J343

Hey guys!

I've recently signed up with Qantas Frequent Flyer. Based on my upcoming flights this year, I will easily reach Silver by September. Just wondered, if I do move to Silver Tier by then, will my status credits reset to zero and start a new membership year or will it last until the end of my membership year next year?

Dave Noble

It will last until the end of your membership year next year

J343

So if it last until the end of my membership year, will I start my new membership year as Silver just like BA's Executive Club?

Mwenenzi

Why did you join the QF ffp if you a member of the BAEC & CXMPC (from your profile)?

Yes. If say your membership years ends 31 July 2018 and you have Silver status, you will have silver until 31 July 2019. Any SC's earned after silver are wasted unless you reach gold, but do count to lifetime SC total. SC's are set to zero on the first day of your new year (1 Aug). The re-qualification SC level is less than the initial requirement.

J343

QFF has good earning rates for my upcoming QF and 3K flights in August. I will be flying with MH too in September which gives higher status credits on my new QFF account compared to both my BAEC and CXMPC. Finishing those flights, I will be getting Silver by September. I also have plans to travel to Phuket next year and I am thinking of flying with QF to SIN and 3K to HKT. So with regards to my Silver status, will i be starting my membership year as Silver next year until 2020?

Mwenenzi

The earning rate may be good, but the burning rate can be atrocious (with high cash surcharges).
If awards are the ffp objectives earn to burn ratio is what is important.

Having multiple ffp’s with low balances is never a good idea. You may never get enough ff miles/points to be of use before they expire. Adding frequent miles in a ff program that you can use, are worth more than ff miles in an orphan ffp that you will never use even, if the earning rate is nominally better.

Status applys for the membership year you earn it and the following membership year.
When does your QF ff year end?

Not all Jetstar flights earn SC's & ff points. Depends on what fare type/bundle you buy.

Volvo Mike

You'll be silver from the moment you earn it until the end of your next membership year so yes, until 2020.

number_6

Also to state the obvious QFF Silver status is not BAEC Silver -- that is equivalent to QFF Gold. Not sure that QFF Silver status is worth getting As for earn/burn ratio, that varies with how you earn and how you burn, in general QFF is bad value but for some specific award redemptions it is great value, and of course if you get to Platinum status you have some award redemptions that are available (and not available in the cheaper FF plans as these awards are chronically sold out otherwise). Optimizing FF value is tricky, as it is run by the airlines as a profit center and not to reward you as a customer

J343

Yeah i have thought these through. I have 190k with my BAEC and 75k with CXMPC which expires in 3 years.

With regards to Jetstar flights, we got Max bundles which is Flexible Economy with QF I believe. My QF FF year end is July 31 2019. So I am assuming, if I achieved Silver in September, that will carry on through next year and will be starting my year as Silver lasting until 2020. I have put my BAEC on most of my upcoming flights to retain my Silver status. It just seem like a waste not crediting Status Credits when earn rates are fairly generous even on the lowest economy fares (i.e 20 TP with BA for LHR - SIN one way compared to 40 SC with QF same route and add 30 SC with 3K for Max bundle).

J343

Yes I am aware, even my other half thinks I am crazy for signing up for it when I already hold elite status with BA as does he. Although he is also looking to sign up for alternative FFPs as BAEC have gone down our estimations. We had better treatments from CX and QF on our recent flights with them this year even if we are not members of their own FFP.

Mwenenzi

You cannot equate QF SC to BA TP at 1 to 1.
Need to look how many SC/TP needed for status & re-qualification.

A Jetstar bundle earns at full economy rates, where as most/many QF flights earn the discounted economy rate.

The grass in not always greener on the other side

J343

I am not equating TP to SC. As I said, I am taking enough flights with BA to maintain my Silver status irrespective of signing up with QF FF. I am a oneworld loyalist, I have flown with most OW carriers (CX, BA, AA, QR, QF, IB) and all of which I have enjoyed. My first elite status though was with AF-KL Flying Blue due to their low fares ex-LHR at that time but have given up and migrated to BAEC.

It may not be but this is all due to personal preferences. Me and my partner want to have flexibility when we travel, hemce having elite status from 2 airlines might be a good idea for us. Yes, QF has good earn rate and bad burn rate but what we really are after are the travel benefits. With regards to redemptions, we both are covered with BA (having 190k myself and 100k for my partner). Outside of OW, I haven't really got any active FFP, I have give uo my AF-KL Flying blue due to the poor value of redeeming short haul EU flights as well as not being overly keen on Skyteam Elite benefits which as far as I have achieved which is almost but not directly comparable to OW Ruby and Skyteam Elite Plus to OW Sapphire. Star Alliance was another option but I've only really flew with SQ in the past. That's why I decided to move to OW . My partner on the other hand has EK Skywards. I haven't flown with EK before but having QF FF opens the flexibility of earning QF Points and SC but due to the QF-EK Alliance; just gotta make sure I get flights with EK under the QF code I believe?

Looking at future flights to SE Asia next year, we have QF, MH and CX to choose from. Obviously CX being the most obvious choice due to their service and onboard product as well has transitting through HKG but what is holding us back is the high fare and the low earn rates ; although I have thought of migrating to MPC. Ever since we flew with QF, we thought of giving SIN as an option to transit through and for our upcoming trip to DPS, flying with QF and 3K offered the most convinience taking several factors into account when we depart LHR on that day and after doing some research on earn and burn rates with QF FF, I have decided to give it a go. I will be achieving Silver before September ends and lookimg at our plans next year, it may be worth it. But who knows, I might be sticking to BAEC all along . Just as of now, I wont know how one programme works unless i give it a go

Just one final question though, so if my membership year ends in July 31 2019 and have achieved Silver in September, my SC will be carried through but will I be starting my membership next year as QF FF Silver lasting me through to 2020? If that is the case, maybe going for Gold might be an option

serfty

Assuming you joined QFF last month n June and then reach Silver status in September, you would have silver status (oneworld ruby) until June 2020.

Only SC's earned from joining until the end of June next year count to your current "year" for status earn.

They would reset back to 0 after 30th June 2019; you would have from July 2019 until end of June 2020 to earn enough SC's tp requalify Silver.

J343

Thank you for clarifying. This would mean Gold will be achievable before June 2019 with our travel plans in place and have Gold until 2020, no?

serfty

Yes - earn 700 SC's before the end of June 2019 and get Qantas based Sapphire status.