Very disappointed about Qantas FF program

[Mattg]

I have been a Qantas FF member for Approx 20 years & have around 855,000 points, this used to be fair & accessable but now is almost impossible to book a rewards flight, in the past the number of points didnt change, it was a standard points cost per destination & just a matter of availability but now Qantas has introduced Classic Plus, which is a crude method of getting us to use more points.

Is this group prepared to put pressure on them to resume to a fair system,? I have written to the CEO Vanessa Hudson & Head of Qantas Loyalty Andrew Glance a few months ago & got nowhere. For long distance flights I have to fly business because of a back condition.

I welcome other's experience & direct contact

My suggestion would be to find a way to use up your existing points, then to switch your loyalty to a different airline and/or programs.

 

[flyguy77]

My suggestion would be to find a way to use up your existing points, then to switch your loyalty to a different airline and/or programs.

The issue is there aren't any real alternatives.

All points & loyalty programs are getting worse, have moved (or will move) to dynamic pricing and you'll just run into the same issues struggling to find availability most likely (and find it much harder to build a significant amount of points).

Airlines don't care if it's 'fair' or not - they are all about profits and whilst people keep getting sucked into points & loyalty they'll keep pushing the envelope as to how much worse they can make them.

 

[jrfsp]

The issue is there aren't any real alternatives.

All points & loyalty programs are getting worse, have moved (or will move) to dynamic pricing and you'll just run into the same issues struggling to find availability most likely (and find it much harder to build a significant amount of points).

Airlines don't care if it's 'fair' or not - they are all about profits and whilst people keep getting sucked into points & loyalty they'll keep pushing the envelope as to how much worse they can make them.

This is true, but hardly surprising its been a slow burn for many years.

Purchasing best fare of the day and not not blinding being tied to a loyalty program is the best way forward IMO, by All means collects points when you travel / everyday purchases but the dollar savings are likely to outweigh points redemption.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I have been a Qantas FF member for Approx 20 years & have around 855,000 points, this used to be fair & accessable but now is almost impossible to book a rewards flight, in the past the number of points didnt change, it was a standard points cost per destination & just a matter of availability but now Qantas has introduced Classic Plus, which is a crude method of getting us to use more points.

Is this group prepared to put pressure on them to resume to a fair system,? I have written to the CEO Vanessa Hudson & Head of Qantas Loyalty Andrew Glance a few months ago & got nowhere. For long distance flights I have to fly business because of a back condition.

I welcome other's experience & direct contact

I was in the same boat, and it’s possibly a case of working outside the box.

SIN-HEL-Europe was wide open for classic awards on Finnair, two seats every single day when we booked 10 months in advance. Other asian gateways also had availability.

Jetstar was wide open ex MEL to SIN in both economy and business. So we combined the two on a single ticket. Bags transferred, even an option if wanting to fly jetstar economy for $10 to buy the exit bulkhead (bargain!)

While booking Emirates was also wide open out of Bali and Jakarta in both business and first. Again, connecting qantas economy flights, but they are only short flights.

There are options out there if you can plan in advance.

 

[drron]

Just don’t try booking premium cabin awards out of Australia directly to your final destination.
You originally wanted Nairobi. On our next trip we are flying out of NBO. On AA awards but Velocity had the same availability at their classic rates. Flying QR so QFF is useless.
I am finding it harder to have awards on all our flights now so have to be more flexible. On our last trip that meant JQ business award BNE-BKK.

Next year could not get an award on QR for BKK-DOH so paying for that sector. But onward to EDI no problem. Still a lot cheaper than buying BNE-EDI.

One thing to consider is joining one of the websites that find awards. I have a subscription to Seats aero which has been very helpful. For example flying the BKK-DOH sector I could get a J award through QFF but flying UL on overnight flights and taking 2 days which we are not prepared to do.
All of us need to be smarter these days about award travel.

 

[CaptJCool]

I was in the same boat, and it’s possibly a case of working outside the box.

SIN-HEL-Europe was wide open for classic awards on Finnair, two seats every single day when we booked 10 months in advance. Other asian gateways also had availability.

Jetstar was wide open ex MEL to SIN in both economy and business. So we combined the two on a single ticket. Bags transferred, even an option if wanting to fly jetstar economy for $10 to buy the exit bulkhead (bargain!)

While booking Emirates was also wide open out of Bali and Jakarta in both business and first. Again, connecting qantas economy flights, but they are only short flights.

There are options out there if you can plan in advance.

This is where we need to adjust our thinking cause we are “sold a pup”



Lots of people have set specific dates and locations which adds to inflexibility or get to booking too late because they don’t know they gotta book a year out (or a eeek ahead)

There’s also the low supply locations (can local people afford to fly ?) so there’s less flights each day/week
So to the above might I add
The cheap business flights out of Manila $A2,100 to Europe and backtrack to Africa

Secondly one could save and “pay” for the overseas trip and use points for trips in Australia
There are quieter travel periods where demand is lower (domestically that’s immediately after school holiday periods including February and Mid-October)

this year second week September was quieter there were no AFL games in Melbourne on 14th but throw in a concert or big event and you’re stuffed
Even found demand to Christchurch in July was low

Internationally there’s been seasonal factors for decades
One could point to QF business fares to Vancouver or Santiago Chile v USA as an example of demand/supply factors at play

 

[aussieboozer]

This is where we need to adjust our thinking cause we are “sold a pup”

Agreed. My wife and I are looking for BNE-LHR return in J next year and have noticed current availability 1-2 weeks out is often quite good if departing SYD or MEL. Fortunately if our alert on seats.aero hits at a suitable time we are in a position where we can just book and go.