P1 = $XX,xx_ spend - ($xx_ xmas champas + $XX gala event + "bragging rights" + phone number)

[juddles]

Hi all, just nearing end of year which is also end of my recent P1 run. So contemplating.

Being a FF geek and enthusiast, it is obviously a hard thing to go down a rung in the status ladder. We all aspire to climb, not descend. For me this will be P1 to .... anything less.

Am trying to use logic to ameliorate my fall. And all the rational things I can think of concur with my 2019 decision to send Qantas to (Ozzy Man's) "Destination f..ked"

And it has been a hard decision to follow all year. Luckily there has been a scarsity of DSC's or similar that could tweak the receptors in my brain that control incorrect decision-making.

I don't even know what will happen at end of year. I have heard that I will get a soft landing to WP, but I actually do not care too much about that. Am so over the whole status game. With Qantas at least. Don't get me wrong, I tremendously value status. I cannot remember travelling without access to the best lounges.... But here I am contemplating what I have (had?) and what I will really lose.

The thread title is my attempt to really sum up the whole thing. You spend many tens of thousands of dollars with a company, and they give you a bottle of champas at Chrstmas, invite you (on average) to one evening drinks event each year, and they supply a team to answer you calls with less than the usual 1hr+ waiting time.

I think the main bonus is the bragging rights - something I do not get any benefit from. Have never ever even showed my P1 card to anyone, ever.

Is my maths wrong? Or is that the reality??

 

[TonyHancock]

........it is obviously a hard thing to go down a rung in the status ladder......

Frequent Flyer Stockholm Syndrome will do that to you.

 

[opusman]

I mean you do also get to fly around the world for that money. It's not just the champas.

 

[Kangol]

I haven't received an invite to any event and I'm guessing there are many other P1s in a similar situation.
The phone wait time for WP has never been long.

Requesting award seats is probably the best part. It's hard to say if there is an actual advantage of P1 over WP.

 

[amaroo]

Your equation is incomplete. Once you add access to additional award seats and enhanced upgrades the outcome completely changes.

 

[boomy]

Bragging rights? At first the card was same as WP with only some red colour on the edges to differentiate which no one ever noticed. Then QF made it completely white so most people thought it’s an entry level FF card

Seriously now P1 must me one of the most overrated tiers, I was also worried when lost it how will I manage without SST or priority award access but being liberated from the need to prioritise my flying with QF, especially premium International, feels great.
I don’t miss the days of making compromises to get to the magic 3600. The one thing I do miss about P1 is FlyAhead which is good perk I often used on domestic flights (on red-e-deal fares), apart from that WP is good enough.

 

[kermatu]

I've 'fallen' from P1 twice and frankly haven't noticed any difference. Zero messaging on exit (how hard would it be for the SST to send an email saying thanks, hope to see you back soon or even -- heaven forbid -- ask for some feedback?).

I've not (by circumstance/choice) taken advantage of reward seat availability. Ridiculously few P1 upgrades (and only ever CBR-MEL or equivalent so...). Row 4 on the 737s a definite plus. General seat selection and priority meal orders also good. Some special treatment onboard (including one upgrade from SYD-AKL to be fair).

Have received 3 or 4 invitations across maybe 5 P1 years now (I haven't really been counting). Ironically my one serious disruption was in a 'gap' year when the Dash-8 fleet was grounded - so didn't get to see how the SST would have looked after my family in that disruption. Couldn't have been any worse than QF treated me as a WP on the day/night.

The absence of specific benefits make me also conclude it's the most overrated tier.

 

[Quickstatus]

I mean you do also get to fly around the world for that money. It's not just the champas.

Which can be done for less when status is not a goal

I’m about to pull the cancel trigger on. Flight that will give me over 1200 SC in one weekend (DSC). Something came up that is more important than retaining WP.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Irrops handling is better but a benefit one hopes to never need to use.

 

[Borisdog]

I’m currently on the way down to LTG from P1. I simply won’t be flying much anymore and LTG was my goal, so I’d at least have lounge access when I do fly in the future.

I’ve had a couple of good experiences as a P1 that I won’t recount here, but I’ve written about them elsewhere on AFF. I got the treatment, and solutions, I would have expected commensurate with my retail value to QF.

Will I find it hard to step away from? Nope. I like being home.

 

[Albert_Thurgood]

"an evening drinks per year"

When does this happen? I have not got an invite (and also seems to miss out on other P1 perks).

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

"an evening drinks per year"

When does this happen? I have not got an invite (and also seems to miss out on other P1 perks).

Not every P1 gets invited. Particularly unlikely if not based on Australia.

 

[RichardMEL]

Juddles I know you are "over" QF and come across as a bit bitter lately... just an observation.

but really I think you're trying to put value on the WRONG things when it comes to P1.

Only my opinion and in no way intended as a personal thing - I've long felt this about people's valuations of P1.

You're talking about the value of the "extras" that come with P1 - the non defined benefits like the end of year gift ( remember it was not always Champagne, and for some it wasn't even that and there's no guarantee they will do it again this year, or next, or whatever) and the event invites that as we have seen in the P1 thread are of varying quantity, quality, "worth" and even many don't get invites to naything and some get a lot.

For me I do not count ANY of that into it. They are all nice and all, and I loved my corporate box at the AFL a few months to see the mighty Tigers destroy Collingwood (oh how sweet it was ) and that was great. I will prob open last year's Comtes gift very soon and that will be lovely.

P1 is not about that stuff for me though.

