Qantas Platinum One experiences?

[aus_flyer]

To all the newly-minted Platinum One frequent flyers out there... I'm curious to hear... what's been your experience so far?

Anything different?

Free upgrades?

... or all hype?

 

[Richie Teh]

Just re-qualified for Plat One - this would be my second year as a Plat One member.

My experience of being a Plat One so far - as per what I specified in my survey response:
- Inconsistent service levels and giftings
For e.g. I noticed that another Plat One member who lives in Sydney seemed to be receiving lots more invites than me (I'm in Melb).
To date, I've only received one invite to attend the "premiere" of Planes, along side Qantas staff and family.

I did received 4 upgrades (Premium to Business) out of my 10 flights overseas this year.
Everything else, its pretty much similar to being a Platinum member.

Verdict - not worth looking to qualify for Plat One, especially when you do not live in Sydney.

 

[danny09]

Just re-qualified for Plat One - this would be my second year as a Plat One member.

My experience of being a Plat One so far - as per what I specified in my survey response:
- Inconsistent service levels and giftings
For e.g. I noticed that another Plat One member who lives in Sydney seemed to be receiving lots more invites than me (I'm in Melb).
To date, I've only received one invite to attend the "premiere" of Planes, along side Qantas staff and family.

I did received 4 upgrades (Premium to Business) out of my 10 flights overseas this year.
Everything else, its pretty much similar to being a Platinum member.

Verdict - not worth looking to qualify for Plat One, especially when you do not live in Sydney.

Completey agree with you on the whole sydney thing (as I mentioned in the survey response also) Im in WA & feel as much frustration in the WP1 service as most people, but am very happy with most CSM's on the flight who totally make WP1 being worth it (in the air ofcourse)

Op-Up rate is great for me, no complaints there.

I met P!NK at a meet & greet with QF at one of the Perth concerts (totally made up for a years worth of nothing!) I do feel more valued than WP's though, & i guess thats all I expect too.

 

[pleffer]

I have been P1 since launch and have requal until Dec 2014.

Op ups have been good, when available.

Only had 2 invites to events over that time, one I couldn't attend as I was overseas was the launch of the new uniforms.

The second was an absolute beauty though, myself and my daughter got to fly the simulators on both the 747 and the A380 in Sydney. Great Day.

 

[TonyHancock]

I'm in my third and last year as a P1. Last year not because my flying will be reduced, but last year because the P1 benefit has been diluted by double SC's and an absurdity that means if you actually fly quite a lot then P1 offers will be given to the DSC brigade because you will be overseas when the offers are made. I'll be heading away from QF next year.

The situation is absurd, but congrats to the occasional fliers who get the DSC offers.....that is where the real P1 benefits lie. (No offence to the DSC brigade...in fact bloody well done on playing the system to perfection.)

In effect if you are near to a QF sponsored event you would like to attend, but are traveling just before the event you would be better placed flying with another carrier. That way QF will not know you are traveling and will call to offer you a place at the event.*

You soon realise that 10,000 SC's in two years,with no DSC offers, has less value than 3600 SC's over the same period. :shock:

*QF has since "corrected" this for me...perhaps, but the aftertaste leaves me cold towards QF.

 

[danny09]

I'm in my third and last year as a P1. Last year not because my flying will be reduced, but last year because the P1 benefit has been diluted by double SC's and an absurdity that means if you actually fly quite a lot then P1 offers will be given to the DSC brigade because you will be overseas when the offers are made. I'll be heading away from QF next year.

The situation is absurd, but congrats to the occasional fliers who get the DSC offers.....that is where the real P1 benefits lie. (No offence to the DSC brigade...in fact bloody well done on playing the system to perfection.)

In effect if you are near to a QF sponsored event you would like to attend, but are traveling just before the event you would be better placed flying with another carrier. That way QF will not know you are traveling and will call to offer you a place at the event.*

You soon realise that 10,000 SC's in two years,with no DSC offers, has less value than 3600 SC's over the same period. :shock:

*QF has since "corrected" this for me...perhaps, but the aftertaste leaves me cold towards QF.

Ouch! Well said Tony. So are you going to the cricket?

 

[Pleb Status]

Received a 'Christmas gift' with my first* Op Up since becoming P1 (which is almost six months now). I was sitting in Y PER-BNE and noticed a few empty J seats on departure. About 20 minutes after take off, the CSM came down to Y to say hello (which in itself is very rare) and asked if I would like to move up front. Nice of the CSM to offer as they are not supposed to upgrade passengers on aircraft (I assume to stop 'mates' being upgraded etc). Also nice after yet another involuntary Y seat change before departure.

*First as I do not count the two Op Ups received on heavily oversold intra WA Hi Viz flights. The instance above is also marginal as QF did not upgrade me, the CSM did.

 

[JohnK]

I'm in my third and last year as a P1. Last year not because my flying will be reduced, but last year because the P1 benefit has been diluted by double SC's and an absurdity that means if you actually fly quite a lot then P1 offers will be given to the DSC brigade because you will be overseas when the offers are made. I'll be heading away from QF next year.

