Qantas BAEC tier points on upgrades

[JABS]

Hi,

Has anyone had a successful bid for an upgrade on a Qantas flight (QF flight number) and know whether you get tier points for original fare class or new fare class. On BA you get them for the upgraded class but not sure with others.

Apologies if it’s answered elsewhere but tried searching forums but keep getting ‘ Oh, bother! No search results were found here.’ no matter what words I use to search.

[Lyn]

Are you thinking of a Qantas “Bid Now” upgrade using a combination of cash and Qantas frequent flyer points, or some other type of upgrade? I presume you are thinking of earning BA tier points rather than Qantas status credits since this is posted under BA.

I’ve used a “Bid Now” upgrade once for a domestic Australian connection but had my Qantas FF number, rather than my BAEC number, associated with the booking of necessity as I was using some Qantas points. Unfortunately it was a few years ago and I don’t remember if I got Qantas status credits for business or economy, although I rather think it was just for economy.

I wonder if you have already looked at some of the Australian web-sites such as Executive Traveller? There are probably quite a few people on their forum who belong to BAEC as well as Qantas and could answer your question as it relates to earning BA tier points on a Qantas upgrade if you don’t get a proper answer here.

[JABS]

Thanks, Lyn. Yep thinking of the bid now function. I think that is open to non-QF members on a cash only bid (as opposed to cash + points) but could be wrong. I’m sure I remember it before on flights to Aus from SG. Prices were always quite high but close to BAEC gold so could be worth it. Will try Executive Traveller if nothing comes up here. Thanks.

[Lyn]

I honestly don’t know if you’d need to be a Qantas FF. I do know you need an invitation from Qantas to be allowed to bid, but have no idea what algorithms they use to determine eligibilty. You can check if an existing booking is already eligible using this link from Qantas

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/manage-booking/upgrade/bid-now-upgrade.html

Yes, the numbers are quite high but you can see the minimum cash bid for a certain number of points, which in your case would be zero, and decide if it is worth it. For me it was, to upgrade to business from Brisbane to Melbourne after a long-haul flight in premium economy even though I already had lounge access, and luckily they accepted my minimum bid. However you would first need to be sure you would get the extra tier points if that is your primary reason for upgrading.

I suppose if necessary you could always join Qantas frequent flyer, which is free with an address outside Australia. Qantas are actually quite good about adding secondary FF numbers to bookings for different purposes, like status for seats etc., without compromising the programme on which you actually want to earn tier points / status credits etc.

[Lyn]

Just found this on the bottom of the Qantas page I gave you, under “Bid Now Upgrades FAQs” —

“You’ll earn Qantas Points and Status Credits at the rate or your original booking.”

This doesn’t sound good for BA tier points either, I wouldn’t think. There may be some quirks in the way BA treats the upgraded fare class versus Qantas of course, but perhaps not something to rely on to get you to Gold.

[R]

I don’t have Qantas experience, but BA is the exception rather than the norm.
I know AA process it as a seat change rather than reissuing the ticket under a new class.

[JABS]

Ah, thanks, Lyn and R. Looks like it probably won’t happen then. I may see what the price of my final leg of the journey is, SYD to SIN, just to see what Qantas is like. I’d say their lounges are the most consistently excellent (even Perth has a great lounge) so could be a good chance to try their business class.