Qantas Frequent Flyer Changes - Online NOW!!

[Platy]

At the end of the day, really nothing has 'changed' per se - so at worst you are still unhappy with the classic system which is staying, oh well.

Yes, but no (perhaps).

As more partners are promoted Qf stands to earn more cash revenue by selling the points (which only become a liability when redeemed those they don't want you to redeem the points so 1) limit classic awards and 2) make any seat awards ridiculously expensive).

More points and more F customers = more competition for limited "classic" award seats...


...remember the game now on is FATTENING up the scheme pre-sell off...

...don't be lulled into false hope my dear friend...

 

[Harpoon]

I didn't read anything about upgrades. Have upgrades been affected at all or is it still the same classic system when applying for Y to J or J to F upgrades?

 

[simongr]

I didn't read anything about upgrades. Have upgrades been affected at all or is it still the same classic system when applying for Y to J or J to F upgrades?

No change to UGs - if there was to be a change in the points required that would necessitate the 6 months advance notice I would think.

 

[uspl]

So, this would be expected then:

09:00 Melbourne 10:20 Sydney QF418 No seats 24,276 3 6,821 52,274 22,176 [/font]


That was MEL-SYD last night, J at 40% of Full Y.
Just have to pick your times

Cool !!

 

[Harpoon]

Any seat has little benefit to customers given the exorbitant redemption rates...unless those customers have serious misconceptions about the value of their hard won points...and eventually that is BAD for QF because it is insulting to their loyal customer base...IT'S NUTS!!!

Disagree.

If you view AnySeat as a replacement system then yes, it's piss poor. But because it's simply a second layer to grant additional award booking options for those that are happy to spend 50% extra points to get the seat they really want, then it's fine.

The exorbitant rate you mentioned are for seats that QF clearly intend on selling for dollars instead of offering up for points. One could argue "why put them up for award at 1.7m points at all then?!?!" which is a fair comment, but I guess QF see it as an opportunity to remove some points out of the system.

All I'm saying is...those million point seats should simply be ignored as they are not a true reflection of the AnySeat system in my opinion. Having another look today, there are plenty of award seats for similar or only slightly more points cost through AnySeat verses Classic.

 

[Va Bene]

On the subject of upgrades, I wonder if there will now be limited upgrade seat availability (where there once was possibilities on some routes) given that previously there were restrictions on the number of award seats available?
I use most of my points to upgrade from Y to J on Europe business trips. Now that the likelihood of getting to Europe with the family as we did last Sept school holidays for 128K points each is virtually non-existant, upgrades with points is the better value for me.

 

[NM]

Now that the likelihood of getting to Europe with the family as we did last Sept school holidays for 128K points each is virtually non-existant, upgrades with points is the better value for me.

Why do you believe the likelihood of redeeming for Classic awards dropped? Or are you basing this on an assumption that QF is going to reduce the number of Classic award seats available (which they are denied will be the case)?

 

[AnonymousCoward]

On the subject of upgrades, I wonder if there will now be limited upgrade seat availability (where there once was possibilities on some routes) given that previously there were restrictions on the number of award seats available?
I use most of my points to upgrade from Y to J on Europe business trips. Now that the likelihood of getting to Europe with the family as we did last Sept school holidays for 128K points each is virtually non-existant, upgrades with points is the better value for me.

Unfortunately no one knows the answer to this. QANTAS says that it intends to keep everything else. But whether that means keeping everything else exactly the same, or tweaking the formula for determining the amount of upgrade/award seats is unknown. There is no transparency at the moment, so we can't compare "before" and "after"

 

[Va Bene]

From a cynical point of view, I would expect Qantas to reduce the amount of Classic award seats during peak periods eg school holidays, Easter etc. They could still keep the same amount of Classic award seats available per annum (not that anyone knows what this is) but have them more concentrated in the lower peak period.
Hopefully increased capacity and competition in the next 12-24 months will provide some relief in the high number of points required for an anyseat award.

 

[simongr]

Disagree.

If you view AnySeat as a replacement system then yes, it's piss poor. But because it's simply a second layer to grant additional award booking options for those that are happy to spend 50% extra points to get the seat they really want, then it's fine.

The exorbitant rate you mentioned are for seats that QF clearly intend on selling for dollars instead of offering up for points. One could argue "why put them up for award at 1.7m points at all then?!?!" which is a fair comment, but I guess QF see it as an opportunity to remove some points out of the system.

