Media: Flyers win new deal on points

Status
Not open for further replies.

NM

Enthusiast
Moderator
Joined
Aug 27, 2004
Posts
17,338
Qantas
LT Gold
Virgin
Red
From the Herald Sun on-line news service:


Herald Sun said:
QANTAS frequent flyers will be able to use their points to pay for costly taxes and surcharges when redeeming domestic flights.

Loyalty program members are now slugged about $100 in charges for a supposedly free return flight to Sydney. The charges include $62 in fuel levies, government taxes and airport fees.

Other airlines also force their frequent flyers to pay the extras.
This makes the AA awards in Australia look even more attractive.
 
Agreed, my partener and myself are looking at the AA challage next time we go around the world....

Its not really that big a news, but i heard it on the radio, one of my work collegues said "its big news, cause they havnt changed anything for better of the customer for ages"

i wouldnt get points normall if i didnt work for :) a big company.
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Likewise, I'm only sticking with QFF because I work for the gummint. Hardly seems worth it otherwise...
 
I don't think this is an improvement at all. Quite expensive option and only limited to certain flights, so will be confusing.
 
As I posted elsewhere:

"I don't think it is a move to assist customers.

It's just a way to sneak up the redemption cost of award tickets, and to try and appease the many groups slamming Qantas for the fuel surcharges on award tickets.
"

I think the idea has some merit, but also feel that the points increase needed will outweigh any benefit of saving $$$.
 
Mal said:
As I posted elsewhere:

"I don't think it is a move to assist customers.

It's just a way to sneak up the redemption cost of award tickets, and to try and appease the many groups slamming Qantas for the fuel surcharges on award tickets.
"

I think the idea has some merit, but also feel that the points increase needed will outweigh any benefit of saving $$$.

While it doesn't look to be a particularly cost effective way of using points, I dare say that many people will take up the option. From the QF side, it will also help to reduce the number of points that are floating around.
 
oz_mark said:
While it doesn't look to be a particularly cost effective way of using points, I dare say that many people will take up the option. From the QF side, it will also help to reduce the number of points that are floating around.
I think it is a reasonable move by Qantas and had to happen. Given that the fees payable on domestic award flights sometimes cost almost as much as purchasing a new fare outright, it made a mockery of using points. This at least makes it possible again to get yourself a free flight using points, even if the burn rate is a little high.
 
It actually works for me.

I rack up far more points than I can ever hope to use, normally around one million points per annum - my current balance is over three million points.

As has been widely stated (and I agree) awards for short domestic flights in Australia are (at the moment) not cost effective, since the amount you have to pay in taxes makes a paid flight more cost effective.

With this change, I might be tempted to use points for flights like SYD-MEL (with zero cash outlay), since the points will eventually die with me, so I might as well use them.

This "enhancement" is actually one which could benefit some users of the program.

Dave
 
opusman said:
Does anyone know how many points they're talking about?
"It is believed the airline is considering a flat rate of about 6000 points for each domestic-sector booking."

A recent analysis I posted here showed the +++ on an award MEL to SYD was about $51.

So that would in effect be .85¢ per point; a similar value to the rate for the 8K points needed for the basic award.
 
opusman said:
Does anyone know how many points they're talking about?
Read the linked news article. It states:
It is believed the airline is considering a flat rate of about 6000 points for each domestic-sector booking.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top