Wasnt the original intention to cap the Platinum One numbers at ~3,000 members?

 

[TonyDoh]

I am certainly in a sweet spot with QF at the moment, particularly P1. I became a P1 back in about September, and have since had a couple of domestic upgrades and was one of the lucky Melbourne P1 members to have been given a couple of tickets to the Boxing Day Test. Very happy with the outcome to date, particularly as a wholly self-funded traveller. I have not travelled overseas this year; will be interested to see any benefits I might get when do a couple of planned overseas trips in Y next year.

On the subject of the tickets to the cricket (26 Jan), I had a mate of mine coming to the cricket with me but he has had to withdraw at short notice. I therefore have a spare ticket for day 1 of the test. Is there anyone out there interested in attending and available to attend at this absurdly short notice? If so, please reply to this thread, preferably by about 8 am Thursday morning and hopefully I can get the ticket to you outside the ground.

 

[Hvr]

A generous offer TonyDoh and I suggest you post it here: Free to a Good Home

I'll be there in my own right and looking forward to a great day.

 

[Happy Trails]

TonyDoh - First post in more than five years and a good one.
If only some of the regulars could exercise similar self-restraint.

 

[samh004]

Wasnt the original intention to cap the Platinum One numbers at ~3,000 members?

How can numbers be capped in a tier where all you have to do is hit the right SC-count? I understand for CL, as there's no requirement to do any sort of flying, but I'd be unamused, as would many others I'm sure, if you flew the number needed but they closed the door because there was a cap.

Perhaps they estimated there to be about 3000 members originally?

 

[ReLoad]

Question for fellow P1's How have you been treated on EK flights? any different to QF? How has your op up success rate been on EK metal? (with or without QF flight nos/ticketed)?

 

[zachary.august]

I certainly hope that P1 is capped, for fear that it will go the way of CL in some respects. The CL service for a 'vanilla CL' is at Platinum level now save for access to the lounge. As a P1CL I have been told on many occasions that they now value P1 over vanilla level 1 CLs (that's low level company offered status, public servants, MPs without portfolio etc) since it has become so diluted. I would invalidate DSCs for Platinum One gain, they have a chance to create a really fantastic club at that level.

 

[JohnK]

How can numbers be capped in a tier where all you have to do is hit the right SC-count?

It can be capped quite easily.

Stop the silly double SCs offers. If you cant earn Platinum One in your own right then you are not worthy of that status. And what happens is the Platinum One numbers saturate and the service personnel are not increased to cope with the extra demand so you have declining levels of service.

And no I am not having a go at the people taking advantage of these offers. Just at the people offering them.

 

[RooFlyer]

I certainly hope that P1 is capped, for fear that it will go the way of CL in some respects. The CL service for a 'vanilla CL' is at Platinum level now save for access to the lounge. As a P1CL I have been told on many occasions that they now value P1 over vanilla level 1 CLs (that's low level company offered status, public servants, MPs without portfolio etc) since it has become so diluted. I would invalidate DSCs for Platinum One gain, they have a chance to create a really fantastic club at that level.

I'm sure QF would value P1s over 'vanilla level 1 CLs', considering a number of the latter get the CL perks for simply having a certain job or being a 'celebrity' etc, without the need to do any paid flying on QF.

There's nothing in this thread that I've seen which entices me to go for P1 after reaching WP. Once I secure WP, its over to Star Alliance for the majority of my international travel, to keep Gold status there. And doing a lot of flying to / within Canada, top status on the AC scheme is a God-send, especially with the weather related hassles flyers have over there. Their 'Concierge' service, available to Super Elites, offers much more than P1 seems to offer. Having Gold on VA is also an objective of mine (failed this year!).

Then I have complete freedom to travel on the best priced / most convenient flights almost anywhere in the world, without having to fret about lounge access, priority boarding etc. This is much more valuable to me than anything P1 seems to offer, especially as I'm mostly in business for work and personal travel anyway, except for short domestic legs.

 

[moa999]

It is capped by virtue of the entrance requirements being pretty difficult.

While there are some celebrity CLs if QF feels the program is diluted they can change it quickly by removing some people from the list.

I don't think there are many vanilla CLs around. At most large corporates with a QF contact the number of CLs is tied to spend and then offered to the CEO to nominate - this normally you see the most senior members of the company getting CL (not all will fully a lot, but would expect most to be reasonably regular travelers)

 

[danny09]

Question for fellow P1's How have you been treated on EK flights? any different to QF? How has your op up success rate been on EK metal? (with or without QF flight nos/ticketed)?

Unfortunetly I have heard of mixed things for WP & WP1's on EK flights, some are good where get Op-Up'd to the next class & special treatment, but for me sadly never got anything special, treated the same as a SG behind me. This was when the partnership started, so maybe its changed now, but certainly didnt feel any love :evil:

 

[Pleb Status]

I certainly hope that P1 is capped, for fear that it will go the way of CL in some respects. The CL service for a 'vanilla CL' is at Platinum level now save for access to the lounge. As a P1CL I have been told on many occasions that they now value P1 over vanilla level 1 CLs (that's low level company offered status, public servants, MPs without portfolio etc) since it has become so diluted. I would invalidate DSCs for Platinum One gain, they have a chance to create a really fantastic club at that level.

