Heads up about program changes

[hossein_au]

It can actually be less than 50% of SCs.
EG later this month we are flying JAL SYD-NRT and earn 140 SCs in J.After July 1 that becomes 60.
Virtually anywhere Asia to Europe is half the SCs if flying OW rather than QF.Slightly better % via HEL.Do they really believe we all should travel via DXB.

Obviously! Don't you know the universe revolves around Dubai? Just ask anyone either from Dubai or from Qantas senior management team.

 

[JohnK]

Well this little black duck will NOT be going via DXB ever again after the poor effort in relation to delays on QF10 this week. All my flying where possible will now be on SQ or other Star alliance airlines......

I have never been via the desert.

I will only go if it suits my plans not some airlines plans. Via Asia or USA will have to be the way for now.

 

[timster]

That is the plan.

DBX indeed seems to be the only QFi plan, but if the comments section of The Age/SMH the other day is any guide, it's not on the travel plan of many Australian travellers ...
Hotter than hot: why now is the time to head to the Middle East

 

[EmilyHoward]

I really worry for Qantas. I wouldn't think bearing in mind where we are in the economy right now ANY business could afford to be upsetting ANY particular set of customers for WHATEVER reason. That is obviously what has happened here and I'm amongst that group.

I think it could all have been handled in much better way. Had I had any hand in how it was to be done I would never have condoned this. Surely the way to reduce people getting what Qantas call cheap business or First Class seats with SCs leading to higher status is to just gradually reduce the number of ASAs available? It just seems so logical to me.

EH

 

[medhead]

I really worry for Qantas. I wouldn't think bearing in mind where we are in the economy right now ANY business could afford to be upsetting ANY particular set of customers for WHATEVER reason. That is obviously what has happened here and I'm amongst that group.

I think it could all have been handled in much better way. Had I had any hand in how it was to be done I would never have condoned this. Surely the way to reduce people getting what Qantas call cheap business or First Class seats with SCs leading to higher status is to just gradually reduce the number of ASAs available? It just seems so logical to me.

EH

Marginal ASA came from classic award fare buckets. Reducing available would mean reducing classic award availability, which is not really viable as an answer, IMO.

The real answer is to reprice the MASA. I've just looked at SYD-BKK, something like 400000 as a point plus pay booking in J. A marginal would have been something like 60000. We've gone from one extreme to the other. What about something reasonable in the middle? How hard is it?

 

[nonpop]

The real answer is to reprice the MASA. I've just looked at SYD-BKK, something like 400000 as a point plus pay booking in J. A marginal would have been something like 60000. We've gone from one extreme to the other. What about something reasonable in the middle? How hard is it?

Bingo has a name and that IMHO sums it up well.

QF had the chance to create a unique product ... the MASA.
Like any product, price it at a point where the seller makes money and the consumer will buy it based on the value to them.

So all QF needed to do was either
A) increase the cost (point / cash requirement) or
B) sell a 'SC/point' earn bundle to classic awards and they'd been on a real winner.

If the initial price of what they were selling was too cheap for their liking, then a price hike (using A or B from above) would solve the problem and allow people to keep consuming the product. If QF was concerned about double-dipping re double SC promos then these MASAs could easily have been excluded from them.

It would also keep feeding the real golden goose i.e people keep chasing QF point earn via 3rd party methods.

Rule # 1 of business ... if people want to buy the product you are selling, keep selling it

 

[eastwest101]

So all QF needed to do was either
A) increase the cost (point / cash requirement) or
B) sell a 'SC/point' earn bundle to classic awards and they'd been on a real winner.

If the initial price of what they were selling was too cheap for their liking, then a price hike (using A or B from above) would solve the problem and allow people to keep consuming the product. If QF was concerned about double-dipping re double SC promos then these MASAs could easily have been excluded from them.

It would also keep feeding the real golden goose i.e people keep chasing QF point earn via 3rd party methods.

Stop it with that logical stuff - you have no idea what you are doing! Instead you do it like this:

Have a product called the MASA.

During a web site redesign - you "forget"/neglect to instruct the IT team doing it to keep this MASA capability online.

Hope that no-one will notice.

After numerous complaints restore the ability to book MASA through a very opaque, inefficient and expensive method and don't train your phone staff how to do it.

Claim that MASA's are costing QF too much money and eliminate them - ignoring the chance to re-price them to increase profitibilty.

Offer a DSC promotion(?)

 

[medhead]

Offer a DSC promotion(?)

It seems the standard form for offering DSC was to give them to people have a strong and clear history of taking the most marginal of ASA to earn double SC.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I have never been via the desert.

I will only go if it suits my plans not some airlines plans. Via Asia or USA will have to be the way for now.

How often do you go to Europe?

 

[EmilyHoward]

There is no reason that I know of why Qantas could not have had separate buckets for classic and any seat awards.

