Points and Status Credit Pooling and Parental Leave Membership Pause

[pshepvic]

One area in which this could be milked a little is the following (depending on what the rules, T&C's etc end up being):

Say a family of four go away a few times a year, always together, and they all get (for example) 250 SCs each per year. Normally that would be enough for Silver each. But if they can be pooled together, one person could hit Platinum and the others nothing. Now for the points earning they would be worse off (the Platinum would get double but nobody else a bonus, where as with silver 4x 50% bonus points would be the same as if two of them were platinum). However, usually the rules state that anyone on the same booking as a Platinum would get the same benefit - ie. they would all get priority everything, 69kg of luggage, lounge, seating preferences (when they get here) etc. That means other Plats (who've earned the status the hard way) could end up missing out on their preferred seat, or an upgrade (assuming Plats get priority for upgrades), or whatever other benefits there might be.

It's probably only going to be a few who would do something like this, but I would hope there would be something in the terms to limit pooling in some way to prevent this type of scenario.

 

[awilcockson]

However, usually the rules state that anyone on the same booking as a Platinum would get the same benefit - ie. they would all get priority everything, 69kg of luggage, lounge, seating preferences (when they get here) etc. That means other Plats (who've earned the status the hard way) could end up missing out on their preferred seat, or an upgrade (assuming Plats get priority for upgrades), or whatever other benefits there might be.

Not quite. Lounge access is controlled by the number of guest the plat is entitled to, yes they would normally get the same seating treatment, but only the plat would get the extra luggage allowance.

It's probably only going to be a few who would do something like this, but I would hope there would be something in the terms to limit pooling in some way to prevent this type of scenario.

But this is exactly the scenario that this is designed for.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Status pooling within immediate family is a great idea and would be a major reason for me to choose VA over QF. As it stands I buy four airfares for family holidays but only the SCs I earn really count for anything as my wife and kids never earn enough in a year to get to a worthwhile level.

I'd like to see people buying four seats on one flight given the option of being treated the same for SC purposes as someone buying one seat on four flights.

I think that's the whole idea......From VFFs very first post in this thread.....

You pay for the ticket, so you should receive the Points and Status Credits, enabling you to receive the rewards you want or the level of membership you are striving for much sooner

 

[Deleted member 29185]

usually the rules state that anyone on the same booking as a Platinum would get the same benefit - ie. they would all get priority everything, 69kg of luggage, lounge, seating preferences (when they get here) etc. That means other Plats (who've earned the status the hard way) could end up missing out on their preferred seat, or an upgrade (assuming Plats get priority for upgrades), or whatever other benefits there might be.

Some of what you mention has been the case for some time, like the family have been "unofficially" allowed access to the lounge for some time and it's now all official with lounge members, gold and plats allowed to guest in their partner and two kids (2-12 but it still seems that is open a bit for kids over 12).

The luggage is only applied to the status holders and I can vouch that that is the case. When I book the family, I get luggage, they don't (unless they pay). Also, I doubt upgrades would be applied to the whole family......and we still are only assuming that even plats will get unofficial upgrades, so officially, that's hardly a perk to count on.

Moreover, we are still earning SCs by flying, not being gifted them like the WPs and this is an officially announced policy shift (I've refrained from saying an enhancement) that has obviously been considered, rather than an exploitable loophole.

 

[pshepvic]

Some of what you mention has been the case for some time, like the family have been "unofficially" allowed access to the lounge for some time and it's now all official with lounge members, gold and plats allowed to guest in their partner and two kids (2-12 but it still seems that is open a bit for kids over 12).

The luggage is only applied to the status holders and I can vouch that that is the case. When I book the family, I get luggage, they don't (unless they pay). Also, I doubt upgrades would be applied to the whole family......and we still are only assuming that even plats will get unofficial upgrades, so officially, that's hardly a perk to count on.

Moreover, we are still earning SCs by flying, not being gifted them like the WPs and this is an officially announced policy shift (I've refrained from saying an enhancement) that has obviously been considered, rather than an exploitable loophole.

But this now means in the example I gave, that a family of 4 now go into the lounge on all of their trips every year, when before none of them would have qualified for access, and they're not spending any more money than before - potential lounge crowding if this becomes the norm. They get 4 seats up the front of the plane - other platinums miss out to people who otherwise would have had no status.

