Interesting response tbh. I honestly expected(as I was reading through) a canned sort of nothing response. That's fairly decent even though I think they misunderstood the upgrade thing, but overall while obviously unable to promise anything, it was on the whole a pretty reasonable response IMHO.
Even where there is F points upgrades would trump "space-available" upgrades.And also, if you are already in J in an aircraft with no F, then an upgrade is a tad hard!
1.- Shadows. I totally get what QF said there. "Most" higher tier travelers who do economy want to sit in the first couple of rows of economy, the most sought after Y seats, but they also all want an empty seat next to them. Just cannot work. (at least it cannot be a guaranteed right)
Why for CLs and not P1s?
Possibly because a CL who goes on social media to praise/complain about Qantas is a big deal compared to a P1 who does the same
Even though, in the case of the CL, they would probably get their secretary/PA/publicist to do the complaining.
...... In such cases it would hardly be destroying J revenue fares to bump a P1 into J rather than a staff member setting off on a holiday to Cairns......
Yes it would need to be done sensibly. If the upgrade is only once every 10 flights or so, I don't think P1s would be relying on free upgrades all the time, and in any case points upgrades would trump free upgrades.But if that was the norm no P1 would be booking/paying J - they would rely on the upgrade.
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Sorry my post was confusing two separate issues. 1 is availability in J or F. 2 is guaranteed upgrades.
On the first, I simply make the comment that given staff seem to me to regularly travel in J, this cannot be a barrier to upgrades for P1s - however they are allocated (on day, or as one of say 5 guaranteed upgrades you could use per year).
On 2 - I am not advocating for more of the occasional / random upgrades. (Although it does irk me a bit when I see staff travelling in J and the empty seat next to me disappear last second as it's a full flight, I recognize the conundrum an airline faces with P1s or CLs coming to expect an upgrade as you say Juddles. I was given this very same reason by an ex-QF employee who was involved in yield management at the time a decision was made not to displace staff in J for WPs.)
In fact I'd be happy if they stopped the P1 "Enjoy your flight" upgrades altogether (op-ups excluded) and replaced them with some form of guaranteed upgrades. Ideally ones you could book in advance (say 5 per year, or to a value of xx_ points) and be guaranteed free. Given that would cost QF some revenue, perhaps limit it to those where there are award seats available at the time; or even tighter only those that have 'space' say a week out from the flight. Lots of ways you could do it.
Goes back to the same issue - get rid of the vague, intangible, random 'benefits'; introduce more guaranteed and meaningful ones. And give a passenger choice, so that if Partner Platinum isn't relevant you may choose instead:
- the guaranteed upgrades; or
- 5 CL lounge entries; or
- 7 Chauffeur drives; or
- 10% discount all-year round in the QF store; or
- 10% discount on all award / upgrade requests; or
- ...
This will be my feedback - some additional defined benefits and a choice.
Edit: Just saw RichardMEL's post after typing mine. Pretty much the same points.
Sorry my post was confusing two separate issues. 1 is availability in J or F. 2 is guaranteed upgrades.
On the first, I simply make the comment that given staff seem to me to regularly travel in J, this cannot be a barrier to upgrades for P1s - however they are allocated (on day, or as one of say 5 guaranteed upgrades you could use per year).
On 2 - I am not advocating for more of the occasional / random upgrades. (Although it does irk me a bit when I see staff travelling in J and the empty seat next to me disappear last second as it's a full flight, I recognize the conundrum an airline faces with P1s or CLs coming to expect an upgrade as you say Juddles. I was given this very same reason by an ex-QF employee who was involved in yield management at the time a decision was made not to displace staff in J for WPs.)
In fact I'd be happy if they stopped the P1 "Enjoy your flight" upgrades altogether (op-ups excluded) and replaced them with some form of guaranteed upgrades. Ideally ones you could book in advance (say 5 per year, or to a value of xx_ points) and be guaranteed free. Given that would cost QF some revenue, perhaps limit it to those where there are award seats available at the time; or even tighter only those that have 'space' say a week out from the flight. Lots of ways you could do it.
Goes back to the same issue - get rid of the vague, intangible, random 'benefits'; introduce more guaranteed and meaningful ones. And give a passenger choice, so that if Partner Platinum isn't relevant you may choose instead:
- the guaranteed upgrades; or
- 5 CL lounge entries; or
- 7 Chauffeur drives; or
- 10% discount all-year round in the QF store; or
- 10% discount on all award / upgrade requests; or
- ...
This will be my feedback - some additional defined benefits and a choice.
Edit: Just saw RichardMEL's post after typing mine. Pretty much the same points.
What QF could do is provide four free upgrades a year to their best FF which can be used to confirm an upgrade from a Flexi fare to J at any time award seats are available and also if there any seats are available in J on departure. Another familiar solution....
*Paging Griselda........I hope CL's have a better secretary than mine.
Now I can't speak for QF as I have no experience from the business side of this, but I do happen to have a reasonable idea how it works atsome other airlines, where these "Space Available" (SA) standby pass riders (including buddy passes) have differing BP(Boarding Priority) which comes *after* upgrades and revenue standby (ie: paying passengers) are processed, and some airlines have different priorities for various kinds of SA travel - eg: your own airline staff based on seniority, then company buddy pass holders, then OA(other airline) staff standby pax and those can then be graded into what sort of fare they've paid ID90/ID75 etc (or osme use the ZED fare concept which is based on distance zones, but I digress) and it all winds up in how these standbys are allocated seats.
Again, dunno about QF, but I definitely doubt that staff on passes or standby travel occupy seats ahead of customers either on standby or upgrades.
And give a passenger choice, so that if Partner Platinum isn't relevant you may choose instead:
- the guaranteed upgrades; or
- 5 CL lounge entries; or
- 7 Chauffeur drives; or
- 10% discount all-year round in the QF store; or
- 10% discount on all award / upgrade requests; or.
They could have a condition on the invites that they could deny access due to capacity constraints in which case you can use the invitation at another time (i.e. if too many P1s tried to use their invites at the same time - they could set quotas on how many P1s can be in the lounge at a time and once that limit's hit...).I thought the same about CL invites although more as part of the 'package'. Two CL visits per year wouldn't break the bank and would be a fantastic perk without ruining the exclusivity of said lounge.
And then there's those with no partner at all.Mrs 340 is Platinum so Partner Platinum means nothing to me. Would be nice to have been offered an alternative and I'm sure we're not the only couple in this situation.
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They could have a condition on the invites that they could deny access due to capacity constraints in which case you can use the invitation at another time (i.e. if too many P1s tried to use their invites at the same time - they could set quotas on how many P1s can be in the lounge at a time and once that limit's hit...).
Or they could eject any MPs in the CL considering, as taxpayers, we are paying for their travel anyway