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 THE FREQUENT FLYER GAZETTE   ::   APRIL 2002
 ISSN 1446-4292
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CONTENTS ::
 
1. Survey Results
2. Reward Programs
3. In the News
4. Promotions

 

Editors Note :: 

Hi and welcome to the April edition of the Frequent Flyer Gazette. Ansett is well and truly gone, and already Qantas has announced that its new subsidiary airline Australian Airlines will begin flying in October. Initially flying between Cairns and Asia, the new airline will participate in the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. Bookings will open next month.

But the big news from us is the result of our recent readers' survey. We had a big response so I'd like to say thank you to everyone who participated. There were certainly some interesting results so read on for our special analysis.

In this edition we also report on important changes to ANZ Qantas Telstra Visa and American Express cardholders.

Don't forget for the latest news and offers sign up with our new Frequent Flyer Club. For a small annual fee it also offers individual - and most importantly - independent support to members.

Our bulletin board has been busier than ever so why not check out what everyone else is talking about.

Enjoy.

Adrian
Editor, Frequent Flyer Gazette

 
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1. READERS' SURVEY RESULTS
 

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Thank you to the 1,368 subscribers who responded to our survey last month.

Not surprisingly more than half of those who responded said they've lost confidence in frequent flyer programs and 11% are no longer interested in the schemes.

Diners Club and Westpac members spoke out loudly, 34% and 23% respectively have (or plan to) cut up their membership cards! A whopping 84% are dissatisfied with the way Diners handled the loss of Global Rewards points, while 85% were unhappy with Westpac's approach to the crisis.

On a more positive note, Westpac's new Altitude program seems to be well regarded by our readers, with almost half the respondents believing it to be an improvement over the old program. Given the hostile consumer environment in which the program was launched, this is a remarkable achievement.

Also a little surprising was the decision by almost 40% of Ansett's Global Rewards members to join frequent flyer programs of other Star Alliance airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and United Airlines. The decision by 12% to join Air New Zealand showed that despite former Ansett customers' anger many still preferred to stick with the airline widely blamed for contributing to Ansett's demise. Singapore's KrisFlyer has come in from the cold - 10% of our readers are now members of this program, up from virtually zero six months ago.

ANZ offers the most popular rewards program with 43% of those surveyed signed up with that bank. Close behind is Westpac (40%), followed by American Express (35%) and Diners (29%).

The complete set of survey results is available and can be downloaded here. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view this PDF file. If you do not have Acrobat, you can download a free copy directly from the Adobe website.

Our readers comments

Our bulletin board has been running hot with responses to the survey. Here's just some of the comments our readers had to make:

 - about Westpac's Altitude program receiving a better response than Diners Club:
 "I guess the difference is that Diners used to give 1.5 pts per dollar and now only 1 pt per dollar. Westpac has always been 1 to 1. "With the extra negative factor, it's not surprising that users doesn't view the new Diners program as an improvement."

 - about Singapore Airlines frequent flyer program KrisFlyer:
"It would be to Singapore Airlines advantage if they were to partner with an Australian credit card provider."

 - about those loyal to Air NZ, despite its role in Ansett's collapse:
"I can't believe that people have been joining Air NZ FF programs. Air NZ caused the Ansett problem in the first place and may not be around for too long anyway. Obviously they want to go through this all again."

Press Coverage

The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, Herald Sun and The Age have run stories about consumer loyalty in the light of our survey. See Press Reports for more details.

 


2. The Reward Programs' Low down
 

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ANZ Visa sheds its skin

Qantas Telstra Visa Card has announced it will change its name to Qantas ANZ Visa Card. From June 24 cardholders will cease earning reward points and will instead automatically earn Qantas Frequent flyer points. Telstra will be a bonus partner in the program.

No more bonus with AMEX

Qantas has ceased its bonus reward point partnership with American Express. Our reader Mike says he "received this news in rather small print on the back of my AMEX monthly statement." The partnership ended on March 30. We called American Express but hung up after waiting in the on-hold que for more than 35 minutes. Luckily, the Qantas website confirmed the news. From now Aussie AMEX members no longer earn Qantas bonus points on Qantas products and services purchased with American Express cards. But you can still convert AMEX points for Qantas frequent flyer points on a point-for-point bases.

