THE CHECKOUT: Grim Tales: Jack and the Frequent Flyer Points

[Coops1]

Absolute ripper, so funny, totally worth watching....

"Julian Morrow's fairy tale about mystical items that trick people into taking magical adventures -- frequent flyer programs."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEcZih6qUT0

 

[moa999]

Awesome. Some decent research as well.

 

[eastwest101]

Yeah - its a pretty good program although some may find the odd juxtoposition of humour and consumer advice a bit "challenging". They actually had some good general points about FF programs and some of their other work in other shows about insurance, telecommunications and credit cards is also useful - although a lot of people on here would be familiar with the subject matter than some of the researchers!

Their researchers have been know to monitor AFF and FT forums as well, as I have had them ask me for clarification about the content of some of the threads here in the past. Obviously not all of it makes it to the screen but their researchers may have been looking at a couple of our favorites here - like the recent 100K missing in 11 days saga, various Credit Card surcharge shenanigans and "gotchas", VA web site issues, upgrades reversed at the gate, the notorious QF PB thread and the J class fares with the little ! (segments in Y) on a J itinerary etc

 

[zainman]

think Jessicatam mentioned this program in another thread.. thanks for the link!

 

[bass_ke]

Ahhh Jules.

Always been a fan of the lads. I haven't watched this episode yet but look forward to it!

 

[Sprucegoose]

It's a good show, some interesting viewpoints indeed.

 

[smithy]

I enjoyed watching this one.

 

[quokka77]

Nice post and vid. Entertaining stuff. I like to think of myself as sophisticated with a good knowledge of how the system works, but actually I'm probably doing well to break even!

 

[Buzzard]

A bagging of FF programme leaves more room on the ship for the rest of us

 

[eastwest101]

I think their summation that unless you can accumulate a lot of frequent flyer points that you would collect anyway (i.e. you have to fly a lot of BIS miles anyway) and/or have a way of manufacturing a lot of points (by various payments/offers/bonuses etc) then it may be a marginally economic exercise is probably a fair summary. They focussed more on the points and redemptions in the story but didn't touch on the status credits and status levels and stautu perks - which is probably fair enough as those subjects are even more complex and would require a fair amount of time to research, explain and then shoot.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I think their summation that unless you can accumulate a lot of frequent flyer points that you would collect anyway (i.e. you have to fly a lot of BIS miles anyway) and/or have a way of manufacturing a lot of points (by various payments/offers/bonuses etc) then it may be a marginally economic exercise is probably a fair summary. They focussed more on the points and redemptions in the story but didn't touch on the status credits and status levels and stautu perks - which is probably fair enough as those subjects are even more complex and would require a fair amount of time to research, explain and then shoot.

Words like 'elite' & 'status' are probably like a 4 letter word at Aunty. I posted my thoughts on the following thread after Gabanzo's post about the program & her recent experience with the 100K points transfer to her son where he lost the points to inactivity but had them reinstated.

I hadn't until I read your post & for others interested it's The Checkout Series 2 Episode 5. Not sure whether it's legal to post the link to the episode so I won't but Google is your friend.

Just quietly, I think Samsonite would be more worried as the program gives them a serve about how their 'limited 10 year global warranty' doesn't cover "damage caused by transport eg airlines".

I found the program's parody of Jack & the Beanstalk quite clever & imaginative however IMHO Aunty adopted the same old stance by used by consumer advocacy groups pretty much saying it's not worth it & citing the example that if you had an ANZ American Express frequent flyer card with a $95.00 annual fee (one point earned per $1.00 spent) you'd have to spend $9,500.00 just to cover the cost of your annual fee.

Another example was the ANZ Visa freq flyer Visa card (one point earned per $2.00 spent) where poor old Jack would need to spend $19K then a further $16K to earn a one way SYD/MEL ticket on points.

I did think it was misleading of the program to say if using your points to upgrade "you can be pushed aside by someone with higher status" as it gives the impression that an NB may have an upgrade confirmed which can be lost if a WP comes along at a later date wanting it. Sure, a WP may get priority when points upgrades are processed but so they should. Just another fine example of Australian egalitarianism.

One can always look at the various Frequent flyer schemes as the glass is half full or half empty and this program focussed only on the latter.

I'm sure most of us have heard stories of people who have got hefty freq flyer point signon bonuses which in itself can earn them enough for a J class one way ticket Australia to Asia. They may have even got the credit card annual fee waived to boot.

 

[eastwest101]

Words like 'elite' & 'status' are probably like a 4 letter word at Aunty. I posted my thoughts on the following thread after Gabanzo's post about the program & her recent experience with the 100K points transfer to her son where he lost the points to inactivity but had them reinstated.

Possibly true - I like to stay away from the words "elite" and "status" as much as possible myself (maybe because I dont have much ! ), maybe just here for status as its part of so many discussions about accumulating status credits, I don't know if they are a dirty word or not at the ABC, but I would just expect that the whole idea of different teirs/status levels is a bit difficult to explain, and probably just boring for most of the audience.

Yes - I also forgot to mention the Samsonite story on The Checkout when I saw it, I think I remember a thread about this a long time ago here on AFF? I agree with some of your other comments re: Glass half full or half empty as well.