Upside of all this speculation
Shift in how loyalty is viewed
If you purchase all your small number of flights with QF AND spend your own money, Are you more loyal than someone who spreads the spend around especially when their business pays for the QF flights. Even the evidence here suggests business-people fly alternatives after work life is over. The drop out rate must be enormous.
Show Slow Loyal Earners some of the love experienced by the elites with lounge invitations after say 2 years for people who are slow earners. (No work travel and occasional holiday away in 4 weeks leave). If every annual holiday is booked with QF, That’s loyalty. An average waged job doesn’t enable endless J class travel
But currently they have been treated as cannon fodder
Dynamic pricing and discount offers can work in your favour. More for less.
COMPETITOR PRICE MATCHING
If the difference in booking a flight from Australia to London is like under $250, would they rather get you buying their Y fare and receiving say $1500 than $0 because you booked with
Etihad or Qatar or Oman Air or MH or SQ ?
Stronger Availability of Award Seats
To have to book a year in advance may suit some of you, but it’s not suited to my domestic arrangements. I’m constantly disillusioned
Earn rate taper changes so like the age pension thresholds changes, more Y awards at a cheaper price (more for those with no income and no assets)
Loyalty isn’t solely about pricIng. Loyalty is about repeat customers something loyalty programs seem to have forgotten.
Shift share of wallet in your favour. If someone spends $10,000 on family fares every year, but only half with you, how do you extract more from them . What are you going to give them to switch to you ? This doesn’t need to save costs so to speak.... one can persuade, for example, a sale of 4 QF tics instead of 4 SQ Tics
No points expiry policy
Points transfer upon death to beneficiaries instead of being snaffled by the program owner
Downside
pointe devaluation for J/F awards,
higher points spend. When add-ons are fully the price of a Y return tic you know its price gouging already but more points and less cash payment would prove useful. (Note rewards from HK are seriously lower so it’s doable)
Revenue based model doesn’t work. Given QF risk aversion, Id be surprised and look at how forum participants view ‘Simpler and Fairer’
Target those who’ve shown they will spend more than base fare as they’ve shown they happily pay more than less
Save costs - false economy. The Cathay Pacific episode
price increases affect on-going loyalty and if done badly break the business loyalty to what once were loyal customers. shift customers and you could lose them forever. Plenty examples on these forums of this effect