I travel primarily on the short MEL/SYD/CBR routes, which are seeing a hit with status credits.
I don't particularly have any opposition to these changes, provided that the Getaway fares are actually cheaper than current Savers... If VA think that they can get away with charging the current standard $260 MEL-SYD with only 5 status credits and no seat selection etc... Well then Bye-Bye.
I can't see Getaway fares being less than current Saver, for many reasons including:
1) Cutting a benefit (status credits) which have minor attributable cost would need to be offset against increased earnings from each fare. e.g., if the new Getaway fare is $10 less than current Saver, then the attributed cost towards five status credits (the difference in earning between the two fares) would need to be less than $10. For this strategy to be effective, we'd need to see the Elevate fares drop in price too.
2) VA isn't going to pull back on price to fill more seats. Yield increased from FY14-15 despite a slight increase in overall fares. Creating cheaper seats into existence wouldn't support a growth strategy.
3) Tiger cannibalisation. Lowering of fares begins to compete with Tiger and Jetstar and is the exact position JB has been moving VA away from since 2011.
My money is on a BA Basic/DL Economy Basic ripoff thought process. The idea being to drive Silver/Gold/Plat members to buy higher class fares, so they're able to unlock value the FFP brings to them. Also, puts more demand on ancillary revenue to fill the gap in otherwise lost revenue through ticket sales.
So, assuming Getaway fares are not significantly less cost - this puts VA status flyers in a position where QF status is easier and cheaper to obtain. Especially for business flyers who are forced to fly BFOD who will now receive half the status earning value from flying VA.
And this doesn't even begin to look at the improvements which could have been made to the fare structure which would bring new revenue WITHOUT creating a new low to frequent flyer programs in Australia. To me, this says the latest round of changes were driven by inflexible revenue management/yield analysts and not initiated by Velocity.
dfcatch published a great article around not delivering loyalty benefits and the risk this brings to the FFP. Paging dfcatch!