An interesting and pretty objective overview..I was rather bemused though by the justification of higher BC reward requirements.."to reflect the investment they have made in BC facilities and services"? Having flown international BC twice in the last 3 months, I can only say these investments have been too subtle for me to notice!

BruceB, thanks for all your help on this thread. I would just like to follow up and ask if the new award charts for OneWorld tickets is available yet, and if so, could you post it or a link on this thread (or if anyone else has been able to find it please help me out).

Also, just in case the decision could be reconsidered, I would point out that many airlines do allow one free stopover on award tickets on international itineraries (but most seem to not allow on domestic) any chance of throwing us one free one on int'l awards before the 10K for add'l stops kicks in?

thanks again for your help and explanations on these changes.

bruceb - great to have met up with you in Hong Kong in that cool bar near the office, and for dinner near my apartment.

Couple of things I like about the changes:
- Recognition on other oneworld airlines - HKG-JFK currently only earns 100 tier credits whilst SYD-LAX earns 160. Not only is HKG-JFK a significantly longer flight but it costs a LOT more too
- Lifetime gold is fantastic - and remember that lifetime tier credits from when they were introduced in Sept 1998 count...pity that there is no lifetime platinum
- Partner gold membership at 2100 tier credits is great too
- Upgrades using points are terrific, and well overdue (hope that doesn't reduce availability of award seats for me though)

Darren or Bruce - now, the only thing is - how can I get other oneworld airlines to recognise the CIP status that I have on Qantas?

taipan

"taipan".... I think HK must have gotten to you, taipan. Thanks for the meal!

<<Darren or Bruce - now, the only thing is - how can I get other oneworld airlines to recognise the CIP status that I have on Qantas?>>

You need to become a Chairman's Lounge member!

<<Oneworld tables>>

Not yet published... I think it will be a while - as it needs to be negotiated with all other 1W airlines.

Cheers... Bruce

This appeared on the rec.travel.air usenet group today (posted by one Dave Proctor):
-------------
It states quite clearly in the documentation that Upgrade Certificates can
still be used up until 15 September, at which time they will be converted to
Upgrade Credits.

At a minimum, one Upgrade Certificate for the lowest band will become
equivalent to one Upgrade Credit - so an Upgrade Certificate from Full
Economy to Business Class from Sydney to Brisbane (for example - the lowest
band) will become one Upgrade Credit.

(Where am I going with this? Wait and see).

I can get five Upgrade Certificates for Full Economy to Business for 8750
points - they are worth 1750 points each.

On 15 September, they will convert them to five Upgrade Credits, which is
enough to upgrade from Discount Economy to Business Class from SYD to LHR or
SYD to JFK.

Seems like 8750 points is a pretty cheap way to upgrade to J class on such
long sectors. They are aware of it, and have even been telling some people
about it (overheard at Sydney Qantas Club the other day).

Dave
-----------------------
Any comments from the QF people? Sounds extraordinary!


[This message has been edited by whughes3 (edited 04-19-2001).]

A very good point WHUGHES3.

As I will now be using all of my points for international upgrades, I think I will convert my 200000 points all to upgrade certificates. This would make about 114 upgrade credits which means close to 23 upgrades from SYD to London. This is an absolute bargain.

Agreed, A very very good point, whughes!

Before I convert all my points, though, is it the case that upgrade credits expire after two years? And, if so, would they expire two years after ordering the original certificate, or two years after Qantas convert them on Sept 15?

. [dup]

[This message has been edited by MukMuk (edited 04-22-2001).]

Darren/Bruce

I have a couple of pertinent questions

1. Will Qantas be running any 'join up for free' promotions for Qantas Frequent Flyer at any forseeable time in the future?

2. Is it likely that Qantas will begin operations in NZ soon?

3. If (I realise this is a very big if) Qantas begin operations in New Zealand, will New Zealand members get a minimum 1,000 miles for all those short hops in New Zealand?

4. If they don't begin operations in NZ what will happen to all those NZ Qantas members who currently have orphan miles?

cheers Peter


[This message has been edited by ffhound (edited 04-22-2001).]

whughes3: A very clever point. But I got a couple of questions:

1. My old QF booklet says you can also have a full fare upgrade coupon (UPG005) for 1250 points which allows travel up to 620km. Would these count as well?

2. The new booklet says that on September 15th. they will be converted to upgrade credits. But where does it say that one upgrade coupon will convert to one upgrade credit?

Foxpro, some excellent questions, to which so far there seem to be no clear answers! We are still waiting a response from the QF guys..do you get a sneaking feeling this whole issue hasn't been thought through very carefully?

Well, whughes, you've thought it through carefully!

Do you think it might be worth taking a punt and just buying a batch of upgrade certificates on spec?

You may as well! I mean the worst that can happen (and which may well happen, I suspect) is that you'll get your points back..and you just might wind up doing very nicely indeed.

Guys, I am a newbie to the list so pardons in advance if I haven't assimilated the wealth of info in these last 5 pages.

Firstly, thks BruceB for all the help and advice provided. Darren , I have managed to talk to a lot of QF people previously but obviously not getting thru to the right one with my comments/ complaints /suggestions.