Do not worry. The P1 service level is at a WP level now, so it cannot reduce any further (except QF appear to want to reduce the gap between WP and SG with the increased status bonus to 75%, combined J and F lounges like SIN etc). I would call the whole P1 experiment a dismal failure and I would recommend it be abolished. Get rid off all DSC promotions, introduce a minimum 50% QF SC earn requirement for WP and then increase the general service level to all WP would be a far better solution for all.

 

[kevrosmith]

I still get mixed levels of "special" service on my flights, though overall, I think I do appreciate being P1 cf. WP. There's little chance I'll requalify P1 this year, so I'll make the most of it while I can. That said, I thought I'd share what happened on my flight on Monday, though I am often hesitant to do this, 1. as I don't want to set expectations for others and, 2. I don't want to get anyone in trouble.

When I boarded my flight CNS-BNE, I knew from EF that row 4 seating was X-X X-X, with me in 4C. I couldn't tell status of others in row 4, though later got the distinct impression I was the only P1 in Economy at least. I got my boarding pass from the service desk in CNS and I overheard some discussion with a man in front of me about seating arrangements, and heard he was moved to row 7 from the exit row.

Soon after boarding, I had to use the loo, so went to the back of the bus. When I got back, I found this same gent sitting in 4B. He said something like "the crew moved me here". I didn't say anything, though wasn't happy, as I was hoping to get some work done and was going to appreciate having the extra space to place paperwork etc. I considered talking with the CSM, though when I find myself in these situations, I have to remember that I'm getting the seat I paid for and to remain calm -- after all, why stress over something I can't control? (Though it is disappointing).

In the second half of the flight, the CSM popped her head through the curtain and apologised for not coming to greet me earlier, and asked if I'd accept a bottle of wine as an apology. Certainly unexpected on my part, though initially I thought she was apologising for my lost shadow-seat. We chatted about the meal (a chicken pie) and the fact I'd raced to the airport from meetings and hadn't had a chance to grab a more substantial bite to eat in the Lounge. At this stage, she discreetly offered for me to come and sit in the forward crew seat and gave me a spare biz meal (chicken salad), though I fear I may have been eating her crew meal! (I really hope not: I'd feel terrible, but she insisted). I really did appreciate this offer, as I was starving, and if I'd been more pro-active, would've even just have been happy to ask for another pie from the Y crew.

As we chatted further something came up about not having a spare seat next to me, and I indicated that it was originally free, and that another crew member had moved someone there. She was quite shocked and apologised even further, indicating that this should not have happened, given my P1 status. This is where I find having status challenging. I often appreciate the extra service and attention, seeing I'm on the "bus" so often, though I have to keep in mind never to expect it, otherwise I'll keep getting stressed and disappointed by things that do/don't happen. What causes the pain is the confusion and uncertainty over what to expect as P1.

Other simple examples of inconsistency include:
1. being offered a free wine on flights that usually incur a charge... sometimes it's free due to status, sometimes I have to pay. (Do I tell them that I often get this free as I'm P1? This sounds DYKWIA-ish to me. Or do I just shut up and pay up? -- These are the questions I'd like to ask someone in QF).
2. grabbing a pillow (I use this as lumbar support) when I'm in row 4, sometimes the crew will tell me to grab one from Business, and sometimes I get in trouble for grabbing one from Business.
3. Using Business toilet when sitting in row 4. Some CSMs come and tell row 4 to use it, sometimes I just go through and use it, and sometimes I just go down the back.

So, overall, I can't complain from this flight: the CSM discreetly handed me the bottle of wine as I departed, I got an extra meal and had a lovely chat with the CSM and other crew about the state of the company.

Other benefits I've had:
Flight Sim in 747. Bottle of wine for birthday (same time as Flight Sim experience). A couple in-lounge op-ups, a couple flight-delay op-ups and at least one CSM-initiated on-board op-up (all domestic). I've had one or two flights for non-changeable fares changed onto an earlier flight at the service desk/lounge, with them making special mention, "I can do this only due to your status". I got F reward flights to LHR released last August (only booked a couple weeks in advance) and I find the SST very helpful when I need their help.

 

[ReLoad]

I would invalidate DSCs for Platinum One gain, they have a chance to create a really fantastic club at that level.

I think this is a bit of nonsense, firstly, DSC, if a person managed to get P1 thanks to DSC are they really flying all that much to "absorb" your benefits?

This isn't the Melbourne club or MENSA, it's a extra level of service, which the SST certainly is. Is it worthwhile spending extra to go for? Nope, but for those of us who happened to get it anyway then great.

At the family Christmas BBQ I was speaking to my brother in law who is a Dom CSM, he said there is about 3500 p1s give or take. So is a few hundred (at most) that have got P1 due to DSC going to make any difference?

Has P1 been a success? It all comes down to expectations, was the QF marketing setting expectations of a "club" of the best FF'ers or did they set the expectation of "here is some better service"?