Is Qantas Actually Listening?

[Mr_Orange]

As for earn on partner flights - QF is still part of oneworld. They want the benefits of the alliance, so should also offer the benefits of the alliance.

That is a good point.

 

[JohnK]

Leaving aside Platinum issues which are outside my horizon, the CX example you quote is only half the story. Fine, cut earn to HKG where QF flies, but you are cutting customers off your list when you penalise them for flying HKG to say CGD, or TXL on OW partners when OF does not offer a realistic alternative.

I totally agree with you on that point.

I was assured this was being reviewed but now I am not so sure. Perhaps it takes time.

 

[hossein_au]

Well I got my feedback today, a call from QFF to say that appreciated the feedback, and it was being passed along. They agreed that none of the feedback was going to change SC earn in the short term, but that there had been a lot of concern expressed. Held out the carrot that QF might reconsider down the road, but I won't be holding my breath. I reconfirmed them that I had moved my International J travel for the coming year as the only protest I can make to their various changes, even though the SC/Points drop will affect me.

"...Held out the carrot that QF might reconsider down the road..." Cool, you should have said "I also might reconsider my airline preference down the road!" ;-)

 

[katiebell]

The whole world does not revolve around QF elites.

Many FF programs treat status earning differently. Try earning status on AA, CX and BA on Qantas E class airfares.

So a Qantas Platinum travels business SYD-HKG on CX for the half the cost of a Qantas flight, uses the First lounge and earns the same SCs as a Qantas flight. Makes no sense. Qantas bears all the costs and provides the avenue for status. Why shouldn't Qantas entice people to travel Qantas where Qantas services the route? Well here is that change so next time you travel you will think about travelling Qantas instead of giving the competition a leg up.

Reason to fly another OW carrier on a route serviced by QF:

1) schedule: other carriers fly at other times that may be more convenient or practical
2) route: being able to fly out of Aus on an international carrier rather than DOM to SYD is, for me, much better
3) international route: some of us like to avoid the Middle East when flying to Europe and the USA when flyingto Canada or South America
4) stopovers: IfI want to break my trip to Europe I would rather do it in HKG and not in DXB
5) aircraft, crew, food and drink, cost and all thos e other things.

I do not believe that other airlines do not contribute to the costs, both by the transfer of costs for pints earnd and for using hte lounges: why else are the BPs scanned (rather than just glanced at)

QFi flies almost nowhere: EK & JQ are not QF. In order to have an attractive FF programme it has to offer good internatonal benefits when travelling to all the places QFi does not fly to. This after all, is the major marketting ploy of the alliances

 

[JohnK]

but... there might be no other airline that does it, but as late as December last year QF announced status credits to be awarded for all economy classic awards! So to argue that SCs on mASAs was somehow a 'mistake' doesn't really wash does it? because QF did it again with a huge promotion! Frequent Flyer - Member Specials - Qantas Classic Awards - Status Credit Offer

It was a mistake.

The ability to book TSV-BNE-DRW in business for the same points cost as a direct TSV-DRW and a few $ extra was never the intention of Any Seat awards but the loophole was found and then plastered all over the internet in threads of who can brag the loudest about their latest find.

Anyway we have been through all this before and tomorrow is the first of the new changes.I hope all is smooth. My only concern is that QFF and Qantas survive. I shall survey the damage later.

 

[ketsuzei]

plastered all over the internet in threads of who can brag the loudest about their latest find.

And yet somehow less unpleasant than other participants.

 

[woodborer]

but... there might be no other airline that does it, but as late as December last year QF announced status credits to be awarded for all economy classic awards! So to argue that SCs on mASAs was somehow a 'mistake' doesn't really wash does it? because QF did it again with a huge promotion! Frequent Flyer - Member Specials - Qantas Classic Awards - Status Credit Offer

There is quite a fundamental flaw in your argument, and that is just because a company may be willing to do something on a promotional basis, it does not mean that they would be willing to do it on an ongoing basis. Promotions have their own targets etc, to drive some sort of behaviour. So awarding SC for classic awards, on a promotional basis, does not mean they would be willing to do it ongoing.

 

[JohnK]

And yet somehow less unpleasant than other participants.

Not at all.

You found a loophole and now loophole gone. Move on with life and find other loopholes and this time....

 

[medhead]

It was a mistake.

The ability to book TSV-BNE-DRW in business for the same points cost as a direct TSV-DRW and a few $ extra was never the intention of Any Seat awards but the loophole was found and then plastered all over the internet in threads of who can brag the loudest about their latest find.

Anyway we have been through all this before and tomorrow is the first of the new changes.I hope all is smooth. My only concern is that QFF and Qantas survive. I shall survey the damage later.

Was there ever a direct tsv-drw flight? The fact remains Qantas could have stop such indirect flights (as they did on other routes) or reprice them to get the return they wanted. They didn't do that.

It is ludicrous to suggest marginal ASA were a mistake when points plus pay are still being offered and Qantas clearly thinks they are any seat awards. And they still earn.

 

[JohnK]

Was there ever a direct tsv-drw flight? The fact remains Qantas could have stop such indirect flights (as they did on other routes) or reprice them to get the return they wanted. They didn't do that.

It is ludicrous to suggest marginal ASA were a mistake when points plus pay are still being offered and Qantas clearly thinks they are any seat awards. And they still earn.

It is clearly obvious they were a mistake. Qantas noticed a long time ago but the voices on AFF were crying for them to remain. So people had a reprieve but the warning was there. And then AFF exploited them even more.

Am I dreaming the sequence of events?

They are now gone and there is a new Any Seat award in their place.

I would really like upgrade credits, Anytime access to lounges and complimentary international exit rows pre-allocation to return. It is not going to happen though.

