I like TTR's points yes.
Is VA in a position to seriously take advantage of this? Hard to say. Could they (Velocity/VA) convince their new masters to front up for the effort looking to the longer term in an uncertain financial and future demand environment? tricky. Tempting but who knows... Plus VA is not looking that attractive to many as a place to go in the medium term I suspect - even more so with EY shrinking now and who knows what other VA partners may fall away (or conversely who they may gain...)
However forgetting VA for the moment.... my real concern with this latest promotion - thinking from the point of view of QF not the lucky members - is only ONE flight? I mean one booking only has to be one one way flight after all. Somehow this does not make commercial sense to me and reeks of desperation. And we know they are. We know they want revenue more than anything yes, and they want to retain their "loyal" customers by virtue of the status chains to give them that revenue.. but why the heck not make it more bookings to make?
Honestly would many AFF members seriously have been too upset if it was four bookings for example? Or even a tiered approach based on current status? I mean I can book a red-e MEL-SYD and retain P1 for a year? Madness seemingly. After all as TTR noted just get that status locked away for another year and take business elsewhere could be an option for some.
I am not too sure though how many of the membership apart from niche "players" like this forum's membership would bother to play the games and all... certainly most of the membership, if advised, will take advantage (who wouldn't?) but probably not think too much about it... I mean if they were going to defer to QR or VA or whatever airline.. they would have done so anyway but probably not only based on what QF does or doesn't do. Most people don't care that much about so many things... so perhaps we need to keep that in mind when contemplating the decisions of members as a whole rather than those who follow with such a keen interest.
I don't know... seems to me that this is a GREAT promotion for us but pretty coughpy for QF's bottom line.
I do note the rollover SC's being an incentive to yes fly more over the next membership year and that is probably the smartest part of this whole thing because there is incentive (for those who bother to delve into the complex promotion)...
This whole covid situation worldwide with such an unexpected worldwide drop in demand and such critical times for travel companies and their loyalty companies - mostly airline, hotel but obviously also cruising and others... it is fascinating to view the ways different companies are (continuing to) approach retention of members through their programs and I am sure many lessons can be learned in hindsight.
Just last week UA launched their 2021 deal. Theirs is a mix but is very clearly designed to encourage revenue by flying - yes lowered requalifications, and a StatusBoost too make it far easier to retain status, but it still requires your bum in a seat (seats) paying real money to get there, and obviously is tied with one's status tier (unlike QF)... which seems more sensible (and simpler) from that point of view.
Others have gone their own way.
it's an ever changing landscape. Honestly today's announcement took me by surprise a bit as I figured we would see the StatusBoost and STatusKeeper type program continue, but they have decided on a different direction now.
Time will tell how it goes.
I hope that we can and do fly over the next 12-18 months and beyond.. both for our sakes but obviously also QF.
my 384k rambling cents of opinion (as usual
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