Farewell QFF

[andye]

On the other hand in the 3 years pre Covid I would always qualify for BA gold before Mrsdrrom re qualified for WP. Flew the same International flights but she flew a few more domestic flights than i did.

Sounds Simpler & Fairer

 

[kangarooflyer88]

On the other hand in the 3 years pre Covid I would always qualify for BA gold before Mrsdrrom re qualified for WP. Flew the same International flights but she flew a few more domestic flights than i did.

In fairness were any of those flights booked during a double status credit promotion? To me that's the key edge QF has over BA (that and the ability to accrue lifetime status without having to rack up an outrageous amount of tier points).

What is clear about your comment though is that not all frequent flyer programs are made equal. For instance, I status matched earlier this year for Delta Gold Medallion from my United Premier Gold status and did not set foot on a Delta flight. This was because all Delta cares about is how many miles you flew and what fare class be it with themselves or a partner like LATAM. Hence, a single trip from Canada to the UK on KLM was all that was needed to accrue the 12,500 MQMs. Contrast that to United where now your status is tied to how much $$$ you spend with them (yes I know it's possible to workaround that requirement but it ain't easy, certainly not for those of us flying on K fares around the world). Different programs will appeal to different people. For instance, if you could commit to racking up 300 Air France FlyingBlue status credits (thereby earning FlyingBlue Platinum, their highest status level) for 10 years in a row you get lifetime Platinum status. I reckon there are some people on this forum who could make such a commitment if it means lifetime top tier status on SkyTeam.

-RooFlyer88

 

[drron]

In fairness were any of those flights booked during a double status credit promotion? To me that's the key edge QF has over BA (that and the ability to accrue lifetime status without having to rack up an outrageous amount of tier points).

What is clear about your comment though is that not all frequent flyer programs are made equal. For instance, I status matched earlier this year for Delta Gold Medallion from my United Premier Gold status and did not set foot on a Delta flight. This was because all Delta cares about is how many miles you flew and what fare class be it with themselves or a partner like LATAM. Hence, a single trip from Canada to the UK on KLM was all that was needed to accrue the 12,500 MQMs. Contrast that to United where now your status is tied to how much $$$ you spend with them (yes I know it's possible to workaround that requirement but it ain't easy, certainly not for those of us flying on K fares around the world). Different programs will appeal to different people. For instance, if you could commit to racking up 300 Air France FlyingBlue status credits (thereby earning FlyingBlue Platinum, their highest status level) for 10 years in a row you get lifetime Platinum status. I reckon there are some people on this forum who could make such a commitment if it means lifetime top tier status on SkyTeam.

-RooFlyer88

Umm no as I was crediting to BA so QF double status credits were irrelevant. Basically I did it with 2 of the BA BKK return special fares. F on BA SYD-SIN-SYD with several intra asian J flights on other OW airlines. It was a no brainer as that fare was cheaper than the OW Circle asia fare in J all the way offered by QF.
Mrsdrron suffered from the lousy treatment of it;s OW partners by QF with severely reduced SCs on routes offered by QF but flown on a partner.

 

[Anjan]

Rusted on QFFF. Have about 50Sc to go for lifetime gold. Have a bucket load of points with no premium options available and not interested in a toaster. On the other hand KF seats available in business and first to Europe most days outside school holidays and summer peak and number of points needed for redemption less. Did a first redemption from Syd to FRA and got an upgrade to first in July from Sing to Syd during school holidays. Singapore first/suites is sublime. All my Amex points go to KF when needer. No brainer to look at other options! Even paid tickets many other tier 1 airlines are significantly cheaper than QF. But unfortunately this will fall on deaf ears ..

 

[Happy Dude]

Agree with all the above sentiments but in reality, their flights are pretty full at the moment and the shareholders are happy.

Dunno if this right. Share price is steady, miraculously, but this relative to purchase price. Not a lot of overall movement in the last 5 years. It's had a good YTD though.

