Platinum One people - what’s your job/business?

[Mr H]

I travel and get no points for it because as a government employee I’m not permitted to. My job doesn’t exist outside the government, either. There are way bigger things affecting careers than travel benefits. I’m also approaching 25 years in the workforce and recognise that I value my family, friends, and leisure time far more than FF points.

It always amuses me to see LinkedIn style entitlement of people saying that they would not work for a company if they did or didn't do various trivial things. The reality is that most of us are not global CEO material and we want to be able to put meals on the table while doing something we don't hate. For most of us, there are limited opportunities for this. And if we want a sense of achievement, it involves staying with an employer for more than the 8 months the LinkedIn lot would have you believe.

 

[Beano]

Yes. If you've seen Up in the Air, the notion of coming to your actual home feeling so odd isn't a fiction when you seemingly know better and spend more time with hotel staff and baristas thousands of kilometres away. It's definitely not a lifestyle I could recommend to many.

Up in the Air is one of my favourites.

 

[Buzzard]

It may well be the employer paying the fares! I've seen some organisations that have negotiated with Airlines for cheaper fares but no SC/Points allocated. I think that would be the shortest straw to draw.

On the other hand, Federal Government public servants flying regularly that earn SC but not points.

 

[boardie_19]

I’m a P1 - made it with work pre-covid, not so much personal trips.

Regular trips in J to South Africa, Phillipines and the UK… as I was free to basically pick when I wanted to take the trips, I always took advantage of double status credits which naturally made it easier to achieve. Throw in a few years of it being ‘gifted’ - now prepared for the drop to Platinum next year which suits me fine.

Regarding work, I manage offshore partners but have made the decision to step back from travel inline within repatriating our business back onshore like most Australian organisations have.

Now it will just be a case of getting creative in order to maintain Platinum when it comes around. A few SCs of lifetime Gold which is the sweet spot.

I’ll be happy with that when it comes around.

 

[Mr H]

Regular trips in J to South Africa, Phillipines and the UK…

Regarding work, I manage offshore partners but have made the decision to step back from travel inline within repatriating our business back onshore like most Australian organisations have.

Do you run the QF call centres?

 

[sudoer]

Do you run the QF call centres?

repatriating our business back onshore like most Australian organisations have.

One can wish (but don't get your hopes up)

 

[boardie_19]

Do you run the QF call centres?

No thanks!

But believe me, if I did, the issues wouldn’t exist!

 

[SeatBackForward]

No thanks!

But believe me, if I did, the issues wouldn’t exist!

OFFTOPIC: what's the reason for the repatriating, is it a cost thing? or simply that Australian customers prefer to have local support?

 

[boardie_19]

OFFTOPIC: what's the reason for the repatriating, is it a cost thing? or simply that Australian customers prefer to have local support?

No problem.

Definitely not a cost issue, it’s a massive saving for us to retain the business offshore so will cost millions more to bring the business back however being insurance, dealing with peoples personal assets, feedback continues to be that people want to speak to a ‘local’ regarding their insurances. Also when your NPS scores take a beating, the board wants a solution.

Sadly the countries we have invested in, personal insurance remains a luxury… so it has been a struggle for these guys as wonderful as they are to truely understand the concepts of insurance let alone think outside the box if and when necessary.

Customer complaints at an all time high, bleeding money from a claims perspective and regulatory pressures were the final nails in the coffin for us.

I see similarities between my industry and airlines in terms of how we offshore and how staff comprehend a request - what seems basic to us is not always basic for the consultant and these countries are heavily scripted meaning you throw a curve ball at them, they don’t have a process map or ‘script’ on how to respond and simply freak out result in a poor customer experience.

Sadly you can’t train everything from day one, needs to be done in chunks and requires staff to think outside the box when necessary and ask questions behind the scenes to find a solution i.e: a Qatar awards flight via Qantas was cancelled. However as we have seen over the years, this doesn’t always happen.

What customers don’t know and really don’t need to know is that there are big contractual penalties with pulling out from a BPO offshore… and sometimes it’s a case of riding the storm for the contracted period (we are 5 years).

I also think Qantas have and do rely too much on loyalty, the fact we are a small country with limited options overlaid with their incredible safety record. I myself am guilty of this mentality as like most, have been let down on a considerable amount of occasions.

