Introducing Platinum One

[bossreggie]

Now someone who flies much less than me, in complete comfort up in business or first, will be treated as greater value, more important. Yes, I get that they are spending more. I live with those realities working with the poor.

I can empathise with you. HOWEVER..... Those who attain P1 regardless of the class of travel have deserved an extra level of benefits.

Using my own experience as a guide. My Son AND my personal assistant have both qualified for P1. (I wonder if my 22 yo son will be one of the youngest members??) To be fair, neither sit in the Y cabin as a rule, but they have both had a lot of BIS miles with QF.

You are also very valuable to QF and that's why you have WP. I wouldn't spend ONE extra $ for either my son or ANY member of my staff to attain P1.

IMHO 99% of those who attain it, will do so without changing their flying patterns.

 

[amaroo]

IMHO 99% of those who attain it, will do so without changing their flying patterns.

You're probably right - most of them will be wearing HI VIS shirts :mrgreen:

 

[MrJetset]

My honest reaction is that I feel like i've just been devalued.

I work for an NGO, so I have to fly discount economy - no choice in that. I still spend a substantial amount on flying. I've spent 40% of my life away from home over the last few years. That's a lot of time in economy seats. Despite all that flying, discount economy gives only meagre status credits, so I only just scrape in to platinum. But at least I felt really valued.

+1. I work for a NGO, flying deep discount economy. I only qualify for WP because of my leisure travel internationally.

To be honest, there is no comparison between P1 and LH's top tier. Or EY if you have contacts....

In addition, all QF F customers can request to be escorted from check in through security and immigration to the lounge. I never take up this service, but always request it for my parents.

Anyone flying F, or reaching P1, would have AMEX Centurion, Platinum Travel or a PA who would handle their travel plans. Other than a dedicated team at QF, I don't see this as a real benefit. Starwood has an Ambassador program, Hyatt has Private Line. They are specific contacts for high value customers that provide convenience, and handle specific requests more than anything else.

 

[Kangol]

So after all this, would a WP1 be considered higher, lower or the same as CL?

 

[serfty]

So after all this, would a WP1 be considered higher, lower or the same as CL?

Different - a CL can influence significant spend, a WP! does spend significantly (for one PAX)!

 

[bossreggie]

Different - a CL can influence significant spend, a WP! does spend significantly (for one PAX)!

Agreed.

I am possibly somewhat unusual in the sense that I do both!

 

[gumpy]

many months ago I defended qf saying this new level should encourage people to stay with QF after making WP... and it would address issues and concerns existing members had...


To everyone I argued with I was wrong and naive and I'm man enough to admit it. *eats humble pie*

 

[Jobu]

Different - a CL can influence significant spend, a WP! does spend significantly (for one PAX)!

Although I would guess that CL members will get all the benefits of P1, but clearly a P1 does not get all the benefits of a CL.

 

[chrisb]

A lot of people are complaining about the benefits, but if I was in the position of flying a lot in premium cabins I think i'd appreciate knowing that i'm above the rest and have a dedicated team who will proactively fix things up when things go wrong rather than having to just join the masses in queues, or call and sit on hold.

I would also hope that this loyalty would make it more likely that Qantas would put you on other carriers rather than making you wait or downgrading you during disruptions.

For most 'normal' people who fly for work, the other benefits of WP & Flying J/F are probably enough.

 

[el_rooto]

As has been said before, IMO, P1 is designed for people who fly that much, and it will be incredibly useful for them.

Standard WP is good enough for me, I wouldn't get any additional benefits out of P1....

 

[Jobu]

I would also hope that this loyalty would make it more likely that Qantas would put you on other carriers rather than making you wait or downgrading you during disruptions.

QF has already done this a couple of times in the last few months for me, which is always appreciated, and therefore seems to come with existing platinum (and/or travel class).

 

[wandering_fred]

Re: Introducing Platinum OneQF

Well I probably will never have an opportunity to worry about WP1. Indeed my OW Emerald days are probably over on 01 Mar 2012. However, I see no reason for any (mainly) international frequent flyer outside of Sydney residents being seriously concerned with QF's program past WP (maybe even SG) But I am partial to the One World Alliance.

Status:
CX values premium flyers and has much better international schedules to/from Australia. Their willingness to support their Diamond (and DM+) members is legendary. And apparently only a small fraction is documented in writing.

