Qantas Platinum One experiences?

[aus_flyer]

To all the newly-minted Platinum One frequent flyers out there... I'm curious to hear... what's been your experience so far?

Anything different?

Free upgrades?

... or all hype?

 

[pjm99au]

I received a CL invite recently and the email noted it was in recognition of being a P1 with a high number of LTSC so that would seem to be a metric they consider in terms of what offers they allocate to individuals.

 

[nutwood]

I received a CL invite recently and the email noted it was in recognition of being a P1 with a high number of LTSC so that would seem to be a metric they consider in terms of what offers they allocate to individuals.

That's interesting. I wonder if they apply similar to Platinum? Given the gulf between WP and P1, someone flying many years domestically for work could accumulate a large number of LTSC's without ever getting over the 3600 point.
From a loyalty point of view, a long term WP is worth a lot more than a short term PI but then that rather defeats the point of promoted tiers.

 

[Fergo747]

It's only a benefit if you get it!

Just like some others here, I've never been invited to any event - not that it bothers me. There's only so many that can be given out and whilst all P1s are equal, some are more equal than others.

So very very true.

Alas, I have only been invited to one event. It was the one day cricket last year in Sydney that was then cancelled due to COVID...

 

[RichardMEL]

I received a CL invite recently and the email noted it was in recognition of being a P1 with a high number of LTSC so that would seem to be a metric they consider in terms of what offers they allocate to individuals.

This was exactly the same as I got. I had earlier that same day received a "welcome back to flying" type email too from the VIP team noting my first booking since last year and then the invite. It was greatly appreciated and a lovely way to be welcomed back (the cancelled flight and delay not so much lol)

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

I received a CL invite recently and the email noted it was in recognition of being a P1 with a high number of LTSC so that would seem to be a metric they consider in terms of what offers they allocate to individuals.

Again not the only factor, or at least not applied consistently. My lifetime SCs are in the high 50,000s and I rarely get more than published benefits. OTOH my J to F points upgrades almost always cleared.

 

[nutwood]

OTOH my J to F points upgrades almost always cleared.

This is where it gets tricky. I get virtually all the upgrades I apply for. Generally, if I don't intervene, I have a ghost sitting next to me. Not clearly defined benefits but they exist and are much appreciated.
On the other hand, occasionally, I've not looked and ended up in row 17 with a rugby player next to me. Should a high tier pax, 3 x WP, have to gamble or have reliable expectations?

 

[RichardMEL]

Again not the only factor, or at least not applied consistently. My lifetime SCs are in the high 50,000s and I rarely get more than published benefits. OTOH my J to F points upgrades almost always cleared.

I suspect (and I know you know this) you're the victim of geographic bias to some extent being in NZ while the focus for QF is going to be well.. we aussies. Specially for events and the like. If your address is in NZ chances they have opportunities there are.... small (I guess) vs SYD and to a lesser extent MEL, BNE etc.

for example I wonder the rate for ADL and PER based flyers, even BNE as opposed to SYD and MEL.

I am sure if there was a distribution of events and the like the SYD bias would be apparent. That's not a complant at all by the way, it's just a reality that QF HQ is there, most of their partners and the like would be there, sponsorshops and the like. MEL is leaner, but not a total wasteland from what I have seen, and same with BNE.

Having said that, if you're flying oz dom sectors a bit, which you probably did/do in the bubble then something like a CL invite I should think would be a thing. Honestly if I get one (or two) anyone with a white card should get the nod I reckon!

I do hope you get more love in the future!

 

[Matt_01]

I have received the same email mentioned and as expected accepted the invitation. I would also be happy if QF allowed the P1 invites to be used to gain access to the CL.

 

[RichardMEL]

I have received the same email mentioned and as expected accepted the invitation. I would also be happy if QF allowed the P1 invites to be used to gain access to the CL.

Did your friend Jackie ask you for one?

I suspect these invites are as much based on CL's flying so projected low use of the lounge as the P1 as much as a nice little carrot for us (the two times I have been lucky enough to be invited the CL's have been empty or just one or two) so if they allowed guest passes for CL that could get a bit messy.

 

[Matt_01]

I suspect these invites are as much based on CL's flying so projected low use of the lounge as the P1 as much as a nice little carrot for us (the two times I have been lucky enough to be invited the CL's have been empty or just one or two) so if they allowed guest passes for CL that could get a bit messy.