Hope this gave you some insight as to how it works behind the scenes. Cheers!

 

[oz_mark]

No problem.

Definitely not a cost issue, it’s a massive saving for us to retain the business offshore so will cost millions more to bring the business back however being insurance, dealing with peoples personal assets, feedback continues to be that people want to speak to a ‘local’ regarding their insurances. Also when your NPS scores take a beating, the board wants a solution.

Sadly the countries we have invested in, personal insurance remains a luxury… so it has been a struggle for these guys as wonderful as they are to truely understand the concepts of insurance let alone think outside the box if and when necessary.

Sounds like a failure in due diligence when the the decision to use the current vendor was made.

 

[Mr H]

Sounds like a failure in due diligence when the the decision to use the current vendor was made.

Or if not a failure in due diligence, a failure to set adequate performance standards that would allow a contract to be broken in case of persistent non-performance.

 

[dairyfloss]

Just out of interest, can you give a ballpark figure re what the corporate discounts are? If, say, there's a Qantas MEL-SYD flight available in business for $800, what would some of the big corporations be charged for it? (bearing in mind that they may well be able to claim the GST back as well).

It varies by booking class (J/C/D/I) with the higher categories offered more of a discount. For Business class I would guess a large corporate (spending millions per year) to be getting around 25-30% off the fare component only on mainline domestic J/C fares, based on what I've heard SMEs with far less volume are roughly able to negotiate. D/I discounts are lower.

Hotel room discounts can go a lot deeper.

I was thinking more about long haul international J where Precovid a Corp rate to Europe might be in the $5k to $6k range but the retail is $7k to $8k+.

Most corps are less likely to offer domestic J to employees.

Sorry - more OT for the thread: Business/Corporate discounts are not generally that impressive, and a promo fare will outdo most of them every time, if you can find one! It does mean more flexibility at closer to the best fares available, though, which is why businesses enjoy it.

From my experience on deals in years gone by, spending up to ~A$1M annually on base fares (a mix of ~50/50 DOM & INT) with QF from our Australian operations, we would get 10% off the base J/C fares for DOM (nothing on D/I), and between 10-20% off the base J/C/D fares for INT, with the higher end of that for select routes only. W is 10% discounted. Discounts on Y fares for DOM & INT are smaller - usually between 4 & 10% depending on market pair (routes) and fare class.

Discounts contingent on sustained significant (>80-90%) market share for the routes flown, and no leisure travel is allowed.

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[SYD]

From my experience on deals in years gone by, spending up to ~A$1M annually on base fares (a mix of ~50/50 DOM & INT) with QF from our Australian operations, we would get 10% off the base J/C fares for DOM (nothing on D/I), and between 10-20% off the base J/C/D fares for INT, with the higher end of that for select routes only. W is 10% discounted. Discounts on Y fares for DOM & INT are smaller - usually between 4 & 10% depending on market pair (routes) and fare class.

Pre-Covid, a large multi-national could spend A$1M per month across Dom/Int on client funded and overhead travel - just to put into perspective what I’ve seen and used first hand.

 

[dairyfloss]

Pre-Covid, a large multi-national could spend A$1M per month across Dom/Int on client funded and overhead travel - just to put into perspective what I’ve seen and used first hand.

Very true - and those discounts likely then reflective of what they might get. We’ve gone way down in spend, even with covid considered, and now just try to avoid the airlines calls!

 

[SeatBackForward]

No problem.

Definitely not a cost issue, it’s a massive saving for us to retain the business offshore so will cost millions more to bring the business back however being insurance, dealing with peoples personal assets, feedback continues to be that people want to speak to a ‘local’ regarding their insurances. Also when your NPS scores take a beating, the board wants a solution.

Sadly the countries we have invested in, personal insurance remains a luxury… so it has been a struggle for these guys as wonderful as they are to truely understand the concepts of insurance let alone think outside the box if and when necessary.

Customer complaints at an all time high, bleeding money from a claims perspective and regulatory pressures were the final nails in the coffin for us.