QF posting billion dollar losses year after year, no dividends in a few years, every news story and social media post negative, court cases and industrial action everywhere, seemingly already overpaid executives hand themselves large bonuses, workers that haven't been laid off or outsourced are disengaged and unhappy, customers left stranded, angry and poorer and supposedly fleeing in droves.

But yep, just as miraculously, planes are full with pax paying top dollar, so hopefully all that is in the past and this year will be the start of a turnaround

 

[dajop]

Dunno if this right. Share price is steady, miraculously, but this relative to purchase price. Not a lot of overall movement in the last 5 years.

Which given what happened to the whole industry is probably not bad. Most airlines (globally) are substantially down over the last 5 years (eg. DL down 30%, AA down 60%, VA1 down 100% ).

 

[Happy Dude]

Which given what happened to the whole industry is probably not bad. Most airlines (globally) are substantially down over the last 5 years (eg. DL down 30%, AA down 60%, VA1 down 100% ).

yes not bad but current situation is nothing to be overly happy about. Weir how QF shares seem to be immune. The only thing more rusted on to QF than its pax is its shareholders.

 

[drron]

yes not bad but current situation is nothing to be overly happy about. Weir how QF shares seem to be immune. The only thing more rusted on to QF than its pax is its shareholders.

Well I for one am very happy I don't have QF shares. Finished 2019 above $7. And way back in October 2007 were $6.10.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Rusted on QFFF. Have about 50Sc to go for lifetime gold.

Well just fly those couple of sectors and be done with it! I reckon a trip to AKL on a red e-deal should put you over the edge.

Have a bucket load of points with no premium options available and not interested in a toaster.

Now don't be so harsh on those toasters. Some of them can even toast 4 slices of bread!

On the other hand KF seats available in business and first to Europe most days outside school holidays and summer peak and number of points needed for redemption less. Did a first redemption from Syd to FRA and got an upgrade to first in July from Sing to Syd during school holidays. Singapore first/suites is sublime. All my Amex points go to KF when needer. No brainer to look at other options! Even paid tickets many other tier 1 airlines are significantly cheaper than QF. But unfortunately this will fall on deaf ears ..

There are some sweet spots with QF supposing of course you can find the coveted classic business award. Like anything in life this takes a fair amount of research and some flexibility when it comes to routing and dates of travel but you can get good value out of QF points even if they are a bit harder to use than say SQ or AC miles.

Dunno if this right. Share price is steady, miraculously, but this relative to purchase price. Not a lot of overall movement in the last 5 years. It's had a good YTD though.

Given they went through a pandemic which largely forced them to become a small Australian regional carrier for much of 2020 and 2021 the stock performance ain't that bad. What I will point out and keep pointing out is you can't be this profitable and keep investors happy unless you satisfy your customers and for that I would argue Qantas does a fabulous job. There are way more satisfied customers with Qantas versus Virgin and many other carriers.

-RooFlyer88

 

[RichardMEL]

It only works if you fly so much that you can qualify for top tier status for multiple airlines or you fly business class so don't need the tier benefits as much.

Reasonable point, though it can also be helpful to reach mid tier (ie your Gold equivalent). Sure not the best options, but can provide flexibility. Higher status aside, I still feel having multiple homes then provides for multiple options for awards and one can still accrue points with multiple carriers even to a modest level (but of course it definitely depends on an individuals travel plans, budgets etc). For example, I had not flown directly with UA much for some years and had basic Gold status but a ton of points - most of my flying was with QF. However on a trip to Asia I was able to combine an QF award on EK in F MEL-SIN and then MH to KUL in J. I then used UA to fly KUL-SIN(SQ)-BKK-SYD(TG J/F) which was I felt a very worthwhile use of points from multiple alliances to have some rather nice travels (sorry if that comes across as a bit entitled - I just mean it as an example).

Post automatically merged: Nov 14, 2022

I think it is more about the A380's interior rather than the plane that needs upgrading.

