Have been reconsidering my options and thought this was a good thread to gain some insight from others. I'm a NZ resident, but commute weekly to MEL. Also have a couple of J class trips to Europe each year and fly around 200k miles per year.
I used to fly predominantly *A on NZ, but have gotten tired of the continual FFP changes and given most of my business to QF. As others have expressed QF burn rates are poor so while I have quickly built up over 450k QF miles, I'm considering whether AA would be a better scheme going forward or at least to run alongside.
I probably earn enough Status points to reach QF Plat One, but not sure whether the extra benefits above QF Plat outweigh the effort. Anyway, here are the facts.
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: AKL
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
Reply: 200k - approx 130 sectors, mostly discount Y but with a few long haul J.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy? ( First, Business, Economy etc.)
Reply: Generally discount Y AKL-MEL but normally 2-3 trips to Europe in J each year
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Yes, TT fares in Economy, Long Haul in Bus. Unfortunately all work and no play
(5) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: Weekly AKL-MEL is my main commute.
(6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? (AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: QF Plat, GE NZ, Gold with VA
(7) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: redemption rates and award access
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: largely given up on NZ apart from 1 x J class AKL-LHR which maintains my GE status. Tried VA but QF suits me better.