Take off for less [selected international classic rewards]

[medhead]

Bring back the FASA, JASA

Wow! talk about a left field suggestion. I can only imagine you have some other agenda in making this comment.
Aligning the entirely program to a set of recent changes, no matter how slowly, has no imaginable relationship with bring back something that was removed years ago.

 

[exceladdict]

Actually now that I think about it, the timing of this suggests it may have something to do with the WoW changes in that people were complaining redemptions were too expensive / unavailable.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Actually now that I think about it, the timing of this suggests it may have something to do with the WoW changes in that people were complaining redemptions were too expensive / unavailable.

I think it is not just WOW but probably an overall sentiment from the majority of punters who are only likely to fly in Y and who do not amass vast point stashes. Hi fees meant that there was little value in many Y redemptions....and I suspect that market research and WOW was making this message quite clear to Qantas that their "goldern goose" in the QFF revenue was under threat.

With J/F there is still value despite the high fuel fines and the segment that redeems these in the main is probablya lot less likely to stop earning QFF points by various means.

 

[Tannin]

When your management gives us back some of our fuel fines, across the board, I'll be the first to cheer.

Unfortunately it will take the ACCC to grow roo balls to do something about this (and I totally agree it needs to be done). Qantas is run by an incredibly greedy CEO who will never 'give back' his fuel fines unless forced to.

 

[PineappleSkip]

RedRoo would you or your team be able to list some examples - which could possibly generate you some good press - how you are "reducing the points required for selected International Economy Classic Flight Rewards with some of our partner airlines, including American Airlines®, Emirates and Fiji Airways"?

+1. It would be particularly valuable to know about EK flight redemptions to LHR (and elsewhere in Europe) out of BNE, ADL and PER. Direct flights would be preferable to routing via SYD/MEL.

Playing with the calculator I learnt that Y+ redemptions are the same cost in points as J. :shock: You would be truly mad to opt for this option. Offering a redemption Y rate halfway between Y and J might provide some incentive. But not much.

Not overly excited though. It strikes me as tokenism. A bit like offering WP members 10 minutes at a time of anytime lounge access.

Cheers skip

 

[Mr_Orange]

Pretty coughpy that it's Y only. Oil prices have got cheaper all round, not just for the part of the plane with the economy seats in it.

Agreed. Another QFF email that got deleted immediately.

Why is it that they genuinely enhance the things that don't matter (whY awards) and 'enhance' the things that do matter (JASAs)??

 

[kermatu]

Agreed. Another QFF email that got deleted immediately.

Why is it that they genuinely enhance the things that don't matter (whY awards) and 'enhance' the things that do matter (JASAs)??

Profit. It is a business after all.

I would love nothing more than a return of the JASAs....

 

[tharaka]

Qantas Reduces Points required for redemption and taxes

Great news!

https://www.qantas.com/fflyer/dyn/m...7791-160106-qff-prd-take-off-for-less:lang:en

It sounds like this is a permanent move not a special offer.

 

[hutch]

Agreed. Another QFF email that got deleted immediately.

Why is it that they genuinely enhance the things that don't matter (whY awards) and 'enhance' the things that do matter (JASAs)??

Get your point, but for many people (probably the majority of average people), Y awards do matter.

 

[browski]

Another steaming pile of excrement from the flying kangaroo.

Here's my favourite piece from the SMH article:
So why would you pay 50,000 points and $426 for a return Perth-Singapore fare when you could buy a discount ticket for $561 and save your points for a future flight or upgrade?
Qantas, aware that many customers were making the calculations and booking sales fares rather than using up frequent flyer points, is now lowering the number of points and accompanying fees needed to book flights to many of its international destinations.

So Qantas ever-so-slightly adjusted the so-called "Fuel Fine" because they realised that the plebs had finally worked out the scam.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-lowers-cost-of-international-flight-reward-redemptions-20160106-gm054z.html

 

[Ansett]

A very small step forward, awaiting a giant leap that is needed to bring back some value to the points.
Very disappointing to see that neither points nor fuel fines have dropped for premium cabins.

