"Ah, but you forget that for EXP you get 8 system wide upgrade certs."

True, but their international system isnt exactly wide.

Also remember that QF Gold / Platinum get lounge access which AA Platinums / Executive Platinums do not when travelling "domestically" in America ( using AAs extremely screwed up idea of what international means )

"Also, using my example the QF member would get 2 upgrade credits. The AA member would get 24 North America electronic upgrades in addtion to the system wide certs. I'd rather travel in upgraded J or F on AA than QF economy any day, which in my example I could do more often than I could on QF."

Well, now we are into the argument of the Usian idea of devaluing your premium product so much that few people will ever pay the excessively overpriced fares quoted for the laughably named "First Class". Personally, I think that setting up a system to ensure that people will not buy a premium product since they will get it for free is not a good business move and the idea seems to be limited to the 3rd world of airline travel.

Different schemes suit different people

Dave

[This message has been edited by Dave Noble (edited Dec 16, 2003).]