khabah

Alright, here we go...

Jumping on this bandwagon because I want to move on from QR. Formerly a huge fan and advocate for the airline - love their in-the-air product so much I used to justify their absolute disaster of an airline because of how good the front-facing product is... but now between their unintuitive and non-functional website, the inability to use Qmiles and Qcredits, not getting any help from them when things go awry and now their HORRIBLE, newly-introduced, so-called 'enhancements', I've had enough and now it's time to start looking elsewhere.

Q&A below - help appreciated!

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Upgrades are nice, but mostly after priority services [i.e. priority check-in and seat choice in the front of the plane which QR doesn't allow] and lounge access.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
>100K, predominantly in Y. Over 70 flights annually.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
70/30 split economy to business.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Travel for work and pleasure in equal parts/can work remotely. Can choose airlines but always limited myself to Oneworld airlines and partners because of QR.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
QR is the overwhelming lion's share of all flights I take; as I have more work in Jordan, I have more RJ flights. Quite a few UL flights when going on vacation in Asia. Flight patterns are all over the place - Europe, Asia are the biggest destinations.

(6) What is your home airport?
KWI.

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
QR Platinum, EY Gold.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
QR, followed by RJ and EK.

I enjoyed QR for the connectivity and large destinations list. Since I'm based in Kuwait and KU is a total s___show, no way I'd fly SV, EY has gone downhill and EK has the stingiest FFP I've ever seen, QR was my best bet. I love the airline but I can no longer justify their night-and-day inconsistency between the service you get on the plane and just about everything else.

Looking forward to feedback and tips - thanks guys and gals!

khabah

#1son

if you are based in Kuwait, it will be difficult to find a better oneworld partner than QR

I keep hoping they will wake up, improve their FFP

RJ did not impress me at all on recent flights

HOLYMOLEAIR

Need help for deciding on a new FFP, was in QR programme achieving gold, thinking if I should abandon ship because of the recent "enhancements"...

Questions
For members asking for information, to help people to assist you, can you please provide:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: upgrade/award ticket/lounge access, basically I need at least Oneworld sapphire

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: >50000 miles, mostly in discounted economy, <25 flights, I mostly fly long haul from HKG to LHR, around 4 round trips per year, together with local short-haul trips both from LHR and HKG

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Economy discounted to cheapest

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: HKG to LHR is for study, others is for leisure

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: Asia-Europe flights, BA, CX, QR

(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: HKG and LHR

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: Qatar gold pending

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: QR/BA/CX, any Oneworld airline which operates out of HKG/LHR basically

Thanks for the help!

moa999

@CASAFlyer
QF program is still 'easy' in premium cabins if you fly on QF/QF codeshares. Since Simply fairer they have essentially halved the partner earn on competitive routes (and reduced the earn on AA Dom First flights)

Eg a MEL-LHR/Europe J-class return will earn 560-620 SCs on QF / QF codeshare on EK,
Versus 280 SC on QR.
(So 2 J Europe returns plus a modicum of domestic will get you Emerald)

In Y it's a bit harder at 140-190 (excluding Flex Y) QF/EK versus 70 on QR.

Using points on upgrades us the best value, but a lottery internationally, on domestic you can get it immediately, but general redemptions have large fuel fine copays.

Also note that QR has very recently altered it's charts in a bad way.
https://www.ausbt.com.au/qatar-airways-hikes-privilege-club-award-rates-booking-fees

CASAFlyer

Thanks for the feedback! Unfortunately it is discount Y for me (in the academia), so Emerald is hard to reach. But with the new enhancements of the QR program (and of OW first-class lounges at HKG now apparently serving cafeteria food...), I think it might make sense to reassess whether getting Sapphire with Qantas (doable with my flight pattern) might be the best approach, providing more value than Qatar Emerald.

duncgor

Quite a few folks seem to be looking at changing from QR so here is my tuppence.

i did a comparison between BA and QR to see differences in getting to the Levels. I fly Y (often discounted Y) mainly with work.

the attached comparison is slightly out of date but you will get the picture and it generally holds true.

if aiming for OWS is your goal I’d suggest most OW Partners will Be around me the same (in my case it was one flight between QR and BAEC).

if Emerald is your goal then in my case it would have been far easier on QR than BAEC, and also easier to hold onto (lower retention threshold and also using 2 years total as well as 1 to determine your status).

appreciate that this doesn’t give an opinion on the difficulty of claiming redemptions with QR which as I understand is a nightmare but if top status is your goal, QR seems easier than the others.

if mid tier is goal then most should be similar if you can meet flying requirements on that airlines metal and easier redemption and better service may swing you away from QR. As highlighted, QR’s air service is exceptional, land support with issues is terrible.

777000

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Priority services, lounge access, having the points stick.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
>50k.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Economy. I book directly with airlines and look for options through Skyscanner.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Work. I can choose my airlines, as long as it's not way too expensive, compared to the other economy options.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
EMEA.
(6) What is your home airport?
TLV.
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Miles & More 13k, Delta SkyMiles 2k, BA 0.
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Whatever I can get anywhere, be it from TLV or in Europe/Asia, for an average price.

