Qantas extends priority boarding to SG frequent flyers

[Edge]

I think the domestic priority boarding for SG makes sense. For someone flying domestic frequently on the cheapest fare bucket it's a massive amount of flying to get to Platinum. SG can be difficult enough to achieve if you're only earning 10 or 20 SCs per flight, especially now that JASAs are gone.

 

[BD1959]

I think the domestic priority boarding for SG makes sense. For someone flying domestic frequently on the cheapest fare bucket it's a massive amount of flying to get to Platinum. SG can be difficult enough to achieve if you're only earning 10 or 20 SCs per flight, especially now that JASAs are gone.

So QF increase the "spend" level in order to earn status - and supposedly encourage us to increase revenue - and then dilute the benefit such that you no longer need to spend as much in order to gain the benefit ... go figure!

Regards,

BD

 

[medhead]

So QF increase the "spend" level in order to earn status - and supposedly encourage us to increase revenue - and then dilute the benefit such that you no longer need to spend as much in order to gain the benefit ... go figure!

Regards,

BD

That sounds like the standard qantas approach.

 

[Edge]

So QF increase the "spend" level in order to earn status - and supposedly encourage us to increase revenue - and then dilute the benefit such that you no longer need to spend as much in order to gain the benefit ... go figure!

Regards,

BD

There are still lots more benefits for achieving WP. Just a few off the top of my head:
- J-lounge
- F-lounge
- More points
- Reward seat release
- Better seat selection
- Upgrade priority

I think this is one of the very rare scenarios lately where Qantas has done a good job of matching the benefit with the status level.

 

[pjm99au]

From my perspective as a mainly domestic P1 (and LTG so in the, hopefully distant, future I'll take advantage of this enhancement) I think this is a good thing but only if QF now strictly enforce the PB line. Otherwise all that has been achieved is vastly more AFFers who can legitimately complain that PB is the joke it has been since it was introduced.

 

[jackthomas]

I'm a Bronze QFF (ew right...) but thats largely because I've not flown Qantas in at least 3 years.
I must say however, as a Velocity Gold looking in, it seems a little ridiculous to have such backlash against SG being able to Priority Board...
Velocity has had this for as long as PB has been available (yes we only have SG and WP not P1 too) but I still think SG has the right due to the high flying needed to gain the status.

It seems less to me about devaluing Platinum membership, but levelling the playing field for Golds who have been ignored.
I have observed on the forums however that QANTAS priority Boarding is largely ineffective and rarely properly monitored, hopefully ground crews can fix this with the new requirements.

 

[boomy]

I think the domestic priority boarding for SG makes sense. For someone flying domestic frequently on the cheapest fare bucket it's a massive amount of flying to get to Platinum. SG can be difficult enough to achieve if you're only earning 10 or 20 SCs per flight, especially now that JASAs are gone.

Try getting P1 this way, now that's a massive amount of flying!
And yet they now share the same PB with SG, tells you something about QF priorities.

 

[BD1959]

From my perspective as a mainly domestic P1 (and LTG so in the, hopefully distant, future I'll take advantage of this enhancement) I think this is a good thing but only if QF now strictly enforce the PB line. Otherwise all that has been achieved is vastly more AFFers who can legitimately comain that PB is the joke it has been since it was introduced.

If QF can send someone to the UK to see how BA attach tags to the second piece of cabin baggage, surely they can send someone to the other terminal to see how VA do PB so well?!? (yes, hyperbole at its best ... but you get my drift!)

Regards,

BD

 

[BD1959]

There are still lots more benefits for achieving WP. Just a few off the top of my head:
- J-lounge
- F-lounge
- More points
- Reward seat release
- Better seat selection
- Upgrade priority

I think this is one of the very rare scenarios lately where Qantas has done a good job of matching the benefit with the status level.

Hi edge,

For this little black duck who does the *vast* amount of flying on Doms, only three WP benefits matter to me:

- PB
- the Plat line for when things go to poo
- J Lounge

The first has now been diluted and the second anecdotally is available less and less (seems calls are being routed more and more to the normal operators). J Lounge at ADL ... yeah ... right.

Everything else hardly used at all ...

F-lounge - hardly ever fly International (and never took a JQ International dom sector to gain access)
More points - eroded by the increased fuel fines and taxes
Reward seat release - actually used this once this year when it was suggested to me when I planned to fly an indirect route
Upgrade priority - hardly ever fly international etc etc
Better seat selection - given the WP shadow is fast disappearing with the 737s now moreso the work-horse, becomes less of a benefit

You also missed:

F-check-in
OW F Lounges (or OW Lounges, full-stop!)
Increased baggage allowance

... none of which I use either.

