Gold yanked - thoughts?

[opusman]

Do Loyalty Bonuses count for Gold and Platinum earn/retention but not P1?

Correct, they don't count towards P1.

 

[JohnK]

It is all very disappointing, I’ll be the first.......OK maybe not the first, to admit I didn’t credit quite as many flights to QF as I have in previous years but nevertheless it puts me off earning SC’s with QF........well that and the quite awful simpler and fairer SC earn.

I just hope for your sake that BA doesn't pull that soft rug from under your feet and you come begging back to Qantas.

 

[serfty]

I just hope for your sake that BA doesn't pull that soft rug from under your feet and you come begging back to Qantas.

I very much doubt any "begging" will happen.

 

[TonyHancock]

I just hope for your sake that BA doesn't pull that soft rug from under your feet and you come begging back to Qantas.

BA may well change the FF program, it currently favours frequent flyers in J and F, even when they are using cheap EU fares. You'd think that BA would consider a spend based system. I may or may not get to Gold for Life with BA. Still a fair bit of work to do. My travel is nearing an end - it is simply unsustainable for my health.

I can fall back on QF Gold for Life but depending what my travel patterns are there are plenty of better options, price wise, for International travel, so I am not tied to QF. I'm not too fussed domestically - lots of award space available with QF and VA. At the moments BA Avios are good value for the QF domestic flights I take.

We all have different needs and my advice to anyone (Ye Gods, hark at me, my pretentiousness knows no bounds ) is work out what gives you the best results. For some that will be QF and VA for many reasons - and perhaps in the future changes to my travel will necessitate a reassessment of QF and VA. I have no loyalty to either but I do care about getting value from a FF program and at the moment neither offer that for my travel patterns.

 

[RichardMEL]

From a consumer affairs point of view (which the OP was interested in) I do think there's a "case" for either them or fair trading because it's absolutely misleading.. it's past your expiry date into a new year and the banner clearly says you have renewed.. yet you haven't. Absolutely.

The real issue is is it worth pursuing? QF admit it's a glitch and have apologised.. is that all they need to do in the eyes of the OFT? I have no idea. Maybe. Would they correct the glitch - at the very least the horribly misleading banner? Well we all have much experience of how good their IT is in many respects...

It's a difficult one as it's clearly not a deliverately misleading tactic (like not disclosing full taxes or charges, or claiming fares that don't actually ever have any availability etc)...

I suppose if one had free time to chase it up it may well be worth taking it up with either the office of fair trading or even the airline obudsman (referenced often here)

 

[blackcat20]

From a consumer affairs point of view (which the OP was interested in) I do think there's a "case" for either them or fair trading because it's absolutely misleading.. it's past your expiry date into a new year and the banner clearly says you have renewed.. yet you haven't. Absolutely.

The real issue is is it worth pursuing? QF admit it's a glitch and have apologised.. is that all they need to do in the eyes of the OFT? I have no idea. Maybe. Would they correct the glitch - at the very least the horribly misleading banner? Well we all have much experience of how good their IT is in many respects...

It's a difficult one as it's clearly not a deliverately misleading tactic (like not disclosing full taxes or charges, or claiming fares that don't actually ever have any availability etc)...

I suppose if one had free time to chase it up it may well be worth taking it up with either the office of fair trading or even the airline obudsman (referenced often here)

Tempting, but not sure its worth the effort. Possibly I should have forwarded it on to QF last month when it occurred...

 

[Anna]

I think the OP absolutely has a consumer affairs case - QF said gold was retained and the OP says that in reliance on that retention a ticket was purchased. It's doing something in reliance on the misleading info that is key to having a case. The OP should pursue the gold benefits for that journey IMO.

 

[Ewing]

So I guess time will tell if the quirk still exists or if I'm been comped. I had to cancel a number of long haul trips for numerous reasons so ended my year Oct 31 with 840 SCs....

