Total 725

Flight departed 5 minutes early at 10:00am, not much to report on this flight standard morning snack of a plum muffin or biscuit with juice or water. Tea and coffee was served after the snack. This flight was quiet a bit emptier as I was able to get a seat in row 6 and 6B remained open. Flight landed just before 12:00pm after flying at 38,000 feet.

So after all that flying I was now Qantas GOLD Oneworld Sapphire.

Could Qantas Platinum Oneworld Emerald be next.