Top of climb

OK, so I've just signed up to QFF because it looks like the easiest programme to get meaningful OW status on given my predicted travel plans over the next 12 months. My QFF page tells me that my membership year currently runs until 29 February 2012.

I've now waded through a number of threads and read the QF website, but am still a little hazy about how SCs work in terms of what kicks in when and what drops off when, especially when there is a change in status.

Later this year I plan to take a AONE4, the bare bones of which will be JFK-LAX-MEL-AKL-SYD-HKG-LHR-JFK (obviously I will pepper more stops in there, but stick with me for now). JFK-LAX-MEL-AKL-SYD will be on QF, and will give me the 4 QF flight segments that QFF require for status.

The QF website tells me that I earn 100 SC for JFK-LAX; 270 SC for LAX-MEL; 80 SC for MEL-AKL and 80 SC for AKL-SYD. So I'll be at 540 SC once I land in SYD, which is the earliest that QF will give me any status (because of the 4 segment requirement). As I understand it, more or less immediately after I fly the AKL-SYD sector, QF will upgrade my status to silver (say on 1 September 2011). Am I then correct in thinking that:

1) I have a year from 1 September 2011 to fly another 250 SC, and if I do so (assuming the 4 QF sector requirement is met again), I retain silver?; and

2) I still have until 29 February 2012 to collect an extra 160 SC to get to the 700 SC required for Gold?; and

3) QF soft land even though the 4 QF sector requirement might not be met in the subsequent year? (I found a thread which suggested this was the case, but would be interested in any recent experiences).

Thanks

Josh43

Howdy Top Of Climb,

To answer your questions:

1/ The annual SC requirement is based on your QF Membership year (March through to February the following year), and not the date in which you earn the SC's. If you earn 540 SC's in September, you will have Silver for the rest of your membership year (to Feb '12) PLUS the next year (through to Feb '13). Any credits you earn before Feb '12 will add onto your accumulation towards Gold. Come March 2012, you will need to earn another 250 to retain Silver in that membership year.

2/ Yes - You will need to reach 700 in 1 membership year (by Feb '12 for you) to reach Gold

3/ QF will soft land you even if you do not fly with them at all during the year. (99% sure of that - never had to try!) =)

I hope that helps!!

Cheers,

Josh

drewbles

One thing to keep in mind is that if you're on QF metal from JFK to LAX, you will only earn J SC's as they replaced the 747 on QF107/108 with an A330, with only J and Y cabins.

As mentioned, it's SC's based on your membership year, although you can easily earn SC's on AA with YUPP/KUPP fares (which could easily push you to Gold (OW Sapphire) @ 700Sc's).

I also have my membership year ending end of Feb each year. I re-qualified for Qantas Platinum (OW Emerald) in October last year, when I had status thru 28 Feb 2011. I now have Platinum thru Feb 2012, even though this membership year has another 19 days to run:



(SC's removed by me).

If you do get to Gold, and you do not re-qualify, QF will only 'soft' land you to Silver if you have met the minimum 4 segment requirement on QF. If you haven't, you'll fall straight back to Bronze.

Top of climb

Thanks guys - this is really helpful. One point you raised seems interesting. If I'm reading what you wrote correctly, it seems like I would almost be better off "forgetting" my decision to sign up to QFF today, and to sign up again right before I leave on my AONE4 in August? This way it seems I would have a membership year ending in August, and when my silver kicks in at the conclusion of my AKL-SYD sector in September, I would have the benefit of that status from Sep 2011 to Aug 2012 (expiry of membership year) PLUS another year at silver from Sep 2012 to Aug 2013.

i.e. it seems that because I am a new QFF signup, the later that I leave my QFF enrolment to the date of my first meaningful OW flight, the more status I'll be able to keep for longer?

number_6

Yes, you would be better off to apply for a new QFF account in July, just don't get the FF numbers mixed up! AA has F JFK-LAX and you would be better off to fly that, it also guarantees that you aren't on QF108 JFK-SYD (which eliminates LAX as a stopover despite the change of plane there). Of course it also burns a segment of your AONE4; might be better to fly 6 US segments on AA and then QF108 JFK-LAX which does not count as a NA segment and only 1 seg in your 16 total ... wonder how QF handles that now, they can't split the BP so maybe the A332 sells F even though it only has J seating? Or is it always A0 for QF108 ex-JFK now?

serfty

Correct; if you enrol on Aug 1st 2011and earn 300/700/1400 SC's before Aug 31 2012 you will be Silver/Gold/Platinum* (after your 4th QF flight) until 31 Aug 2013.

*oneworld Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald.

serfty

Qantas do not sell F SYD-JFK/JFK-SYD on QF107/QF108 "direct".

They do for SYD/LAX and will put one on a QF codeshare to/from JFK.

drsmithy

I can confirm this is true, it has happened to my wife over the last two years (from WP through SG to PS, with no Qantas flights taken since 2008).

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

Is the soft landing gold->silver different to the soft landing plat->gold?

I did not meet the 4 segments and was soft landed.

drewbles

Interesting. I was under the impression that you would fall back to Bronze. I'm sure I read it somewhere, although as one post in here says, they fell back.

I retract my earlier comments

Top of climb

The grand plan at the moment is to have accrued enough to hit Platinum after flying HKG-LHR; and then having that last through to Sep 2013, after which there'll be a year at Gold and then a year at silver, hopefully safeguarding some OW status until Sep 2015, so soft-landing without flying the 4 QF segments would be good news indeed!

Flying AA from JFK-LAX would get me another 50 SC's but would mean I lose one of the four QF segments I need to qualify. However I think a quick AKL-SYD-AKL side trip should solve that

Thanks all for your help and suggestions

drsmithy

As I think another poster mentioned, if you are going to be in the the US and need some SCs, there's no better way to do it than K/YUPP fares ("Instant Upgrades" on aa.com).

Eg: Next weekend I'm doing a round trip PHX-ORD-MIA-SJU-MIA-ORD-PHX to get 600 SCs for just under a grand - and that's the "normal" price for those flights. I'll probably do at least one more before I leave the states for good later this year, maybe even two to do some more work towards LTG.

serfty

K/YUPP's are good for earning with QFF; however given the OP is planning an AONE4 they get booked into A class in any case.

drsmithy

Just making sure the OP is aware for any time in the future he's in the US with a day or two to kill (or just a need for more SCs). I was a QFF for ~5 years and on FT for nearly a year before I'd even heard of a YUPP.