Is Qantas Platinum Status too easy to earn?

[dfcatch]

Re: [Repudiated by QF] QF removing Any Seat Awards (ASA) from 08 April

100% points bonus, plat shadow, better seat selection, higher chance of Op-Ups and upgrades.

Heck let's throw in the Plat line and coasters in there too.

Also rewards them by offering the option of flying Y/Y+ after gaining status with full benefits. Not every premium flyer flies on premium cabins 100% of the time.

EDIT: Oh, and more awards seats and baggage.

1/ IME the shadow mainly works in Y - not in F/J

2/ Seat selection is pretty unrestricted in Int F/J

3/ OP-ups are pretty rare in Int F (unless you're the pilot)

4/ Additional Baggage is included in F/J fares

5/ What coasters??

6/ Hmmmm, flying Y/Y+ "in addition" to those F/J flights that currently earn WP?? Flying award flights in addition to status earning flights?? That would make them a Frequent Flyer and clearly would have no problem meeting any increase in minimum segment requirements


No-one is suggesting that there aren't "some" minor reductions in non-core benefits if that 2 x F return WP no longer meets minimum ~~~ requirements....

However - the marginal dilution of non-core benefits (they still maintain all the flying-related Class-of-Service benefits), is IMHO, lower than the increased marginal incentive and utility available to the Frequent Y flyer who may do dozens of QF segments per year, and then gets over the line with some Int or OW premium travel.

IMHO - JohnK's point is valid.

An infrequent QF J/F flyer who currently has WP - is, IMHO not going to miss those additional marginal benefits if they truly are only a 4 segment per year flyer.

The benefits are only useful to someone who actually flys.

(and yes - I realise that to the individual who would miss out under any change in formula - they will always be upset).

Change will only happen if it suits QF, not just financially, but if their models tell them that a new formula acts as a better carrot

 

[Flying mermaid]

Re: [Repudiated by QF] QF removing Any Seat Awards (ASA) from 08 April

Do you think someone flying in Business Class or First Class all the time needs Platinum status?

Lack of first lounge access for business class passengers without Platinum status is all I can think of and even that alone would not be a deterrent. Would it?

We've had WP for 8 months now and I don't think it has made any difference at all - maybe now and then a ground staff person being a bit more helpful, but not really. We did enjoy being able to go to the F lounge before flying J to AKL, but I don't believe it would be enough to make me chase WP. We get to go to the F lounge as much I want when we fly F so not a huge incentive. However we attained WP without any DSC and will retain again without any and with 100% of our flights on QF metal. I don't see why WP should be made harder for us just because we fly at the pointy end. The main problem seems to be with DSC and as Qantas is the one handing them out presumably it fits in with whatever marketing plan they have. Probably when Qantas feels it doesn't need to make it easy to retain loyal flyers, they will give DSC offers the boot.

 

[dfcatch]

Re: [Repudiated by QF] QF removing Any Seat Awards (ASA) from 08 April

We've had WP for 8 months now and I don't think it has made any difference at all - maybe now and then a ground staff person being a bit more helpful, but not really. We did enjoy being able to go to the F lounge before flying J to AKL, but I don't believe it would be enough to make me chase WP. We get to go to the F lounge as much I want when we fly F so not a huge incentive. However we attained WP without any DSC and will retain again without any and with 100% of our flights on QF metal. I don't see why WP should be made harder for us just because we fly at the pointy end. The main problem seems to be with DSC and as Qantas is the one handing them out presumably it fits in with whatever marketing plan they have. Probably when Qantas feels it doesn't need to make it easy to retain loyal flyers, they will give DSC offers the boot.

Not in direct response to you FM, but for the sake of clarity I just want to make the point that I have no issue whatsoever with anyone who qualifies for WP - whether by minimum F segments, or by DSC promos.

My comments above are all to be seen from the prism of "IF the qualifications are to be raised" - I just proffer a preferred approach

 

[JohnK]

Re: [Repudiated by QF] QF removing Any Seat Awards (ASA) from 08 April

....when sitting in business class I ask crew to remove a bag(s) if is placed there by a passenger not in that cabin. apart from diluting my amenity (I don't want to have to poke someone else's bag aside to get mine in and out during flight, or I might just want to put mine in sideways rather than lengthways), it is also a potential security threat to have an unattended bag.

