Will QR have to revamp PC levels to match OW levels
 

I was just taking a look at the levels required to acheive the OW status levels through AA.

It appears that a PC member would have to fly less times to qual for the same status an Aadvantage member would on AA. This assumes Burgandy=ruby, Silver=Sapphire and Gold=Emerald when QR joins OW.

Example a Y DOH-IAH will earn burgandy(ruby) unless you purchase one of the two lowest fares.

If you flew the same route but credited it to AA you would not earn AA lowest level gold(ruby). You would be about 970 miles short if you purchased full fare Y ticket otherwise, you would be 10K short on any other Y ticket.

This seams to be the case for the other levels and the differance seems to get larger the higher levels you go.

So what do you think, will QR keep the qual levels the same for PC once it finally joins OW?

Can't say for sure, but QR did a revamp of PC not too long ago, so I do not think they will do another major change to the programme when they join OW. That would be 2 major changes in just about one year, which I do not think they will do.

Perhaps they'll do it in a few years, but not at the very beginning. This is what I think, the reality may be totally different though :-)

Airlines do compete on elite qualification levels. It is not that obvious with oneWorld (but even in oneWorld: BA used to have only 2 levels: Silver and Gold and all Silvers were automatically Sapphires with lounge access etc.). With Star Alliance you can get Star Gold by flying 20k miles (A3 - Aegean Airlines) or 100k miles (Miles & More) - benefits (on all airlines other than your own) are exactly the same. There was a thread on A3 forum, that they actually make more money on its FF schema than on flying. The tricks works because when you are an A3 FF flying on e.g. LH, this basically means LH has to 'purchase' the miles from A3 (IIRC there was a thread on BD forum about how it works, but 'purchase' is a pretty adequate word).

QR may decide to keep its qualification criteria to be more competitive for status seekers than AAdvantage.

That its interesting but I don't know if QR would see themselves competing in arena. I think QR is to proud to compete in an area that might be viewed for non '5*' airline to compete on.

If QR could fix its commodore 64 IT system, provide better PC benefits and better ground service then they could be the preferred carrier of OW upon joining, unsetting CX.

So how many of you would start crediting your miles flown on QR to another carrier once QR joins OW? Me, I'm planning on crediting all of my US bound QR fights to AA as I have the potential of getting/using upgrades with AA on their metal. I don't see PC having any better benefits than AAdvantage.

The answer is, yes, they will probably have to change, at least to an amount that can be agreed upon with BA/OW. I think these changes won't be fully decided until sometime 2014 though. I have it on good authority that there may be a negative change regarding one aspect of the PC programme, but cannot reveal further details. However, I keep getting assured that there will also be some positive changes coming up too, but they have yet to materialize, probably due to a disagreement in management.

TPJ, that is interesting how different Aegean are! Sounds like they get a pretty good deal out of the FF mileage earning. From what I understand, the exact rate that the airline gets per mile varies based on individual agreements, so this will also be something that QR have to negotiate in the coming months...

I cannot imagine a burgundy tier at QR would be truly equalized to OW Ruby. I believe that QR needs to revamp only the requirements to reach Burgundy/Silver/Gold in order to align their tiers with OW. Otherwise, QR would truly need to introduce a Platinum/Diamond Tier just like CX.

IMO, I would suggest that QR should go for the current BA set-up and maintain that Burgundy should equal BA's Bronze, provided that the tier miles for Burgundy should be raised to meet the minimum for OW ruby.

A friend of mine recently asked for an advice for a leisure travel from Italy to Australia: I suggested QR firstly for price and because he will get burgundy that is likely to become OW ruby, which is not that much but better than nothing for a person who flies four times a year