Status Match Fight Back

[dfar5370]

If QF was really serious about fighting back in the domestic battle with DJ you would think a smart tactic would be to also offer to status match DJ & VA FFs. What do others think?

 

[medhead]

No, not at all, with all the measures that DJ are using to keep those status matched people. It suggests QF aren't losing that many.


Sent from the Throne

 

[straitman]

If QF was really serious about fighting back in the domestic battle with DJ you would think a smart tactic would be to also offer to status match DJ & VA FFs. What do others think?

Hi dfar5370,

Welcome to AFF.

Short answer.

NO.

They need to improve their attitude to those who are paying them. Then the flights would be full.

 

[The Rok]

Can of worms no officially open. Sit back and hide as all the QF WP's who were sm'd by DJ hurl abuse at you for suggesting the erosion of benefits and exclusivity of their hard earned BIS WP status ruined.

Oh how the QF Lounges will fill with the DJ riff raff taking up valuable space for those "Hard Earned QF WP's"



Note, I put the smiley there fit the few here who cannot decipher sarcasm!!!

 

[SteveJohnson]

If QF was really serious about fighting back in the domestic battle with DJ you would think a smart tactic would be to also offer to status match DJ & VA FFs.

Can't see any 'win' in this for Qantas. QF has 8+m QFF members compared to Virgin's 3m, so QF would likely already have most of the higher-status members out there, and I honestly think that most of Virgin's Gold and Platinums have the same QF status, quite possibly because they were status-matched from QF to DJ. And even for those who have switched their flying to Virgin they would just have dropped down one level in QFF as a 'soft landing' so they'd be for example Silver instead of Gold, Gold instead of Platinum, and what does QF have to gain by giving those 'traitorous travellers' a free boost back to Gold or Platinum?

So what's left would be a relatively small number of die-hard Virgin travellers with Gold or Platinum, who have either never held or long since lost any decent QFF status, and for a number that small are they really worth chasing, considering the cost of a status match and all the others who would come in on top of this?

Nah, can't agree that QF would gain anything but pain from a DJ status match.

 

[sydflyer]

Why devalue the programme by giving away membership? VA had to do something to get critical mass because they were starting from such a low base. QF as leader should't play at that level - it should focus on engaging & rewarding those members who have earned status via spending money or sitting in seats.

 

[freepyjamas]

Hi dfar5370,

Welcome to AFF.

Short answer.

NO.

They need to improve their attitude to those who are paying them. Then the flights would be full.

Hmm, yes.

I experienced the full brunt of QF's famous 'good one day, terrible the next' service last week. Coming home SYD-MEL, show my boarding pass to male FA at the door. Me: "Hi there". Him: (zero eye contact): "down on the right".

As a WP, I don't expect anything special at all from the crew. But a basic greeting is, to me, mandatory no matter what your status. I don't get why it's so hard, in a service industry, to have decent service as a minimum requirement.

edit: oh, and NO to status matching. The lounges are busy enough as it is

 

[Foreigner]

Hmm, yes.

I experienced the full brunt of QF's famous 'good one day, terrible the next' service last week. Coming home SYD-MEL, show my boarding pass to male FA at the door. Me: "Hi there". Him: (zero eye contact): "down on the right".

As a WP, I don't expect anything special at all from the crew. But a basic greeting is, to me, mandatory no matter what your status. I don't get why it's so hard, in a service industry, to have decent service as a minimum requirement.

edit: oh, and NO to status matching. The lounges are busy enough as it is

That's a hit and miss for me and, in my case, I reason my surname is somewhat harder to pronounce. On occasions, I'm acknowledged by name both at gate and at airplane door. Not fussed.

There can be numerous other reasons for not acknowledging...crew having a bad day, quick turnaround time, etc.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Hmm, yes.

I experienced the full brunt of QF's famous 'good one day, terrible the next' service last week. Coming home SYD-MEL, show my boarding pass to male FA at the door. Me: "Hi there". Him: (zero eye contact): "down on the right".

As a WP, I don't expect anything special at all from the crew. But a basic greeting is, to me, mandatory no matter what your status. I don't get why it's so hard, in a service industry, to have decent service as a minimum requirement.

edit: oh, and NO to status matching. The lounges are busy enough as it is

Very down market I agree.

Make the effort to contact the airline and let them know. It's a competitive world out there and we all have a choice.


Customer Care Feedback Form

 

[freepyjamas]

That's a hit and miss for me and, in my case, I reason my surname is somewhat harder to pronounce. On occasions, I'm acknowledged by name both at gate and at airplane door. Not fussed.