Really?

I had an MH KUL-SIN flight recently in business class. I was in 4A (last row of business) and it would appear that economy was full and there was one spare seat in business which was 4F. I boarded with about 10 people still to board and I had a carry-on with hardly anything in it and it fit under the seat in front easily. It was very clear with the people standing in the aisle there was not any space left in the overhead bins anywhere. Cabin crew put some bags under the seat in front of 4F and both I and 4C offered to have extra bags under the seat in front of us. Why not help out in these situations?

if we want to keep benefits, we shouldn't dilute them either in the ff program or on board.

See this is where we totally disagree and that is good thing by the way.

No one owns overhead bin space. No one owns a toilet.

Both are there for all to use more so in aircraft such as 737's and A320's where it makes no sense to protect the front toilet for one passenger sitting in busines class.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Really?

I had an MH KUL-SIN flight recently in business class. I was in 4A (last row of business) and it would appear that economy was full and there was one spare seat in business which was 4F. I boarded with about 10 people still to board and I had a carry-on with hardly anything in it and it fit under the seat in front easily. It was very clear with the people standing in the aisle there was not any space left in the overhead bins anywhere. Cabin crew put some bags under the seat in front of 4F and both I and 4C offered to have extra bags under the seat in front of us. Why not help out in these situations?


See this is where we totally disagree and that is good thing by the way.

No one owns overhead bin space. No one owns a toilet.

Both are there for all to use more so in aircraft such as 737's and A320's where it makes no sense to protect the front toilet for one passenger sitting in busines class.

Why not help out with someone else's bag under the seat in front of me? That would never even occur to me as an option. It is the airline's responsibility to either gate check or find alternative room for those bags.

Overhead bin space and toilets... nothing about 'ownership'. It is simply about fare paid and the amenities which come with that cabin. Whether it's a single aisle aircraft or dual, passengers who have paid an economy ticket should not expect to use the facilities in a higher cabin*. If they are permitted to do so (for example service carts in the aisle) that's fine, but it should never be assumed as a right.

Your argument that all facilities (overhead bins and toilets) are for all to use is not supported by airlines - they have curtains, and placards prohibiting forward movement. If a QF A380 only has one pax in F, does that give the right to J class to access those WCs? No it doesn't. No difference between an A380 and 737.

Unless you are a first time flyer, you pretty much know the routine... immediately after takeoff you have time to use the conveniences, then they serve a meal, then you have time after that to use the conveniences. When you're in a restaurant, most people don't decide to go to the loo the minute the waiter delivers the main course. Most people go before, after, or in between the serving of courses.

*there are obvious exceptions: the elderly or disabled should be able to use the WC closest to them. Young children as well can't always control when they need to go and might need to go during a meal service.This is equally on safety grounds because of the possibility of turbulence for example. I think DJ enforcement of the 'no forward rule' for a blind passenger needs re-examining. But if you are an able bodied adult then you know the routine.

 

[JohnK]

Why not help out with someone else's bag under the seat in front of me? That would never even occur to me as an option. It is the airline's responsibility to either gate check or find alternative room for those bags.

And again that is where some people are totally different.

I would love to help out where possible if it does not inconvenience me.

I would hate to lose a benefit though....

 

[Awesom Andy]

So here's my interpretation of the options so far:

1. Increase qualification SCs (any carrier): mostly affect Y flyers, as they need to do a lot more flights. This would actually saves the most costs, since it's the Y flyers who use the benefits the most - premium classes flyers already have lounge access, increased baggage as per COS, so savings won't be much.

2. Increase squiggles: mostly affect those who live outside of AU, and irregular flyers who fly in premium classes. Probably makes no difference - those who live outside of AU won't be using QF benefits very often - at most, they'll be hanging around other OW airlines so we probably won't notice they are gone. And the irregular flyers, well, you don't see them around very often in the first place, and they would also have benefits as per COS.

3. Introduce QF-metal SCs as part of qualification: As per point 2 for those who live outside of AU, but it doesn't affect those irregular flyers in premium cabins - although their impact is negligible. However, it also removes those who do CX/AA status runs. This crowd might end up doing JASAs instead, which means it might actually makes it harder for everyone to redeem a JASA in the future. However, given the ongoing route replacement exercises where the marsupial is being eradicated by the orange star, it needs to be QF/JQ/3k/etc metal SCs rather than just QF for this option to make sense.

