The end of mileage runs?

[turtlemichael]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/u...egion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&abt=0002&abg=0

An NYT article which discusses changes at various US airlines making mileage runs less attractive.

 

[amaroo]

A great article that clearly lays it on the table why airlines are changing the game. The $ spend/earn ratio is foolproof!

Glad I've got LTG* tucked away.

* assuming QFF has a long term future

 

[turtlemichael]

A great article that clearly lays it on the table why airlines are changing the game. The $ spend/earn ratio is foolproof!

Glad I've got LTG* tucked away.

* assuming QFF has a long term future

It is well written. I have LTG locked up too and have decided not to pursue miles at any cost. I would expect the new American to follow suit when the amalgamation of schemes is announced, or soon after. I have enough miles across a couple of schemes for my needs in the next few years, assuming no huge devaluations, and so be it.

 

[dajop]

The $ spend/earn ratio is foolproof!

Not really foolproof. From an airline point of view better than blanket miles flown, but $ spent not always an accurate representation of profitability.

Someone paying $800 do SYD-MEL return is probably provide more profit than someone spending the same on SYD-SIN return.

 

[amaroo]

Not really foolproof. From an airline point of view better than blanket miles flown, but $ spent not always an accurate representation of profitability.

Someone paying $800 do SYD-MEL return is probably provide more profit than someone spending the same on SYD-SIN return.

Foolproof against rat runners looking for cheap status.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Well as a Points Runner times are definitely tougher. Offers and promos are fewer.

I have been racking up a million points a year fairly easily.

This year looks to be only half that. Maybe more if the anz promo becomes multi carded.

 

[quokka77]

@amaroo -- there is currently a lawsuit in the US where one of United's "Million Miler" flyers has taken United to court, alleging that his lifetime MM status (somewhat equivalent to LTG) has been devalued by the airline, as they have added additional loyalty tiers above his, and his upgrades are not as frequent as they used to be. This could be one way for Qantas to manage its Lifetime Gold liability: just keep adding levels of loyalty to the top, and devalue Gold.

In Australia, Virgin already operate a points per dollar model on domestic tickets. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing Australia has far fewer opportunities for mileage running anyway (on Jetstar or Qantas, or accruing Virgin flights to partner airlines), as compared to the US, so such changes are less immediately relevant to us. YMMV

 

[JohnK]

Interesting and well written article.

If those sorts of changes filter through to Australia it will become very difficult to earn status.

I guess the term "frequent flyer" will have meaning again.

 

[amaroo]

@amaroo -- there is currently a lawsuit in the US where one of United's "Million Miler" flyers has taken United to court, alleging that his lifetime MM status (somewhat equivalent to LTG) has been devalued by the airline, as they have added additional loyalty tiers above his, and his upgrades are not as frequent as they used to be. This could be one way for Qantas to manage its Lifetime Gold liability: just keep adding levels of loyalty to the top, and devalue Gold.

In Australia, Virgin already operate a points per dollar model on domestic tickets. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing Australia has far fewer opportunities for mileage running anyway (on Jetstar or Qantas, or accruing Virgin flights to partner airlines), as compared to the US, so such changes are less immediately relevant to us. YMMV

QF LTG is only as good as the airline wants it to be.

The recent QFF changes have reshaped status for the majority but I still think subsidise status is possible via AA Mr. Squiggle runs .

 

[opusman]

The easiest way to status on QF these days is to fly less and wait for 50%/100% bonus SC offers. Strange priorities they have over at QFF.

 

[dajop]

If those sorts of changes filter through to Australia it will become very difficult to earn status. .

What do you mean if? . Wasn't that what the recent QF changes were all about? More closely aligning status earning with fare paid.

In any event putting aside AA YUP status runs (which have been diminished somewhat) and one world RTWs (which generally aren't cheap any more) because of the SC system you've never been able to get "cheap" status on QF by flying long haul in discounted economy, unlike the US mileage based status programs. It always took plenty of such flights!

And as for the broader Asia Pacific region, due to low or nil earning fares, it's always been difficult to get status on cheap fares on mileage based programs such as SQ, MH and CX!

I guess on QF you still get a decent amount of miles flying in discounted economy but unlike most of the YS programs they are taken care of by ever increasing fuel surcharges!

 

[JohnK]

What do you mean if? . Wasn't that what the recent QF changes were all about? More closely aligning status earning with fare paid.

Luckily SCs are still zone based which gives people a decent chance at earning status. I can still earn the same number of SCs for my overseas trips as I did before the changes.

If the SCs calculation was changed to be directly influenced by $ spend then one would earn considerably less for the same airfare. What sort of $ figure would be needed to earn Platinum status? $25,000/year? That would make it difficult for most people. I think Gold would also be out of reach for most people.

 

[dajop]

Luckily SCs are still zone based which gives people a decent chance at earning status. I can still earn the same number of SCs for my overseas trips as I did before the changes. .

Actually when you crunch the numbers it is very well correlated to spend, irrespective of travel class, although it is slightly cheaper to get there in economy than business.

I picked some random dates and to achieve platinum by traveling solely between cities, the amounts were:
SYD-LHR $15-$23k (with fully flex Y being the cheapest method)
SYD-MEL $20-27k (red e-deals best)

Also checked current SYD-BKK fares they were $21k....

Now the big outliers are sales (eg SYD-MEL for $100 instead of $147 which would reduce it to $15k) and Jetstar Asia (as little as $8.5k!)

 

[Johnno101]

Actually when you crunch the numbers it is very well correlated to spend, irrespective of travel class, although it is slightly cheaper to get there in economy than business.

I picked some random dates and to achieve platinum by traveling solely between cities, the amounts were:
SYD-LHR $15-$23k (with fully flex Y being the cheapest method)
SYD-MEL $20-27k (red e-deals best)

The benefits of Virgin are by family pooling I can get 720 points Brisbane to New York PE for $7k and for a further 2k domestic reach the required SC's. Then the following year takes one trip to Paris and $500 at current pricing domestic. Interestingly the cost for PE was far less than full flex Y.