I wasn't too fussed about dropping anyway (so didn't do any runs). The majority of my domestic travel is in J anyway, and international is usually booked in J with upgrade request to F - so I really only lose the F lounge access but the last few times I've been in there it has been so crowded I've left and gone to the EK lounge anyway.

Ignore the low points balance. I deliberately keep it low and transfer points from Amex MR when required.

 

[moa999]

As always check again on 4th or 5th.
Surprised you didn't get an email offering to keep status for 120k points (or maybe they filter it on points balance)

 

[Ontime]

I got the Congratulations banner with no status credits and no offer. I went from WP to Gold. Yes I was annoyed because it creates expectations that they have comped you. Although I know this is unlikely but as a WP for 10 years you think they may have made an exception. As a LTG I have a comfortable fall back position but have zero respect or loyalty to Qantas due to a number of service issues in recent years. I will continue to earn credit card points and burn them within the program but when purchasing J class for leisure travel I now have the option of choosing any airline I like. It's crazy but you experience 10 years in a loyalty program near the top tier and you end up having zero loyalty because of the consistency of errors such as this Congratulatory message.

 

[Pushka]

I got the Congratulations banner with no status credits and no offer. I went from WP to Gold. Yes I was annoyed because it creates expectations that they have comped you. Although I know this is unlikely but as a WP for 10 years you think they may have made an exception. As a LTG I have a comfortable fall back position but have zero respect or loyalty to Qantas due to a number of service issues in recent years. I will continue to earn credit card points and burn them within the program but when purchasing J class for leisure travel I now have the option of choosing any airline I like. It's crazy but you experience 10 years in a loyalty program near the top tier and you end up having zero loyalty because of the consistency of errors such as this Congratulatory message.

And no offer to use points? That seems to have stopped again.

 

[Flyer]

So I guess time will tell if the quirk still exists or if I'm been comped. I had to cancel a number of long haul trips for numerous reasons so ended my year Oct 31 with 840 SCs....

I wasn't too fussed about dropping anyway (so didn't do any runs). The majority of my domestic travel is in J anyway, and international is usually booked in J with upgrade request to F - so I really only lose the F lounge access but the last few times I've been in there it has been so crowded I've left and gone to the EK lounge anyway.

Ignore the low points balance. I deliberately keep it low and transfer points from Amex MR when required.

View attachment 143014

You may be in luck as your status tracker still shows you working to retain WP. With the glitch I've had the banner incorrectly says you've retained the higher status but the tracker below shows the correct status you've fallen back to (in this case you'd expect to see SG).

This could just be me, but would be interesting to see what others have seen.

 

[teamhamsandwich]

And no offer to use points? That seems to have stopped again.

I got the offer last month. It's still around.

 

[Flyer]

And no offer to use points? That seems to have stopped again.

I was extended this offer just last week. I contacted QFF about the "Status Retained" banner and asking whether my status had been comp'd or if it was a glitch. Finding it was the later, I asked if there was a way to keep my status as I had a few flights already booked with QF over the next month and was extended the pay to retain offer.

 

[VPS]

I was extended this offer just last week. I contacted QFF about the "Status Retained" banner and asking whether my status had been comp'd or if it was a glitch. Finding it was the later, I asked if there was a way to keep my status as I had a few flights already booked with QF over the next month and was extended the pay to retain offer.

Was the normal 120k points or was there a cash offer?

 

[Flyer]

Was the normal 120k points or was there a cash offer?

Yep, was just a points offer.

 

[Ewing]

As always check again on 4th or 5th.
Surprised you didn't get an email offering to keep status for 120k points (or maybe they filter it on points balance)

Still showing as Platinum and tracker shows working towards retaining by Oct 31 2019

 

[blackcat20]

Still showing as Platinum and tracker shows working towards retaining by Oct 31 2019

sounds like you got lucky.

 

[RichardMEL]

sooooo inconsistent !

 

[Flyer]

sooooo inconsistent !

But at least they're consistently inconsistent.