BA let you pay just £32 for an additional 23KG of baggage. So with BA you can get 46KG!

http://www.britishairways.com/travel...c/public/en_gb

I would certainly recommend Singapore Airlines over Qantas, I have done the UK - AUS flights three times with them.

Last time we flew Emirates who were also sensational, their service was second to none in my opinion.

I flew Qantas once to the uk and it was honestly that bad i change my return ticket to an alternative carrier (2002).

This was before qantas upgraded their planes which i believe they did recently.

Sorry - I'll take your FF nerdishness and RAISE you! - I checked Virgin v QFF points before and unless you can find ALL your retailers taking AMEX without charging you the maths simply didnt add up - it cost more $$$ (of credit card spending) to earn a SYD-LHR return on vrigin than $$ for SYD-LHR return on QF.

1.5 points per $ sounds good until you realise that most vendors wont touch Amex.
Try paying childcare fees - nope
Try paying $5 for a roll of sellotape from the newsagent - nope
Try paying $5 for a screwdriver from Bunnings - nope
Try paying your council rates - nope
....

ergo QFF points at $1 per point work out best. $128K of spending for a return to UK (from anwhere not just SYD)

Well I suppose it depends on your spending habits - I wouldn't be relying on personal credit card spending to earn me return trips to the UK! If however you are able to put thousands of $'s of work expenses through a personal card every month - with vendors who universally accept AMEX like airlines, hotels, the majority of restaurants, car hire etc then that extra 0.5pt per dollar starts to seem worthwhile.

Personally I find QFF to be a very unexciting program - the airline itself never has any sort of promos in terms of ways to earn extra points. In the past with BA and bmi I've made a killing on promos.

...and we can pay our rates with AMEX if we go down to the council office and pay via the eftpos machine.

Why not? Buy everything (and I mean everything - $1.18 on a roll of Mentos using fast checkout this lunchtime) on your credit card, pay it off every month and after some months get a free return flight to Europe for not much trouble.

Easy peasy japanesy.

I put everything I can on credit card - but I still wouldn't be expecting to put through $85k - $128k of personal spend in 'some months'.

Fair enough, I obviously spend a lot more than you! I've been doing QFF for nearly 4 years and in that time:
1 business class flight to South Africa
1 economy class return to Sydney
3 economy class returns to NZ
1 economy class SIA flight from South Africa using Citibank rewards

and still have plenty of points left

I'm not quite in that league, but I have to agree that QFF points do add up quite fast if you always fly with them AND use a card that gets points. I use my Earth card for virtually everything and have been surprised how fast the points build up, compared to people in other programmes like Krisflyer.

I flew with Cathay recently and struggled with the 20Kg allowance. They also wanted to charge me for my golf clubs, so I ended up not taking them. My previous flight was with Emirates with 30Kg allowance and golf clubs free. Emirates entertainment is also much better, and they are more generous in dispensing drinks. Cathay's seats don't recline, and are very uncomfortable. Qantas are also under-rated.

Talking of drinks......I flew Malaysian a few years back, the first drink offered after take-off was beer or orange juice. I asked for a glass of wine instead and the air hostess looked aghast LOL!! I got the feeling as a woman I was supposed to want the orange juice...........

I must confess my spending habits are Amex "friendly". Supermarkets, Fuel, most retailers, The Apple store (who seem to have a gravitational pull on my card!), gym membership, restaurants. I even paid for my new car deposit on it.

But then I frequently make use of the add on's to the card with a free Priority Pass which gives me access to all Virgin Blue's lounges, superior annual travel insurance, supplementary cards for my wife and my sister in law (who all graciously add to my points earning!), loss damage waiver for hire cars, and a travel service than means I can chop, change and be a pain in ass with usually with little penalty.

The thing I like about Amex is that I am not tied into a particular FF until I need to be and make the transfer of points. VS, QF, SQ, DJ whomever.

But I would agree, its not the card for everyone. You need to have a certain type of spending and be able to see value in the annual fee as well.

I will probably return to Star Alliance this year anyway. I miss Singapore Airlines and plan on some Japan trips in 2010.

comparing qantas to singapore airlines is like comparing a ford to a porsche IMO (and the airline satisfaction charts agree with that).

In terms of food, service, entertainment, newer planes, etc etc singapore is light years ahead of Qantas.

Yes, but price is also Ford v Porche

Can't say I've ever noticed that....if anything the opposite.

Totally agree. Flying to UK in March and the singapore price was $300 less than Qantas. It just a perception Qantas is cheap. Like BA, it can be very costly!