Qantas unveils the biggest changes to status in program history

[trippin_the_rift]

Interesting you bring this term up. The thing I find curious about QF’s statements is their launch of “new tiers” in 2027 in the context of maybe blending PC into the existing tiers. “New tiers” suggests a rehash of the whole SG-WP-P1 ecosystem. The only thing that is clear is that the 2027 changes aren’t half baked, they just haven’t gone into the oven yet.

My money is on a proper tier that sits between Bronze and Silver.
Maybe they can call it Wood .....en-spoon.

 

[Scarlett]

My blueprint here also plays perfectly into the psychology of LTG/ex-Platinums who tend to think more about value than price. This is every airlines dream passenger. Less price sensitivity, chasing something that is useless to the passenger until they pay even more money, and by then the customer has locked themselves into QF even more -- and thus achieving exactly what Qantas wants.
<snip>

But hey, what do I know?

Yep, this.
2014 I earned LTG.
I sit here in 2026 with just over 15K SC, but with VA WP and *G status.

What would have incentivised me to remain within the QF ecosystem is for the LTG to have meant something better than row 6 on a 737 with (tight) 76cm pitch. Sure it’s nice to have lounge access when I randomly fly AA or QR, but I rarely even consider QF or oneworld. I generally filter domestic searches for VA only, and international searches for *A only.

I fly international J mostly with cash fares. Actually maybe that’s why I moved away from QF: they’re not price competitive.

 

[Laptop Jockey]

My money is on a proper tier that sits between Bronze and Silver.
Maybe they can call it Wood .....en-spoon.

I think something less than gold but actually worthwhile is important, there's a big market of fairly frequent flyers that just don't hit 700, and expecting double status credit promos/charity to get a huge chunk of your customers over the line isn't exactly smart business.
Right now if you aren't hitting gold, there's no real point in any loyalty/preference for Qantas. Silver is pretty pointless as is, and the basic points club was arguably more beneficial, but then again I've long been a critic that the current system skews too heavily to simply flying international J once or twice a year, rather than someone who flies domestically once a fortnight, every fortnight.

Either making silver far more beneficial, introducing an intermediate tier at the low end, or rebalancing the way the system values frequency of travel better (every fifth flight is DSC or gets a free lounge entry or something) is really needed.

 

[CaptJCool]

I think something less than gold but actually worthwhile is important, there's a big market of fairly frequent flyers that just don't hit 700, and expecting double status credit promos/charity to get a huge chunk of your customers over the line isn't exactly smart business.
Right now if you aren't hitting gold, there's no real point in any loyalty/preference for Qantas. Silver is pretty pointless as is, and the basic points club was arguably more beneficial, but then again I've long been a critic that the current system skews too heavily to simply flying international J once or twice a year, rather than someone who flies domestically once a fortnight, every fortnight

The algorithm Could be worse



Imagine if they gave more credits for Syd-Melb ? Well apparently that used to the case and they were downscaled

The financial model is based on distance and time and fare. Some of the static combinations do seem inequitable and these could be adjusted dynamically but are not

 

[mviy]

The challenge that QF has that if you make SG or LTG too good flyers that are currently willing and able may stop trying for WP/P1 sooner

If more benefits are given to SG/LTG does that devalue the experience for those who earn WP/P1?

If LTG got a 700 SC head start each year would those LTG currently willing and able to spend 1200 SC (soon 1400 SC) to retain WP reduce their spend on QF? Would too many find it too easy to keep WP in such a scenario?

Whilst we may feel that the balance is not right, I’m sure QF would be doing a fair bit of analysis when planning their moves to change things up.

 

[CaptJCool]

The challenge that QF has that if you make SG or LTG too good flyers that are currently willing and able may stop trying for WP/P1 sooner

If more benefits are given to SG/LTG does that devalue the experience for those who earn WP/P1?

If LTG got a 700 SC head start each year would those LTG currently willing and able to spend 1200 SC (soon 1400 SC) to retain WP reduce their spend on QF? Would too many find it too easy to keep WP in such a scenario?

Whilst we may feel that the balance is not right, I’m sure QF would be doing a fair bit of analysis when planning their moves to change things up.

The hidden analysis is the emotional

QF could BE hypnotic

OR USE proxy hypothesis

Who pays for an individuals travel ?
Employer
Business owner
Self-funded

How does DSC affect self-funders?
How does status level ?

What’s the mix of the business : self ?
Different strategy for 100:0 versus 50:50 versus 0:100%

Over how many years ?
What’s the share of wallet ?
Proxy for income based on home suburb and frequency of travel, employment status etc

Could tailor solutions similar to the Roy Morgan

Helix Personas - Roy Morgan Research

Helix Personas is a powerful psychographic consumer segmentation and data integration tool that combines sophisticated psychographic, attitudinal and behavioural data to classify the Australian population into 54 unique Personas, grouped into 6 Communities and geo-projected down to meshblock level.

www.roymorgan.com

 

[mviy]

Self-funders can likely do more of their travel using DSC as many business travellers may need more than a week to get approval for travel and then be expected to book promptly once approved to secure a good price.

If QF thinks that giving more benefits over and above already announced to SG/LTG will improve QF's bottom line, I'm sure they will seriously consider such moves.