Classic upgrades were the best way for upgrades from the economy class; as many know here on the forum, it is the best value.
That's debatable, particularly if you are flying on the cheapest possible international fare, which I reckon frequent flyers should be focused on. To give you a point of comparison, I upgraded London Heathrow to Sydney (via Los Angeles) from a $900 USD return economy air fare to Polaris business class (one-way to Sydney) for 35,000 points + $600 USD co-pay. Looking at the QF site, the same upgrade would set me back 130,800 points. Bear in mind a classic award between LHR and SYD is only slightly more at 144,600 and for that you would have a confirmed booking versus playing upgrade roulette as you have.
Don't get me wrong, flying SYD > MEL on a $99 red e-deal fare the points upgrades can be a real no brainer, especially on an A330. But not all upgrades are made equal and certainly international upgrades pose lesser value than short haul domestic upgrades.
However, there have been no upgrades for all my international flights this year. Despite being platinum, with lots of points in availability and flex economy. I have been unable to score despite multiple flights to Europe and back.
At present, the Australian international flight network is at 50% of pre-COVID capacity despite demand being at a record high. Hence, it should come as no surprise that cabins are consistently being booked solid. Keep in mind too, many folks have been sitting on points for 2+ years and are now bursting at the seams to start using them for some value. I know some people who had a ball when Sydney was in lockdown last year booking classic flight awards when there was tons of availability.
So what advice is there for someone who racks up a ton of points and wants to put them to good use? Plan ahead - like way ahead, 5 months or 6 months at least. Look for business classic international awards (which usually only cost marginally more than the upgrade) where you are guaranteed that business class seat. Be flexible in when you can travel and most importantly how you get there. For instance, suppose there isn't availability between Sydney and London Heathrow in business class. Okay. But what about Sydney to Singapore on one day and Singapore to London Heathrow a couple days later? It may not work for you but that flexibility in booking far enough ahead, date of departure and routing can certainly make a difference. Remember, as a valued QF Platinum member you are amongst the first people who have access to those plush business classic awards on QF. Us plebs in Gold or heaven forbid Silver have to wait several weeks whilst you lot skim the best flights away from us!
The only reason I still use Qantas as an airline is some basic semblance of using the Qantas lounge. Patience is running thin. Should I wait it out or jump ship?
At the end of the day you have to look at the travel you do and see if it makes senses to do so. I was loyal to United all the way through 2019 until one day United decided to award loyalty based on $$$ spent with them versus butt in seat miles. Imagine the horror of spending $2000/year on United and Star Alliance K fares to earn Premier Gold to having to spend anywhere from $8000 to $10,000/year to maintain status? Insane! I did some looking around and found that for cheapskates like me, Qantas is a good choice. Plenty of ways to engineer the status credits needed to earn status and arguably I get better recognition as a Qantas Gold than I would ever get as an Untied Premier Gold. For instance, did you know that you do not get complimentary advanced seating selection on Star Alliance flights as a United Premier Gold? However, as a Qantas Gold I would still have complimentary seat selection on OneWorld partners. I can spend $20,000 a year with United to earn their top tier Premier 1K status with them and still won't have access to First class lounges never mind United's awesome Polaris business lounges. Meanwhile with Qantas I can fly just a little bit more than I'm doing to earn Platinum status and have access to First class lounges around the world, enjoying American Flagship Dining in Los Angeles for my flight up to San Francisco. Right now given the domestic and trans-tassie flights I am taking Qantas simply makes sense, it's relatively cheap and the benefits are accessible!
And who else can fill the void after leaving Qantas?
Only you can answer that! You have to look at where you're flying and see what airlines/alliances make sense. But please don't delude yourself into thinking the grass is greener on the other side. It may very well not be!
With the current demand and still limited capacity on some routes, upgrades are going to be few and far between. However, I was quite surprised to get a points upgrade on a classic reward flight on QF72 Y -> J. I only put the request in a few days before while in SIN and it was confirmed overnight while I slept. On the night, the J cabin was full.
Unless and until flight capacity increases and demand stabilizes it will be highly unlikely international upgrades will clear in this market.
The thread title is misleading IMHO. There is no devaluation. Premium cabins are running at capacity or near capacity.
This sense of entitlement that one must be guaranteed a business class seat or upgrade because they are elite is partly the airline's own doing. They need to ground traveller's expectations rather than paint an arguably unrealistic picture in this current travel market. I get it, Qantas wants to please their primary customers of AmEx, ANZ, CommBank and the other financial institutions that buy points from them, but when you build travellers hopes up high and fail to deliver (due to market constraints) there will be disappointment!
If your travel is inflexible then your going against the tide.
If your travel is flexible you can use tools such as expertflyer to ensure you atleast have a chance at an upgrade ( premium cabins not being sold out well prior to departure).
I have requested 3 upgrades and received 2 on international flights I chose that had some J availability 2 weeks out from departure. I am only now returning to plat.
And that my friends is the key. Flexibility is so important, and I would go one further and say a business classic award is infinitely better than an upgrade request that may or may not go through and will cost roughly the same as that business classic award.
-RooFlyer88
