I know I'm late coming in to this discussion but for me, it's now VA always. I've held VA and QF plat for a couple of years but am about to let QF expire for most of the reasons harryhv outlines. QF are making it harder all the time to burn points and the $ cost for points flight is outrageous compared to VA.

It's taken me a couple of years to come to this decision to let QF Plat go (I'll really miss the SYD first lounge!) but VA is just a better deal all round, imho.