I have only been the the CL a few times and pre covid they were not that busy. When I mentioned about allowing for the P1 invites to be used at the CLs lounge I was thinking a bit closer to home, i.e. me been able to use it for access. Although the P1invites are a nice gesture they have very little value in our circumstances, MrsM has the complementary WP so F lounge access is a given. My wider family rarely travel international so they do not use them and most of the ones I have received ended up been given away on this site. We only get 2 per year and being able to use them at the CL lounge would be of more use to myself.

 

[nutwood]

I have only been the the CL a few times and pre covid they were not that busy. When I mentioned about allowing for the P1 invites to be used at the CLs lounge I was thinking a bit closer to home, i.e. me been able to use it for access. Although the P1invites are a nice gesture they have very little value in our circumstances, MrsM has the complementary WP so F lounge access is a given. My wider family rarely travel international so they do not use them and most of the ones I have received ended up been given away on this site. We only get 2 per year and being able to use them at the CL lounge would be of more use to myself.

I would have to agree with you. I've been ushered into the CL just once and it was at a time when the business lounge would have been very quiet.
I had the CL to myself and it was hard to see the benefit. The seats are no more comfortable. Had I been given a CL pass, that would have been very useful as I could have used it on occasions when I couldn't find a seat in the business lounge.

 

[Fergo747]

I have only been the the CL a few times and pre covid they were not that busy. When I mentioned about allowing for the P1 invites to be used at the CLs lounge I was thinking a bit closer to home, i.e. me been able to use it for access. Although the P1invites are a nice gesture they have very little value in our circumstances, MrsM has the complementary WP so F lounge access is a given. My wider family rarely travel international so they do not use them and most of the ones I have received ended up been given away on this site. We only get 2 per year and being able to use them at the CL lounge would be of more use to myself.

Couldn't agree more. I've ended up having to give away the P1 passes to friends and work colleagues given myself being P1 and gifting WP to other family that travel more frequently. I would have thought that allowing the P1 invites to be used for CL access only by a P1 would make sense and not overcrowd the CL. Essentially that would mean that across the P1 base, each of 'us' would be able to access the CL a maximum of twice per membership year using the passes. That's not taking into consideration that there are some CLP1 that would obviously not need to use the passes for CL access.

As noted, the CL lounge is generally pretty quiet so can't see the above suggestion having a major impact on capacity. I've been in a few times over the years at what I would generally consider to be busy times and the CL has always been very quiet (think Monday mornings and Friday afternoons when the business lounge is generally standing room only!).

 

[RichardMEL]

Well yes I always give away my P1 passes. I quite like being able to do so.

but as above P1's being given access to the CL's have usually been in quiet times (for the CL) which makes sense.

the exception of course were those few instances where weather/irrops were severe and I recall instances of P1's being sent to the CL as the lounges were overflowing because of all the delays and cancels. That was a few years ago though. I thought that was a very good idea when it happened (I was not flying those times so did not experience it personally).

I still reckon the "con" of the P1 pass being able to be used for (the P1 to access) the CL from QF's point of view would be less "control" over when and where pax could show up wanting access with one of these passes (sure, they know when you link a flight, but that would be a PITA to administer to say oh RichardMEL booked in to use during a peak time.... we don't like this). so they may be a bit wary of that aspect.

The other thing that comes to mind is that then CL access would become a published benefit through the passes, and reduce the notion that the CL is exclusive and all that guff. And there may be an expectation. As it is these CL invites (forgetting the IRROPS situation) are a truly surprise gift - I see much like the hotly debated event invites and so on. Not published... a perk they can offer when it suits but definitely not to be expected as a given.

I can see a number of views on this.

 

[nutwood]

The difficulty I have with the "perk" concept is that P1 has essentially devolved down to being "perks". I get an upgrade, but it's not at a time that I would really like an upgrade. I get a CL invite, but not when the lounge is full and I'd really appreciate a peaceful seat. I've no problem with the concept of little surprises but given the amount of flying required to step up from WP, reliable benefits would also be appreciated.
Most of the premium benefits I avail myself of, are available PS and up. Business lounge is a little more exclusive but I can (could?) still struggle to find a seat.
Ultimately, the principal benefit I get from P1 is the ability to have a whinge and get a result, a privilege that should be available to any paying customer.

 

[RichardMEL]

The difficulty I have with the "perk" concept is that P1 has essentially devolved down to being "perks". I get an upgrade, but it's not at a time that I would really like an upgrade. I get a CL invite, but not when the lounge is full and I'd really appreciate a peaceful seat. I've no problem with the concept of little surprises but given the amount of flying required to step up from WP, reliable benefits would also be appreciated.
Most of the premium benefits I avail myself of, are available PS and up. Business lounge is a little more exclusive but I can (could?) still struggle to find a seat.
Ultimately, the principal benefit I get from P1 is the ability to have a whinge and get a result, a privilege that should be available to any paying customer.