What I meant with upgrades, and I don't quite know how it works with DJ yet, but with QF if you request an upgrade it is determine by Status as far as priority goes. So if there are more upgrades requested than seats available, it is awarded to Plat first, then Gold etc. This applies to everyone on the same booking and upgrade request, even if only the requestor is Plat. I don't know if this will be the same for DJ, but if it is, it could mean a Gold could miss out on an upgrade if the family of 4 scores the only 4 seats available, when only 1 of them is Platinum, but if treated individually they would only be Silver.

I think what it is really designed for is people who may have one person in the family who flies a fair bit (maybe enough to hit silver or gold, for example), and the others don't fly much at all so would never get status. It could help the main flyer to go up to Gold from Silver, or Platinum from Gold. I don't have an issue with that, because they are still flying more than the others.

But the issue I have is the scenario where they all fly the same amount, because they always fly together, and now suddenly they are getting a bunch of benefits that they wouldn't have got before, but aren't spending any more money with the airline. I don't disagree with the introduction of the feature, I just think it has the opportunity to be abused somewhat, and I hope there is some sort of limitation on it (maybe that for a status upgrade, you have to have earned at least half the SCs yourself, or something like that).

 

[Deleted member 29185]

in the example I gave, a family of 4 now go into the lounge on all of their trips every year, when before none of them would have qualified for access,

I think what it is really designed for is people who may have one person in the family who flies a fair bit (maybe enough to hit silver or gold, for example), and the others don't fly much at all so would never get status. It could help the main flyer to go up to Gold from Silver, or Platinum from Gold. I don't have an issue with that, because they are still flying more than the others.

I don't disagree with the introduction of the feature, I just think it has the opportunity to be abused somewhat, and I hope there is some sort of limitation on it (maybe that for a status upgrade, you have to have earned at least half the SCs yourself, or something like that).

I take your point. I was thinking of my family situation. I was still entitled to lounge access as a silver member, because I paid for it, but then I do fly regularly and the family not so much.

As others have said to me before too, not many travellers that do 4 trips a year are up with the perks that regular AFF readers are either......in fact, (or perhaps I should say IMHO) most families of 4 travelling only 4 times a year will most likely fly JQ or TT as they are both usually cheaper than DJ is now. (BFOD)

 

[pshepvic]

I take your point. I was thinking of my family situation. I was still entitled to lounge access as a silver member, because I paid for it, but then I do fly regularly and the family not so much.

As others have said to me before too, not many travellers that do 4 trips a year are up with the perks that regular AFF readers are either......in fact, (or perhaps I should say IMHO) most families of 4 travelling only 4 times a year will most likely fly JQ or TT as they are both usually cheaper than DJ is now.

Yeah, that's a fair point too! I guess if it was a family who were earning enough to get silver each though, then they might be a little more aware of the benefits of status. But yes, for most people I guess they probably have their own BFOD policy!

But I think your situation is what this is really designed for - when there are one or two main travelers in a family - and I'm more than happy with that!

 

[Mogul]

Just need to figure out how to make my interstate employees family and Platnium here I come.

:mrgreen:

 

[suey]

I really love this idea, as I have two kids and we often travel together... Currently they are young and if I ask nicely, I will be able to guest them both into the lounge, but as they get bigger I doubt I will be able to do this, so to be able to pool the SC's will be brilliant so I can hopefully get my son to gold - not to mention how much my little 8yr old wanna be pilot, flying lovin boy would LOVE being able to access the lounge on his own card haha!

I highly doubt I will need it in the future, but I really love the idea of parental leave as well

Loving Velocity, thanks!

Suey

 

[777]

I think the pooling of partner credits and status is a masterstroke as is the ability to nominate your parter for Gold or Plat if you get 1.5 or 2 times the plat allowance.

Basically, almost all my FF travel is for work. Almost all my FF spend is on the family (or trips involving the family). Often i go somewhere for work and my wife and young son join me for the weekend (say FNQ, Newcastle where we have a lot of family and friends, or NZ next month etc). As they would be travelling on a different flight to me, my status and points meant squat. Right now we're in Tasmania, i worked here on friday and the family is down for the weekend and we're heading back together on tuesday.

As of my flight down on friday, i clocked enough SCs to earn my wife partner gold. So now when she comes to join me she can use the lounge, enjoy the priority access line, sit up the front and generally enjoy all the perks that she only gets right now if she flies with me. Makes me feel a lot less guilty about going away and meeting her somewhere or sending her back without me. After briefly flirting with the idea of chasing QF gold next year, i'm actually going to shoot for partner plat - the 4 extra u/g credits will come in *very* handy on family holidays (not to mention that i can then use my own 4 to upgrade some of my work trips without feeling so guilty about it!) and it should be relatively easy to attain if we can pool our SCs.