Well the 380's have been upgraded - while F is a bit meh the J being upgraded to the new(well OK, now oldish, but new for the 380) suite standard is a pretty fair upgrade to the interiors.. plus PE (not sure if anything was done in Y.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Reasonable point, though it can also be helpful to reach mid tier (ie your Gold equivalent). Sure not the best options, but can provide flexibility.

If the price is right and you can justify it. Many different airlines offer different frequent flyer status the question is how much does it cost to attain, and will you realistically see any benefit from it in a program year? This also means being strategic about when and how you book to both get the best fare, and one that credits into a program where you are looking for status.

Higher status aside, I still feel having multiple homes then provides for multiple options for awards and one can still accrue points with multiple carriers even to a modest level (but of course it definitely depends on an individuals travel plans, budgets etc).

This is true even if you aren't looking to combine awards together. Sometimes QF will have an award SQ won't for the dates and destination you are looking to travel to. Ideally having your miles accrued in a transferrable program like AmEx Membership Rewards is ideal in that respect since you can transfer over to whichever partner has availability for a given booking versus having your points "stranded" in a program that doesn't work for a given booking.

 

[RichardMEL]

If the price is right and you can justify it. Many different airlines offer different frequent flyer status the question is how much does it cost to attain, and will you realistically see any benefit from it in a program year? This also means being strategic about when and how you book to both get the best fare, and one that credits into a program where you are looking for status.

Well in my view this is where having a multi-alliance/airline strategy (for those that can - I concede that point ) comes to the fore when considering BFOD - because there are more options that can provide at least something useful if more options are opened up by having multiple FF "homes" - and this may have nothing even to do with status earning, but just having flights actually earn something that could be useful down the track. So again, if I'm looking to go to say SIN and the BFOD is on QF (unlikely but bear with the example ) then great, credit to QFF. all good. If it's SQ.. super.. credit to a Star Alliance program (in my case, UA). That satisfies going BFOD *and* getting something out of it. If I didn't have a Star Alliance member program to credit to (or at least somewhere that I already have a presence in as opposed to opening a new one which probably would not make much sense for what might be occasional flying) then BFOD would have a little bit less value from the point of view of FF earn.

It all comes down to what one values and the priority one assigns - ie is earning points/status credits more or less important than fare - and that's going o be an individual choice based on a number of factors).. and I suppose BFOD would also include LCC's and then the equation is different of course.

This is true even if you aren't looking to combine awards together. Sometimes QF will have an award SQ won't for the dates and destination you are looking to travel to. Ideally having your miles accrued in a transferrable program like AmEx Membership Rewards is ideal in that respect since you can transfer over to whichever partner has availability for a given booking versus having your points "stranded" in a program that doesn't work for a given booking.

definitely.

And as you say in our example for that trip QF would "win" out, but the next one maybe SQ would.. and having the ability to access that inventory means options are much wider to get to/from destinations when one has currency in the different programs (with statys being the huge cherry on top of course).


but again, this strategy will only be practical for more frequent flyers and not your once or twice a year leisure pax (which isn't really the AFF reader in the main)

 

[ANstar]

Yep it's the only way QF will learn, after AJ runs off with his massive departure bonus!

Sadly I doubt I'll be on a QF aircraft anytime in the next 5 years, with the exception on a route they solely operate on such as Melbourne to Exmouth

Ha - AJ leaving... as if. the guy will hold on for as long as possible. It's his gravy train. Even the Jetstar CEO saw the writing on the wall that AJ wouldn't be leaving anytime soon and decided to pack it in rather than wait another 5 years.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Ha - AJ leaving... as if. the guy will hold on for as long as possible. It's his gravy train. Even the Jetstar CEO saw the writing on the wall that AJ wouldn't be leaving anytime soon and decided to pack it in rather than wait another 5 years.

People love to speculate on when Uncle Alan is gonna retire and frankly I just don't see it happening. Why retire when you are doing so well with happy customers and shareholders?

