Federal Government Status Match 2018

[Scarlett]

IIRC up until the mid to late '00s, a subsidiary company called Qantas Defence Services had the contract as the in-house travel provider for the Department and not surprisingly steered nearly all of Defence travel needs through Qantas. I think it was also around this time that lounge membership was virtually de rigeur. A cosy relationship indeed.

It was not quite the ‘cozy relationship’ you’re making out.
Qantas Defence Services (or similar name) was set up to manage the Defence travel contract, which at that time was a contract with... Qantas. QF offered (apparently) lower fares and won the contract. So it was business as expected.

Nowadays, the travel contract is Whole of Australian Government, so Defence doesn’t have its own contract, it follows the BFOD rules like everyone in the Fed Govt. Last I heard the people (company?) that do the WoAG travel bookings were QBT (Qantas Business Travel) the evolution or continuation of the previous travel bookings provider. And they only book BFOD as per the rules.

 

[serfty]

ISTR some years ago with the introduction of no points earn for such travel, many found a loophole by crediting to AAdvantage and miles were earned.

That was stopped soon enough.

 

[kermatu]

Last I heard the people (company?) that do the WoAG travel bookings were QBT (Qantas Business Travel) the evolution or continuation of the previous travel bookings provider. And they only book BFOD as per the rules.

When a Govt Dept books my flights and/or accommodation it is indeed QBT. I had no idea the Q was for Qantas!

 

[jimbooooooo]

submitted a ststus match from QF P1 last week - already virgin gold - but upgraded to Plat no worries! thanks to AFF for getting the word out on this one!

 

[justinbrett]

When a Govt Dept books my flights and/or accommodation it is indeed QBT. I had no idea the Q was for Qantas!

So to correct this thread, Qantas Defence Services was/is the arm of Qantas that handles Defence contracts. It is much more than booking defence fares - it’s actually more about aircraft servicing (RAAF has a number of A330 & B737 variants) and associated support. QBT was the arm of the business that booked corporate travel, which had a cell that booked Defence travel. I’m sure that cell came under Qantas Defence Services in terms of contract management, but day to day ops it was just part of QBT.

Qantas sold QBT about 10 years ago so it has nothing to do with Qantas.

 

[kookaburra75]

Sent my details and copy of my Qantas Plat card in on Thursday, and it's popped up on my Velocity profile tonight that I'm now Platinum (had been Gold and just dropped down to Silver+Lounge Access)

 

[coyote25]

Got my status match within 3 days of submitting so now VA WP as well as QF WP. Not sure how I’ll use this but the hotel status match program is tempting.

Does anyone know how long the Hilton match lasts 6 or 12 months from commencement of is it a calendar year thing ie from now until Dec 2019? Might impact when taking up this plat offer.

 

[strongarmAU]

I went from Red Veloc. to Gold to match my QFF. Not a bad result for no flying.

 

[kamchatsky]

Got my status match within 3 days of submitting so now VA WP as well as QF WP. Not sure how I’ll use this but the hotel status match program is tempting.

Does anyone know how long the Hilton match lasts 6 or 12 months from commencement of is it a calendar year thing ie from now until Dec 2019? Might impact when taking up this plat offer.

If you do Hilton status match now, your Diamond would last to March 2020. If you do match from January 2019 onwards your Diamond would last to March 2021.

 

[kermatu]

If you do Hilton status match now, your Diamond would last to March 2020. If you do match from January 2019 onwards your Diamond would last to March 2021.

Wow - that seems quite generous.

I'll qualify VA Plat for the first time shortly, and was wondering about timing of taking up the HH status offer. I'm currently Diamond but unlikely to earn even Gold by 31/12 this year. If I sought the match in April 19 I'd have diamond until March 2021? I'd have thought only March 2020. But I'll take it if that's the deal!

 

[coyote25]

If you do Hilton status match now, your Diamond would last to March 2020. If you do match from January 2019 onwards your Diamond would last to March 2021.

Wow that’s great. Unless I have a critical need for this year I’ll wait until January 2019 and get 2 years & 2-3 months as Diamond.

Hard to believe it would last that long.

 

[kamchatsky]

Wow - that seems quite generous.

I'll qualify VA Plat for the first time shortly, and was wondering about timing of taking up the HH status offer. I'm currently Diamond but unlikely to earn even Gold by 31/12 this year. If I sought the match in April 19 I'd have diamond until March 2021? I'd have thought only March 2020. But I'll take it if that's the deal!

Wow that’s great. Unless I have a critical need for this year I’ll wait until January 2019 and get 2 years & 2-3 months as Diamond.

Hard to believe it would last that long.

Yes I did the VA Platinum status match to HH Diamond at late January this year, and my Diamond expiry date is March 2020. I held off status matching until early this year to take full advantage of extra year allowed.

Suggest you do it at late January rather than early January just to let the system tick over fully...

 

[kermatu]

Yes I did the VA Platinum status match to HH Diamond at late January this year, and my Diamond expiry date is March 2020. I held off status matching until early this year to take full advantage of extra year allowed.

Suggest you do it at late January rather than early January just to let the system tick over fully...

Good stuff - thanks. I'll still be diamond, so will do some time in Feb or March.
Makes sense now I think about it - if you 'earned' diamond status by Feb 19 you'd get the status for the remainder of that year and all of the next year. with 3 month run-off period it's to 31/3/21. I guess I didn't believe they'd count a status match or Airline bonus status as being 'earned'.

Now I just need to wonder if the (2?) years HH Diamond will count toward my lifetime 10 year diamond requirement. Will sure help if it does!

 

[RoMambai]

It was not quite the ‘cozy relationship’ you’re making out.
Qantas Defence Services (or similar name) was set up to manage the Defence travel contract, which at that time was a contract with... Qantas. QF offered (apparently) lower fares and won the contract. So it was business as expected.

Nowadays, the travel contract is Whole of Australian Government, so Defence doesn’t have its own contract, it follows the BFOD rules like everyone in the Fed Govt. Last I heard the people (company?) that do the WoAG travel bookings were QBT (Qantas Business Travel) the evolution or continuation of the previous travel bookings provider. And they only book BFOD as per the rules.

I suppose it comes down to what you'd characterise as cosy. Yes Qantas gave Defence discounts (I believe it was 10 per cent) but it was off a fully flexible fare so still way above a competitive price.

I am not suggesting it was against the rules at the time but it was still far from a perfect arrangement for tax payers. Allowing a monopolist to give you a 10 per cent discount while the customer is unable to determine what the fair price is is not in the public interest, though it was certainly in the interest of the fat cats running that behemoth.