flyingmonkie

True. That may well change things quite dramatically but I'll only have a year left here then

Mwenenzi

You can stay in Aussie. Some others never go home

Bullswood

You might also consider the free to join AA miles scheme for use on oneworld carriers - despite the sad end of the LHR/SYD in F for 80k miles, the 110k is still quite reasonable. I've just booked family trips for June 18 in BA First SYD/SIN for 50k and another in BA F SIN/LHR for 90k AA Miles each. Their frequent "Buy Miles with a Bonus" sales can also make sense depending on the offer particularly when the A$ is strong - I think the recent one offered 250k for around US$4200, so you can do the arithmetic on my sample routings (fees & taxes are as for the BA,QF etc).
If you're doing any intra Asia flying, Avios redemptions on CX are great value with virtually none of the fees & taxes which you get flying on BA & QF.
Finally, bear in mind QF points can be used on EK as well as oneworld carriers.
My own conclusion was to keep all 3 schemes - with hindsight, the QF points (which can be earned at supermarkets, credit cards etc) are the easiest to earn but the hardest to use.

orbitmic

Yes, I know that, but what I meant/said is that it has a cost in terms of actual travel: less good timing choices and flexibility, less comfort, less competitive options, and higher prices. I'm always wary of models which put the FFP needs above the traveller's ones!

LTN Phobia

I think they will have next year when they resume SYD-SIN-LHR.

I agree, that often leads to interesting feeling of resentment and dissatisfaction.

On the other hand, if the 3 years in Australia involve a lot of flying, it might be worth getting a QF Lifetime Gold which is easy to attain if you fly quite a lot over 3 years. At least you'll then get a lifetime OW Sapphire, whereas BA Lifetime Gold may be a long way away.

hutchio

Hi everyone, OP here.


Thanks for all your advice. There are more considerations than I had realised.


I am a long way from lifetime Gold on BA, but very close to moving from Silver to Gold. I think I will get to Gold by collecting through BA, then switch to collecting through Qantas Frequent Flyer for the duration of my Australia secondment. My BA Gold will lapse to Silver in March 2019, by which time I would hope to have reached Qantas Platinum.
I will try my luck requesting a status match to see if I can jump straight to it, but I realise this is unlikely.
As I get closer to returning to the UK, I'll start collecting through BA again, just to maintain Silver, which should be easy.


So if all goes well, I remain Oneworld emerald for the entirety, and I collect points in the jurisdiction that I can spend them more easily (Avios in UK, and whatever the Qantas equivalent is in Australia). I'm afraid the varying earn rate and burn rate is a little over my head. I don't get that much choice over my routes etc, so I think it makes most sense to be collecting through the right domestic airline program. Correct me if this is very faulty reasoning...


Cheers everyone!

Globaliser

Actually, if you're in Sydney, there's a pretty good value use of Avios: short domestic flights on QF. For example, SYD-MEL in business class for 9,000 Avios plus about Ł10. And with the frequency on routes like SYD-MEL and SYD-BNE, there's usually fairly good availability.

And if nobody has yet said it: Welcome to FT!