For me., it's about the experiences of the QF core product (e transportation) and how P1's are provided the defined benefits (such as access to request reward seats, upgrade priority, seat selection etc) and very much so when stuff happens and it's time for irrops how the P1 team and QF in general respond and assist. Luckily personally had little experience of that, but when I have needed it they've come through and been very good.

To me, P1 has always been an "enhancement"(yes, that dreaded word used on purpose and with perhaps a tinge of deliberate irony) to Platinum status.. if ANY of us fly enough to get to P1 then we fly QF a lot (and partners a bit too). By definition you have to have (the 2700 SC factor).. and it's when you need them to come through, or they are proactive in some ways, then it's great and there is value in that. How does one factor in such things? I do not know - very subjective.

Unfortunately, QF being QF they are Consistently Inconsistent(tm) as we all know, and endure to one degree or another.

So, delivery of services can be, and has been documented to be, well.. different.

And that would be my main issue with P1 tbh. Not about the "extras" - nice but do not affect me when I am flying at all.

For me personally, I've found P1 to deliver more or less on what they've "promised" (ie: published benefits) and given a few extras that have been really nice too. I've found staff more or less tend to give P1 extra latitude going above what is defined, such as allowing same day changes on non flex fares (ie: fly forward) and even pulling a seat for me on an flight showing 0's (still don't know how that one happened but saved me a few hours) and generally showing deference tothe status level. Not over the top gushing or anything like that(which i would hate) but definite recognition and willingness to be flexible in some situations).

On a slightly personal note - on the one hand you say you've over the status game and all that with QF, and we're all well aware your choice to move away, yet this thread itself.. puzzles me a bit. Seems like you can't quite pull free? Or trying to justify a perfectly reasonable personal decision somehow? I mean no offence aat all, just a bit confused. Perhaps a bit of the FF Stockholm syndrome.

(as an aside, it is almost certain this is my own last year of P1, for a number of reasons - and I'm not making ANY effort to chase or anything. I may not even make 1200 SC but that remains to be seen - I certainly don't feel any FF handcuffs to QF or to P1 personally. It's been great. perks have been reasonable to pretty good at differing times over the past 5 or so years I've had it, but I feel zero desire or pull to make any extra effort to retain.. just a bit of a change, a focus on other things travel wise, other carriers and experiences).

 

[Albert_Thurgood]

Not every P1 gets invited. Particularly unlikely if not based on Australia.

I am based in Australia, but given that Qantas thinks "Australia" = "Sydney" that explains the lack of invites.

 

[p--and--t]

Poor @juddles

 

[Ade]

Flight that will give me over 1200 SC in one weekend (DSC).

WOW !!! would love to know what the itinerary looked like

 

[Quickstatus]

WOW !!! would love to know what the itinerary looked like

Its really not hard to work out.
And indeed I've pulled the cancellation trigger. The trip was not a status run, but circumstances meant I don't need to go.

 

[juddles]

Juddles I know you are "over" QF and come across as a bit bitter lately... just an observation.

but really I think you're trying to put value on the WRONG things when it comes to P1.
....

On a slightly personal note - on the one hand you say you've over the status game and all that with QF, and we're all well aware your choice to move away, yet this thread itself.. puzzles me a bit. Seems like you can't quite pull free? Or trying to justify a perfectly reasonable personal decision somehow? I mean no offence aat all, just a bit confused. Perhaps a bit of the FF Stockholm syndrome.
....

RichardMEL, you have nailed it in various ways.

Thank you for the comment about coming across as almost "bitter" - I understand that perception but I am not actually bitter. Have loved the recent years with QF, through good and bad. I will try to sound less bitter - because of the fact I am not

As far as putting the value on things incorrectly, I agree that may be taken from the thread title. But as I have said many many times, the real value I have always put on P1 is the SST team and the fantastic backup you get. When things go wrong. They have made spectacular saves for me travelling internationally. But again, that view was clearly not encompassed by the opening thread.

Maybe this is because the underlying need to post the thread is that other, far more emotional and difficult to explain thing - a sense of loss. Am now just days away from losing a status that I actually really really liked. The conflicted emotions come from contemplating whether I got value, as in I liked the service, but I also know I paid hideously for this.

I have a domestic flight in the first week of January 2020. Will be a few years since I didnt simply assume to have the top status (other than CL which in my mainly international travel is meaningless). I know in advance that the only difference will be that possibly I am not given a bottle of water onboard a 1 hr flight. A meaningless thing, overall. But it will still hurt me to not be at the top. This is the seductiveness of status.

Hence I post a thread out to my AFF world

 

[juddles]

Poor @juddles

Hmmmm, love it but not the "likes" from the peanut gallery. Matt_01 would know that I have "good status" in things that are not frequent flyer related, but possibly far more fun And drron, one day you may dare to get together with me and Matt_01 and say "is that all there is? Lets break out the booze" And we will have a "party"

 

[RichardMEL]

Juddles, thank you for taking my post in the spirit it was intended (or it seems you have ) and responding with grace. I honestly was a little worried about how you may react, specially to my "bitter" observation. I guess that was more from multiple posts in various threads as to how you'd given QF the flick, and why, and all that.. a somewhat public divorce if you will. At least that's my perception. And again, nothing unreasonable or wrong with personal choice based on circumstance.

The loss of status is a real thing. While I did post I feel no compulsion to chase P1 again should I (likely) not make it again but sure I know I'll miss it of course. So I get what you're saying. I also recognise that if I choose to send business to, for example, SQ for the reasons of product, service and so on, that's also a choice, and I will benefit from that choice (hopefully ) even if I don't become PPS.

Also of course a universal human condition is that for many people change is hard and sometimes difficult to accept in the heart even if the brain has made choices and can understand the situation.

cheers