Article: Frequent flyers to gain under restructure

[codash1099]

they need to change the name from frequent flyer points to frequent spender points ... this business of linking credit card purchases to frequent flyer point earning is crazy. that means there are too many of them around and thus they are devalued. frequent flyer points ought to be just that, points for people who fly frequently. have another scheme for the credit card users. same goes for hire car companies and all other stuff linked to ff programs.

It's QF's call really. When they downgraded earn from points per km to points per mile, they effectively increased the importance of CC earning.

 

[NM]

they need to change the name from frequent flyer points to frequent spender points ...

For perhaps a Frequent Debtor Program .

Note that in the USA, where competition is generally accepted as being a stronger influence in marketing and product development, it is rare for an earn rate of more than 1 FF mile for every US$ spent (indebted). But here we see many opportunities to be earning 1.5 FF points per A$ spent. And at today's exchange rate, that is the equivalent or 1.75 FF points per US$, and not too long ago it was closer to 2:1 over what is available to most US-based people. So there is an anomaly with the earn rate of QF FF points from Frequent Debtor Programs in Australia.

 

[simongr]

That's interesting NM - I wonder if that impacts the "benefit" of using QFF over AAdvantage. We have discussed the fact that high CC earners may consider themselves better off under QFF than AAdvantage due to the higher conversion and earn rates on CCs...

 

[Alanslegal]

I can't follow your logic.

If the QFF is hived off as a seperate company they will want grow more money by growing their customer base and not shrinking it.

Getting more $$ from CC companies would have to be high on their agenda.

i think i'm referring IF points have a mandatory expiry date regardless of activity........then my logic would be that alot of people may be dissuaded by that which then leads to the continuation of my initial 2cents worth of logic

 

[simongr]

Just for a little history; have a look at these threads back from November 2004 just before the last set of changes were announced.

• Before the Details were announced:
  • FlyerTalk: Possible Programme Change (Again)?
• After the Details were announced:
  • AFF: QFF programme changes - AGAIN! Can't be good news?
  • FlyerTalk: QANTAS new rule changes

Interesting stuff serfty - obviously way before my time. If anything it shows that the outcome was somewhere between "the sky is falling" and "nothing to see here - move along please" - something like "the sky is faling but we have some really good scafolding"