I see similarities between my industry and airlines in terms of how we offshore and how staff comprehend a request - what seems basic to us is not always basic for the consultant and these countries are heavily scripted meaning you throw a curve ball at them, they don’t have a process map or ‘script’ on how to respond and simply freak out result in a poor customer experience.

Sadly you can’t train everything from day one, needs to be done in chunks and requires staff to think outside the box when necessary and ask questions behind the scenes to find a solution i.e: a Qatar awards flight via Qantas was cancelled. However as we have seen over the years, this doesn’t always happen.

What customers don’t know and really don’t need to know is that there are big contractual penalties with pulling out from a BPO offshore… and sometimes it’s a case of riding the storm for the contracted period (we are 5 years).

I also think Qantas have and do rely too much on loyalty, the fact we are a small country with limited options overlaid with their incredible safety record. I myself am guilty of this mentality as like most, have been let down on a considerable amount of occasions.

Hope this gave you some insight as to how it works behind the scenes. Cheers!

@boardie_19 brilliant response. And as a customer of many businesses where I've had to contact their offshore support. I agree 100% with the lack of creativity and sticking to the script, followed with the "is there anything else I can do for you sir?" (well the thing I called about would be a start).

I switched to an Internet provider that had local support, have been very happy with it, after switching from one that used support in the Philippines that never understood my problems or took many many calls to resolve them. Personally I think there is a lot of value to promote that that you do have local support.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I wouldn't consider myself a heavy frequent flyer, but as someone who has attained and retained Delta Gold Medallion, United Premier Gold and now Qantas Gold, I think I can provide a bit of perspective here. In my case I'm an ex-pat (originally from Canada), studying in Australia so there is a decent amount of travel I'm engaged in just being an ex-pat - travelling back to Canada to visit friends and family and deal with affairs, travelling back to Australia for education. I was even in a similar situation pre-COVID when I was completing a Master's program in the UK going back and forth between UK and North America. For me, being strategic about who I fly to earn frequent flyer status really makes a difference because it can mean a great deal of savings down the road in terms of free checked bags (easily thousands of dollars in savings there), free seating (on United that's worth a thousand especially on those long haul flights between Heathrow and Sydney in economy) to say nothing about lounge access and protection during IRROPS. To give you an example of the latter, I was flying from Sydney to Saint John, Canada to visit my family. I made the first two connecting flights no problem (Sydney to Vancouver and Vancouver to Toronto). However, when I was in the air travelling to Toronto, Air Canada cancelled my onward flight to Saint John. Before the wheels of the plane touched the ground, I was already rebooked onto the next flight the following morning and had hotel and meal vouchers waiting for me, all because I had United Premier Gold status.

To summarize my travel this year, I will fly roughly 70,000 miles:

• Vacations/Writing Retreats - 33,133
• Attending Conferences - 11,300 miles flown
• Visiting Friends/Relatives - 25,587 miles flown

And this by the way is considered a slow year for me. Normally I'm attending several conferences a year in different continents meaning my flying is north of 100,000 miles. For vacations/writing retreats, I think the key here is to plan your travel well in advance, and be in a position where you have the flexibility to book travel. Most of my trips are weekend (or perhaps long weekend) trips up and down the east coast of Australia, with the odd turn to Perth or Longreach when the price is right. Speaking of price, it cost me roughly $3,000 this year to earn my QF Gold status, booking mainly JetStar MAX fares and the occasional sale fare on QF to earn the 600 status credits necessary to retain Gold. All of this travel was in economy. Next year it'll be even easier to hit Gold since 250 of my status credits roll over, I got a 50 status credit bonus received from flying 500 status credits with JQ/Qantas last year that I applied for this coming program year, my 50 bonus status credits from earning QF Green tier last year applying that this year plus another 50 status credits for earning QF Gold this year meaning I'll be at 400 status credits to start the year with literally not a foot set on an airplane. That being said, I did book a business fare to AKL for January during Qantas' double status credit promotion meaning I'll earn 480 status credits from that flight.

