Frequent Flyer Program Revamp

[munitalP]

Again we learn through the newspapers that Qantas intend to revamp the FF program - "to improve it's service"

Spin doctoring for "screw its members even harder"

How long can my loyalty last?

 

[oz_mark]

Again we learn through the newspapers that Qantas intend to revamp the FF program - "to improve it's service"

Spin doctoring for "screw its members even harder"

How long can my loyalty last?

While it may be the case that it means what you said, perhaps we should waitto see the detail of what they are proposing.

 

[Mal]

Yep little worse than worrying over "The sky is falling, The sky is falling" where in fact you don't need to worry abou the sky falling in.

Any big change made will be discussed here quite a while before the changes come into effect.

Some change is good. Some change is bad. Either way, there will still be enough discussion here about any proposed change to ensure that you know the best tricks to keep value in the program.

 

[Shano]

Good to see admin getting a mention in the press on this:

Clifford Reichlin, a director of frequentflyer.com.au, said yesterday the Qantas program, which signs up 28,000 new members a month, had been steadily devalued over the past 10 years. He said passengers were paying more points per flight and having increasing difficulty in being able to use their points. "You can trace it from the collapse of Ansett (in 2001)," he said.

More here from The Australian

 

[tinky]

The following looks promising from the Australian article:

He said the airline would introduce a frequent flyer program for passengers on its discount offshoot Jetstar and offer Qantas frequent flyers access to "any seat".

But I wonder how many points "any seat" will cost?

It would be nice to be able to book any seat rather than their limited available seats on popular routes (especially for people with hundreds of thousands of points) but I hope they don't charge an exhorbitant rate for them.

 

[oz_mark]

I would think that the cost would be variable based on what fare buckets were available. Generally speaking the further ahead you book, the cheaper.

I just hope they end up with something that is resonably linear between what you could buy with $$ and what you can buy with points, unlike VirginBlue.

 

[simongr]

I am guessing that they will have some normal priced seats in the current fare buckets and maybe create some new fare buckets for the extra seats that they are "releasing".

There are a lot of people with a lot of points that will gobble up the J seats to the US to burn their points...

 

[turtlemichael]

I can't contemplate how Qantas may manage the difference between points earned by flying and points earned by using a credit card etc. Maybe they don't see a difference ?

It would be conterproductive in terms of loyalty if people who earn by flying, or rather earn most of their points by flying, still can't get an award seat because they have been taken by card users able to plan 360 days in advance. Or maybe Qantas will only recognise loyalty via the status parts of the scheme, similar to CX, and using points will become a free for all?

Interesting times ahead. I'd suggest that if they are looking at it, it's timely to remind QF of how bad the scheme is compared with AA, *A schemes etc as Admin apparently just did.

 

[drron]

I can't contemplate how Qantas may manage the difference between points earned by flying and points earned by using a credit card etc. Maybe they don't see a difference ?

It would be conterproductive in terms of loyalty if people who earn by flying, or rather earn most of their points by flying, still can't get an award seat because they have been taken by card users able to plan 360 days in advance. Or maybe Qantas will only recognise loyalty via the status parts of the scheme, similar to CX, and using points will become a free for all?

Interesting times ahead. I'd suggest that if they are looking at it, it's timely to remind QF of how bad the scheme is compared with AA, *A schemes etc as Admin apparently just did.

AA however also do not discriminate between flying points and cc points when getting an award.In addition AA also count your credit card points for lifetime recognition a fact which I am taking "advantage" of.So QF is in fact more loyal to their flight point earners than AA.

 

[macca172]

I've said it before and I will say it again, the only thing Qantas has ever given away is a homing pigeon and a boomerang. If any QFF member is under the apprehension that a revamp of the program will come without cost or a reduction in current benefits, I strongly suggest you think again.

Myself, Im currently burning off my QFF points and the termination my ANZ Visa card is about to happen also.

Macca

 

[jakeseven7]

Alot of negativity.....

They are making all the right noises IMO - making any seat available etc. I have a problem with my points that alot of people here share - ****loads of them but can't use them - I'd rather pay more points (like Virgin/NZ) and get a seat anywhere!

 

[oz_mark]

Alot of negativity.....

They are making all the right noises IMO - making any seat available etc. I have a problem with my points that alot of people here share - ****loads of them but can't use them - I'd rather pay more points (like Virgin/NZ) and get a seat anywhere!

I would have thought that by allowing you to buy any seat, it would make splitting off FF into a separate entity easier. After all, that entity will be buying the seats off QFF with your points, so what does it matter to them how many points were involved.

(Note that by a separate entity, this could still be one within the Qantas group)

 

[JohnK]

I would have thought that by allowing you to buy any seat, it would make splitting off FF into a separate entity easier.

I would rather they left this alone. I have no problem redeeming the seats I want now so get a negative vibe that if they try to make any seat available the FF points required for the cheapest seat will increase as well.

I have no evidence to substantiate this claim but I do not like to see a scale of FF points required for different seats within the same cabin.

 

[straitman]

I would rather they left this alone. I have no problem redeeming the seats I want now.

I've spent 300,000 points this year and received everything I've asked for.

 

[Shano]

I would rather they left this alone. I have no problem redeeming the seats I want now.

I've spent 300,000 points this year and received everything I've asked for.

I must admit that I have burnt about 200,000 points in the past 8 months or so on J upgrades (LAX-MEL, MEL-HKG-MEL) as well as some whY awards between MEL and BNE, so cannot really fault availability either.

 

[jbc]

I just received a very extensive survey from EMAILCASH re QFF which took over 30 minutes, covering all imaginable options including 6pts per dollar with Jetstar. In total there were 14 possible programs, covering most possibilties raised in this thread. Leading Edge did the survey and they are legitimate.

 

[Reggie]

I just received a very extensive survey from EMAILCASH re QFF which took over 30 minutes, covering all imaginable options including 6pts per dollar with Jetstar. In total there were 14 possible programs, covering most possibilties raised in this thread. Leading Edge did the survey and they are legitimate.

Dont forget the 300 QFF points that will be credited to your account in about 2 weeks.

 

[oz_mark]

Rather disappointed I did not get an invte for this survey

 

[Reggie]

Rather disappointed I did not get an invte for this survey

IIRC previous invites to complete a survey were sent out over a period of a few days, so don't rule yourself out as yet.

I'm not sure I'll be invited again, I made some comments about why I avoid using Jetstar wherever possible that they may not have wanted to hear.

 

[straitman]

Rather disappointed I did not get an invte for this survey

I possibly deleted this from my webmail whilst I was away.