drdraper Welcome to FT (Aussie branch)
www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au may also interest you for a more Au focus. And a high portion of medicos (if that’s your profession)
Flying and not getting ff miles is a horrendous crime here on FT
You will have a steep learning curve to understand ffp’s. They can be very different and all have good and not so good points/features.
Originally Posted by
drdraper
New to the Points World - Best Program for flights from Australia to Europe,
Ahead of time thanks for all the information so far, it has been a steep learning curve so far. As a bit of background I travel what I consider relatively often (between 15-20 flights this year, mainly around Europe however 3 have been between Australia and London) and I never bothered signing up to any frequent flyer programs. I decided seeing as I travelled enough I should sign up to a program, however I was lost where to begin.
New to the Points World - Best Program for flights from Australia to Europe
As I have no current frequent flyer program, I have no allegiance to any program or airline, I am simply looking to join the airline program that best services my own needs.
1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
Best award redemption rates for flights between Australia and Europe. I have read that JAL points redemption on Emirates flights is potentially the best use of points, however am not sure if this is true. I want to use my points to outright purchase flights (business or better) between Australia and Europe, as I have no preferred airline I simply want to understand the cheapest award flights between Australia (Sydney) and Europe (preferably London, however European connecting flights are not an issue)
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8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
I generally have no preference, however as the entire purpose of signing up to a FFP is to obtain award flights between Australia and Europe, my preferred airline between these destinations would be: Emirates, Etihad, Cathy Pacific, Singapore Airlines or Qatar.
OVERALL GOAL / REASON FOR FFP
As I mentioned earlier my entire reasoning for joining into the FFP and using award seats is to be able to travel business class or better between Australia and Europe.
For domestic flights in Australia that limits you to
- QF Qantas
Oneworld FF partners include QR Qatar, CX Cathay, BA British, JL Japan (all OW) and EK Emirates and others
- VA Virgin Australia. not in a alliance, but FF partners include EY Etihad (who part own VA), SQ Singapore, NZ Air New Zealand and others
- Will forget about JQ Jetstar (owned by QF) & Tigerair (part owned by VA)
FF partners are usually reciprocal to earn & burn. So you could fly QF and collect miles/points with one of their partners or fly VA and collect points/miles with one of their partners if you decide to go that way, if an eligible fare.. Same with using miles/points for awards (burning)
The airline you fly and the airline frequent flyer program you credit those flights to does not need to be the same. That is what ff partners and alliances are about. You can earn ff miles in your ffp flying on other partner airlines. However generally you are better with the airline ffp you fly most with (by $$ spent or distance or number of flights)
www.wheretocredit.com/qf
www.wheretocredit.com/va
Many people earn ff miles/points from credit card spend & cc sign up. However these are generally limited to home country airlines: that is QF or VA
Getting ff status boost earning and has other benefits, like lounge access for mid-high tier status.
There are several QF vs xx linked in post 3. And a few for VA.
With most ffp’s you need to be a signed up member at the date of the flight. However the QF ffp allows retro credit for flights taken in the past 30 days
Awards are not guaranteed. Long haul premium cabin awards are hard to get with any ffp. You need to be flexible with date & route
QF has high ff points requirement and high cash surcharges for awards. That’s why some in Au credit QF flights to other ffp’s like AA American Airlines or BA British Airways.
Frequent flyer miles are not equal to earn or burn between ffp’s. 10,000 frequent flyer miles in 1 ffp may get you a longer award flight than 15,000 frequent flyer miles in another ffp. Each airline ffp has different rules for using (burning) those miles/points for awards and different copay/surcharge $$ fees. There are award cash surcharges with some ffp’s/routes/airlines. With awards taxes are the same for all airlines for the same route and class. Award surcharge can/are different.
Awards assistance tools
Use at your own risk. These may not be up to date. (These are not recommendations)
Frequent flyer miles/points are not equal to or burn. They are not 1 to 1
If a multi segment award check the rules/cost carefully. With some ffp’s it can be 2 or more awards or cost more ff miles than a direct flight.
Some awards/airlines/routes can have cash surcharges, in addition to real taxes.
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AwardAce: Compare Award Redemptions Across Airlines In Seconds -->
http://www.awardace.com/
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Economical Excursionist's Tools to compare Frequent Flyer Mile Redemptions -->
http://www.flyermiler.com/
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http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ast-miles.html -->
http://www.awardhacker.com/