Potential changes to QF awards - amount of points and cash needed, & number of award seats released

[Berlin]

I think in the airline industry you need both types of customers. Business class is the ultimate "high value, low numbers", but not many, if any, airlines have been able to run successful business class only operations (apart from charter, private jet operators). Yet many have been very successful with low value/high numbers.

Good point, Business only models have usually not worked in the past. I'm personally still quite happy to contribute to the high value part of the business rather

 

[2infinity]

Business class is the ultimate "high value, low numbers", but not many, if any, airlines have been able to run successful business class only operations (apart from charter, private jet operators).

Not many, but the odd one: Club World London City | Business Class only flights | British Airways

Pretty sure the concorde was all business too when it was flying.

 

[sudoer]

Business only models have usually not worked in the past.

I think we will see a reemergence of premium-only flights, similar to SQ's SIN-EWR J/PE only flights, as airlines try to stretch the ranges of their aircraft by carrying less weight.

We've already seen Qantas discuss ways to use Project Sunrise's extra space, I wonder if they'd consider F/J/PE on SYD-LHR..

 

[Berlin]

I think we will see a reemergence of premium-only flights, similar to SQ's SIN-EWR J/PE only flights, as airlines try to stretch the ranges of their aircraft by carrying less weight. I wonder if they'd consider F/J/PE on SYD-LHR..

Man, I wish were correct! So far, it looks like there are less and less F cabins out there

 

[JohnPhelan]

Pretty sure the concorde was all business too when it was flying.

Actually, it was nominally all First class ("Concorde Class") but was closer to a DC-9 type experience with greater seat pitch. Seats were narrow and it was very loud inside the cabin. Food was nice, but luxurious it was not. People paid for speed, not luxury.

 

[drron]

Sorry, I am not sure if I understand- how can you not have status if you really "spend big"?

I can only assume that you're talking about spent NOT on Qantas flights so it's only fair that you don't get rewarded extra for that. It's called Frequent Flyer program for a reason but it seems to me that some people decide to just conveniently ignore that bit.

Well we take 2-3 F return flights a year paid not awards.Then various other paid J fares but mixed with a lot of awards.Yes we do it on BA but the F fare with J intra Asia flights added on are much cheaper.QF F fares are 50% dearer and even the J fare is 25% dearer.So I am not a Qantas hater just a realist who sees little value in being tied to QF.As a couple we do spend up to $50K a year but I remain a shiny Bronze.QF doesn't deserve that spend but I still get all the OWE benefits when flying QF.

We stopped flying QF frequently in 2002 when our son lived in the US.JAL had senior companion fares so we paid the same for 2 return J fares as we did for 1 QF fare.
JAL was not in OW then so you only collected QFF points for the Australia Japan sectors.But you could get AA miles for the whole flight.Using those AA points was easier with less points and cash required for awards So I jumped the Loyalty ship.
Mrsdrron has remained with QFF but has now reached LTG so will also be transferring to our new loyalty program-BAEC.

 

[odysseus]

It's called Frequent Flyer program for a reason but it seems to me that some people decide to just conveniently ignore that bit.

Possibly since Qantas started awarding points for many non-flight activities e.g. banking, dining, wine, insurance, to the extent they say many get their points from non-flight activities...

 

[CaptJCool]

Possibly since Qantas started awarding points for many non-flight activities e.g. banking, dining, wine, insurance, to the extent they say many get their points from non-flight activities...

Qantas are now seeing the “victim of their success”.

Enough spending via Woolworths (gift cards too?) could in theory deliver a SYD - Mel return flight just from shopping. But that delivers no status credits etc etc. by solely using PAID flying as the SC Accumulator, which skews the benefits to business travellers funded by their employer, some will never uplift themselves to Silver or Gold. That’s where the Big Data Analytics can shift buying options or locate clusters of people who can be offered incentives. The all-in DSC is a lazy option but it must boost revenue otherwise it would have been abandoned by now.

Of course, one of the punishments in the QF arrangements is that using points provides no sustainability of status level. No earn, you drop. Been there done that twice over. And as others have mentioned, reward availability appears to have now become congested. It may be the same as it was some years ago, but there are now so many more members vying for the rewards.