Economy flyers and those searching for awards:
Hopefully AA will continue to remain top of the list. Certainly the BA partnership changes help.

FIFO miners will help keep QF profitable domestically and have and will continue to generate numerous WP and WP1 members for QF. My condolences to the eastern cities (BNE-SYD-CBR-MEL) regular flyers.

Wandering in a different direction (as usual)

Fred

 

[Fantic125]

Re: Platinum One announced

QANTAS says that 70% of upgrade requests are successful at the moment (for WPs), so someone must be getting their upgrade requests through.

Well, I've had a 100% strike rate so far with upgrade requests. :shock:

(Mind you, I've only ever put one in.... and it was this one.... )

2 weeks ago on QF072, SIN-PER from B>J. Put the rquest in 4 days before the flight and was notified 24 hours beforehand.

 

[Fantic125]

Re: Platinum One announced

Having read through most of this post I must say congratulations to the WP1's for whatever benefits they get.

As a regular flier (this year will finish with 1820 SC's, 72 sectors and 181,127 miles, compared to last year with 1385 SC's, 100 sectors and 233,936 miles) unfortunately flown in discount Y, I don't achieve anywhere near the required SC's for WP1.

However, for those that do achieve WP1 it usually requires a lot of time away from home, family and friends so if there is any way Qantas can make life a bit more rewarding for all of them, then good on them!

 

[JohnK]

Wait til JohnK sees this!!

I have been thinking all along (not sure whether I mentioned it anywhere) that Platinum One is the new Platinum with a few extra benefits.

It would appear to me that Qantas is only really interested in keeping Golds happy as that is where many Platinums with Lifetime Gold will end up very soon.

For what it is worth 14A on a TG A340 was not too bad the other day and only ~50% more than the cost of a QF economy flight and much better than the complimentary exit rows in economy.

Qantas for the time being has lost my loyalty on international flights. If they are not too careful they will also lose my loyalty on domestic flights but that could be a while before that happens.

 

[gpr49697]

good to see improvement arouind the upgrade steps.

 

[MarcB]

Re: Platinum One announced

The gist I got from the QFF CEO lunch was that P1 is aimed squarely at those who simply spend far too many hours flying, especially on QF flights. It's not designed for something to be 'aimed' for, simply a 'we'll look after you *because* you fly that much'. It's designed to make those truly excessively frequent flyers lives easier, not encouraging people to reach 'loftier heights'.

I know someone else has responded to this comment in part, but coming back to my original point, if the intention is not to encourage people to aim for WP1 by getting them to book flights with QF over even their alliance partners (2700SC requirement), then why the big launch and the publication of the benefits? As many point out, a lot of these benefits already exist for WPs. Why has QF marketing gone into overdrive to talk this up for several months if they are not interested in the revenue impacts of changing people's behaviour. I don't doubt that the new WP1 will appreciate the extra benefits, but I believe more revenue benefits could have been driven by enhancements to the standard WP level (although I see from an email yesterday that these may be coming soon). For a start, it's a much greater pool of potential people (I assume) and even incremental changes in those SG and existing WPs spending would surely have large revenue impacts.

Again, I'm not suggesting that the WP1 benefits aren't a good thing - but I do question the value part of the 3xWP equation to get there.

Don't get me wrong, Qantas always look after me as a WP and I have been very lucky with op-ups and points upgrades over the last few years - I would just hate to think that the level of service currently offered to WPs will suffer if a mentality of "you're just an ordinary Platinum" starts to proliferate among QF staff. That is the real risk I see here, and no one from QF has moved to reassure WPs that this won't be the case.

 

[simongr]

I don't think potential WP1 will chase for status but I think this might encourage some of them to fly QF over another carrier.

 

[moa999]

as a 5-yr WP I am 1 of 5 on upgrade requests (admittedly only requested on A380 J-F) and never had a QF Intl opup.

would be interested if the upgrade stats are different for econ and int y-j, versus int j-f.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I remain distinctly underwhelmed by WP1 and to be honest I'm kind of glad. I'll never get the SC and will remain WP unless I have a complete career change.
I think most of the benefits already exist for super plats, and I welcome the changes to both domestic and international upgrade requests ( instant confirmation for int. would have been nice but at least this is a step in the right direction).
I did get the impression at the AFF lunch that the standard WP's were important to QF and I doubt this new level will have much of an impact on that.
YMMV