 

[ReLoad]

So here's my interpretation of the options so far:

1. Increase qualification SCs (any carrier): mostly affect Y flyers, as they need to do a lot more flights. This would actually saves the most costs, since it's the Y flyers who use the benefits the most - premium classes flyers already have lounge access, increased baggage as per COS, so savings won't be much.

2. Increase squiggles: mostly affect those who live outside of AU, and irregular flyers who fly in premium classes. Probably makes no difference - those who live outside of AU won't be using QF benefits very often - at most, they'll be hanging around other OW airlines so we probably won't notice they are gone. And the irregular flyers, well, you don't see them around very often in the first place, and they would also have benefits as per COS.

3. Introduce QF-metal SCs as part of qualification: As per point 2 for those who live outside of AU, but it doesn't affect those irregular flyers in premium cabins - although their impact is negligible. However, it also removes those who do CX/AA status runs. This crowd might end up doing JASAs instead, which means it might actually makes it harder for everyone to redeem a JASA in the future. However, given the ongoing route replacement exercises where the marsupial is being eradicated by the orange star, it needs to be QF/JQ/3k/etc metal SCs rather than just QF for this option to make sense.

Ill take Option 4. Please; Don't change anything

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So here's my interpretation of the options so far:

1. Increase qualification SCs (any carrier): mostly affect Y flyers, as they need to do a lot more flights. This would actually saves the most costs, since it's the Y flyers who use the benefits the most - premium classes flyers already have lounge access, increased baggage as per COS, so savings won't be much.

2. Increase squiggles: mostly affect those who live outside of AU, and irregular flyers who fly in premium classes. Probably makes no difference - those who live outside of AU won't be using QF benefits very often - at most, they'll be hanging around other OW airlines so we probably won't notice they are gone. And the irregular flyers, well, you don't see them around very often in the first place, and they would also have benefits as per COS.

3. Introduce QF-metal SCs as part of qualification: As per point 2 for those who live outside of AU, but it doesn't affect those irregular flyers in premium cabins - although their impact is negligible. However, it also removes those who do CX/AA status runs. This crowd might end up doing JASAs instead, which means it might actually makes it harder for everyone to redeem a JASA in the future. However, given the ongoing route replacement exercises where the marsupial is being eradicated by the orange star, it needs to be QF/JQ/3k/etc metal SCs rather than just QF for this option to make sense.

or option 5 (if ReLoad has 4) is for a revenue based system like SQ... you can still earn silver and gold with regular 300/600 SCs, but for platiunum, and access to F lounges, there needs to be a minimum $25K spend in premium cabins,

 

[Deleted member]

This is a pretty pointless thread. Qantas will decide what qualification levels are or will be for different status. End of discussion

 

[Aus ATC]

Options 2 and 3, as summarised by Awesome Andy sound reasonable. But with the Emirates alliance reducing the international options for flying QF metal, QF Marketed, not just QF metal would be more reasonable.

 

[Swanhaven]

I fly USA, Asia at least every month and London at least every 2 months: Some years ago I made a decision to fly ONE WORLD. I have Lifetime Gold (I don't think its worth anything) and have been Platinum for six years and am presently P1 (last year) and have 1990 SP for this year with 8 months to go: For me the most important part of Platinum is Lounge Access - it mkes the difference. Sydney First is simply outstanding, LAX is better now but still found wanting- Hong Kong is great (as I hope Singapore will be) and the London lounges for P passengers are very good. However, boarding is becoming a joke - try Singapore on a 380- often quicker to take the Economy Line.
I would like 3 things from P or P1: Access to all First Class Lounges (It's the difference when you have to wait), a committed boarding line for P & P1 (I sound special - but I am not-but I spend a fortune on air fares) and I would like committed space for on board luggage.
In regards to P & P1 qualification - I do P easily - usually 2 months and P1 in 8 - 9 months (the QANTAS level is the hard one) but I think the numbers for P of 1400/1200 are fair - I have many colleagues who fly many, many cheap fares in OZ and they deserve to get to 1400/1200 and they do it harder than me.
I love everyone's comments and enjoy reading all of these comments - such variation!
A really Happy Easter to everyone.

