Invite only, Points Club Plus reward service

[Daver6]

At quite a favourable exchange rate also.

Roughly 136 points per dollar from what I can tell.

 

[exceladdict]

Roughly 136 points per dollar from what I can tell.

That's a bit higher than I expected (.735c/p)

Though QF would be claiming input tax credits on purchases, so that's a straight up 9% discount on the purchase price of anything that attracts GST, and probably work to negotiate prices depending on the item.

 

[ChrisMars]

Guys, I often saw the expression "reduce liability" in the context of frequent flyer points. I am certainly a bit of a naive person, but can someone help me understand how does this kind of Qantas offer to use points, actually reduce liability, where Qantas seems to control both the exchange rate, and the reward inventory of their "currency".

Again, as a naive person, I only see this kind of initiatives as a way to increase redemptions, and I guess encourage chasing more points, as a way to develop further what seems to be one of the most succesfull airline reward program, and the most stable Qantas branch during this pandemic.

 

[sudoer]

I am certainly a bit of a naive person, but can someone help me understand how does this kind of Qantas offer to use points, actually reduce liability, where Qantas seems to control both the exchange rate, and the reward inventory of their "currency".

All QFF points in circulation sit on the Qantas Loyalty books as a $ liability using some internal cent per point valuation. Qantas can reduce their points liability through a variety of methods, e.g. QFF program devaluations (reduce value per point), clearing out inactive accounts (remove points from circulation at no cost), designing the booking engine UI to push people into buying points + pay flights (make it difficult for members to extract more value from their points), running promotions to encourage spending of points (encourage redemptions at low rates), etc.

Qantas would much rather people with large points balances redeem 1m points on $13k worth of school fees instead of 3 x RTW J awards on partner airlines which would undoubtedly cost them much more.

Again, as a naive person, I only see this kind of initiatives as a way to increase redemptions

Encouraging redemptions is going to remove the points off the books as a liability. With promotions like this, Qantas is effectively buying out its liabilities at a favourable rate. The same goes for Points + Pay. Qantas is happy for you to redeem as many points as you possibly can at 0.66c each, likely because the points are valued at a higher rate on their books and you are buying their product which should cost Qantas less than the ticket price to deliver.

Over the last 2 years it has been much harder to spend points on flights but still easy to generate them through everyday spend or opening CCs. The number of points in circulation is probably at an all-time high.

 

[Kangol]

Guys, I often saw the expression "reduce liability" in the context of frequent flyer points. I am certainly a bit of a naive person, but can someone help me understand how does this kind of Qantas offer to use points, actually reduce liability, where Qantas seems to control both the exchange rate, and the reward inventory of their "currency".

Again, as a naive person, I only see this kind of initiatives as a way to increase redemptions, and I guess encourage chasing more points, as a way to develop further what seems to be one of the most succesfull airline reward program, and the most stable Qantas branch during this pandemic.

All QFF points in circulation sit on the Qantas Loyalty books as a $ liability using some internal cent per point valuation. Qantas can reduce their points liability through a variety of methods, e.g. QFF program devaluations, clearing out inactive accounts, designing the booking engine UI to push people into buying points + pay flights, running promotions to encourage spending of points, etc.

Qantas would much rather people with large points balances redeem 1m points on $13k worth of school fees instead of 3 x RTW J awards on partner airlines which would undoubtedly cost them much more.

This also adds "value" to the customer, thinking they can use their points for items that would not normally be able to be redeemed.
Just look at the testimonials

 

[ChrisMars]

All QFF points in circulation sit on the Qantas Loyalty books as a $ liability using some internal cent per point valuation. Qantas can reduce their points liability through a variety of methods, e.g. QFF program devaluations (reduce value per point), clearing out inactive accounts (remove points from circulation at no cost), designing the booking engine UI to push people into buying points + pay flights (make it difficult for members to extract more value from their points), running promotions to encourage spending of points (encourage redemptions at low rates), etc.

Qantas would much rather people with large points balances redeem 1m points on $13k worth of school fees instead of 3 x RTW J awards on partner airlines which would undoubtedly cost them much more.



Encouraging redemptions is going to remove the points off the books as a liability. With promotions like this, Qantas is effectively buying out its liabilities at a favourable rate. The same goes for Points + Pay. Qantas is happy for you to redeem as many points as you possibly can at 0.66c each, likely because the points are valued at a higher rate on their books and you are buying their product which should cost Qantas less than the ticket price to deliver.

Over the last 2 years it has been much harder to spend points on flights but still easy to generate them through everyday spend or opening CCs. The number of points in circulation is probably at an all-time high.

Thanks for the explanations.
I did a bit of research on airline miles, and I think I took the word "liability" too literally, as if there is an actual a risk for the airline. It' just an accounting term, and as explained in this article Loyalty Myths: Are frequent flyer miles a liability? | CustomerThink , it is nothing to fear.

 

[Radio8tiv]

Might look into this as an option to pay for a solar install, could be a decent way to make a return out of QF points

 

[kangarooflyer88]

The real question for this service is whether the concierge at the end of the line is much of a connoisseur when it comes to the selection and pricing of toasters. The uninformed and dare I say it kettle concierges may think that a simple 4 slice Russell Hobbs unit you readily get at a JB Hi-fi will be enough to satisfy even the most discerning of toaster aficionados. It takes a special eye to find those units which have both a removable crumb tray and bagel functionality. Now that's what I call a first class experience!

-RooFlyer88

 

[sudoer]

The real question for this service is whether the concierge at the end of the line is much of a connoisseur when it comes to the selection and pricing of toasters.

If they could get me a 240V Balmuda toaster I'd willingly part with my points at 0.74c each.