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?

 

[RichardMEL]

Mine are not listed so I will contact QF and see if they will organise some backdated passes as I've never had access to them while being WP - this will be fun

since they are a P1 benefit, a WP never would have had access to that particular benefit....

 

[Matt_01]

An agent today said that the classic reward seat release is just for P1. If that's inaccurate I'd like to know. It's frustrating seeing only about 10 seats occupied, and so many empty seats in Expert Flyer and not getting the seat released.

I am sure I have read in the QF seat release thread that seats are being released and I would be confident that not all are P1's. Seeing occupied seats on EF may not reflect the availability as not everyone selects seats at the time of booking. Also fare bucket and route are important, WP can get seats released from the I bucket, P1s can get seats from D and I bucket. For some of the routes I have looked at there is minimal I availability, heaps of D and other routes/ flights only J or C which are not available for release. Route is also important, there are few that based on my experience the bot always says "no" and this is when manual assessment comes into play. It has been a while since I was WP so not even sure if their requests are manually assessed.

 

[Matt_01]

Also whilst I am sharing my new found knowledge, I also asked the QF agent about P1 lounge passes and the ability to use them. The answer was on 1 Nov 21 QF will be opening the F lounges (subject to State imposed rules) and lounges passes can be added to bookings. It was also mentioned that the F lounges will be the only lounge available so SG and J travellers will be able to access. On 1 Jan 22 the current plan is to reopen the J lounges but this is not confirmed and will be based on demand.

 

[Kangol]

An agent today said that the classic reward seat release is just for P1. If that's inaccurate I'd like to know. It's frustrating seeing only about 10 seats occupied, and so many empty seats in Expert Flyer and not getting the seat released.

Sounds like you might have two scenarios mixed up:
1) Requesting an award seat to be released
2) Requesting an award seat to be released, which gets denied by the computer (either on the spot or within 24 hours), then a second request for a manual assessment is put in - which may or may not be approved.

1) is for WP and P1
2) is for P1, emphasis underlined

At least that was how it used to be, before all this happened.

 

[Matt_01]

@Kangol that is also how I remember things and your explanation is much easier to understand.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

An agent today said that the classic reward seat release is just for P1. If that's inaccurate I'd like to know. It's frustrating seeing only about 10 seats occupied, and so many empty seats in Expert Flyer and not getting the seat released.

I imagine the bean counters at QF are seeing the surging demand along with AJ having to make up the lost billion $$$ somewhere - let's hope changes are minimal moving forward but I won't be surprised if QF pull out that 'we can make changes anytime' clause

 

[Matt_01]

As an update on my post about seat requests and manual assessment QF called back this morning to let me know that x2 J seats to HNL had been approved and released. So I have happy parents, and when I attach the P1 pass they will be even happier. As a data point the seats would have been from the D bucket as there was no I.

 

[smarty11]

Returned from a SYD to New York trip. Left on 1 Nov (the day borders opened). Booked the same day in PE. The flight was relatively full but PE about 60-65% full. Relatively uneventful flight. Upgraded to Biz on the way back, courtesy VIP service team. They also sent me an email 3-4 days before my return journey along the lines that they are monitoring my flights etc..
Received an email from Olivia Wirth that as Welcome back to international flying they have added double SCs for the SYD-LAX leg.
In flight received a personalised letter from AJ, again welcoming back to Intl travel. (interestingly the letter mentioned that QF is purchasing over 100 aircrafts to upgrade the fleet from 2023).

Just as information for those planning trip to the US where the final destination is not LAX. for the return leg, due to requirements for COVID test and Vaccination certificate, the boarding pass for LAX-SYD can't be issued at check in at the other US city. One would have to go to the QF check in counters at LAX (TBIT), show all the documents and then the boarding pass is issued. So do allow for additional transit time as one can't use the terminal transfer tunnel and would have to go through security check again.

 

[JessicaTam]

[mod hat]
Off topic posts have been removed.
[/mod hat]

 

[RichardMEL]

Was surprised pleasantly to receive an invite for tickets to Moulin Rouge here in Melbourne. It's good to know events are back on and QF is still doing some offers to people. I won't be going myself as it's not really my thing, but definitely appreciate the offer from QF.

 

[Matt_01]

On the way to the airport received a notification that the flight was delayed. On arrival at the lounge I was greeted and informed the flight was delayed and not long after entry I was given a new boarding pass, no more row R4 hello R1.

 

[Lifetime Bronze]

On the way to the airport received a notification that the flight was delayed. On arrival at the lounge I was greeted and informed the flight was delayed and not long after entry I was given a new boarding pass, no more row R4 hello R1.

It’s always a nice feeling when they proactively move you forward a few rows… too bad for me it usually happens on a Dash-8 or single class B717

 

[Fergo747]

Pretty disappointing experience this morning - yes this a bit of a rant and not necessarily a P1 experience or lack thereof but didn't know where else to put it and somewhat relates to the unpublished shadow 'benefit'.

Was travelling on a Dash 8 which was at <50% capacity, yet somehow I was the only person that ended up with a seat mate in row 2. I then asked to move given the plethora of empty seats and was told I could go to row 5 instead of the completely empty row 1….<rant over>

 

[Princess Fiona]

Pretty disappointing experience this morning - yes this a bit of a rant and not necessarily a P1 experience or lack thereof but didn't know where else to put it and somewhat relates to the unpublished shadow 'benefit'.

Was travelling on a Dash 8 which was at <50% capacity, yet somehow I was the only person that ended up with a seat mate in row 2. I then asked to move given the plethora of empty seats and was told I could go to row 5 instead of the completely empty row 1….<rant over>

I’ve had a couple of similar experiences on QFLink.
I think the airport staff sometimes do weird things.

 

[aus_flyer]

Pretty disappointing experience this morning - yes this a bit of a rant and not necessarily a P1 experience or lack thereof but didn't know where else to put it and somewhat relates to the unpublished shadow 'benefit'.

Was travelling on a Dash 8 which was at <50% capacity, yet somehow I was the only person that ended up with a seat mate in row 2. I then asked to move given the plethora of empty seats and was told I could go to row 5 instead of the completely empty row 1….<rant over>

Row 1 is "blocked because of COVID". This has been the case for a while. Probably because there's no barrier between row 1 passengers and seated crew.

 

[Fergo747]

Row 1 is "blocked because of COVID". This has been the case for a while. Probably because there's no barrier between row 1 passengers and seated crew.

Kind of them to think about the crew which from Row 1 to the jump seat is approx. 2m (and partially obstructed if in 1A) vs seating me directly next to someone with our shoulders touching...

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Kind of them to think about the crew which from Row 1 to the jump seat is approx. 2m (and partially obstructed if in 1A) vs seating me directly next to someone with our shoulders touching...

Flight attendants are likely to have more flights and be in contact with more people than you as a passenger.

 

[Kangol]

Did anyone else get a "personal message" from AJ?

 

[RichardMEL]

yeah it was oh so personal. The mail merge managed to put in a line about P1, but that was about it that was "personal"

lol. good try QF.

(now if they'd made it more personal with an extension I'd have been happier )

 

[sudoer]

The mail merge managed to put in a line about P1, but that was about it that was "personal"

Looks like the WP mail merge was just as personal..

Particularly as a highly valued Platinum member, your loyalty this year means a lot.