Pausing Qantas Club if Solely Taking Business Class Flights?

[roomer]

Not sure if this is the place to post, other Qantas Club threads seem to be closed but anyway...

This may already be common knowledge but on the basis that Qantas will suspend your QC membership when you attain Gold status, I thought I'd enquire as to what happens when you fly business and are away for 6 weeks in doing so. My reasoning is that you are not getting any value of the QC club membership as those benefits automatically come with flying business class ( ie similar if you have Gold Status). Turns out nothing happens! You are effectively losing a month and half of your QC membership! Tough Luck !

 

[mviy]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

I would think a new thread would have been more appropriate.

If you always fly business then there's no point buying a QANTAS Club membership. However if you do a lot of economy flying on QF but not enough to hold SG then it has some value.

I'm a WP at the moment and when I fly business domestically my business airfare would get me into the lounge that my WP would get me into anyway. That doesn't mean that WP status no longer has value, but it does mean that the marginal benefits of flying business vs economy are smaller for me than for those with lower status.

Similarly flying internationally, I can get into the FLounge flying economy or premium economy or business. That doesn't mean if I were to fly First (I haven't yet) it would not have any value, it would, but I would have access to the FLounge (whilst I'm WP) whether or not I fly F.

 

[opusman]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

As a QC member you get additional baggage allowance even when flying business. But yes, if you bought QC solely for the lounge access and then always fly business you have wasted your money.

 

[roomer]

perhaps I should have mentioned that I am bronze status and the upcoming business class trip will be my first (and it was done via points).

Have you looked at renewing your QC through AFF.

See AFF Membership Levels — then expand on Discounted Travel Goods and Services

Indeed, my current membership was purchased via AFF

 

[sudoer]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

I thought I'd enquire as to what happens when you fly business and are away for 6 weeks in doing so. My reasoning is that you are not getting any value of the QC club membership as those benefits automatically come with flying business class ( ie similar if you have Gold Status). Turns out nothing happens! You are effectively losing a month and half of your QC membership! Tough Luck !

You want Qantas to pause your QC membership every time you're "away"? Isn't going "away" the only time you're going to actually use it?

 

[roomer]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

You want Qantas to pause your QC membership every time you're "away"? Isn't going "away" the only time you're going to actually use it?

I think you are missing the point, you hold QC membership and get those benefits which you would not if flying economy bronze. When you fork out the extra ( $ or points) to fly business you automatically get those QC benefits included in your fare. Likewise if you are Gold status, you automatically get those QC benefits included .
With Gold status, if you are a QC member at the time of attainment, they suspend your QC membership because you are now availing your self of those same benefits. Logic would dictate that the same principle be extended to those that are flying business for an extended period. But that is not the case

 

[defurax]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

I think you are missing the point, you hold QC membership and get those benefits which you would not if flying economy bronze. When you fork out the extra ( $ or points) to fly business you automatically get those QC benefits included in your fare. Likewise if you are Gold status, you automatically get those QC benefits included .
With Gold status, if you are a QC member at the time of attainment, they suspend your QC membership because you are now availing your self of those same benefits. Logic would dictate that the same principle be extended to those that are flying business for an extended period. But that is not the case

I think QF wording is that when you achieve SG and above they give you a complimentary QC membership. Flying J does not entitle you to a complimentary QC membership.

 

[sudoer]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

Logic would dictate that the same principle be extended to those that are flying business for an extended period. But that is not the case

Qantas Club memberships are paused when one achieves Gold because Gold provides the full range of Qantas Club benefits (and more) until expiry.

Qantas Club memberships are not paused while one is "away" on a Business return flight, because there is nothing to stop them from booking economy class flights during this time - despite having no perceivable benefit on the J flights themselves. For example, if I had a J return to Perth booked (I'm based in Sydney, so this would be "away") and flew to PER-BME-PER in Y, I could utilise my Qantas Club membership on those flights. By your logic however, Qantas should credit me for the whole period in between my J flights to/from Perth, when I have actually utilised the membership. See the difference?

 

[roomer]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

Flying J does not entitle you to a complimentary QC membership.

You are correct, but what I am trying to point out, is those same QC membership benefits are available to you when you fly business and therefore (for the duration that you will be flying business) you effectively are "doubling up" on the QC membership benefits which means you have "wasted" your QC membership for the duration you are flying business.

( and yes Qantas does suspend your QC membership if you have it when reaching Gold - Its why I rang up to see if they would do the same for the duration you are flying business ie you are not going to get the full value of your QC membership when flying business so what not pause it as happens with attaining Gold)

 

[samh004]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

You are correct, but what I am trying to point out, is those same QC membership benefits are available to you when you fly business and therefore (for the duration that you will be flying business) you effectively are "doubling up" on the QC membership benefits which means you have "wasted" your QC membership for the duration you are flying business.