Diners Correction

Last month we reported on a 12,000 miles promotion being offered by Diners Club. As it happens, the 12,000 miles bonus was not offered by Diners Club Australia (but may have been related to an offer run by Diners Club USA) and is therefore not available to those of you with Diners Club cards issued in Australia. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

    


3. THE PRESS ROUND UP
 
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More dough for Virgin

Virgin says it's reaping the rewards of the demise of Ansett, with an expected better than predicted profit. The company is also looking at replacing its 737 jets with a fleet of 35 Airbus planes. Virgin chief Brett Godfrey has told reporters the company is looking at exceeding its $32.5million profit for the past year. It's continuing talk with Boeing and Airbus about future purchases. Mr Godfrey says the finances are looking better because in the past month Virgin has only had to compete with one national airline.

Social conscious

Qantas says it's not abusing its position as Australian market leader and is fulfilling its "social obligation" by increasing the number of frequent flyer seats on each flight from five to about eight percent. The retaliation follows results of an Infochoice research which showed that discount internet fares were rising due to reduced ticket availability. Qantas has also increased its net discount specials from 30 to 150 destinations and says cheap deals are available if booked in advance. But as the fall-out from Ansett continues we're yet to see how the discount airfare war pans out.

Changing times

Travel agents in the US are reportedly gearing up for a tough period as they adopt to changing habits in ticket purchasing. More and more customers are turning to the cheaper internet ticket purchases, effectively cutting out the travel agent as the go-between. The airlines are also feeling the change - and cashing in on it by cutting out base commissions for travel agents.

Qantas calling

Qantas is allowing its passengers to use their mobile phones while boarding aircraft and inside until the door of the plane is closed. CityFlyer customers in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne are the first to enjoy the relaxation in the restrictions. Last month we reported that phones could be used "just before take off and soon after landing", which may have confused some readers.

Cautious optimism

Reports from the US say an increase in business travel may be a sign that country's economy is growing strong again. In the past, air travel has been a good indicator of business confidence and it's hoped the early part of this year is showing similar signs. But following last year's horrific terrorist attacks on the US and trouble in the air industry other experts are cautious about drawing early conclusions.

    


4. REWARDS AND SPECIALS FOR APRIL
 
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Qantas offers

Qantas is pushing ahead with its popular 50% off offers. Until the middle of May your friend or family member can claim a half discount on their award booking when you buy an economy, business or first class ticket to UK, France, Germany or Italy.

You'll get 2000 points per person on any Hong Kong packaged booked through Qantas Holidays before April 30. You must travel during May.

If you're planning to travel to Hong Kong you can get 40% off award flights between May 1 and 31. That translates to about 30,000 points in economy class for return flights between Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth or Sydney and Hong Kong. You'll also get 40% off connecting flight bookings within Australia.

Buy a commercial fare between Sydney and Los Angeles or Honolulu, or between Melbourne and Los Angeles and your companion can take 50% off their Award booking.

For comprehensive list of all Qantas Frequent Flyer specials, Gold Subscribers and Frequent Flyer Club members can use our Frequent Flyer Specials calculator.

KrisFlyer goes Aussie

Singapore Airlines' reward program, KrisFlyer, is edging its way into the Australian skies and creating a real alternative to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.

During March the airline was offering a 50% mileage bonus of economy flights to Australian residents who joined the program for the first time - and news just in they are offering double miles to Australian residents for selected First and Business class flights from most Australian cities until 31 May.

United Mileage earner

Earn 1,000 bonus miles every time you book air tickets through United Airlines website.

Kiwi bonus

Air New Zealand's Air Points members can get double points until April 30 on Air New Zealand operated flights. This offer is for Australian residents only and you must travel before the end of April.

Fly Buys

Collect 5000 bonus Fly Buys points when purchasing HP OmniBook products from Harris Technology. Offer ends April 30.

Budget Rentals if offering 1000 bonus points for every three days plus one point per dollar spent when you rent one of their vehicles. Offer ends June 30.

Stay at Best Western and collect 500 bonus Fly Buys points. Book before April 18.

Virgin summer

Virgin has released its end-of-year flight schedule. The company claims the flight schedules, valid between October 2002 and March 2003 will help customers plan their holiday flights in advance and snap up best value flights.

    

 

� THE AUSTRALIAN FREQUENT FLYER, 2002