There can be numerous other reasons for not acknowledging...crew having a bad day, quick turnaround time, etc.

Don't need them to say my name. But at the very least, if you say Hi to someone, then a Hi or Hello or Good Afternoon in return is basic manners and takes about half a second.

As for crew 'having a bad day'... you're not serious are you? Service staff taking out their personal issues on paying customers is the very definition of unprofessionalism.

 

[Foreigner]

Don't need them to say my name. But at the very least, if you say Hi to someone, then a Hi or Hello or Good Afternoon in return is basic manners and takes about half a second.

As for crew 'having a bad day'... you're not serious are you? Service staff taking out their personal issues on paying customers is the very definition of unprofessionalism.

I agree with you that's not acceptable. I'd also suggest you provide feedback, as Sprucegoose mentioned. It's a case of more training in customer service which is essential for frontline employees.

 

[freepyjamas]

I agree with you that's not acceptable. I'd also suggest you provide feedback, as Sprucegoose mentioned. It's a case of more training in customer service which is essential for frontline employees.

trouble is, I don't know the name of the FA. There may have been more than one male FA on board that flight from memory, and I wouldn't want the wrong guy to have his rep tarnished.

next time, I'll make a mental note to get a name if I get BAD QF.

(to be honest, I'm more inclined to report great service anyway. but both are helpful to the organisation, I agree)

 

[TonyHancock]

It's a case of more training in customer service which is essential for frontline employees.

No amount of training and retraining will deliver a better customer service experience if there is no intent or belief, at senior levels within QF, in customer service.

 

[Foreigner]

Well, intent and belief is one thing but delivery is another, obviously. But then, VA seems to me to be doing it right. However, there are going to be hits and misses.

 

[burrco]

Well looking at the travel news thread about contracts - it appears Qantas is quite eager to hand out status matches. However for the supposed market leader to do so on a large public scale would reek of panic and desperation.

 

[amaroo]

No amount of training and retraining will deliver a better customer service experience if there is no intent or belief, at senior levels within QF, in customer service.

I agree however, every industry has people employed in roles they simply should not be.

This bloke could have been having a bad day or he could simply be useless!

 

[JohnK]

Why should Qantas offer status match to Virgin status?

 

[Mal]

Well looking at the travel news thread about contracts - it appears Qantas is quite eager to hand out status matches. However for the supposed market leader to do so on a large public scale would reek of panic and desperation.

Nope. Just commercial reasons.
Both Qf and DJ have played the comp game for commercial customers for many years.

Consumer environment is different.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using AustFreqFly

 

[Pleb Status]

No status matches and no bonus SC promotions.

If you want to be SG/WP, you should earn SG/WP (in full). Anything else just devalues the product.

 

[drewbles]

No status matches and no bonus SC promotions.

If you want to be SG/WP, you should earn SG/WP (in full). Anything else just devalues the product.

Not necessarily IMHO. The blanket match DJ did was not necessarily a bad thing, however, the fact they are trying to keep their elites with an 'easy to keep' offer (bonus SC's, fly 1/2 return J and keep type things) indicates that the match didn't net many true QF refugees.

A good status match is good for everyone. It encourages people to switch loyalty and move business. I discussed with a friend last week (who lives on the road and is top tier in multiple programs) why status matches fail to woo people in general and he had an interesting suggestion. Outside the USA, where Credit Card signup bonuses are a lot lower (and indeed in the USA where people have been with a specific airline and hold top tier elite status), most true BIS frequent flyers have hoards of points in one program. Sure, switching to another program as their top tier may mean you earn all the top tier points bonuses, but it doesn't help with the hundreds of thousands or potentially millions of points you have with the other program. This is one reason why blanket matches fail. If you're not prepared to switch everything, you'll try the airline out a few times, and then probably 'go back home'. Of course, these kinds of people probably don't cost the airline doing the match much, as all they may have gotten is some nicer seats towards the pointy end, some priority boarding, and perhaps a lounge visit or three (not like DJ's anytime, just when flying access).

People pan AA for their charged challenges, but it does, as people are saying, 'keep the riff raff out' and only those who are serious enough to pay are likely to swap. Of course, the other way in should be via carefully selected applicants for a status match or via a corporate program.

I'll fully admit to being a DJ convert for domestic and trans-pac flying. I'll fly QF only where necessary, and will stick with AA in the USA for my WP benefits. And don't start the 'but you get your status on YUPP's' argument, as 1170 of my 1200 SC's this year came from QF and BA (mostly QF).