Well, where do I start....
Mrs QF WP has decided that the visit to our friends and her relatives in UK is back on after a stressful past couple of months. It appears that this will be our last major international leisure trip, as impending (after the trip) serious work on having children will definitely hasten the demise of my leisure induced MR's. So I want to "go out" in style.
Now the conundrum is what/when/how to go:
We have only 2 to 2.5 weeks to complete the trip. Our starting time is flexible, but our return timetable is inflexible because of pre-existing commitments (I must be back in BNE for 2 day work conference on Gold Coast 12-13 August and I have my 20 year school reunion/old boys dinner 13 August back in BNE). I'd love to get back a minimum of the day before (11th August) for recuperation.
Options
1. Book WHY seats x2 on QF metal flights and use points/UC's for J seats, or
2. Book WT+ seats on BA metal and hope for op ups (WT+ seats ~ $3,300 each), or
3. Book J Award seat for Mrs QF WP (QF metal) and buy J for me (will be tax deductible
), or
4. Book J Award mixed OW carrier for Mrs QF WP and buy J for me, or
5. Book F Award seat for Mrs QF WP and buy J for me, hope to find Z seat availability.
It is very safe to assume (note
Dave Noble, et al) that this trip will include no MR's, no flights stopping in BKK to start a DONE4, and no RTW schedule unless I have convincing unshakeable proof that it is the only way (Mrs QF WP is a point to point traveller, not via C and if I want to stay married and with all anatomical parts still attached to my body...) Perhaps the only person who could convince her is
NM (sorry Dave, would need to be a local BNE person).
Now I have a fair number of points within QF and affiliated programs (all rounded down to nearest 1K level) - 271K QFF points; 9K AMEX, 13K SPG, 10K in CB Visa, totalling 303K. I transferred most of my available points - CB Visa (50K at 1:1), NAB Gold Rewards (50K to 33K QFF at 1:1.5) and SPG (2 separate transactions of 20K at 4:5) during the week, so they are included in the QFF total above. I now have less than 1K in NAB. CB Visa balance might kick up with 5K and 10K referral bonuses, but I'm not holding my breath waiting.
What I am kicking myself over was that I thought that HH points were transferable as well to QFF - that'll teach me to pay closer attention to all my programs (I'd never used or looked to transfer any HH points before now) - I have 78K in there.
I am, of course, a WP and have 7 UC's (I have another 310 SC's to go before scoring another). Expiry of my first UC is 31 Oct 04. Obviously, I am looking for the status from the flights towards re-qual (I have 230SC's for the year commencing 1 March, with another 50 SC's already booked and additional work and leisure flights (including this) that should make me WP again by 28 Feb 05).
Mrs QF WP is a PS and has 83K QFF points and is PS. She has 0 SC's thus far this year. She has 2 UC's and needs 325 SC's before her next one. Expiry of her first UC is 31 Mar 05. Mrs QF WP doesn't really care about the status, but she loves the benefits of being my spouse (upgrades, better seats, nice hotel rooms, etc, all without her having to pay for them!). I know Mrs MR can understand her position (isn't that right, Martyn).
I have done some research on Award flights ex-BNE, SYD and MEL (using the QF website, so am taking the availability with a grain of salt in case it doesn't show all available seats), looking at direct to SIN, BKK and LHR; and return (all using the timeframes 26 Jul to 13 Aug). Because of immediacy of travel, Skybed introduction, Olympic Games et al, there is very almost no availability in J (particularly outbound), sparing F but plenty of WHY (particularly ex-SYD and MEL but WHY is not really a preferred option). The best options that I could find that meet my/our objectives (going in style) were:
Outbound
Mon 26 July Dep 15.35 MEL/LHR QF9 (in F), arriving LHR 27 July 05.25, or
Tue 27 July Dep 16.50 SYD/LHR QF1 (in F), arriving LHR
Inbound
Mon 09 Aug LHR/SYD QF32 (in F)
I haven't as yet checked on my J paid seat availability or additional Z seat availability, but before I go too far, is there anything that others can suggest might be better or I have missed?? I'm certainly no guru when it comes to these areas...
Whew, I need a drink now...where's my HP??