I am a VERY frequent flier , alternating between Star (UA) and OneWorld (Qantas). I make Gold about every 3-4 months. That effectively means I don't have a life, but that is another story :-(

To enable me to best make a decision as to who to give my travel to in the future, I would appreciate any answers from the forum.

From the QF website.
"One Upgrade credit will be issued for every 250 Status credits earned. Each Upgrade credit is valid for 24 months."

1. As at Sept 15 will the Tier credits presently in for the current year be granted upgrade credits. In other words if I have (say) 1000 tier credits , will I be given 4 upgrade credits.

2. In my last 9 years of flying as Silver or Gold with QF I have been upgraded ONCE. Which co-incidentally was last month JFK to SYD. (Sleeper seats are sooo nice , but BA provide doonas.)Other than loyalty to my friends who work at Qantas I am not sure (particularly after reading this post with the UA member input) whether QF really cares about their BC passengers. Now that I can use my upgrade certificates (assuming that Q1 above is answered in the affirmative) I presume that my next freebie will be 18 years away... Darren you teased with suggestions newer and better treats for gold holders?

3. On a extremely selfish note. Now that it is easier to get Gold/Platinum I presume the First Class lunge will be even more packed. Which leads me to

4. For the very frequent traveller, who has had zilch success in getting other than a form reply from e-mails to Qantas (Adam where are you...) , I need to be convinced as to where to put my companies travel dollar. I had put a wishlist to Qantas about a year back, two of which have been granted : International upgrades and partner recognition.
Also included were things like a free car wash at the valet park, ability to donate points to charity and a few others. Such as letting your CIP's know in advance about the BA leased aircraft routes where there isn't a ticketed First Class so that the Business seats are First sleepers. I would be happy to fly home Singapore to Sydney via Denpesar Darren ,if that plane is a regular. I am sure this board could come up with some other suggestions to Darren?

5. BA Sleeper seats in business class will get my vote for future travel into Singapore, BKG and LHR to HKG. I am serious enuff to change my ticket next week to BA17 from Sing to Sydney via Melbourne. Extra sector BUT the joy of horizontal flight http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

The points for BC to Europe are now so horrendously high. Granted that the fact I am Platinum will help for future travel, But I guess the smartest thing for now is to lock in the tickets before Sept at the old rate of 195K points.? Any comments on this.?

Any input would be appreciated. I really am trying to be smart and put my and my employees spend into one company , whether it is QF or Star Alliance is the question.

Guys, I am a newbie to the list so pardons in advance if I haven't assimilated the wealth of info in these last 5 pages.

Firstly, thks BruceB for all the help and advice provided. Darren , I have managed to talk to a lot of QF people previously but obviously not getting thru to the right one with my comments/ complaints /suggestions.

I am a VERY frequent flier , alternating between Star (UA) and OneWorld (Qantas). I make Gold about every 3-4 months. That effectively means I don't have a life, but that is another story :-(

To enable me to best make a decision as to who to give my travel to in the future, I would appreciate any answers from the forum.

From the QF website.
"One Upgrade credit will be issued for every 250 Status credits earned. Each Upgrade credit is valid for 24 months."

1. As at Sept 15 will the Tier credits presently in for the current year be granted upgrade credits. In other words if I have (say) 1000 tier credits , will I be given 4 upgrade credits.

2. In my last 9 years of flying as Silver or Gold with QF I have been upgraded ONCE. Which co-incidentally was last month JFK to SYD. (Sleeper seats are sooo nice , but BA provide doonas.)Other than loyalty to my friends who work at Qantas I am not sure (particularly after reading this post with the UA member input) whether QF really cares about their BC passengers. Now that I can use my upgrade certificates (assuming that Q1 above is answered in the affirmative) I presume that my next freebie will be 18 years away... Darren you teased with suggestions newer and better treats for gold holders?

3. On a extremely selfish note. Now that it is easier to get Gold/Platinum I presume the First Class lunge will be even more packed. Which leads me to

4. For the very frequent traveller, who has had zilch success in getting other than a form reply from e-mails to Qantas (Adam where are you...) , I need to be convinced as to where to put my companies travel dollar. I had put a wishlist to Qantas about a year back, two of which have been granted : International upgrades and partner recognition.
Also included were things like a free car wash at the valet park, ability to donate points to charity and a few others. Such as letting your CIP's know in advance about the BA leased aircraft routes where there isn't a ticketed First Class so that the Business seats are First sleepers. I would be happy to fly home Singapore to Sydney via Denpesar Darren ,if that plane is a regular. I am sure this board could come up with some other suggestions to Darren?

5. BA Sleeper seats in business class will get my vote for future travel into Singapore, BKG and LHR to HKG. I am serious enuff to change my ticket next week to BA17 from Sing to Sydney via Melbourne. Extra sector BUT the joy of horizontal flight http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

The points for BC to Europe are now so horrendously high. Granted that the fact I am Platinum will help for future travel, But I guess the smartest thing for now is to lock in the tickets before Sept at the old rate of 195K points.? Any comments on this.?

Any input would be appreciated. I really am trying to be smart and put my and my employees spend into one company , whether it is QF or Star Alliance is the question.