All I'm saying is...those million point seats should simply be ignored as they are not a true reflection of the AnySeat system in my opinion. Having another look today, there are plenty of award seats for similar or only slightly more points cost through AnySeat verses Classic.

And this comes to the rub for some people here. Here's another analogy

Bosch selling their delightful Green Manly tool range announce for months that something new and wonderful is coming, we wait and wait and then they announce a brand new range of pink ladies tools - as a loyal male Bosch tool buyer I am very put out that they have done nothing for me not even brought out the travel friendly tools that I have been asking for for a long time...

I don't view this as a replacement - I view this a completely irrelevant for me.

I think NM has made one of the best points regarding the cheapness of some awards under anyseat - it implies that there are potentially some cheap seats out there for cash.

A lot of people on this forum consistently state that they do not buy domestic awards using points as they are not great value. What anyseat seems to have done is give a lot of people who don't have that many points the chance to grab some domestic flights and soak up a large chunk of the FF point liability in a fairly short space of time - thus transferring a lower liability to the newly floated entity but with a very current customer base - gee and some people call QF management idiots...

 

[serfty]

Two Frequent Flyer/Spender Programs?

One thought I have had in relation the new paras in the T&C's of what was previously undocumented:

20.6 Classic Award seat allocation

20.6.1 Qantas may at its discretion make available to Platinum and Gold Members additional allocations of Classic Award seats.

This would allow QFF at their discretion to have what would effectively be separate Award programs by making significantly more "Classic" award seating available to elites than other members.

i.e. The program could have two main parts:

• One for Elite Frequent Flyers -
  Those who earn a significant proportion of their frequent flyer points by BIS flying would generally have award seating available for less FF points than others.​
• A second category for frequent spenders -
  Those who generate the far majority of their QFF points by CC spend would basically need to pay far more for their seats.​

By including this paragraph in the T&C, QFF are (indirectly) publishing that facet.

 

[oz_mark]

I think it is just clarifying what we know has been existing practice, and certainly goes something toward rewarding those that actually fly.

 

[simongr]

Re: Two Frequent Flyer/Spender Programs?

i.e. The program could have two main parts:

• One for Elite Frequent Flyers -
  Those who earn a significant proportion of their frequent flyer points by BIS flying would generally have award seating available for less FF points than others.​
• A second category for frequent spenders -
  Those who generate the far majority of their QFF points by CC spend would basically need to pay far more for their seats.​

By including this paragraph in the T&C, QFF are (indirectly) publishing that facet.

Now this would be a program I like - obviously as it meets my personal needs. If QF set this up then I would in all likelihood switch back to QFF for points earning.

S

 

[simongr]

I think it is just clarifying what we know has been existing practice, and certainly goes something toward rewarding those that actually fly.

But historically I think it has only common practice for whY awards and rare practice for other classes?

 

[straitman]

I think it is just clarifying what we know has been existing practice, and certainly goes something toward rewarding those that actually fly.

I agree that this is an important 'written' clarification and probably gives the new scheme the correct perspective for real 'Frequent Flyers'

This of course is based upon the belief that we can trust QF when it says that 'Classic Rewards' remain unchanged.

 

[serfty]

... This of course is based upon the belief that we can trust QF when it says that 'Classic Rewards' remain unchanged.

Qantas do have current obligations to it's oneworld partners - classic would be the award redemption source of these.

 

[straitman]

Qantas do have current obligations to it's oneworld partners - classic would be the award redemption source of these.

serfty,

It's the cynic in me coming through. :shock:

You know how much trust i have of big business :!:

 

[serfty]

But historically I think it has only common practice for whY awards and rare practice for other classes?

This was done in a somewhat 'coarse' manner through the use of X (standard) and T (elite) WHY fare buckets.

With the adoption of T by Y+, the elite WHY award category is now a 'subclass' of X. (As, I assume, with similar subclasses of U & Z)

 

[serfty]

I think it is just clarifying what we know has been existing practice, and certainly goes something toward rewarding those that actually fly.

There is very little chance that Qantas would advertise this possibility; I presume such a small change to the T&C is simply to cover QFF's @rse should a frequent spender get antsy.

 

[oz_mark]

There is very little chance that Qantas would advertise this possibility; I presume such a small change to the T&C is simply to cover QFF's @rse should a frequent spender get antsy.

I don't doubt this, given that there have been a few threads on some boards lately about this very fact. I think it is a good move to clarify that as an actual flyer you do (at the absolute dscretion of Qantas) get some extra benefits.