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I will be moving to Melbourne (from London) on 23 Jan 2022. I am a Silver member with British Airways and was wondering if there any HfP members who know the best deals with Credit Cards, etc. in Australia to maximise my Qantas FF points?
If I apply for a personal Amex card in Melbourne, does the fact that I have personal Amex cards in the UK eleminate me from being eligible as ‘not having any other Amex cards’ for Bonus offers?
Also any other tips regarding Qantas and their FF program?
- This topic was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
BA recently started officially allowing Australian addresses for BAEC again.
If you can do the 4 BA flights I think it makes more sense to stick with BAEC for status, unless you really fly QF a lot and pay for premium cabins. Like in the US, you need to buy a separate membership for domestic lounge access with QF.
A foreign Amex doesn’t count as having an existing card.
If you value an Avios at 1p I’d value a QFF point at 1c.
The Australian Frequent Flyer forums are probably the best place to discuss QF.
I am originally from Australia and was a former Qantas Frequent Flyer member. Several of the banks offer Qantas frequent flyer credit cards and there are numerous other ways to earn, such as shopping, fuel and so on. Flybuys is also big there.
Even so, the one thing I regret is the oodles of status credits that are in my lifetime status credits with Qantas. They can’t be transferred out (of course), so that is one reason you should stick with BA. Also, redeeming Avios for Qantas business class award flights – especially domestic within Australia – is exceptional value.
Qantas FF is a good programme, but you will find rewards cost a lot more. Certainly accrue points through whatever means you can into QF FF, but I would credit any paid flights to BA, if you have any intention of returning to Europe sometime in the future, that is!
QFF looks poor to everyone overseas, but in Australia it actually works really well – almost every bank has credit cards with large SUBs and you can earn points in countless other ways too (even by sleeping – literally, via Qantas Wellbeing).
Rewards do cost more, but the points are really easy to accrue, so it balances out. BAEC is still beneficial, as their rewards are significantly cheaper than QF on certain routes (longer domestic J, for eg MEL-PER, 20k-ish Avios vs 43k-ish QFF). On shorter routes it’s less of a saving (MEL-SYD is, I think, 6,500 Avios (used to be 4,500) vs 8,000 QFF).
The big thing to bear in mind is status credits – QF penalise you for flying partners – so say you earn 80 SC for a flight on QF, the same flight on AY/CX/QR (hypothetically, if the same route were offered) would earn 40 SC (or something like that – less anyway).
QF have historically offered double status credits promos varying numbers of times per year and with varying terms (last one I took advantage of was on international QF coded and operated flights only, but I’ve had them where they apply to domestics too), which can give you a boost up the ladder.
Another plus of holding status is with Jetstar – JQ are owned by QF, so you can access QF lounges on JQ flights (this doesn’t apply to holders of other Oneworld statuses, since JQ are not part of OW). Occasionally these can depart from international terminals, so you could access the MEL Flounge on a $50 JQ Y ticket…(these specific flights currently don’t exist, but did pre-COVID and may return). You can also, if you purchase the relevant bundle with your JQ ticket (a bit like an add-on to an easyJet fare) earn QF points and SCs on these flights, which can be a cheap way of topping up.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
BA recently started officially allowing Australian addresses for BAEC again.
If you can do the 4 BA flights I think it makes more sense to stick with BAEC for status, unless you really fly QF a lot and pay for premium cabins. Like in the US, you need to buy a separate membership for domestic lounge access with QF.
A foreign Amex doesn’t count as having an existing card.
If you value an Avios at 1p I’d value a QFF point at 1c.
The Australian Frequent Flyer forums are probably the best place to discuss QF.
You’ll really need to be flying QF a fair bit over here, there’s not much competition, certainly on domestics (other than Virgin Australia, which is not-allianced, much like VS). Lounge access can be paid but is also via Oneworld status, and unlike AA, QF don’t lock out their status pax from domestic lounges unless they pay.
I agree with valuing Avios at 1p, but disagree with your valuation of QFF points, I’d value them closer to 1.8-2.0c each based on the value of actual redemptions vs cash prices I’d pay (both Y and J fares).
Also can confirm that holding an overseas Amex doesn’t stop you being new to Amex Australia (of course) – Amex AU’s policy is now much better than the UK’s, only blocking you for 18m instead of 24m, but we suffered a huge devaluation in early 2019 (used to be 1:1 to airlines, which made transferring UK MRs to AU very profitable, but is now 1:0.5). Signup bonuses seem to have improved massively to compensate recently thought (just recently got 240k MRs on the Explorer card, for eg, and they were also offering 300k on the Platinum charge, though the fee is $1,450 – I hold a UK Plat for insurance purposes because it’s cheaper). Amex referrals are also pretty generous, being in the region of 30,000-50,000 points for each referral (for the referrer) on top of the enhanced SUB for the referee.
One other thing to mention is Points Club/Points Club Plus – these additional “status” levels are earned through accruing points primarily on the ground, 150k/350k respectively, with a maximum of 20k from flying – benefits include earning status credits on reward flights, lounge passes, status credit rollover and full Qantas Club membership.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Things to consider:
* BAEC and QFF both require you fly a minimum number of segments to gain status – will you be able to complete 4 QFF segments a year while living in the UK and vice versa?
* Is lifetime status important to you? QFF has lifetime Ruby status at 7,000 status credits, Sapphire at 14,000 and Emerald at 75,000. BA has Emerald at 35,000 tier points. Lower lifetime status is attainable on QFF but the highest tier has a lower threshold on BA.