( and yes Qantas does suspend your QC membership if you have it when reaching Gold - Its why I rang up to see if they would do the same for the duration you are flying business ie you are not going to get the full value of your QC membership when flying business so what not pause it as happens with attaining Gold)

This perhaps could be it's own thread, but it would be like asking the Hilton to suspend Diamond membership because you booked an Exec level room with lounge access already included.

 

[sudoer]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

This perhaps could be it's own thread, but it would be like asking the Hilton to suspend Diamond membership because you booked an Exec level room with lounge access already included.

Or asking QF to extend your Gold/Platinum expiry when flying domestic business..

 

[roomer]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

Qantas Club memberships are paused when one achieves Gold because Gold provides the full range of Qantas Club benefits (and more) until expiry.

Qantas Club memberships are not paused while one is "away" on a Business return flight, because there is nothing to stop them from booking economy class flights during this time - despite having no perceivable benefit on the J flights themselves. For example, if I had a J return to Perth booked (I'm based in Sydney, so this would be "away") and flew to PER-BME-PER in Y, I could utilise my Qantas Club membership on those flights. By your logic however, Qantas should credit me for the whole period in between my J flights to/from Perth, when I have actually utilised the membership. See the difference?

But for those flying business on all their flights for an extended duration, and make a request for QC membership suspension, it wouldnt be a problem. Re the examples you are giving. You are not flying business for that duration, your membership wouldnt be allowed to be paused as its not continuous business class and so you could use your QC card when flying economy. If for some reason you chose to book extra flights in economy while mainly flying business, you would not be able to use your QC membership because its been suspended. I dont see the problem with either scenario

 

[opusman]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

Should they suspend your QC membership when you're travelling on another airline as well? Since you can't access any of the benefits then, either.

 

[mviy]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

It really is not reasonable to expect the QC membership to be paused just because of flying business.

There are good commercial reasons to pause it for those who reach SG (or above status), but not for those who fly business once.

You should decide whether QC membership is worth it or not for the amount of Y flying you anticipate doing during your membership.

A friend of mine is a long time QC member (now paused as he is currently SG) and flies Y domestically and tries to fly J on international long haul. When he's flying J he gets into the international J lounge because of the fare he's booked and wouldn't have needed the QC membership to get in. However he gets good value from being able to access the lounge when flying domestically or where an international upgrade doesn't come through.

 

[roomer]

Should they suspend your QC membership when you're travelling on another airline as well? Since you can't access any of the benefits then, either.

I fail to see any correlation. Please reread my posts

It really is not reasonable to expect the QC membership to be paused just because of flying business.

That may be a valid opinion. I am puzzled why then it is reasonable to suspend QC membership when Gold status has been attained

 

[opusman]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

I am puzzled why then it is reasonable to suspend QC membership when Gold status has been attained

That's been explained. You get a free QC membership when you get Gold. You can't have two active memberships at once, therefore your paid membership is put on hold.

 

[mviy]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

This has already been explained. SG status includes all the benefits of QC (plus more). Like with QC, you don't have to fly if you have SG status. It doesn't matter how often you fly (though you would lose SG if you don't fly unless you have LTG). As long as you have SG status you already have all the benefits of QC. Why would QC members aim for SG if a lot of the benefits (if mainly flying QF) they are going to get anyway from the QC membership if they still have to pay for a QC membership whilst SG? QANTAS doesn't want to discourage users from aiming for higher frequent flyer tiers so it's a smart move to pause the QC membership.

QANTAS gets some cash for QC memberships from some of those aiming for SG but who don't yet have it and can provide an extended soft landing to those who reach SG with plenty of time on their QC memberships left. QANTAS would hope they continue to pay for QC memberships after the soft landing or aim to level back up to SG.

Whereas flying Business you would get some of the things that QC provides you but only for that flight, and flying J you get additional things like a better hard product and soft product on board which many value much more highly than things like lounge access. They are two very different situations.

If you fly business regularly (on cash, not points) you'll soon reach SG anyway. Just one long haul international return trip in J to Europe plus some domestic Y flying would be enough to get SG easily. It's even easier to retain.

You should consider whether or not to continue your QC membership based on how you value the benefits you get when flying Y or PE considering how often you intend to travel. You can decide whether it's value for money for you.

 

[sudoer]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

I am puzzled why then it is reasonable to suspend QC membership when Gold status has been attained

Reasonable? It's reasonable because a company - not a democracy - decided it is. The alternative is you don't purchase QC membership. I'm not sure what the purpose of digging up a years old thread for this discussion was.

 

[roomer]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

But a paid membership giving you QC benefits remains active at the same time as those same QC benefits received when flying business class for an extended period of time.

Seems that actually paying out for something means you have to accept having two active benefits at the same time ...

 

[opusman]

Re: Discounted Qantas Club membership

But a paid membership giving you QC benefits remains active at the same time as those same QC benefits received when flying business class for an extended period of time.

So don't fly business class if you're so worried about missing out on your paid benefits. Simple solution.