Explore SE Asia

I asked the *Alliance forum advice earlier in the year. As a result, I joined Asiana. Currently, I have 13k miles in Asiana miles.

My situation has changed. Instead of the cheapest economy fares, I will be booking business class tickets and/or business award tickets. I expect this will last 3 maybe 4 years. After that I will probably return to flying economy.

I will be watching the premium deal thread for flights from the USA to anywhere in SE Asia. My search for the best business class flights to SE Asia will lead me to book Oneworld flights, at times.

.I am most interested in USA - Asia business awards bought with the fewest trips/ miles and availability of those awards. ( Booking awards for 2 people)

I have a significant amount of United miles. In addition, I have BA miles (150k), Delta miles and Starwood points. (American 50k)

1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.): FLL or ORD


(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.): I will be booking cheap business class fares.


(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? : 35-55k


(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None (Working toward *gold with Asiana 13k need 40k within 2 years)


(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? : Earning potential with decent award availability and pricing of USA to Asia busines awards.


(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc):

FLL/ORD to SE Asia.

FLL/ORD-BKK/CEB/HKG/MNL/SIN/TPE in business (2+ per year). I am willing to fly to the west coast for a good business fare.

My final destination is Manila or Cebu. I can get to MNL/CEB relatively cheaply from other SE Asia cities.

I will also travel within SE Asia.


(7) Preferred Airlines: Unfamiliar with Oneworld business class product

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you choose your airlines, class of service?): Pleasure. I can choose my airline and class of service.

averageacrobat

I've banked my Oneworld miles with Iberia for several years, but since I haven't paid attention to the Earn/Burn ratio, I've ended up with fewer miles than I thought I would. (Fortunately, the miles haven't expired as I've maintained my account activity). I'm considering switching to American, BA, or Alaska Air (where I can bank all my miles except for those with Qatar).

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Good award redemption rates and availability for US Domestic flights --- I don't think I fly enough or in a high enough class to collect miles for more expensive awards.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
25k-50k miles, <25 flights.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Cheapest Economy Available

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
No; travel primarily for pleasure.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
US Domestic (~5 per year), Transpacific (~2 per year)

(6) What is your home airport?
SFO

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
No status; ~30k Avios banked with Iberia.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Most common: American Airlines
Preferred: Cathay Pacific / Japan Airlines (for Transpacific flights, sold as AA) and Qatar Airways

chanjyj

Mwenenzi

So stay with SQ Krisflyer. Virgin Australia VA & SQ are freq flyer partners. You can even move ff points/miles from one to the other, albeit as a discount. This is very unusual.
There are no Australian domestic star alliance airlines.

Other Oneworld airlines buy QF points (and SC's) when you fly with them. If those airlines wanted to buy more they can do so. It is a negotiation between the airlines concerned
Some OW airlines, like CX, are well know for not giving many ff miles on many booking classes to any other ffp.
https://www.wheretocredit.com/cx

I find QF call centre staff polite & professional. Never had a problem with them or their knowledge or service. (Can't say the same about VA)

You have done well to be offered tier accelerator for QF Gold (OW Saphhire). [Corporate offer?]

chanjyj

Mwenenzi

Not sure there is much to else to say/suggest

• You don't like the major Oneworld airline in Australia: Qantas
• QF offered a very good Gold status accelerator (to keep you from preferring to fly on VA). QF Gold (OW Sapphire) gets you lounge access.
• You have SQ Krisflyer Gold status which is a close partner/part owner of the other major Au domestic airline: Virgin Australia. SQ Gold gives some benefits on VA, including possibly lounge access (1 of your ffp objectives)
• Other Oneworld airline ffp's, like AA or CX, are a possibility, but if you do not fly on them, benefits will be limited. Getting mid level status, OW Sapphire that gives the useful lounge access benefit, will be hard from Au on economy flights.
• Out of ADL QF has nil international routes. CX, MH & SQ have more. Air NZ (Star) flys to AKL .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_Airport
• Does your employer offer discounted or complimentary QF or VA club (lounge) membership? Many mid to large Aust companies do this.

If you are only going to be living in Australia for a few years I would stick with the Star Alliance/SQ/VA combination.

chanjyj

felixmendelssohn

Hello,
Just seeking expert opinion--I've got another thread on the *A board--on how I should approach the FF game. I'm currently an Alaska Airlines MP member and book my international travel on AS partners. My travel requirements are about to change, though. Would it be better to switch to OW? And if so, to which OW? My work-related travel concerns the following routes:

SJC-SEA in Y: Once a month
SJC/SFO-HYD in J: Once a quarter. Air India is not an option, ever.
SJC/SFO-TLV in J: Once or twice a year
Random customer-related visits to overseas customers (major metro areas, but unpredictable which): Once or twice a year in J


Alliance Status and Redemption are equally high priorities for me. My current thinking is that I may as well stay on AS MP, since I can fly EK to HYD. But even if I were to do that, what should my secondary program be? Etc. Any advice would be much appreciated.