Qantas unveils the biggest changes to status in program history

[sudoer]

Qantas. Ultimately it must benefit the company (its a commercial enterprise) and no matter whether the punters understand it or read the fine print, they'll be governed by it.

For me, its overall positive.

I agree. The points game is a battle of constant change, nearly always for the worse. In the scheme of how far Qantas could have taken the changes, I am not upset by this 'new normal' for the next 5-10 years.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Qantas. Ultimately it must benefit the company (its a commercial enterprise) and no matter whether the punters understand it or read the fine print, they'll be governed by it.

For me, its overall positive.

Even k switched off after I started reading the FAQs which stated something along the lines of ‘you can earn status credits on the ground if you meet targets’.

So I’m going to have some sort of target set, like my everyday rewards or flybuys, which I then have to track, or see increase over time?

Too complicated.

 

[Mr_Tee]

Said cards already exist. Qantas Money Credit Cards, issued by NAB.

I know that. But they need to either (a) "enhance" the existing products, or (b) develop a new product. Either way, they should put the new product concept in front of the banks to get the best deal.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that QFF will put the "on the ground" SC earn capability straight onto an existing product and leave it as it is. There would be some logic in investigating how this could be created and marketed as a "sub-premium" or "premium" card rather than a generic "entry-level" card product.

If the data from their trial run last year on "on the ground" SC earn shows what I think it might show, the card could be highly desireable to their target audiences and as such could be developed to aim at the premium end of the spectrum.

And if this is the case, then QFF should retain as much control over the branding and IP that attaches to the product so they capture the full benefit from premiumisation of the product, rather than be captive to one bank and share larger chunks of the spoils with them.

 

[sudoer]

So I’m going to have some sort of target set, like my everyday rewards or flybuys, which I then have to track, or see increase over time?

Too complicated.

Nope, you don't have to. You can earn SC the good old fashioned way.

SC on the ground only accounts for 140 SC across 10 categories. At most, EDR will account for 20 SC. So just ignore it and fly.

 

[RooFlyer]

Nope, you don't have to. You can earn SC the good old fashioned way.

Agree. Being an old codger, I only earn QF SCs by flying. (My CC spend goes to Virgin.).

I read the rollover and new retain hurdle FAQs and am pretty happy with things. Oh, also the banked Plat years. I like that!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Nope, you don't have to. You can earn SC the good old fashioned way.

SC on the ground only accounts for 140 SC across 10 categories. At most, EDR will account for 20 SC. So just ignore it and fly.

I get that, But if QF is trying to engage customers, and get more spend, it’s looking too complicated for me. So I won’t even bother.

Why be coy about SC earn on the ground and meeting targets and so on? Just be upfront, present the information easily, and let me engage.

 

[sudoer]

Why be coy about SC earn on the ground and meeting targets and so on? Just be upfront, present the information easily, and let me engage.

I don't think it's intentional. They would have at least 10 commercial partnerships (probably/hopefully far more) that would need to be finalised before the details are announced.

 

[elanshin]

I get that, But if QF is trying to engage customers, and get more spend, it’s looking too complicated for me. So I won’t even bother.

Why be coy about SC earn on the ground and meeting targets and so on? Just be upfront, present the information easily, and let me engage.

They did last year and a lot of people engaged. So they are keeping it. Its actually a pretty normal situation where it passed trial test with flying colours so they're keeping it.

 

[RooFlyer]

A story by someone perhaps looking at the changes more dispassionately:

https://viewfromthewing.com/qantas-makes-status-harder-to-keep-raises-renewal-hurdles-ends-up-to-200-bonus-credits-and-kills-points-club/

 

[TheCollecter]

A story by someone perhaps looking at the changes more dispassionately:

https://viewfromthewing.com/qantas-makes-status-harder-to-keep-raises-renewal-hurdles-ends-up-to-200-bonus-credits-and-kills-points-club/

Well damn... I hadn't considered that my wine vouchers and triple points came from PC, and will vanish

 

[nancypants]

the thing that makes me lol is the grand unveiling of points club what 5 years ago and how great it was going to be and the problems it would solve and now it’s going away without much of a plan to replace it.

Strategy then was off or strategy now?

 

[CaptJCool]

the thing that makes me lol is the grand unveiling of points club what 5 years ago and how great it was going to be and the problems it would solve and now it’s going away without much of a plan to replace it.

Strategy then was off or strategy now?