EH

 

[DC3]

There is no reason that I know of why Qantas could not have had separate buckets for classic and any seat awards.

EH

Other than incompetence/stupidity/poor management/etc?

 

[Archphoto]

There is no reason that I know of why Qantas could not have had separate buckets for classic and any seat awards.

EH

The only reason I can see, is they don't understand the KISS principle, instead they prefer the SOLC method*. :mrgreen:

*Screw Our Loyal Customers

 

[medhead]

There is no reason that I know of why Qantas could not have had separate buckets for classic and any seat awards.

EH

Perhaps you misunderstand Any Seat Award. As the name suggests Any Seat Awards could/can take ANY SEAT on the flight. The inherent part of that is that they take existing fares that are available for sale on the flight, from the cheapest available fare class. What is called a Marginal Any Seat Award is what happened when a classic award was available on the same flight - this is fare class U in business. If a classic award was available then a U fare was available. Buying an Any Seat Award would take one of the U fares. The same would happen in economy where a Marginal Any Seat Award would take an X class fare if available. It is the marginal ASA, only, that have been stopped. Those Any Seat Awards that are taking U, P and X fares. Qantas only have a problem with the Marginal ASA. Those fares DO actually depend on taking a classic award seat. If it does not take a classic award seat it is not a Marginal Any Seat Award. The Marginal ASA MUST be the same as a classic award otherwise it isn't an Marginal ASA.

Any Seat Awards* do still exist, just only the ASA that will take paid fare classes, J, I, C in business. This also means the only problem Qantas had was the return, and hence pricing, of the ASA that used classic award fare classes.

Sorry to sound lecture-ry, just your comment suggested a mis-understanding about Marginal ASA.

* Even if I have terminological problems with writing this.

Other than incompetence/stupidity/poor management/etc?

The only reason I can see, is they don't understand the KISS principle, instead they prefer the SOLC method*. :mrgreen:

*Screw Our Loyal Customers

The way it was set up is exactly KISS. It used the existing fare structure.

 

[drron]

We have decided that we will only be enjoying the QF F lounge in SYD for 2 or just possibly 3 years.Fortunately our flying this year is mainly pre July and Prebooked JASAs in Sept,Oct and December.So mrsdrron's QFF status will remain WP until the end of 2015.
For 2015 we will be doing a DONE4 + circle Asia in J so may just scrape retention for another year.After that we will not bother.Our preference in travel is via Asia.Hopefully by the end of 2016 mrsdrron will be close to LTG on QF so she may just start crediting to Aadvantage as well.She should make Aadvantage plat on our travels so will still get a 100% status bonus when we are on QF.
From Asia our travel by air will be mainly F awards to the US or Europe using AA miles,lifemiles and krisflyer.Am looking forward to trying the SQ suites.
Thanks QFF we are now free!

 

[ketsuzei]

We have decided that we will only be enjoying the QF F lounge in SYD for 2 or just possibly 3 years

Fingers crossed it lasts that long.

 

[Flashback]

Slightly relevant... as I drove past LHR this morning a QF A380 flew overhead, I'm assuming from DXB :mrgreen:

 

[RooFlyer]

Several words ... Finnair, Finnair, Finnair

Screw Qantas forcing one through the desert kingdom where you are subject to their ridiculous laws, even in transit (witness the guy who got thrown in one of their sewer jails for wearing an 'offensive' T Shirt - in transit!).

Do yourself a favour. Buy a AY ticket; fly to SIN or HKG or BKK on QF or CX metal, AY code-share, then onto Helsinki, then to your European destination; credit to AAdvantage. Go to the 'trip report' thread, search on Finnair and check out a number of glowing reports.

Qantas has begun a scorched earth policy of cut backs. Cut the FF scheme earnings - spin, spin, pin. Cut discounts for kids and seniors - spin, spin, spin. Cut routes some more - spin, spin, spin.

I love the Qantas pilots and their in-air product in general. Very sad to cut them loose as first choice provider.

 

[Awesom Andy]

And while we are on the topic of SOLC, the OW airlines have quietly updated their earning tables to include UL. And basically, if you fly on UL between AU/Malaysia/Sir Lanka/Middle East/UK/Europe, you'll earn only 25% points even on full fare Y. While I don't have time to check the earning table for every airline, I believe this sets a record for being stingy. Somewhat defeats the purpose of being in an alliance, I think.

 

[Himeno]

And while we are on the topic of SOLC, the OW airlines have quietly updated their earning tables to include UL. And basically, if you fly on UL between AU/Malaysia/Sir Lanka/Middle East/UK/Europe, you'll earn only 25% points even on full fare Y. While I don't have time to check the earning table for every airline, I believe this sets a record for being stingy. Somewhat defeats the purpose of being in an alliance, I think.

Is that all OW airlines or just QF?

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Is that all OW airlines or just QF?

not all airlines, AAdvantage offer 75% mileage on most UL fares

the Qantas table is utter rubbish