Taxes are taxes (common to any airline). But aren’t the bulk of fuel fines imposed by the operating airline?
Interesting to know what other partners are passing on and how much is actually QF fee?
Ditto. I doubt that’s QF picking a number out of their a$$?
We know the EK fines are even applied to their own FFs making SR almost junk status on premium redemptions….
The Carrier Charges component are entirely at the Airline’s discretion. They will charge as much as they think they can get away with before the consumer cries fowl and calls them out, creates mass public backlash and their members disengage from the program. Even then, some airlines still just don’t care.
Carrier charges vary wildly based on several factors including (but not limited to) marketed/operating airline and the routing. As an example, more popular routes such as SYD-LHR using QF points on QF metal would charge significantly more in Carrier charges than a similar distance routing between two less desirable third world cities with different economies/wealth.
It goes without saying that Qantas is notorious for applying exorbitant Carrier Charges on award bookings. A couple of key reasons they do this is because;
1) It goes straight to their bottom line (more profit, more CEO bonuses etc), and
2) They can sneakily devalue members’ points in the background while remaining somewhat competitive in the points redemption market without seeming to charge a higher number of points upfront.
The consumer just sees the number of points required - all the Carrier Charges are treated like an afterthought in the redemption process and just a part of award redemptions. Given that most people may have just snagged a unicorn business cabin award, very few will stop mid-booking to think of how much their points are actually worth, let alone alternative FF schemes.
I’m still keen for
@AFF Editor to conduct a thorough comparison of various FF schemes (inc all the American based FF programs) to contrast the huge disparity of Carrier Charges between Qantas and much better alternatives.