Like all things gamification

The 350,000 points is a mountain to climb, something like 60,000 points excluding CC Bonuses and buying Top-Up points which under the existing system help get there faster, would better align…
In an oligopoly market like Oz domestic, all the cards are with the issuing company who monopoly control earn and burn rates

It’s kinda like the massive gap between LTG & LTP

THEY become bridges too far and people “give up” the game if they can’t see an achievable outcome

 

[Nate-Dawg]

the thing that makes me lol is the grand unveiling of points club what 5 years ago and how great it was going to be and the problems it would solve and now it’s going away without much of a plan to replace it.

Strategy then was off or strategy now?

it’s quite possible that allure of QFF points to the general public is so high that Qantas found no need to further incentivize points-earning activity (ie people will accumulate points just as quickly, without the further incentives of PC or PC Plus).

It could also be related to the RBA changes, as banks try to negotiate down the price they pay for QFF points.

 

[CaptJCool]

it’s quite possible that allure of QFF points to the general public is so high that Qantas found no need to further incentivize points-earning activity (ie people will accumulate points just as quickly, without the further incentives of PC or PC Plus).

It could also be related to the RBA changes, as banks try to negotiate down the price they pay for QFF points.

Yes it is related to the RBA Changes

C

Post in thread 'Qantas unveils the biggest changes to status in program history'

Yesterday at 11:19 AM

It would make the most sense for Qantas to create their own branded credit card for this proposition and use a white labeled credit card product from an existing provider (i.e. a bank). That way, it will allow Qantas to move their product from one bank to another, without customer disruption, if another bank offers Qantas better terms on the back end white label product.

From that link above

Members will continue to have access to over 30 Qantas Points-earning credit cards and earn rates of up to 1 point per $1 spent, matching what is available in the market today.

Qantas...

• CaptJCool

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

it’s quite possible that allure of QFF points to the general public is so high that Qantas found no need to further incentivize points-earning activity (ie people will accumulate points just as quickly, without the further incentives of PC or PC Plus).

It could also be related to the RBA changes, as banks try to negotiate down the price they pay for QFF points.

We still don't know how the 'on the ground' earn will be structured.

I just don't see them handing out the full amount at one threshold.

I would not be surprised if they set varying thresholds, like say in a category where you can earn 10SC, for the first 10,000 QFF points, you get 1SC, staged through to when earning say 100,000 in the category you get the full 10SC.

I'm sure all the clever consultants in the Loyalty division have worked out exactly how much QFF can say "Jump" in order for the optimumly profitable number of QFF members to ask "How high?"

 

[Highway23]

A story by someone perhaps looking at the changes more dispassionately:

https://viewfromthewing.com/qantas-makes-status-harder-to-keep-raises-renewal-hurdles-ends-up-to-200-bonus-credits-and-kills-points-club/

One of the comments here is “This is the biggest middle finger any program has shown to its loyalists.”

I just simply do not understand how someone reaches that view. Leaving aside the significantly more negative changes in other programs (esp VA and BA), I keep coming back to the same point that these changes are maybe a slight negative for people who’ve invested heavily in PC/PC+ strategies, but will probably end up being net-neutral for most active QFF/AFF members.

As @sudoer said - compared to what some other programs have seen, this seems a much friendlier set of changes to navigate over the next 5-10 years.

 

[Princess Fiona]

One of the comments here is “This is the biggest middle finger any program has shown to its loyalists.”

I just simply do not understand how someone reaches that view. Leaving aside the significantly more negative changes in other programs (esp VA and BA), I keep coming back to the same point that these changes are maybe a slight negative for people who’ve invested heavily in PC/PC+ strategies, but will probably end up being net-neutral for most active QFF/AFF members.

As @sudoer said - compared to what some other programs have seen, this seems a much friendlier set of changes to navigate over the next 5-10 years.

Simples. If you write a meh no big deal article then it doesn’t get clicks

 

[J-P]

Simples. If you write a meh no big deal article then it doesn’t get clicks

It was in the comments section from some random idiot on the internet. I doubt it attracted any clicks (until now when someone mentioned it on AFF and people will scroll to the comments to see it)

 

[fletty]

I keep coming back to the same point that these changes are maybe a slight negative for people who’ve invested heavily in PC/PC+ strategies, but will probably end up being net-neutral for most active QFF/AFF members.

Yep my take on it is that it's a net negative for people like me who scrape in to retain thresholds every year trying to get every free/cheap SC possible, but for those who actually fly significantly - SG who don't quite make it to WP - and WP that fly between 1200 and 2400SC a year - it's a net improvement. Between these changes and the CC market shifting it's harder for min-maxxers, and that's ok.