This got me thinking about whether I could do the same stay next November instead. If I book a base room now, will it reappear in the inventory if/when I cancel it, allowing me to rebook using next year's FNA? Does it matter whether I make the initial booking with points or cash?

Thanks

Many status match offers (including some for AF/KLM FB) have excluded Australian residents, and this one came with no flight activity requirement, so I took it. The process was simple and it cleared in a few hours today. I'm not asking for retrospective endorsement of my decision, I'm happy with it and it's done anyway, but I'm interested in thoughts about where to from here. I haven't travelled SkyTeam in ages, but there have been fares that tempted me. This one is for this membership year and the following one, and since I joined yesterday that's two years, so I have plenty of time to extract value from it. I'm aware there is a non-zero probability that the programme will be merged with FlyingBlue, but I don't expect it and am not counting on it.

I'm likely to focus my OW travel on the QF FF now rather than seek AA or AS status, but my choice of airlines will likely be more diverse, including Star Alliance, although I doubt I will be able to earn status there (although possibly leverage VA status for limited *Alliance benefits - and SAS status offers SQ Silver Kris access).

• The Disruption: Our EVA Business Class award tickets (YYZ–TPE–SIN) for Oct 24 were cancelled. We tried to call the hotline but got no response for 3 hours.
• EVA's Stance: We went to the Carlton St. office at 8:30 AM. The agents refused to rebook us onto any Star Alliance partner flights, claiming they cannot process rebooks on mileage award tickets to other airlines.
• The "Offers": They could only offer non-guaranteed waitlists (for economy) for Oct 23 or 25. The Oct 23 option required an uncompensated overnight transit in Taipei during the typhoon. They also flatly refused Toronto hotel/meal care, citing weather. 
• Our Mitigation: To avoid being stranded indefinitely on a waitlist, we spent ~ $9,500 CAD total out of pocket to buy Singapore Airlines Premium Economy tickets home, which forced an unexpected overnight transit layout at Newark (EWR). 

So...my question is, has anyone had any experience with going.com and/or going.com in conjunction with Rakuten? If I'm purchasing a $15K ticket, it would be nice to get 15x Amex points through going.com than 5x points with Amex. 

As end-of-year qualification approaches, I’m seeking community feedback on whether to shift my mileage crediting strategy from American Airlines to Alaska Atmos Rewards for an upcoming long-haul Business Class itinerary to Australia. I recently mentioned this idea with @peter_ in a Daily Discussion thread (October 18, 2026), but wanted to open it up on here for a broader perspective.

My main objective is to secure oneworld Emerald (OWE) status with at least one program (mostly for the premium lounge access across many carriers). For years, I’ve focused on obtaining the higher status through American Airlines via mostly card spend (Citi AA Executive) and crediting long-haul partner flights (CX, JL, QR). However, this year I took advantage of making housing payments via Bilt with my Alaska Atmos Summit card, which accelerated my status point earning with Alaska much faster than expected—leading me to seriously reconsider my strategy.

I’m currently starting from a strong position in both programs:

• American Airlines (AAdvantage): I'm already a Platinum Pro (OWE), sitting at ~40K Loyalty Points (LPs) for the current cycle (ending late Feb 2027). AA requires 75K LPs for Platinum, which is just oneworld Sapphire (OWS), and 125K LPs for Platinum Pro (OWE). AA does have Loyalty Point Rewards thresholds, but they aren't compelling until 175K LPs—and since Systemwide Upgrades (SWUs) are so rarely confirmed in advance and usually die on waitlists, I've basically given up on them altogether.
• Alaska Airlines (Atmos Rewards): I'm already Atmos Gold (OWS), sitting at ~40K status points toward the Dec 31, 2026 deadline. AS requires 80K status points for Atmos Platinum (OWE). I also recently enrolled in the Global Locals 'community' for the 10% status point bonus on international flights. I also already received the 10K anniversary status point boost from the Summit card. Alaska hasn't started the 'choose how you earn' thing yet (January 1, 2027). Alaska does also have some interesting status points milestones (like, at 55K and 95K, I could get up to 4 systemwide upgrade certificates, but would supposedly need 'U' space to confirm; has anyone tried those yet? @samar?). 

Here is the itinerary that makes this dilemma real. I have an upcoming long-haul Business Class trip ticketed entirely on QF flight numbers (~20,144 miles flown) during both current qualifying periods. JFK–AKL–SYD–LAX is QF-marketed, QF-operated (787 & A380). LAX–JFK is QF-marketed, AA-operated codeshare (A321XLR with new 1-1 Flagship Suites). Side note: Super excited for the routing! Wish it were nonstop JFK–SYD, but with Project Sunrise delays.

• If I credit to AA, the QF partner distance rates yield ~44,317 LPs. Added to my ~40K starting balance, I hit ~84,300 LPs—locking in AA Platinum (OWS), but leaving me ~40,700 LPs short of Platinum Pro (OWE).
• If I credit to Alaska, the combination of the 250% international J multiplier, 10% Global Locals bonus, and a nominal (but still cool!) SYD Hub Challenge credit, generates over ~55,400 status points. That propels my total to ~95,400+ status points, comfortably securing Atmos Platinum (OWE) with a ~15k point cushion before the end of the year.

The only potential drawback to switching my credit to Alaska would be losing easy OWE premium lounge access... if I were traveling alone. Thankfully, P2 also holds active AA Platinum Pro (OWE), doesn't have much going on with Alaska, and will re-qualify for Emerald on this trip—so I can simply be her designated "+1 guest" for Qantas First Class lounge access at SYD and LAX (if it were even open), right? (RIGHT??) Besides, even if I were solo as an OWS, dropping to Greenwich at JFK isn't that bad, and AA Flagship at LAX is aight—especially now that they've restarted Flagship Dining and opened it up to Business Class passengers).

Anyway, please check my work if you're willing, and do tell me if I'm doing this right or wrong. Be brutally honest. Get spicy, if you'd like. This whole re-evaluation made me think of Ben's post from earlier this year: I’m Switching My Loyalty To Alaska Atmos Rewards: The Math Is A No-Brainer (@lucky, see, you were probably right!) It seems like distance-based partner calculations combined with Atmos stackable multipliers easily outperform revenue/LP models for premium long-haul flights. Am I missing any hidden trade-offs, routing quirks with QF codeshares operated by AA metal, or partner posting delays between Qantas and Atmos that I should keep in mind? Would you make the jump to Atmos here?

Hi there - I’m a novice and understand I may get inundated with “ please learn how to use this forum first“. I am looking for advice as to which row of E175 I should sit in to get view of engine nacelle and fan blades, if such a view exists at all.

Any ideas are welcome, and again I apologize in advance if I am breaking the forum rules