I am about to book a work trip to Bangkok and I am trying to work out what the best way to do this is.
QFF - Silver
Just rolled over and maintained silver
22,150 points
I earn some of my points via a CC
Velocity - Silver
Status credits - 100
Need another 100 status credits by 16/12/16 to maintain silver
51,459 points
My work credit card earns Velocity points
KrisFlyer - Silver
1,477 Elite miles
15,331 points
Skywards - Blue
22,111 miles
18,200 tier miles
Need 25,000 tier miles for Silver
Over the next year I will likely do 3-4 flights to Singapore / Thailand / Philippines. I will also fly domestically 4-8 times during the year. I have flown to Europe twice this year but I don’t foresee a trip to Europe in the next 12 months.
I was contemplating flying to Bangkok, via Singapore, on Virgin to maintain silver
Alternatively, I could change my credit card to collect solely QFF points
Another option is to fly Emirates which would put me just shy of Silver
I’m not particularly loyal for my domestic flights but have no issue focusing on one airline in future - just not sure which one
I also collect miles on hotel bookings for KrisFlyer via Rocketmiles / Kaligo when it makes sense to do so
What would you recommend a) for this trip to Thailand and b) for a longer term strategy of where best to try focus on one or two airline programs?
Also - is it possible to transfer miles / credits from Emirates Skywards to QFF?
Regarding your last question “is it possible to transfer miles / credits from Emirates Skywards to QFF”. no. however you can redeem flights on either airline with skywards or qantas points.
Personally going off your information and amount of points & status you have already accumulated, I think for your FF future your best bet is to fly international with Singapore, but booked via a Virgin codeshare*, credit the trip to Velocity, Which you can do for your trips to Thailand & Asia from now on, Singapore Airlines has some of the best connections going from Aus-Asia. Plus the service is great.
*Beware depending on how you make this booking it can end up being more expensive than booking it through Singapore airlines itself, but some booking agents can end up being cheaper, you will have to take note of booking class & weigh up your options.
a) Velocity Gold is much easier to achieve than KrisFlyer Gold. With the reciprocal alliance they have together Velocity gold will give you the same perks as KrisFlyer gold, I.e lounge access etc. So I think aiming for velocity gold is perhaps the easiest way to begin with.
b) Future domestic fights booked with Virgin and credited to velocity (if possible/economical/convienent) it will obviously also help you achieve Velocity Gold status and stack points in the one area.
c) future international trips to Europe etc can be travelled on with Singapore or Etihad(to rival emirates) and can also be credited to Velocity.
Also not forgetting the awesome ability to switch miles/points between KrisFlyer & Velocity programs.
Also note “Elite Miles” which are for Krisflyer status, they can’t be earned through flying Domestic Virgin unless the flight is booked through Singapore airlines with a connection through to Singapore on a Singapore Airlines flight.
For e.g if you book just a straight ticket from SYD-MEL with Virgin you can credit the miles to Krisflyer but you don’t earn the valuable “elite miles” for status. But if you credit the flights to velocity you earn the status for velocity.
Saying this from experience, I’m Thai Gold & Qantas Gold… & only now only 1 return trip off of KrisFlyer Gold, what I found difficult, and Inconvienent Is trying to maintain two golds in the one year. I wish that Thai/Qantas had an alliance so I could of kept it all under the one banner. I had straight loyalty because my credit card was qantas & the county is Thailand, but after learning much from frequent flyer sites, and experiencing many different airlines and trying out different reward programs. I made the switch, to go for KrisFlyer Gold & fly Singapore Airlines & Virgin domestically from now on. I also changed credit cards from a qantas points earned into a rewards program card which can be credited to velocity points or KrisFlyer miles. I believe to stack more points in the one area equates to more frequent rewards for the frequent flying. Singapore Airlines also happened to have a better and more frequent schedule than Thai so it just made sense for me to make the switch, it is also more manageable. My Qantas and Thai gold will expire sooner than later but the KrisFlyer/Velocity alliance and products work out better for my needs.
Another option is if your confident and believe you will fly Singapore Airlines enough, you could go for gold in their program, as they are part of Star Alliance, which will open up your flying options in the future as well. But going for gold in Velocity will be much easier to begin with especially if your domestic travels outways international.
There is a lot to read up on this site about Virgin’s Velocity & Singapore’s KrisFlyer. It will give you a more comprehensive understanding.