From memory this was part of my feedback to VA about what should be in the revamped velocity. Glad to see it taken on board.

 

[darraghk]

Any information on when this might be implemented? Will it be retrospective?
Great idea!!!!

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Any information on when this might be implemented? Will it be retrospective?
Great idea!!!!

We're still waiting, but are told........soon!

I'm not sure how it will be handled, but I'm assuming (hoping) it will work on the families individual Velocity accounts. The term used is "pooling" which to me indicates something different to "transferring" so presumably (my presumption only, I'm afraid) the points attained may be used by any other family member in that "pool" to count toward status upgrades, but the points themselves remain with the earner (hopefully for some future life time scheme), with the proviso of course, that the points can only be used once for upgrades. This would imply a degree of retrospectivity (at least back 12 months).

The only other way I can see it being possibly implemented, would be a new field(s) in the booking engine, which require us to nominate an account for the SCs/points to be credited to. That would most likely have no retrospectivity and be very inflexible, so I'm hoping this won't be the model adopted.

They're my thoughts, for what they're worth.

 

[Gremlin]

The only other way I can see it being possibly implemented, would be a new field(s) in the booking engine, which require us to nominate an account for the SCs/points to be credited to. That would most likely have no retrospectivity and be very inflexible, so I'm hoping this won't be the model adopted.

My two cents on this is that this model very quickly moves from "Family pooling" to "Employer pooling" and will have exactly the opposite effect to that suggested in the fluffy marketing material.

 

[777]

My two cents on this is that this model very quickly moves from "Family pooling" to "Employer pooling" and will have exactly the opposite effect to that suggested in the fluffy marketing material.

Not sure i follow but i assume they will require you to confirm that the person is an elligible family member and you will be at risk having your points/ SCs confiscated if they turn out to not be.

 

[nlagalle]

My two cents on this is that this model very quickly moves from "Family pooling" to "Employer pooling" and will have exactly the opposite effect to that suggested in the fluffy marketing material.

I'm with you on this one.. It will turn Status credits into a commodity too. I still believe that you should only get SC's for your bum in the seat and not trade them. Don't mind about sharing points as they don't equate to status.

 

[oz_mark]

My two cents on this is that this model very quickly moves from "Family pooling" to "Employer pooling" and will have exactly the opposite effect to that suggested in the fluffy marketing material.

Definitely a risk with points, and perhaps some of the SME's where the owners will be pressuring employees to pool with them.

There will need to be some pretty tight criteria around how this works.

 

[VA FF]

We're still waiting, but are told........soon!

I'm not sure how it will be handled, but I'm assuming (hoping) it will work on the families individual Velocity accounts. The term used is "pooling" which to me indicates something different to "transferring" so presumably (my presumption only, I'm afraid) the points attained may be used by any other family member in that "pool" to count toward status upgrades, but the points themselves remain with the earner (hopefully for some future life time scheme), with the proviso of course, that the points can only be used once for upgrades. This would imply a degree of retrospectivity (at least back 12 months).

The only other way I can see it being possibly implemented, would be a new field(s) in the booking engine, which require us to nominate an account for the SCs/points to be credited to. That would most likely have no retrospectivity and be very inflexible, so I'm hoping this won't be the model adopted.

They're my thoughts, for what they're worth.

I actually think it will be a case of transferring the points but having an option to also to transfer SC's within your Velocity Login.. Possibly not but that way you could only do it like people do with family now for points transfers.. hard to get away with it if they have any sort of decent process, surely you will have to outline your direct family somehow also?

 

[Stephen65]

I don't see why travelling twice by myself on QF demonstrates less commitment to the airline than travelling once with my wife with me paying for both seats. She is unlikely to ever get beyond PS based on her holiday travels so why shouldn't I get credit if I wish for buying two seats on a QF flight?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I don't see why travelling twice by myself on QF demonstrates less commitment to the airline than travelling once with my wife with me paying for both seats. She is unlikely to ever get beyond PS based on her holiday travels so why shouldn't I get credit if I wish for buying two seats on a QF flight?

You might be in for a rude surprise if you think DJ are going to "family pool" SCs with QF though!

 

[Stephen65]

I'm hoping QF will be forced to copy DJ.