 

[tharaka]

Re: Qantas Reduces Points required for redemption and taxes

on a second thought..

1. Reductions are only for Economy.
2. Bait to make Economy redemption more lucrative and bring their cost per point down!

not much it in for us.

 

[grussellt]

This has to be a step in the right direction. However a comparison shows that SYD-LHR on QFF is 60,000 points +$A354 and on AAdvantage (American Airlines) the cost will be 60,000 miles (after March 2016) +$A87. Perhaps QF has left room for further enhancements!

 

[JohnK]

Why is it that they genuinely enhance the things that don't matter (whY awards) and 'enhance' the things that do matter (JASAs)??

Economy awards are important to some people as they struggle to save enough to redeem for premium travel.

 

[Mr_Orange]

Economy awards are important to some people as they struggle to save enough to redeem for premium travel.

You are surely not referring to your-good-self, JohnK aka Mr 1.3m points and counting (or whatever you are up to these days)?

 

[JohnK]

You are surely not referring to your-good-self, JohnK aka Mr 1.3m points and counting (or whatever you are up to these days)?

I am down below 1.1 milion points now.

Believe it or not economy awards are the most popular. The real world doesn't chase signon bonuses, status runs, maximising credit card spend etc. They have modest point balances and dream to take the family to USA or Europe.

I think these changes are a positive step forward. Now if only fuel surcharges were totally removed from award tickets then the world would be a much better place.

 

[awkwardpaws]

Believe it or not economy awards are the most popular. The real world doesn't chase signon bonuses, status runs, maximising credit card spend etc. They have modest point balances and dream to take the family to USA or Europe.

I think these changes are a positive step forward. Now if only fuel surcharges were totally removed from award tickets then the world would be a much better place.

Agreed. However, the disparity in the award booking fees between the same intl award bookings between QF and VA is quite astounding (as pointed out by the SMH article referred to earlier)

 

[hutch]

I am down below 1.1 milion points now.

Believe it or not economy awards are the most popular. The real world doesn't chase signon bonuses, status runs, maximising credit card spend etc. They have modest point balances and dream to take the family to USA or Europe.

I think these changes are a positive step forward. Now if only fuel surcharges were totally removed from award tickets then the world would be a much better place.

I don't expect to see the day when fuel surcharges are completely gone from Award tickets... there is definitely room for more movement though.

Happy to receive some of those 1 million points anytime... cousin right?

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

I too agree, that these changes to many of the international Economy Classic Award bookings are certainly a step forward in the right direction and should by and large be welcomed by the majority of Qantas Frequent Flyers.

Certainly, before these changes a cash fare on QF international Economy, ( particularly some of those stellar flash deals I've seen in the last 12 months , take for example the MEL > HKG return for $600 ) those type of cash fares would actually come out substantially cheaper against a classic award on the same route when one factors in the cost of the frequent flyer points required for the booking plus the additional taxes.

In other words, most International Economy Award seats provided poor value in the past although these changes announced today changes the value proposition for the better particularly those frequent flyers who save up their points for a few years and plan that "once in a decade trip to Europe or USA"

With these changes announced today, the cost of a international Economy Classic award booking with the lower points required for redemption plus lower taxes as co-payment , makes many routes worth considering booking a classic award when comparing to a non-sale/peek period cash fare and gives a greater opportunity for more Qantas frequent flyers with lower points balances the opportunity to redeem points for a international flight redemption sooner.

 

[cjd600]

Happy New Year Red Roo!

Can I ask if the $ reductions are for awards originating in Australia only?

e.g. the 'new' carrier charges/taxes for sample Y awards SYD-SFO, from a quick run of dummy bookings online:

SYD-SFO = AUD250 (reduced)
SYD-SFO-SYD = AUD431 (reduced)

SFO-SYD = USD384 (crikey)
SFO-SYD-SFO = USD818 (surely a mistake??)

Are you please able to confirm?