* As others have pointed out, QFF award a higher number of status credits on their own metal (and codeshares) but the partner award isn’t awful. A return Club Europe flight on BA to Madrid will earn 80 tier points (40×2) in BAEC (13.3% of the requirement for Silver/Sapphire); in QFF you earn 120 (60×2) status credits or 17.1% of Gold/Sapphire status.
* QFF has lower status re-qualification thresholds, in your second year the Gold/Sapphire requirement falls from 700 status credits to 600 (plus the 4 QF/JQ flight segments).
As you can probably tell, I have a soft spot for QFF. My personal strategy is to credit cash flights to QFF and earn Avios in BAEC for redemptions. Avios are very easy to earn in the UK, Ireland and the US; Qantas points not so much.
My biggest problem with QFF is that refund of points on Classic Rewards can take up to 8 week which I found out only recently when I wanted to change the route. It’s not instant like Avios.
I suppose I would call myself an accidental but fairly loyal QFF member, even though I don’t live in Australia, although I do have family there. I joined QFF quite a long time ago when it was the only programme that would let me earn both points/miles and status/tier credits on all three of the airlines I flew regularly: BA, AA and QF, in economy. So granted, a very niche situation. The chance of earning Lifetime Silver (Ruby) status kept me there and it has indeed been useful on the one occasion when I lost QF Gold (Sapphire) but still kept Ruby status, and reaching Lifetime Sapphire is not totally out of the question. I would never have been able to earn Lifetime Emerald status with BA. I can’t usually take advantage of Qantas’s occasional double status credit offers personally, but for those who do they can really add up.
It is worth considering your own anticipated domestic and international flying patterns once you move to Australia to decide whether to credit flights to QF or BA. Will you be able to fly the minimum annual BA segments to retain BA silver? Would you be likely to reach Lifetime QF Ruby or silver status but not BA Emerald?
Your BA Silver will give you access to Qantas Club lounges in Australia, unless you are flying on JetStar.
You’ll find quite a few opportunities to earn some extra Qantas points once you are in Australia, including shopping at Woolworths supermarkets and buying petrol at BP, with occasional special offers to earn points.
I’m not sure if Qantas still charge Australian residents to join their FF programme. If so, and you aren’t already a member, it would be worth joining with your UK address before your move in January.
I’m not sure if Qantas still charge Australian residents to join their FF programme. If so, and you aren’t already a member, it would be worth joining with your UK address before your move in January.
QF do still charge a joining fee, but in practice there’s a million and one ways to avoid the fee (so many offers including free joining as a “special offer”), that literally nobody should be paying it.
I’m based in the UK, but started collecting in QFF as I was attracted by the fact I could use it on Emirates and BA, and oneworld lifetime ruby/sapphire seemed achievable in my lifetime whereas lifetime status in BA didn’t. Status Credit earning is broadly equivalent to BA Exec Club Tier Points but not exactly the same, with some cases where QFF is better earning on BA flights e.g. 60 SC one way to MAD in Club Europe, and some where it is worse e.g. 60 SC one way to DXB in Club World or 20 SC one way to MAN.
Qantas Points earnings on BA flight are very poor, and worth substantially less than avios. The biggest problem I have found though is that my Qantas status doesn’t seem to visibly show on the mobile boarding pass for some reason.
I moved to Melbourne last year and once I started work with a bit of travel, contacted Virgin Australia for a status-match. They matched my BA Silver to Virgin Gold (which gives me lounge access) and had a fairly low-target of flights / tier points to renew it. Worth looking at them as well if you’ve got lots of domestic travel. My company probably wouldn’t pay Qantas fares but I can get away with Virgin here. Also one really nice perk with their status (yet to be tested) – they allow you one family redemption a year as long as you book 6 months in advance. Could be really valuable for certain routes at Xmas. Also can get over 1/4 of the tier points to retain status through supermarket spend at FlyBuys with 10 points per month to be gained (plus occasional bonuses).
I’m based in the UK, but started collecting in QFF as I was attracted by the fact I could use it on Emirates and BA, and oneworld lifetime ruby/sapphire seemed achievable in my lifetime whereas lifetime status in BA didn’t. Status Credit earning is broadly equivalent to BA Exec Club Tier Points but not exactly the same, with some cases where QFF is better earning on BA flights e.g. 60 SC one way to MAD in Club Europe, and some where it is worse e.g. 60 SC one way to DXB in Club World or 20 SC one way to MAN.
Qantas Points earnings on BA flight are very poor, and worth substantially less than avios. The biggest problem I have found though is that my Qantas status doesn’t seem to visibly show on the mobile boarding pass for some reason.
It should – either on the front or back of the mobile BP, but it does for me with every OW carrier I’ve used it with (plus FJ (OW Connect), WS and JQ), with the exception of AA. On BA boarding passes, it’s on the back (tap the three dots on the Apple Wallet pass to flip it round, the top section says “Frequent Flyer Information” and then “QF/Emerald XXXXXXXXX” (XXXXXXXXX being my FF#). No idea how to do the same with Android phones, sorry.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Thank you QFFlyer. I have an old iPhone, and as you say it shows on the back of the mobile boarding pass, although the boarding pass doesn’t change colour like it does with BA Exec club (e.g. turns gold) to show visibly on the front.
I normally use an android phone, and there are no visible signs of QF status on the mobile boarding pass, it just displays the QF number with no status shown (If using BA Exec club number it will show the appropriate words i.e. Bronze, Silver or Gold). The details are obviously in the system somewhere as it correctly shows group 1, and if the boarding pass is scanned at the first lounge at Heathrow it grants access.
It has been like this ever since they introduced Group numbers on boarding passes – prior to that from what I recall QF status showed ok on the mobile boarding pass. The print at home and airport printed boarding passes show QF Emerald status without issue.
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