Ian

 

[ashleyn]

I fly USA, Asia at least every month and London at least every 2 months: Some years ago I made a decision to fly ONE WORLD. I have Lifetime Gold (I don't think its worth anything) and have been Platinum for six years and am presently P1 (last year) and have 1990 SP for this year with 8 months to go: For me the most important part of Platinum is Lounge Access - it mkes the difference. Sydney First is simply outstanding, LAX is better now but still found wanting- Hong Kong is great (as I hope Singapore will be) and the London lounges for P passengers are very good. However, boarding is becoming a joke - try Singapore on a 380- often quicker to take the Economy Line.
I would like 3 things from P or P1: Access to all First Class Lounges (It's the difference when you have to wait), a committed boarding line for P & P1 (I sound special - but I am not-but I spend a fortune on air fares) and I would like committed space for on board luggage.
In regards to P & P1 qualification - I do P easily - usually 2 months and P1 in 8 - 9 months (the QANTAS level is the hard one) but I think the numbers for P of 1400/1200 are fair - I have many colleagues who fly many, many cheap fares in OZ and they deserve to get to 1400/1200 and they do it harder than me.
I love everyone's comments and enjoy reading all of these comments - such variation!
A really Happy Easter to everyone.

Ian

Didn't they make a movie about you ?

 

[straitman]

Did the VA status match.
Flew VA.
Even being a Plat (comped) with VA I had to pay for a bottle of wine and food.
Flew to a wedding with a very old and mostly blind uncle on VA.
Got 3A - 3D which was great.
Except uncle needed to go to the aft toilet as whY Paxs could not use the J toilet despite there being NO ONE in J.
That ended my VA relationship.
Now down to VA Gold and dropping.

Whilst I agree that the cabin crew should have let your uncle use the front toilet, that is about all I agree with you on.

The food and wine has been covered by others so let's not worry about that again.

The cabin crew making poor decisions happens everywhere and is not exclusive to VA. It really all depends upon the CSM and some are more user friendly than others. The basic from toilet rule is the same for Qantas and from my experience Qantas cabin crews are no better or worse than Virgin cabin crews in this regard.

 

[JohnK]

I think people are missing something with this thread. It was not a thread I created. It was one comment in another thread that was spun-off into this thread.

Discussion is good. Just when you think you have a valid point for this thread not to exist I believe I have a valid point that this thread should exist....

Correct me if I am wrong, but only the first of these were actual platinum benefits?

I believe complimentary exit row seats on international flights was an unpublished benefit of Platinum status and I used it many times.

One would simply call and request exit row and voila within a couple of hours the booking showed exit row. I could be wrong though....

Quite an increase you are suggesting. Would you be able to achieve it?

No. I would struggle but still make an effort to achieve if that was indeed the new level.

At the moment Platinum is costing me dearly as I purchase ~70 domestic flights with my regular commute and still need to come up with another ~500 SCs from my overseas travel. When I was dabbling with BMI and Virgin Atlantic that was difficult but now back to Qantas for overseas and CX/MH for intra-Asia trips it gets a little bit easier but still expensive if one considers the much cheaper direct route available instead of flying around in circles.

I do believe that Platinum status has been degraded to death and when Platinum One came along it got degraded even further.

 

[kpc]

This is a pretty pointless thread. Qantas will decide what qualification levels are or will be for different status. End of discussion

Agree 100%

 

[FxTrader]

This is a pretty pointless thread. Qantas will decide what qualification levels are or will be for different status. End of discussion

Seems some time ago a bunch of AFF WPs got really upset with QF not providing Domestic Priority Boarding.
From reading that thread it was only because the AFF WPs kicked up a stink about it that QF decided to change their policy and implement it.
So from past experience, members of this forum can alter QF policy.

That experience would suggest this thread is not pointless.

But YMMV

 

[medhead]

I don't see this thread as a campaign to alter policy. It is a discussion of an idea.

 

[FxTrader]

I don't see this thread as a campaign to alter policy. It is a discussion of an idea.

As I read it, the idea under discussion about altering QF policy in regard to WP status achievement goals and delivered benefits.

 

[markis10]

As I read it, the idea under discussion about altering QF policy in regard to WP status achievement goals and delivered benefits.

I would say you read it wrong, its a discussion, without any expectation of things being changed by Qantas, especially as they stated as much on the subject at the recent AFF lunch!