Regards,

BD

 

[Edge]

Try getting P1 this way, now that's a massive amount of flying!
And yet they now share the same PB with SG, tells you something about QF priorities.

If you achieve P1 exclusively via lowest fare bucket domestic flying then that's something you need to address with your employer and/or the person in the mirror, not Qantas

 

[Edge]

Hi edge,

For this little black duck who does the *vast* amount of flying on Doms, only three WP benefits matter to me:

- PB
- the Plat line for when things go to poo
- J Lounge

The first has now been diluted and the second anecdotally is available less and less (seems calls are being routed more and more to the normal operators). J Lounge at ADL ... yeah ... right.

Everything else hardly used at all ...

F-lounge - hardly ever fly International (and never took a JQ International dom sector to gain access)
More points - eroded by the increased fuel fines and taxes
Reward seat release - actually used this once this year when it was suggested to me when I planned to fly an indirect route
Upgrade priority - hardly ever fly international etc etc
Better seat selection - given the WP shadow is fast disappearing with the 737s now moreso the work-horse, becomes less of a benefit

You also missed:

F-check-in
OW F Lounges (or OW Lounges, full-stop!)
Increased baggage allowance

... none of which I use either.

Regards,

BD

I was mainly referring to Domestic WP benefits (with the exception of the F-lounge, which everyone raves about and I'm sure it's a great benefit even if only visited a couple of times per year).

More points is still more points than SG.
Shadow may be disappearing but you still get to sit closer to the front than SG.

I'm not (and haven't been) SG with QF but I'm SG with VA and PB is a great benefit. I feel I fly often enough to deserve it (over 40 sectors this year) but I will only just scrape into requalification for SG, I have no hope of getting to WP (with VA or with QF).

 

[boomy]

If you achieve P1 exclusively via lowest fare bucket domestic flying then that's something you need to address with your employer and/or the person in the mirror, not Qantas

Not exclusively, but mostly.
There are plenty of P1s and double platinums (QF & VA) who fly mostly domestic on BFOD.

 

[michaele]

Can we think about this a bit more strategically?

If you are Gold and were previously unable to use the PB, that would be because you were flying Economy (as Business already have access). Reaching Gold on Y fares is no mean feat - you are flying a reasonable amount, probably weekly or fortnightly. For someone in that situation, being able to walk up and board is probably highly-appreciated, given the 30-40 return Dom flights a year you would be taking to qualify.

It doesn't change or improve anything for anyone flying business, but for those specific regular business flyers in Economy, I think its a good change, and reflects the benefits received across OW as a Sapphire.

If it can be enforced (as we have seen other airlines achieve successfully) it will be a positive change, rewarding those who spend regular time in the air.

 

[DTM1]

I would be very surprised if there were "many" P1s who fly on best fare of the day. There may be a few, but not many.

More generally, I think that this is one of the worst decisions by QF (of many to choose from) in a very long time. This truly has been one of the most valuable benefits of WP/P1 status. What a stupid decision.

 

[DTM1]

Perhaps, but what about all the WPs who want to use priority boarding? Strategically, I would have thought that they are more important than SGs, as many WPs fly up the front internationally and have many more options when flying o/s. If you start taking away the domestic incentives, you jeopardise the international ones. And we're not even talking about the J pax, who are entitled to be even more annoyed by this.

The whole point of the priority lane is to make it much better than the other lane - this will no longer be the case.

Can we think about this a bit more strategically?

If you are Gold and were previously unable to use the PB, that would be because you were flying Economy (as Business already have access). Reaching Gold on Y fares is no mean feat - you are flying a reasonable amount, probably weekly or fortnightly. For someone in that situation, being able to walk up and board is probably highly-appreciated, given the 30-40 return Dom flights a year you would be taking to qualify.

It doesn't change or improve anything for anyone flying business, but for those specific regular business flyers in Economy, I think its a good change, and reflects the benefits received across OW as a Sapphire.

If it can be enforced (as we have seen other airlines achieve successfully) it will be a positive change, rewarding those who spend regular time in the air.

 

[boomy]

I would be very surprised if there were "many" P1s who fly on best fare of the day. There may be a few, but not many.

BFOD is not always discount economy if you don't book ahead. Sometimes flexi fare is BFOD

 

[michaele]

The whole point of the priority lane is to make it much better than the other lane - this will no longer be the case.

I am sure we can both agree, the best way to make priority lane better than the other lane is to execute it and enforce it properly.