 

[_flyer]

I agree with most on here. There is literally ‘no point’ sending flexible points, such as membership rewards or banking points to QF. They are almost impossible to use. I have so many banked from credit cards and Everyday Rewards, that are just sitting in my account unused. There is literally no award space on QF. Enough is enough. I changed Everyday Rewards to money off my shop (first time ever) and have recently changed my credit cards to flexible programs, which I have been sending to KF and Velocity (when bonus transfer promos are on). I encourage everyone to do the same.

 

[QF WP]

Rusted on QFFF. Have about 50Sc to go for lifetime gold.

Know the feeling - I’m 600 short and waiting (in vain ) for a double SC so that I can get there - the only reason I’d fly QF at present, as they aren’t winning on $ or on time performance or cancellations, only on their wide body to/from PER

Even paid tickets many other tier 1 airlines are significantly cheaper than QF. But unfortunately this will fall on deaf ears ..

The crazy thing is that they think they’re doing a good job. An apologist attitude doesn’t cut it.

 

[levelnine]

The crazy thing is that they think they’re doing a good job. An apologist attitude doesn’t cut it.

The current state of the airline market is so fascinating.

Qantas planes are full, but only because they are flying literally half as many people as they were pre-COVID, at least to key destinations like the US.

This leaves one to wonder how many people are truly abandoning Qantas. We see a complaint post like this at least once per week on these forums. Are these people a noisy but very small minority? Or are they indicative of a wider trend? Impossible to tell at the moment because reduced capacity is hiding the true figures of customer disaffection.

At some point, one presumes Qantas' capacity will start to increase, but it could be years before they reach pre-COVID levels. So we may be waiting a long time to work out the true state of Qantas and just how many customers they have lost.

 

[Anjan]

Well just fly those couple of sectors and be done with it! I reckon a trip to AKL on a red e-deal should put you over the edge.

Now don't be so harsh on those toasters. Some of them can even toast 4 slices of bread!

There are some sweet spots with QF supposing of course you can find the coveted classic business award. Like anything in life this takes a fair amount of research and some flexibility when it comes to routing and dates of travel but you can get good value out of QF points even if they are a bit harder to use than say SQ or AC miles.

Given they went through a pandemic which largely forced them to become a small Australian regional carrier for much of 2020 and 2021 the stock performance ain't that bad. What I will point out and keep pointing out is you can't be this profitable and keep investors happy unless you satisfy your customers and for that I would argue Qantas does a fabulous job. There are way more satisfied customers with Qantas versus Virgin and many other carriers.

-RooFlyer88

Fortunately I used the DSC promotion and have booked Syd-Ool then Bris-Syd-Pvi over Dec/Jan in J class. Originally booked Brisbane PVI but there was a change. So will have lifetime next month. Overall I think KF generally has more availability on their own metal and for close to or less than QFF redemption levels. KF also has sweet spots Like Perth to PPt for 12k points in ANZ y class. Though getting a redemption is rare as hens teeth!

 

[AIRwin]

Fortunately I used the DSC promotion and have booked Syd-Ool then Bris-Syd-Pvi over Dec/Jan in J class. Originally booked Brisbane PVI but there was a change.

Is PVI = Port Vila?

 

[drron]

The current state of the airline market is so fascinating.

Qantas planes are full, but only because they are flying literally half as many people as they were pre-COVID, at least to key destinations like the US.

This leaves one to wonder how many people are truly abandoning Qantas. We see a complaint post like this at least once per week on these forums. Are these people a noisy but very small minority? Or are they indicative of a wider trend? Impossible to tell at the moment because reduced capacity is hiding the true figures of customer disaffection.

At some point, one presumes Qantas' capacity will start to increase, but it could be years before they reach pre-COVID levels. So we may be waiting a long time to work out the true state of Qantas and just how many customers they have lost.

We should find out when other airlines increase their capacity. If people are genuinely fleeing QF that is when they should do it.