Upcoming Qantas Frequent Flyer Changes

[pshepvic]

WOW! JQ Economy Starter fares even include ... wait for it ... a seat!



I wonder if they'll introduce a Economy Starter Light fare that doesn't?


Do they really need to list this as a standard inclusion? Surely someone is taking the piss here...

 

[awilcockson]

WOW! JQ Economy Starter fares even include ... wait for it ... a seat!

Bwahahahaha.

 

[ozavanti]

Oh, so discussing how changes will affect us is whinging and whining? Well stop whinging and whining about the upgrade queue and bulkhead seats.

Oh, if you want my WP benefits, happy to give them to you when you fly 100 flights a year.

Now what are these increased ways to use our points in these recent changes, because I must have missed them. :-|

Fair call medhead!!!

I'll continue to choose to fly less than 100 flights and use the benefits befitting of my status.... I guess you'll choose not to try to achieve POW status through the use of your SC and struggle through your WP benefits or choose to move your spend elsewhere.

Afterall its been a tough 12 months for WP's, given that Qantas has taken anytime access and now added insult to injury by deciding at a Business level that it believes WP's are already getting the correct frequent flyer rewards.

 

[awilcockson]

just want to know more about Platinum One and loving the suggestions about CL access / upgrades... Fingers crossed.

Great strategy to keep the big wigs loyal... Well I hope - need to see what it offers!

Don't count your chickens just yet.

There's nothing to say that WP1 won't end up being effectively what we currently have at WP, and WP being "enhanced" down further towards SG.

edit: not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic based on the last two "enhancements". I mean seriously, why would you announce WP1, but not give any detail for another 6 months? Unless the detail is another "enhancement" for WP?

 

[pshepvic]

Bwahahahaha.

I know, I actually refreshed the page just in case I was seeing things!

I guess for some LCC's though this is probably a valid thing to put in (eg. RyanAir)

 

[munitalP]

I am a little angry

 

[Leumas]

Can someone enlighten on why QF want to fiddle with this loyalty bonus? They're happy to dish out points in every each way possible, why take away the 8000 points that the lower levels hardly ever receive anyway?

Thinking back to the previous round of enhancements, where the middle tiers, especially the PS's were affected, now they want to grow that base? Perhaps they've cut the services from the last round so now they can afford to grow that base without stressing their processes?

I'm beginning to think this round is just Part 2 of the last round.

As to the lack of the information on P1, my guess is that QF haven't even worked out the full details themselves. Depending on what they have in mind, my guess is that it'll involve a 3rd party, and that takes time, not just from the training front. We know there'll be a specialised team, I just hope it won't mean the WP's will lose the Premium Desk. My guess will be some sort of concierge service that can look after all your travel needs. If that's the case though, again, it's not that special. The cliente that will be P1 will have some sort of concierge service or PA through their cc or just their job.

Hope I'm wrong on this, but I doubt there'll be many 'hard' benefits on P1, e.g. confirmable upgrades, or even system-wide upgrades. There may be some, but hardly any to make it worthwhile.

Secondly, despite what QF say, the WPs' benefits will be eroded. How can they not be when all of a sudden, there's another group of people in front of you in the queue? Now, WPs are at the front of the queues for upgrades (CLs aside), from now on, it'll be P1, THEN WP. Who will get looked after first if there're any problems? Well, P1 first, THEN WP.

I'm guessing a lot of the unwritten WP benefits will disappear. Then QF can still claim WPs haven't lost anything because it was never official anyway...

 

[pshepvic]

1) Would be good to have another person on this board who actually flies DJ a lot (not just comped Gold for free) along with me!

There's more than one! I fly them a lot (as a result of company policy, but that has meant I've started to fly them somewhat more for personal travel too, whereas in the past I wouldn't have).

Yes, I did get a free comp to gold, however it was certainly worth their while. I'm about to retain that gold membership (within about 6 months of being given it) and I'll be approaching the currently non-existent Platinum level by the end of my membership year. If that's the case, and they improve their on-time performance and comfort of their domestic Y seats, I might swing some more personal spend their way, and go back down to SG level with QF if WP isn't going to offer me a lot more.

I do like the FLounge of course, but it's certainly not worth spending several grand in travel just to get a few glasses of free French Champagne and a massage each year.

 

[munitalP]

Please please please put your money where your mouth is and stop flying QF and go to Virgin!

1) Would be good to have another person on this board who actually flies DJ a lot (not just comped Gold for free) along with me!
2) It will stop you going on and on negatively about QF and will hopefully be a positive change in your life!

Put "your" money where your mouth is and read some of my recent past posts... I have flown DJ a lot - enough to not feeling guilty about a comp'd Gold. I have also maintained DJ silver for a number of years as well as WP and Partner Gold.

Research before taking a shot mate

 

[Danger]

Over the time that i have been in this forum there has been calls for QF to provide something for WP FF'ers to spend their points on other than PG.... QF deliver and then the boots get stuck in....Seriously people!!!!

But what have they delivered to WP flyers? The only thing (and I may well have missed something) that WPs know for sure is that their loyalty bonus earning will be capped to four (2000 SCs) which is a reduction. This Platinum One level is as unknown as how many refugees will arrive on the next boat from Indo. For all we know it could be 3600 SCs for two domestic confirmed upgrades, one chauffeur limo transfer with 5km of the airport and a bottle of plonk at Christmas.