However, the point is SG still fly a significant amount, and this is an improvement that will be useful during each journey, just as it is for WP. I think it brings it in line with what a "2nd tier" status level should be. There are still a number of great benefits for being WP - better seat selection (let alone having a shadow...), J lounge, and (hopefully) better, more personalised service both on the ground and in the air.

I admit in a few select cities it might be almost worthless - eg Canberra - but even with WP and CL access only, isn't this already an issue? Across the larger cities, and a larger number of cities, it's probably a good change.

As discussed ad nauseum, it would be interesting to see what % of flyers are at each level. If SG and WP flyers were 25% of a flight, would you say that might be a good balance for PB?

 

[JohnK]

I can put up with gold in the priority lanes..and the other devolution of benefits, but not the amalgamation of gold/platinum....1300 points deserves emerald status on One World.
Oh and also the business lounge, would not like to see that go!

Oneworld Emerald at 1200 SCs would be nice but Qantas doesn't agree.

 

[medhead]

I think the domestic priority boarding for SG makes sense. For someone flying domestic frequently on the cheapest fare bucket it's a massive amount of flying to get to Platinum. SG can be difficult enough to achieve if you're only earning 10 or 20 SCs per flight, especially now that JASAs are gone.

And it is a doubly massive amount of flying for platinum.

There are still lots more benefits for achieving WP. Just a few off the top of my head:
- J-lounge
- F-lounge
- More points
- Reward seat release
- Better seat selection
- Upgrade priority

I think this is one of the very rare scenarios lately where Qantas has done a good job of matching the benefit with the status level.

In a later post you say this is about domestic.
There is no domestic upgrade priority.
The more points reward for all that extra flying was reduced for platinum and is now only just more than gold. Plus the reduced minimum point guarantee and increase in earning zones makes the extra points mostly irrelevant.
Better seats - domestically that mostly means a 737. platinum get the same quality of seat as gold. Row 4 is the best quality and that is only available to platinum1, mostly. Gold have access to exit row seat selection. Otherwise the seat in row 6 is just as good as the seat in row 10.
Business lounge - If flying through Sydney/Melbourne

Can we think about this a bit more strategically?

If you are Gold and were previously unable to use the PB, that would be because you were flying Economy (as Business already have access). Reaching Gold on Y fares is no mean feat - you are flying a reasonable amount, probably weekly or fortnightly. For someone in that situation, being able to walk up and board is probably highly-appreciated, given the 30-40 return Dom flights a year you would be taking to qualify.

It doesn't change or improve anything for anyone flying business, but for those specific regular business flyers in Economy, I think its a good change, and reflects the benefits received across OW as a Sapphire.

If it can be enforced (as we have seen other airlines achieve successfully) it will be a positive change, rewarding those who spend regular time in the air.

I am sure we can both agree, the best way to make priority lane better than the other lane is to execute it and enforce it properly.

However, the point is SG still fly a significant amount, and this is an improvement that will be useful during each journey, just as it is for WP. I think it brings it in line with what a "2nd tier" status level should be. There are still a number of great benefits for being WP - better seat selection (let alone having a shadow...), J lounge, and (hopefully) better, more personalised service both on the ground and in the air.

Yes let's think strategically. Platinum flies double as much a gold. Being able to walk up the priority lane is appreciated. Adding a whole heap of people is a negative, that makes it less useful for platinum.

Seat selection isn't that much better. Shadows are dead. J lounge in Sydney and Melbourne. Personal service in the air has disappeared, the only personal service I receive is from crew that actually remember me. Platinum on a BP means nothing.

So lets think strategically - All of the last 3 or 4 changes to the QFF program have reduced the separation between gold and platinum. There is a clear strategic message that platinum is the same as gold.

 

[medhead]

I'm a Bronze QFF (ew right...) but thats largely because I've not flown Qantas in at least 3 years.
I must say however, as a Velocity Gold looking in, it seems a little ridiculous to have such backlash against SG being able to Priority Board...
Velocity has had this for as long as PB has been available (yes we only have SG and WP not P1 too) but I still think SG has the right due to the high flying needed to gain the status.

It seems less to me about devaluing Platinum membership, but levelling the playing field for Golds who have been ignored.
I have observed on the forums however that QANTAS priority Boarding is largely ineffective and rarely properly monitored, hopefully ground crews can fix this with the new requirements.

As a double platinum, I also find the VA priority boarding to be excellent.

I wish to ask if you experience any sort of on board recognition of being gold.


I also wish to make the observation that levelling the playing field between gold and platinum while good for gold, it is actually a negative for platinum.

But also completely agree that failure to actually do priority boarding properly means it doesn't make that much difference.