And since QF have a small set of seats on any given flight, well the iron rule of mathematics happens especially if there’s separate quotas made available to Alaskan, American, BA,JAL, CX and Emirates whose members have significantly lower demand for flights from/to Australia

 

[Must...Fly!]

These 'changes" (QF not the sole culprit) heighten my cynicism about frequent flyer schemes.

Those of us who self fund travel are often far better off just taking BFOD on a reputable legacy airline, and not worrying so much about 'how many points (or status credits) do I receive?' The difficulty is that psychologically, many (including me) watch our points balances and consider it's great to be accumulating more. However, if one pays through the nose in fees or cannot obtain (say) J seats to LHR, just a waste of time.

Agree. Fully self funded and I'm a VA WP but it gets harder and harder to justify. But once you have it isit hard to let go. And makes it even harder because the points balance keeps going up but you don't want to spend the points because you need the status credits to maintain... Bah.

 

[opusman]

Just as long as toasters don't go up I'm happy.

 

[Danger]

. . . It is a frequent flyer program though and it rewards two things, flying more, or buying more expensive flights . . .

So members like me who don't fly much but obtain thousands of points from purchasers and in doing so fill the pockets of poor Qantas, yet for decades have been penalised for not having status so rarely find j award seats out of or into Oz and if one does, get whacked in fees and charges for doing so. Its about time Qantas for one release seats to those that spend big say 50K+ PA, not just for those with status.

Justin23's post is why I have to respectfully disagree, Limewood. I can totally see the day when it's simply the Qantas Points Program and redeeming for flights is no longer the centrepiece. Until then, though, the program simply must reward frequent flyers, which is I why I'm not particularly pleased with the survey in the first post. I could probably stomach what's being survey but only if Golds and above receive more (i.e. preferential) access to FF seats. That could be by only making some seats available to those tiers or releasing award inventory one month earlier for the than other tiers (I think I'd prefer the former). As it stands, if I've understood the survey correctly, the potential up to ten times increase in flights (which, I agree, is pie in the sky) benefits everyone. What about rewarding those who epitomise the name of the progra?

 

[Berlin]

What about rewarding those who epitomise the name of the progra[m]?

Couldn't agree more!

 

[TripleB]

I have 900k QF points that I really struggle to spend. I would gladly see the points required go up in exchange for better availability. Points are worthless if you can't use them for a reward you want.

 

[PineappleSkip]

WHOOP WHOOP, ENHANCEMENT!
WHOOP WHOOP, ENHANCEMENT!
WHOOP WHOOP, ENHANCEMENT!

 

[Hoatzin]

This is forcing people into points plus pay on award redemptions by stealth. Consider the "new" redemption rate as the same as old redemption rate but you are using the difference in points to pay down the difference in charges (which can always be increased again).

SYD-LON - 1.2c per point
MEL-SIN - 0.96c per point

Such poor value! This makes me mad. I doubt they will release significantly more seats, and they can always take them away again, AND increase charges for award bookings.

I can't say I am surprised. Ever since Virgin devalued their FF program the value proposition between Qantas and Virgin programs narrowed, so Qantas had more room to devalue theirs!

 

[Saltywings]

I have 900k QF points that I really struggle to spend. I would gladly see the points required go up in exchange for better availability. Points are worthless if you can't use them for a reward you want.

Not that I'm saying they're easy to spend, but I find 280k OWE RTW to be pretty damn easy to do, especially if you have a TA.

 

[Kangol]

Not that I'm saying they're easy to spend, but I find 280k DONE5s to be pretty damn easy to do, especially if you have a TA.

Respectfully..
No such thing as a 280k DONE5, you have confused two completely different ticket types.

 

[Dean Norman]

Qantas have a history of promoting changes for their own advantage. How do you think they are one of the most profitable airlines in the world. I would be cautious about what they tell you without seeing 'the fine print'.

 

[Limewood]

We'll just continue to get to HKG anyway possible then (while it lasts) have choice of J award seats and low fees to many cities direct in Europe and USA.

 

[Saltywings]

Respectfully..
No such thing as a 280k DONE5, you have confused two completely different ticket types.

Oh shoot sorry yes, you're right - conflated classic flight rewards and actual paid xONEx tickets. Have edited.