Fare/Upgrade/Status Visibility

MediumToast

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I'm curious to know how much visibility staff have of passenger status. Even better, I'd love to get some insight from an insider.

A passenger walks into the J lounge bar...insert joke here.

No. A passenger walks into the J lounge and scans their boarding pass. What does the concierge see?

A passenger presses the attendant button whilst seated in their J seat. The attendant asks why the long face? No....

Where was I?

What can staff see? For example, can they see passenger X is Bronze, bought a red-e deal fare and upgraded to J using points? Asking for a friend.

AFAIK at minimum they can see status. Or at least they used to. Perhaps now they can only see status if you're wearing the new bag tags.
 
Solution
I guess the one thing I'm specifically interested to know is, can a CSM distinguish between a J passenger that paid for a J ticket, and a J passenger that upgraded with points from a red-e deal ticket? (If it made any difference let's assume both passengers are bronze)
Yes.

Twice I’ve had a CSM comment on my itinerary when I’ve been on an OW Award.

Usually on the initial domestic sector where they can see I’m going to Europe or North America and they’ve said things like “that’s a great use of points”, or “you’ve done well to get three award seats for this trip”.

In both cases their comments made clear they knew it was a redemption.
Well they can see linked invitations
there’s a notation (LPAC ?)

The 24 hour rule ensures the link has been activated
On Tuesday (two days ago) my brother linked an invite in the Adelaide QC, we flew to Melbourne and by the time we disembarked and walked to the front door of Melb QC it had been activated. That’s within 2 hours

Status is shown on the boarding pass Red for bronze which means you need a linked invite

Obviously if you’re going to a business lounge you need status or a J tic
 
Walking onto a 787 last year, a QF staff iPad was sitting unlocked near the entry on a screen that showed the count of travellers by status. Tried to grab a photo but it was blurry because I was moving too quickly.

All I remember is as a fresh WP I would have been a good chance of an upgrade as there were no CL or P1 on that trip! Alas though, was saving the points for another adventure.

WP on QFi sometimes get a special greeting so CSM can see the status by seat for sure.

Also believe it shows on lounge entry to ensure correct number of guests are permitted (or not).
 
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can they see passenger X is Bronze, bought a red-e deal fare and upgraded to J using points?
Yes and much more including things like onward connections.

They can also see any other notes that have been added to your profile.

This can include things such as alergies, or that you’re medically trained and could assist in an emergency.

WP on QFi sometimes get a special greeting so CSM can see the status by seat for sure.
In addition they can also see DOB or at least an alert that it’s the birthday of a passenger.

I’ve had birthday wishes on both international and domestic when travelling on that day.
 
Yes and much more including things like onward connections.

They can also see any other notes that have been added to your profile.

This can include things such as alergies, or that you’re medically trained and could assist in an emergency.


In addition they can also see DOB or at least an alert that it’s the birthday of a passenger.

I’ve had birthday wishes on both international and domestic when travelling on that day.
Flew KUL/SYD MH, SYD/MEL QF on my birthday.

Birthday greeting and a cake from the MH staff at the lounge in KUL.
Birthday greeting and a card with a duty free voucher on board the MH flight.
Nothing from QF either at the lounge or on board.
 
I am a doctor, and recently assisted with a medical emergency onboard QF 87 to Seoul and to assist in explaining the situation to me, the CSM showed me their staff iPad. It had passengers listed along with their status, linked bookings (ie. who their travelling companions were on the same booking), their nationality, and whether the booking was one way or return. I am sure there was probably more information on there too if you were to click on the individual passenger names. They also have passenger honorifics on there because he clicked on my seat number to verify my name and "Dr" title after I volunteered to assist.

As an aside, I also got to see what first aid equipment they have on board (very little, surprisingly) and to use the phone that communicates directly with the doctor on the ground at the Qantas headquarters. Was a very interesting experience.
 
Watching this thread with great interest. The only time I saw the iPad was on an international QF flight when the CSM came to do their welcome. The iPad app had seats with heads on them. The color of the heads/silhouette had different colors. Red for Bronze, Silver for Silver, Gold for Gold, Black for Platinum and shiny silver for P1.