 

[medhead]

It is clearly obvious they were a mistake. Qantas noticed a long time ago but the voices on AFF were crying for them to remain. So people had a reprieve but the warning was there. And then AFF exploited them even more.

Am I dreaming the sequence of events?

They are now gone and there is a new Any Seat award in their place.

I would really like upgrade credits, Anytime access to lounges and complimentary international exit rows pre-allocation to return. It is not going to happen though.

It is not clearly obvious they were a mistake. There are not new any seat awards (ignoring certain technical differences around terminology). These are the exact same any seat awards that were introduced at the same time. All that has happened is Qantas has removed the ability to book select fare classes as any seat awards. It great you have an opinion but unfortunately it doesn't seem to acknowledge hat has really happened.

What has happened is Qantas has fundamentally changed the website to remove the any seat award booking system. That removed booking system allowed booking ASA in any fare class. It is now still possible to book any fare except UPZX using points plus pay. This is the same as the old any seat award, aside from the technically not being an any seat award under the terms and conditions. Basically the vast majority of old any seat awards are still available on line. There is some suggestion that point plus pay is more expensive that an any seat award, in the equivalent fare class, booked using the old system. Potentially they've reproved the award.

So if they are fundamentally keeping the award type it is not obvious they were a mistake at all. If the spin was true they could simply re-price to get the return they desired from the so called marginal ASA.

A popular product that they could re-price is not comparable to the benefits you've listed. Not to mention upgrade credits were replaced by a loyalty bonus, so that benefit still exists.

 

[penegal]

I agree with JohnK and serfty that it is quite possible that the first MASAs were a happy accident of the enhancements to the booking engine way back when ASAs were first floated as an idea and ticket type (~5 years ago?).

Origin aside, to medhead's point, QF continued to offer and honour these tickets for several years, so they were well and truly a codified and "valid" type of ticket. (e.g. not a mistake fare). Savvy frequent flyers used these extensively. Many posts on this forum clearly illustrated that MASAs represented a much better value proposition compared to a classic award. In many cases (with adequate knowledge) you would be foolish not to book a MASA.

To be perfectly honest I am surprised QF continued to offer these tickets for so long.

Anyhow, QF have now cased to offer these tickets, and gave everyone a long notice period (whether intentionally that long or not). If you are smart, you will be sitting on 1-2 years worth of tickets.




The one thing we know for sure - they aren't coming back... time to look for the next best use of QF pesos...

 

[boomy]

The one thing we know for sure - they aren't coming back... time to look for the next best use of QF pesos...

Amen to that! Time to stop with the whining and accept the facts.

 

[mannej]

The one thing we know for sure - they aren't coming back... time to look for the next best use of QF pesos...

Justin Hyams made it very very clear in his communication that they were not coming back.

 

[medhead]

Seems you lot are missing the point if you think I wish a return. (I've already found something better for my needs) I'm questioning the intelligence of killing a very popular product when Qantas could have increased the price to make more money from the popular product. Correct me if I'm wrong but Qantas does have a profit problem. Why not try to make more money from a popular product? Hey? There's a novel idea, trying to make money from something that customers want to buy.

Some of the recent comments are rather offensive, it's just a shame that people made false assumptions. How about stop making up facts to try to deny my opinion. Especially offensive to accuse me of whinging.

 

[penegal]

Seems you lot are missing the point if you think I wish a return. (I've already found something better for my needs) I'm questioning the intelligence of killing a very popular product when Qantas could have increased the price to make more money from the popular product. Correct me if I'm wrong but Qantas does have a profit problem. Why not try to make more money from a popular product? Hey? There's a novel idea, trying to make money from something that customers want to buy.

To play devil's advocate, that is exactly what QANTAS think they have done... Some people may say they are out of touch?

Some of the recent comments are rather offensive, it's just a shame that people made false assumptions. How about stop making up facts to try to deny my opinion. Especially offensive to accuse me of whinging.

My post is not directed at you. I am merely stating the facts on a public forum which seems to be obsessed with a now deprecated product.

 

[coles525]

I need to ask this simple but strange question:

Since June 30th cut-off has finally ecpired, is there are way actually possible to use your points (plus pay if required!) to actually earn status credits?

Private message me if uncomfortable to announce to the world!

 

[penegal]

Since June 30th cut-off has finally ecpired, is there are way actually possible to use your points (plus pay if required!) to actually earn status credits?

All "Points + Pay" and "Any Seat Award" tickets booked in eligible booking classes will be eligible to earn points and status credits according to the published earn rates.

Whether they represent "good value" or not is another matter...

 

[serfty]

I need to ask this simple but strange question:

Since June 30th cut-off has finally ecpired, is there are way actually possible to use your points (plus pay if required!) to actually earn status credits?

Private message me if uncomfortable to announce to the world!

Not a problem - try the PER-SIN I class specials and click pay with points ...

(121,100 QFF for 160 SC's [+ 6600 to 11000 points earn])

 

[JohnK]

It is not clearly obvious they were a mistake. There are not new any seat awards (ignoring certain technical differences around terminology). These are the exact same any seat awards that were introduced at the same time. All that has happened is Qantas has removed the ability to book select fare classes as any seat awards. It great you have an opinion but unfortunately it doesn't seem to acknowledge hat has really happened.

Qantas in its wisdom designed a feature where it was possible to earn SCs and QFF points for less than the cost of a classic award? Why would they be that stupid? It makes no sense. They then reviewed this flaw in the system and have been removed. They were not obliged to reprice them in a way where people still felt they were receiving great value.

Decision made. No going back now. And Qantas has decided that Points + pay is the way forward.