A pleasant surprise?
 

I've just got back from a very interesting LGLOBEX26 in the last few days which saw me sample the delights of Y class on CX, BA, AA and QF. Which BA won hands down, I might add, with an excellent flight across the pond...CX are very ordinary up the back, AA has obviously upped legroom and cut everything else - and proud Aussie though I am, I would have thought that trans-Pacific flights on QF warranted a slightly higher level of service than your average domestic shuttle!

Originally I had booked WT+ on the HKG-LHR sector of the trip, only for BA to pull the plug on the flight the week before as part of their grand rationalisation. Thankfully I managed to get a seat on CX ticketed at Full Economy, so despite losing the extra legroom at least I managed to retain the 80 SCs. I still want to sample WT+, but I have no idea when I'll next get a chance. :(

One thing which has interested me since returning, though, is the discovery that my AA flight from JFK-LAX has in fact been credited to my account despite being booked in L class! Is this part of some promotion I didn't know about, a case of the booking class changing on me without notice - or indeed a happy accident that I should stop talking about very quickly?

Whatever the reason, the 210 SCs accumulated are much appreciated. Bearing in mind that I am not a business traveller, do you learned QFFers have any suggestions for efficient ways I could net the remaining 140 to reach Silver over the next 11 months? ;)

Actually, as per the updated QFF Terms and Conditions (as of Sept 20) L class on AA now earns Discount Economy SC and 50% mileage accrual!! ^ Which is great news, coz now "we the plebians" who can't afford DONE travel can include some meaningful Nth Am segments on our LONE tix, without having to scrounge around for codeshares!! ^ ^

Which is certainly not bad considering that the flight I took was on September 20 itself! Little wonder I didn't know about it then.

Agreed that's fantastic news, being one of those definitely sitting in the back of the bus for my RTW's. I guess there must have been backlashes over some of the recent changes, now getting 100% miles on BA on the Kangaroo Route and now L class getting some love on AA again.

Yes, good news indeed. I can love without the points, but the SC's I cannot live without :p .

Now, getting back to the OP's question, 140 self-funded SC's are going to cost you more than a Qantas Club membership. And the QP membership is probably going to get you more benefits than QF PS status.

"Yes, good news indeed. I can love without the points"

Mrs NM must be pleased :)

Dave

What would have been your routing for the LGLOBEX26?

I wouldnt mind doing it for 200 plus QF SCs.

Do you think I can achieve syd/jfk then Asia thru Europe for 26k?

f

He he he, a great typo that one. I'll have to ask her about it :D .

Further to NMs comment above (not the love part, but the SC part - if there is any difference), it certainly seems better value for money to spend the $$$$$ on QP membership than go for PS. Those on the BA Board don't even recognise PS as anything of significance - 'coz BA certainly don't think Ruby means anything at all - even the "priority" tags (which also mean nothing to BA, and BA priority tags mean nothing to QF baggage handlers). You'd be better off splurging on flights that earn SG status. THEN you get the free QP membership (and that goes farther than just the QC membership).

"Now, getting back to the OP's question, 140 self-funded SC's are going to cost you more than a Qantas Club membership."

ya gotta love companies that pay for Y fares :) ... The 5* dsn is off to BNE tomorrow then monday to Perth, thursday to Adelaide and then back to Sydney for a wonderful 220SCs

Dave

How about this for an example LGLOB26
Note that these distances are from Great Circle Mapper and not necessarily what QF will use for their calcs. I can probably be maximised slight more, but that gets you to places that may be worth visiting along the way.

But note that LGOLB26 is only $200 less than a LGLOB29 and a LONE4, which may offer some very good additional SC's and points for the extra money. Also need to watch out for max stopovers on the 26,000 mile GLOB fare. By the time you buy more stopovers, a LONE4 may become very attractive.

My own personal LGLOB26 was routed PER-HKG-LHR-JFK-LAX-SYD-PER - admittedly not ideally optimum for earning points and SCs, but for the maximum time and budget available at this point (and a yearly income just over $21k gross), about the maximum I could come up with without putting myself in debt for another 12 months!

I probably will go in for a LONE4 the next time I go for a RTW ticket, providing that I can get the accommodation and food budgets under control sufficiently to enable 15 or so stopovers. Until then, I'll sit here patiently absorbing the daily parade of advice as to how to make the most of my QFF membership worthwhile.

QP membership is something which I know is highly valued by many on this particular board, but two factors come into play for me. Firstly I am a devoted teetotaller, so the delights of free Hahn Premium and other exotic liquor is something I'll best leave to the rest of you. Secondly, I am just not the kind of traveller who would derive much practical use from a QP - I don't have a laptop so the hotspots are useless, I much prefer to have showers at either end of my journey rather than in between, I'm an inveterate walker around terminals as opposed to sitting in comfy chairs, and I doubt the occasional bowl of free cereal would be tempting enough. I have been a guest in various QPs and don't feel that they're worth my money over a run to PS status.

Of course Gold is preferable to Silver, but you've got to walk before you can run and if only three or four more transcontinental trips will enable me to lose the dull bronze card currently resident in my wallet, then I'll be happy.

Being a silver can't get into a QP anyway... IMHO, there isn't much point in having silver... The only realy benefits that I've experienced as a silver were the points bonus and seat preference.

As noted earlier, the priority thing is a bit of a myth, especially with BA. It's mainly because BA always do whatever they feel like to other OW airlines, but also partly due to BA don't have the OW Ruby level (i.e., QF silver) in their own scheme.

Is spending the money to get you 25% points bonus and seat preference (which generally works quite well, especially with QF) worth it?

As NM said, a QP membership with be a much more efficient way to do it.

"Being a silver can't get into a QP anyway... IMHO, there isn't much point in having silver... The only realy benefits that I've experienced as a silver were the points bonus and seat preference."

I think that the business class check in has its uses

"As noted earlier, the priority thing is a bit of a myth, especially with BA. "

What do you mean by priority? If you are talking about priority luggage handling , then it isn't a OneWorld benefit at all, just a benefit QF offers to its own members. I have found BA to always provide that which they are supposed to provide without any issues ( other than if you are one of the people who thinks that having to show their card is an issue ).

"Is spending the money to get you 25% points bonus and seat preference (which generally works quite well, especially with QF) worth it?"

If travel is just with QF, then QF Club membership gives pretty much everything you'd want, though if travelling with other carriers , especially AA, being able to avoid the hell that is AA "coach" check-in lines is worth having silver for

Dave

PER-HKG-LHR-JFK-LAX-SYD-PER is 25169 miles. You could have done LGA-BOS-LGA-BOS-LGA for a waste of a day and 40 extra SCs, but not much else to maximize that fare (presuming that the rules allow multiple transits in the same city, I don't know the GE rules as it really isn't an attractive fare for my purposes).