I think you've summed up what probably most of us feel fairly well.

Unlike BA's GGL which has far more defined and tangible TRAVEL benefits (like confirmed upgrades for example) P1 has always been a - to me anyway - a half of a status level. Don't get me wrong it's great but all the perks (yes word I used) are variable, or as I like to define QF "consistently inconsistent" - I am sure the spin is that the odd comp upgrade, CL or event invite or whathaveyou are "surprises"... I do agree reliable and defined benefits are what matter.. and honestly an invite to the footy or opera is not going to really influence people to pick QF over others when it comes to travel (and let's face it while some of us are self made P1, many are doing it on corporate spend/travel and again probably have little real control over where they are sent - and as such these things are fun but won't change how they travel).

I reckon from the get go P1 was always a Marketing initiative rather than a loyalty one. Indeed IIRC the SST was set up within Marketing (someone confirm on this?) rather than loyalty areas? Which is, in part, where those event invites through marketing partners and so on come from. The VIP Team may be more an operations focused team.

Go back through this thread over the years and we've all endlessly wanted more definied and tangible benefits - the most we have got (which is great!) is ability to gift Plat status - first to "partners" but then opened up to anyone. That has been a very good defined benefit imo (I do realise many cannot or do not take advantage if partners/family are already of high status which is why the ability to gift to anyone was a seriously good change). The other has been the P1 lounge invites good for F lounges or J domestic. Apart from that though there's been really not too many defined benefit changes such as confirmed upgrades which I think many would find very useful. Yes, the extra bonus points for higher SC levels were also brought in, but frankly when you earn >5k SC's in a year you already earn a coughload of points - an extra 50k or whatever probably is not going to make a lot of a difference to most. Nice for sure, but probably not something to write home about.

So there have been tweaks and some good things added, but obviously they could do so much more.

And definitely for status chasers, P1 is NOT one to chase for what you get. Absolutely agree on this. And given the super high 75k LTSC required for LTP even considering P1 earning as a stepping stone to that is really not that realistic to most.

Until VA ups the ante somehow (unlikely given Bain's stated direction) QF really has no real reason to throw any more at P1 imo. This has long been the case of course. Since OW does not have any kind of recognition for these extra high tiers like GGL or AA ConciergeKey (I do know people have experienced extra treatment on occasion so there may be some sort of note taken but it's certainly not consistent or defined) there's not a lot there to offer - although with OW putting alliance wide upgrades in place may offer SOME sort of scope for priority in that regard. Maybe.

So yep look P1 is nice... it's not exactly overwhelming with what you get - specially in the travel space - and the undefined "perks" are very inconsistent (as long noted here). QF could do much more. Of course during covid and in recovery - whenever that might be - it seems very unlikely we'll see many changes.

I would acknowledge though that through covid with the status extensions and support INCLUDING P1 has been very much appreciated - even if I have only personally taken a couple of flights in the past 15 months it has still been very much appreciated that the status has been extended and even P1 would get another year from just one flight. That is very generous in my view - specially given QF's usually very very hard line on the 3600 requirement to atain/renew.

my $1.52 of agreement waffle

 

[Matt_01]

Has any one else received the recent email stating with 'As a Platinum One, how likely would you be to recommend the Qantas Frequent Flyer program to a friend or colleague?' I have received a few of these over the years and normally have participated, I am now questioning if I should continue to respond. IMO questions such as check-in or arrivals experience are irrelevant to a P1 or the program. I could go on but choose to stop with other comments.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Has any one else received the recent email stating with 'As a Platinum One, how likely would you be to recommend the Qantas Frequent Flyer program to a friend or colleague?' I have received a few of these over the years and normally have participated, I am now questioning if I should continue to respond. IMO questions such as check-in or arrivals experience are irrelevant to a P1 or the program. I could go on but choose to stop with other comments.

I don't offer free consulting I'm afraid to corporates. But I do vote with my feet, as everyone should.

 

[flyingfan]

Has any one else received the recent email stating with 'As a Platinum One, how likely would you be to recommend the Qantas Frequent Flyer program to a friend or colleague?' I have received a few of these over the years and normally have participated, I am now questioning if I should continue to respond.

Yes I received it and wasn't really keen on participating, so have deleted it.

 

[Ansett]

Received it and responded I saw it as an avenue to express the opportunities to improve benefits for members.

 

[flyingfan]

The P1 briefing has a writeup on Nestor - and he has a title, 'Commissionaire'!