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Not sure what the relevance of your response is, but my point is a fairly simple one. You're no longer getting award tickets for 'next to nothing' in the major Australian programs — you're getting a discount on a cash ticket where the value of your points is, realistically, about 1.5-2c/pt...

I think the episode might have benefited from a bit of an overview of the hotel loyalty space to set the scene. For example, most of the major programs (Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt) are American programs developed first and foremost for the American market. As a result, the reason why Australians...

Not sure you pay 'next to nothing' for Qantas or Velocity long-haul flights in J/F given that award ticket carrier surcharges now run into the many hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars one way. Still true for some programs (eg SQ, AA, AS), of course. Though there aren't many AFFers acquiring...

Importantly, it shows you don't need to tamper with a gift card to hack it. You simply need to take a photo of the back and write a bit of code to get the PIN from the website. Absolutely crazy.

My guess is #2. Qantas has never been worried about doing things that prompt outcry among its frequent flyers. It's only when it starts to reflect in the bottom line do the apologies/reversals begin.

Whoops! These companies need to get more creative with their names!

What do they say in response? My guess would be that, if they were being brutally honest, they'd say they don't need to be generous to lifelong customers. They maintain more control over the program (number of members, engagement of members, etc) by running more DSC/free SC/status extension...

Good for the first year: 80/100K SUB, 2x $300 hotel credit, 2x $200 AA/BestBuy credit, some other benefits for $595. Basically, they pay you for 80-100K ThankYou Points.

It already happens (see what Qantas did during COVID-19 in the US market). And not quite. Large influxes of points drive airlines to devalue their entire chart, which affects Australians. It also overlooks the points broker market (hint: US customers don't buy points in this market, they sell...

Never going to happen. The international (read US) points market is too lucrative for Qantas to give up, especially when times get tough. I predict precisely the opposite — they will lean more into it as the domestic points market becomes less lucrative if/when the interchange caps are...

Proximity is irrelevant. CX, QR, EK (up until recently), etc all aggressively target the US points market. It is about who you sell your points to, and at what rate. And I'm not talking about status.

Long term, what Qantas Loyalty will likely do is sell out Australians and shift its growth focus to the US. It's what most European carriers have done following the imposition of interchange caps and the decline of the domestic points market.

Yes and no. Its TAM is, in fact, far larger than Australia — people from all around the world can sign up to QFF. It taps into the world's biggest pool of points (the US) when growths slows. Eg it ran multiple transfer bonuses from US Amex MR coming out of COVID-19. It recently ran one from...

Qantas Loyalty's net operating margin has reduced for the 5th straight year in a row. Growth in points bookings is down compared to last financial year. Growth in points earned is down compared to last financial year. Growth in member numbers is down compared to last financial year. Growth...

If Qantas had wanted to make the loyalty gift actually useful, they would have given it to people at the start of their next membership year or allowed people to swap it out for points. But they didn't, and that was a very deliberate decision.

Too easy to get LTP. Had to make it harder 😂

Trust Qantas to award a gift for loyalty that, for many people, will have precisely 0 value lol.

Last devaluation was in 2022. Going to make it increasingly hard for Australian credit card holders to be able to afford SQ redemptions when you combine with the 3:1 transfer ratio from most programs.

Having recently flown both the refurbished and non-refurbished A380 F, the differences are very small. If anything, my partner preferred the non-refurbished seats.

It's an interesting equation. If you're looking purely for the cheapest points, the Ascent/Biz cards are better. If you're looking to acquire points without affecting your 5/24 status, the Biz card is the choice. If you're looking for the most value out of a single card, the Summit is prob...