Complimentary upgrade to SG - pointless

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gizzard

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My partner's status reassessment date is 31 May. With one week to go she was just 15 points short of requalifying for SG. As she was keen on maintaining the level that she's been for many years she did an SC run diversion on 26 May to get herself over the line.

When her new SG pack arrived from QF at the end of last week I commented how quickly it had come. However, when she read the accompanying letter she realised that QF had very kindly offered her a complimentary upgrade to SG. Instead of being pleased with the offer she was annoyed as she felt, and I agree, that it should have been sent out earlier. She certainly wouldn't have used points and money on the SC run if it has been sent just 7 days earlier. She knows that you don't get these offers every time you are short on points and now she believes that if she is short again next year they won't send out another offer.

The letter was dated 26 May but it didn't arrive until at least 29 May. It is, of course, very nice to receive such a complimentary upgrade but the flight that she took to get herself over the line had already been booked and it could be clearly seen that it would take her to SG so it really was a pointless gesture.
 
Not really pointless as there would have been some earnings.

Also, this may make it more likely that a comp. may be available in the future.
 
As I understand, in the past such offers have been communicated by e-mail first, followed by a package.

In any case your wife now has Gold, she was willing to spend to get 15SC and did so...I'm not sure I'd consider it a waste since she was happy to spend for it originally? You can never rely on being comped up and it is not in Qantas' interest to send out these offers as early as possible...quite the contrary, really....
 
Pointless? I am sure there are others on here who have fallen short but similar amounts and have not been comped.

Just think of it as an extra 15 SC towards lifetime status, then it won't be an issue...
 
Perhaps if the SC amount had been large I may have been a bit miffed but it was only 15 SC - not likely to break the bank in the scheme of things IMO.
 
Not a waste of time gizzard.
I'm pretty sure there are a lot of members that would kill to be comped. Take it as a positive....!!!!
That's one more comp she has more than me. (ZERO).
 
I got my renewal pack a little early, saying they'd extended my membership ... but I had enough forward bookings to make it on my own anyway.

Like her, I just hope that means they don't say "forget it!" if I'm a few off in the future :)
 
I got my renewal pack a little early, saying they'd extended my membership ... but I had enough forward bookings to make it on my own anyway.

Like her, I just hope that means they don't say "forget it!" if I'm a few off in the future :)
That's exactly the point, k_sheep.
They could see that she had the forward booking and yet they still decided to "comp" her knowing that it was worthless especially as they must have known that she would only receive the letter after she had travelled as it was dated the day of her trip. She would rather that QF had just acknowledged her efforts with the customary congratulatory letter and saved the comp for another year.
 
That's exactly the point, k_sheep.
They could see that she had the forward booking and yet they still decided to "comp" her knowing that it was worthless especially as they must have known that she would only receive the letter after she had travelled as it was dated the day of her trip. She would rather that QF had just acknowledged her efforts with the customary congratulatory letter and saved the comp for another year.
How do they know she is going to take the trip

One could theoretically have enough forward bookings to requal (or even gain) status, then cancel said bookings for a full refund...
 
So QF give your partner something for nothing and your reaction is to criticise? You can't please some people.
The "something" that she got was nothing.:-|

I believe that she would have been pleased if QF had waited a couple more hours and then:
- if they saw she had flown on the booked flight and achieved SG then sent out the congratulatory letter
- if they saw that she hadn't flown then sent out the complimentary upgrade letter

As it was, they sent out a meaningless letter that was neither one thing nor the other.
 
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With approximately 9 million members, maybe there is some level of automation in the mail out of upgrade letters??? Yes she's a very important gold member, but that doesn't mean there is a dedicated resource monitoring her account 24/7... QF had good intentions, she requalified on her own. Oh well, can't win them all
 
I wouldn't call it pointless either.

Now she has qualified Gold in her own right it may mean that next time she falls short she may be comped Gold again.

For what it is worth there seem to be 3 chances where Qantas comps status apart from the randomly generated gift to someone who has never held status.

The first chance is ~8 weeks before anniversary, the second chance is ~1 week before anniversary and the last chance is ~1-3 days after anniversary where Qantas has had a change of heart and comped status late.

Either way she should enjoy Gold for another 12 months.
 
With approximately 9 million members, maybe there is some level of automation in the mail out of upgrade letters??? Yes she's a very important gold member, but that doesn't mean there is a dedicated resource monitoring her account 24/7... QF had good intentions, she requalified on her own. Oh well, can't win them all
Yes, I realise this, but I think what it indicates is that QFs automated mailing systems can be improved. A few coding tweaks to keep their loyal members happy would be my own suggestion.
 
So QF give your partner something for nothing and your reaction is to criticise? You can't please some people.

Yes. Extremely ungrateful. You're not entitled to a comp extension.

My understanding is that the system checks forward bookings when performing renewals. This may have been the cause, otherwise she may had a comp.

It was 15 SC short, it's not like you spent thousands trying to requalify.
 
My understanding is that the system checks forward bookings when performing renewals. This may have been the cause, otherwise she may had a comp.
It was 15 SC short, it's not like you spent thousands trying to requalify.

The system can't check all forward bookings as it didn't identify hers. Possibly because it was an award flight. She had the flight booked for a couple of weeks before the letter was sent and it was dated the date of her flight. She rechecked her status the night before flying just in case there had been a comp.

She had already spent thousands to requalify to reach the point of only needing another 15 SCs.
 
The bar is set at a level and your partner saw fit to meet it our of her own pocket.

I still don't see what the problem is. This story is beginning to sound like it would do well to be written up by a News Corp journo....
 
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My understanding is that the system checks forward bookings when performing renewals. This may have been the cause, otherwise she may had a comp.

Interestingly, I was once told that they specifically don't check it, as there is no guarantees that any forward bookings would actually be flown...
 
Sorry gizzard but like most here I cannot agree with your stance on this :!:

She was comped Gold and you are not happy. This negative thinking does my head in. :evil:

In the future she may get another comp or she may not but IMHO she is more likely to do so. Anecdotal evidence here is that if people get a comp and then re-qualify they tend to get it again when they really need it. The thing is that you/we will never know what the outcome might have been. :confused:
 
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