Qantas cancelling accounts of people who buy/sell points on "black market"

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Very interesting forum.......a few people up a creek without a paddle I suspect but t&c's say clear no no
 
I think its a good thing they are cracking down on it, but I think they should also allow the option of non-family member transfer with a fee (i think United airline allows that)
 
Excellent they get stomped on. It's hard enough to get J award seats without fleas infesting the market.
 
juddles said:
Excellent they get stomped on. It's hard enough to get J award seats without fleas infesting the market.
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You do realise this doesn't actually create any more points.
It just moves around the points which have already been earned.
So it doesn't affect your chances of getting a J award seat, or devalue points in any other way.
 
esseeeayeenn said:
You do realise this doesn't actually create any more points.
It just moves around the points which have already been earned.
So it doesn't affect your chances of getting a J award seat, or devalue points in any other way.
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True, for the absolute number in circulation, but what it does do is increase the _possibility_ of J awards being redeemed. e.g. I only have 64K point for an economy seat to Europe but for the low, low price of $640 I can buy enough additional points to fly biz. That's what QF doesn't want...
 
trixydoza said:
That really is bollocks. Aggregation of points is everything.

Note to team: Start scrutinising family transactions with "Sean" as a name.

You might all be surprised to know how few family transfers are done. Matching a number on Ozbargain or wherever to a transaction is basically trivial.
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Life is far too short to lose sleep worrying about how other people acquire their frequent flyer points.
 
Actually, thinking about it some more, I wonder if the net effect is going to be a decrease in black market transaction but an increase in the price per point (dismal scientists* jump in any time please).

If sellers can't do multiple transactions without getting sprung then the one off per annum will become the norm. If there is a buyers market for points but you have one shot a year (say) then wouldn't the cost go up?


* economists
 
esseeeayeenn said:
You do realise this doesn't actually create any more points.
It just moves around the points which have already been earned.
So it doesn't affect your chances of getting a J award seat, or devalue points in any other way.
Click to expand...
Someone has 1 million points but can't really use them to fly. So they sell the points to individuals who then use those points to fly. Less awards available to those who accumulate points the slow way.

And while we are it I wish Qantas would stop flooding the market with cheap points if they have no intention of increasing award availability to match the demand they are creating.
 
JohnK said:
Someone has 1 million points but can't really use them to fly. So they sell the points to individuals who then use those points to fly. Less awards available to those who accumulate points the slow way.

And while we are it I wish Qantas would stop flooding the market with cheap points if they have no intention of increasing award availability to match the demand they are creating.
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In a forum in which people openly discuss how to apply for and then cancel as many credit cards as possible in as short a time as possible to harvest the bonus frequent flyer points on offer, any complaint about a lack of award availability to "those who accumulate points the slow way" is, frankly, hilarious.

Your second point, however, raises a legitimate problem.
 
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esseeeayeenn said:
In a forum in which people openly discuss how to apply for and then cancel as many credit cards as possible in as short a time as possible to harvest the bonus frequent flyer points on offer, any complaint about a lack of award availability to "those who accumulate points the slow way" is, frankly, hilarious.

Your second point, however, raises a legitimate problem.
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Not everyone can harvest points so easily. So why should someone's hard earned points be worth the same as someone's cheaply earned points?

That's a question for another thread though. The solution is simple. Have a flag in database to indicate how points were earned and points earned via flying are worth more than points earned via credit card churning.
 
JohnK said:
Not everyone can harvest points so easily. So why should someone's hard earned points be worth the same as someone's cheaply earned points?

That's a question for another thread though. The solution is simple. Have a flag in database to indicate how points were earned and points earned via flying are worth more than points earned via credit card churning.
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Then the credit card companies wouldn't pay as much for the points.
And the economics of the whole scheme would change.
 
Haplo said:
I think its a good thing they are cracking down on it, but I think they should also allow the option of non-family member transfer with a fee (i think United airline allows that)
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Correct; in fact, all points transfers between accounts - family, friends or otherwise - in United all cost money. There are no "free" transfers.

United, like most programmes, also, by their rules, prohibits bartering or selling of miles (or award tickets, for that matter). Proving this is not trivial, but it doesn't mean that it hasn't happened. As is the usual approach, you usually get acted upon first (account suspended, asked to show cause) before you are proven to be clean. An analogy in a criminal case would be the accused being thrown in jail before they have a chance to defend themselves at the later trial date; this is irrespective of whether or not the accused is actually guilty or not.
 
anat0l said:
..... An analogy in a criminal case would be the accused being thrown in jail before they have a chance to defend themselves at the later trial date; this is irrespective of whether or not the accused is actually guilty or not.....
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Not a good analogy - the account is "suspended" pending the investigation - it is not closed, nor are the points forfeited.
 
juddles said:
Not a good analogy - the account is "suspended" pending the investigation - it is not closed, nor are the points forfeited.
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A "good analogy" is an oxymoron.
 
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