When clicked on a particular head icon - pax details, status with airline, OW status, FF#, Seat #, meal preferences were shown. There could be more info, but this is all I could see.

On MH, there is a sheet that is printed out and available at the galley that has the pax details. One of the MH FAs confirmed this on one my recent trips.

OT: Was on MH last month and had this lovely FA, who is also of Tamil origin. She heard me talk in Tamil on the phone prior to take-off. She then checked my details on that sheet and came by for a chat.
 
On a SYD-LAX flight a little while ago one of the other F pax had bought a new iPad from the duty free Apple Store but was having issues setting it up on the flight. The CSM came around and quietly asked if I would help, because my profile noted that I was in IT.

I don't know whether that came from company details / QBR profile or somewhere else, but obviously they have more information available about each passenger if they want to go digging.
 
On a SYD-LAX flight a little while ago one of the other F pax had bought a new iPad from the duty free Apple Store but was having issues setting it up on the flight. The CSM came around and quietly asked if I would help, because my profile noted that I was in IT.

I don't know whether that came from company details / QBR profile or somewhere else, but obviously they have more information available about each passenger if they want to go digging.

Wow, that's really poor form by the QF staff putting you in an awkward situation. If another pax is doing their BAS statement and know someone else is an accountant, are they going to hassle the accountant to work for free on a flight?
 
Wow, that's really poor form by the QF staff putting you in an awkward situation. If another pax is doing their BAS statement and know someone else is an accountant, are they going to hassle the accountant to work for free on a flight?
It was unexpected for sure, I didn’t take it badly at the time, I was just impressed they had the knowledge to pull that information from whatever previous interactions I’d had with Qantas.

In retrospect though, yes a little awkward.
 
Some great answers in here, thank you!

I guess the one thing I'm specifically interested to know is, can a CSM distinguish between a J passenger that paid for a J ticket, and a J passenger that upgraded with points from a red-e deal ticket? (If it made any difference let's assume both passengers are bronze)

For added context, although I fly fairly "frequently" for work (some may even call me an "Australian frequent flyer" :D), my employer usually buys red-e tickets. Sometimes I'll upgrade with points to J.
 
Some great answers in here, thank you!

I guess the one thing I'm specifically interested to know is, can a CSM distinguish between a J passenger that paid for a J ticket, and a J passenger that upgraded with points from a red-e deal ticket? (If it made any difference let's assume both passengers are bronze)

For added context, although I fly fairly "frequently" for work (some may even call me an "Australian frequent flyer" :D), my employer usually buys red-e tickets. Sometimes I'll upgrade with points to J.

Yes

Because the status level TELLS the staff the much more frequent fliers

Bronze status suggests you’ve hardly flown Y let alone J

And if you have been flying J then it’s on OPP (Other People’s Points) for which you are not receiving Status Credits
 
I guess the one thing I'm specifically interested to know is, can a CSM distinguish between a J passenger that paid for a J ticket, and a J passenger that upgraded with points from a red-e deal ticket? (If it made any difference let's assume both passengers are bronze)
Yes.

Twice I’ve had a CSM comment on my itinerary when I’ve been on an OW Award.

Usually on the initial domestic sector where they can see I’m going to Europe or North America and they’ve said things like “that’s a great use of points”, or “you’ve done well to get three award seats for this trip”.

In both cases their comments made clear they knew it was a redemption.
 
Solution
Yes

Because the status level TELLS the staff the much more frequent fliers

Bronze status suggests you’ve hardly flown Y let alone J

And if you have been flying J then it’s on OPP (Other People’s Points) for which you are not receiving Status Credits
For the sake of argument, would it not be possible for both passengers to be first-time fliers on Qantas? Passenger A buys a J ticket. Passenger B uses points from a credit card promo.

You do raise another good question though, aside from a CSM seeing if it's a reward fare, can they also see if OPPs were used?
 
For the sake of argument, would it not be possible for both passengers to be first-time fliers on Qantas? Passenger A buys a J ticket. Passenger B uses points from a credit card promo.

You do raise another good question though, aside from a CSM seeing if it's a reward fare, can they also see if OPPs were used?
Just out of my interest, why are you interested?
 

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