Put simply, the last two revisions of the program provide no real incentive to stay WP, do you feel F lounges are worth an extra 800 SC to attain for instance if you are lucky to travel through SYD and MEL, if you live outside of the golden triangle and CBR the J lounges are a non event? Throw in the move of the goal posts for PG, the removal of anytime access and what has a WP gained for their "loyalty" in the past year compared to the other tiers as QF rewards its "FREQUENT flyers", very little. Its great that the lower tiers have had their benefits increased, but the most frequent of flyers seem to have been given less of their share recently. Given the competition is picking up, todays announcement of the DJ/NZ tie up, I wonder how many of the very frequent flyers are starting to look elsewhere when they hit 600 SC's??

Agreed.

Could WP's potentially be getting more unwritten benefits? Eg things just seem to work more easily.

Like, I dunno, priority boarding actually working? Let's hope so.

As I posted a few pages back, I don't think there will be any tangible reduction in WP benefits at the expense of Super Platinum. Others with experience in programs such as NZ (I think I read they have a super level) and BA may have a better idea. They've upset enough WPs already this year; they can ill-afford to do it again so soon but, for example, cutting guest access or something.

I just want to know more about Platinum One and loving the suggestions about CL access / upgrades... Fingers crossed.

I don't think we'll see CL access either, but I'll remain hopeful.

WOW! JQ Economy Starter fares even include ... wait for it ... a seat!

Absolutely hillarious. And one can only wonder what their reasoning is for noting this.

 

[Jasecoop]

Why is everyone so down on P1? There is pg at 2400, now p1 at 3600 (whatever this means). Why should people get something for nothing.

I've had 9 months of no enhancements after reaching PG in 3 months and at 5400sc things have gone backwards with free upgrades drying out

 

[awilcockson]

Why is everyone so down on P1? There is pg at 2400, now p1 at 3600 (whatever this means). Why should people get something for nothing.

I don't think anyone has anything against WP1, apart from the lack of detail. It's more about the continued devaluation of WP.

Just for once I'd like to see an enhancement that didn't have a negative impact on my existing features and benefits.

 

[Hvr]

Wow what a thread. My thoughts.

As a WP nothing here for me. I wonder why WP level seems to be ignored? Is there something in the wind? I doubt it.

Bonus points for SCs? I wont be too affected by this with my membership year ending 30 Nov and only needing 300 SC to requalify WP and 315 for next loyalty bonus. I expect to achieve both of those goals.

But, and this is the big but, with a bonus every 500 SCs per membership year then if I achieve WP next year on 1200 SCs then only 1000 of them will count for a loyalty bonus. That means the calculations for points per SC will be significantly reduced from the offered bonus. I don't think was accidental.

Jet*, a sad change that sees the virtual end of cheap *Class MRs. I've got one later this month under the old conditions and I am glad. With Singapore looking "soft" I wonder if this will adversely affect the route? Time will tell.

It seems the fares for Jet* have already risen, I priced a SIN *Class run yesterday and today, at least $100 extra today with the same benefits as yesterday, i.e. SCs and FF points.

I'll wait and see what the future holds. I hope to see some love for WPs again in the future. My NB boss got the email today, so far I haven't. That seems to be the way things are going at the moment.

 

[MatF]

I'm not down about WP1 - I'll never get there, so it has no impact on me - other than adding another layer above WP, which may contribute to the devaluing of WP.

 

[awilcockson]

I'll wait and see what the future holds. I hope to see some love for WPs again in the future. My NB boss got the email today, so far I haven't. That seems to be the way things are going at the moment.

Wow, that's a good point. I just checked and I haven't received the email either!

 

[MatF]

The email hit my inbox at 2:23pm today.

I saw the subject "Exciting news about your membership", and I actually was excited there for a minute.

 

[samh004]

Wow, that's a good point. I just checked and I haven't received the email either!

I received mine at 17:43, it’s very boring. More info here.

 

[pshepvic]

I got it at 2:05pm, so doesn't seem to be status based. Maybe it's in order of FF number? Mine dates back to 1995, so starts with a zero, so I guess is in the lower range of numbers (My partner's starts with a three and didn't get the email until 4pm)

 

[munitalP]

The email hit my inbox at 2:23pm today.

I saw the subject "Exciting news about your membership", and I actually was excited there for a minute.

My heart sank at that very moment, however, my KLM till 2013 Platinum did arrive today -<redacted>



munitalP

 

[MatF]

I got it at 2:05pm, so doesn't seem to be status based. Maybe it's in order of FF number? Mine dates back to 1995, so starts with a zero, so I guess is in the lower range of numbers (My partner's starts with a three and didn't get the email until 4pm)

Could well be - mine is 1997 and starts with a 1.

Just thinking about my experience as a WP over the last year or two, and I can't help drawing a parallel to the way the Australia Government treats middle to higher income earners (WP1 aside). Lots of take, not much give. I'm a bit over it.

My heart sank at that very moment, however, my KLM till 2013 Platinum did arrive today -<redacted>



munitalP

Heh, some Irish heritage, but a long way back