US Expat: Should I credit Qantas flights to American AAdvantage or Qantas Frequent Flyer?

Frequent Flyer Programs
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I’m an American expat, interested in maximizing point earning on Qantas flights within Australia. I will be flying a lot within Australia for work. At this stage I don’t know if or when I might move back to the US.

I have Executive Platinum status with American Airlines so earn points at 11x the USD fare on AA flights, which it makes sense for me to do for flights back to the US. On Oneworld flights like Qantas, I would earn 2.2x the flight distance in miles (1 point per mile based on the mileage of the flight plus an elite mileage bonus of 120% of this amount). If I flew Qantas business class (which I may occasionally) I would earn another 25% bonus, bringing it up to 2.45x flight distance.

Is there any reason for me to credit Qantas flights to a QF account instead? From the Qantas earnings table it seems like I would earn slightly more, but I have heard AA points are more valuable. I have read that Qantas doesn’t match status so I would be starting from bronze. My employer does have a corporate Qantas club membership so I have lounge access already. I have banked some Qantas points through a credit card promotion that I can use for award travel on Qantas.

Thanks in advance - I’d appreciate any insights.

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Qantas can use their discretion to status match, so in the first instance I would contact them regarding this.

Although it won’t take into consideration your exact circumstances with higher points earn etc have you tried the website where to credit for a basic overview?

 

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