Originally Posted by headinclouds
Just requalified for OW emerald on AA and I have 4-6 premium class segments left in 2004. I would like to use those flights to get at least OW saphhire in another FFP. The remaining flights are: ORD-LAX, LAX-LHR, LHR-HEL-LHR, and LHR-CAI-LHR. All but the HEL flights are in first class. Being east coast USA based, there are times I would rather fly BA nonstop vs a connection via JFK or ORD on AA and earn some instead of 0 miles.
At first, I thought QF would be best since it just misses the saphhire level. With the BA sale to Europe (and WT + being reasonable) I believe that I would qualify. However, there are no QF flights, so I am not sure if that is a problem.
Since all but the ORD-LAX flight can be on BA, perhaps that is better. While I can find the QF FFP on the internet, I can never find the BA Executive Club tier points and award levels on the internet. And there are many bad experiences with the BA FFP recounted here on Flyertalk.
Lastly, I don’t quite understand how the membership year and qualifying year operate. If I join either FFP on 1-Sep-2004 and fly enough segments to qualify for OW saphhire, does it last until 31-Aug-2005 or some other date perhaps 31-Aug-2006? My intent is to obtain the status level and if I can earn an extra trip or two that would be ok by me.
Looks like 540 status credits which is short of the 700 needed to qualify for QF Gold (OW Sapphire) - 600 to re-qual. Anecdotal evidence suggests that QF don't strictly enforce the min 4 segment on QF rule. If you joined on Sep 1 and qualified in Sep/Oct your status would last until Aug 31 2006 - you would need to accrue 600 status credits between 1 Sep 2005 and 31 Aug 2006 to maintain QF Gold.
BA may be a good choice - see rules
here. I don't know whether LHR-CAI is considered long haul - if it is you would make it to Silver (OW Sapphire) and no 4 sector minimum problem.