By the way, I would argue I'm a lightweight when it comes to travel. You look at folks like Tom Stuker who have flown well north of 20 million miles on just one airline (United Airlines) and you can see there are people who really fly a lot. In his case, he does training for auto dealers meaning he has to zig zag the world training dealers from Australia to Amman, the United Stated to the United Arab Emirates.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Fergo747]

Given there are only a few responses here on actual jobs, I'll provide some information. Again to keep it somewhat vague, I'm a management consultant that is still reasonably early in my career. The vast majority of my travel is employer / client funded and is highly dependent on the project. My 'real' flying didn't commence until 2017 (prior to that was some limited domestic travel that I struggled to get to silver as was also very junior).

2017 saw me on a project in NZ where I was weekly over to AKL for about 6 months (in Y) and that year I got to mid 1,000 SCs and WP for the first time. The 2018 / 2019 years I managed to get a project that had some international travel and got high 2's / low 3's for SCs. 2020 then had me on a new project that saw much more int'l travel to Europe / US / Asia (all J) which got me to P1 for the first time. During COVID obviously maintained P1 through statuskeeper. I actually didn't expect that my travel would resume as quickly as it did when borders opened again, however managed to requalify for P1 within 6 months of this year through a number of trips to the UK, US and India. I doubt the level of travel to maintain P1 will continue for me, nor do I want it to as the benefits of P1 are not really worth it (I will try and maintain at least WP but luckily have LTG to fall back on in any case).

Note: the years I refer to above are my membership years (i.e. 2020 = YE 31 March 2020 so most of that flying was really 2019).

 

[sudoer]

I doubt the level of travel to maintain P1 will continue for me, nor do I want it to as the benefits of P1 are not really worth it (I will try and maintain at least WP but luckily have LTG to fall back on in any case).

Out of curiosity, have you considered switching to *A, or BAEC for LTOWE?

 

[Fergo747]

Out of curiosity, have you considered switching to *A, or BAEC for LTOWE?

I have considered BAEC but feel that even reaching WP could be a challenge in certain years due to my travel being unpredictable (both in terms of quantity and location). My travel policies have always been QF as well (due to rebates mentioned up thread).

Ultimately for me I have realised that I do not wish to spend the next good years of my life in a metal tube so feel that LTOWE would be unachievable on BAEC. I do love it but not as much as I used to - particularly with a young family. Getting to LTG gave me the safety net I wanted from a lounge perspective and with more and more combined lounges (that are reasonable) and the novelty of the F-lounge waning, means that P1 and even WP aren't as sought after as they once were for me.

 

[djtech]

Given there are only a few responses here on actual jobs, I'll provide some information. Again to keep it somewhat vague, I'm a management consultant that is still reasonably early in my career. The vast majority of my travel is employer / client funded and is highly dependent on the project. My 'real' flying didn't commence until 2017 (prior to that was some limited domestic travel that I struggled to get to silver as was also very junior).

2017 saw me on a project in NZ where I was weekly over to AKL for about 6 months (in Y) and that year I got to mid 1,000 SCs and WP for the first time. The 2018 / 2019 years I managed to get a project that had some international travel and got high 2's / low 3's for SCs. 2020 then had me on a new project that saw much more int'l travel to Europe / US / Asia (all J) which got me to P1 for the first time. During COVID obviously maintained P1 through statuskeeper. I actually didn't expect that my travel would resume as quickly as it did when borders opened again, however managed to requalify for P1 within 6 months of this year through a number of trips to the UK, US and India. I doubt the level of travel to maintain P1 will continue for me, nor do I want it to as the benefits of P1 are not really worth it (I will try and maintain at least WP but luckily have LTG to fall back on in any case).

Note: the years I refer to above are my membership years (i.e. 2020 = YE 31 March 2020 so most of that flying was really 2019).

In a similar boat. As a management consultant that isn't too far along, status is always fluctuating based on what projects I'm assigned. Had Gold with VA back in 2019 and kept extending due to Covid but will probably lose it next year. Fly Qantas a fair bit on domestic projects and international as well but definitely not as much as pre pandemic. Either I get enough for Platinum or just under and I can make my own trips to supplement.
It all starts to feel the same after awhile, and all Hiltons feel the same everywhere. I think Platinum will be easy for the foreseeable future and perhaps even LTG, but I hope I don't stay in this job or lifestyle for so long that I can get to LTP. That sounds more depressing than exciting to me. Once you have commitments, your parents have health problems or you want to start a family, I see myself switching out to a role with less travel, maybe taking a paycut along the way.