Qantas Award Charges Outrageous

[JohnK]

Whinging is the fuel that keeps AFF burning Take that away, and it would undermine the owners business model. You'd be left with a few tips about credit cards and mistake fares, some fawning J & F reviews and a whole lot of unrelated discussions between friends

Nothing wrong with whinging when something is clearly wrong. And Qantas fuel surcharges are ridiculously wrong.

I earned ~90,000 QFF points the past year. Would have been considerably less crediting to Aadvantage but then no status. Velocity is not the answer either for same reasons and limited redemption options.

 

[Limewood]

I'll keep saying it until the cows come home they are are far to high and should be reduced by two thirds to meet most other int. airines, come on Qantas give us a break.

 

[rock86]

It should be a requirement that they have to publish the 'carrier charges' that are required on all routes on their website for complete transparency.

Then it would give you more data to decide whether it is still worth being 'loyal' to QF or you target another program that doesn't charge those fee's.

But on a personal level I don't really have an issue with the charges, sure it'd be great if they followed AA's no charges on reward flights, but with the ease of earning QFF points it allows me to be able to travel in a premium cabin for the price I would pay for an economy ticket, so from a selfish point of view I'm still happy.

 

[Dr Ralph]

it allows me to be able to travel in a premium cabin for the price I would pay for an economy ticket.

This is also how I look at the situation.

 

[dajop]

But on a personal level I don't really have an issue with the charges, sure it'd be great if they followed AA's no charges on reward flights, but with the ease of earning QFF points it allows me to be able to travel in a premium cabin for the price I would pay for an economy ticket, so from a selfish point of view I'm still happy.

I actually am not so concerned about he surcharges on premium cabins, it’s still only a fraction of the cost of a commercial ticket. I even grudgingly accept the surcharges on economy tickets from travel originating in Australia. Buts it’s ridiculous and I personally find it unacceptable that the surcharges on tickets issued outside Australia can be 2.5 times that of same sectors issued in Australia. Carrier surcharges on a SIN-MEL-SIN should be substantially less than what you can but a ticket for ... not within $30 of commercial fare!

 

[drron]

Then as I have clearly indicated the OP should try different dates. The OP is not correct in indicating there is limited availability. Id suggest that the OP has not planned far enough ahead hence why all of the flights have been taken.

But you get the situations where nothing is available on the QF website but it is seen and bookable on other sites.Twice now I have been able to get an AA award on a QF flight when mrsdrron as a plat requesting a seat to be released was turned down.
When planning trips which include awards I look at all sites.not uncommon to see no availability on the QF site but find flights through BAEC or JMB.
Which is why many years ago QF ceased to be my primary program.Ranks 5th now.

 

[Limewood]

Maybe they should have to publish samples of fees and charges before and after sign up - like SYD/LAX and MEL/LHR and advise best of luck finding J / F award seats without status, but really a pipe dream...

 

[cove]

We simply use Kris Miles for London runs.

 

[serfty]

We simply use Kris Miles for London runs.

What is the points cost and +++ these days for a return.

 

[cove]

Out of MEL one ways are 53,000 in Economy and 105,000 for Business. The best run would be out of Sydney as there is Suites. The one way surcharge is $91.58 for business class.

 

[burmans]

for me, I think rewards program are rewards for your loyalty and years of patronage, which they have made huge profits from

You can "think" what ever you like but the second part of your statement really puts the lie to this. Rewards programs are setup to benefit the airline rather than the customer. Even though you seem to have recognised this there appears to be an unwillingness to accept this.

To me the true sign of intellectual thought always requires enough thinking to recognise things as they really are, not what we want them to be.

For me what this means is that I try at all times to get the best out of FF programs. But the idea that most companies are loyal to their customers is an unmitigated fantasy with no evidence to support it, so I am happy to find and use my points wherever is best at any one time, not being driven by a misguided (manufactured) sense of loyalty.

 

[cove]

For our family the frequent flyer programs have enhanced the positions we sit on each plane. Of course the plane still goes there whether you are up the front or down the back. We still get jet lag no matter where we sit.

 

[I love to travel]

For our family the frequent flyer programs have enhanced the positions we sit on each plane. Of course the plane still goes there whether you are up the front or down the back. We still get jet lag no matter where we sit.

That actually sums it up perfectly for me. Would still have my 1 to 2 overseas trips a year, I just now do it in J and F rather than Y.

 

[cove]

I think this year we are going International five times and the one we bought was to retain Platinum in one go is with Qantas.

 

[SOPOOR]

You can "think" what ever you like but the second part of your statement really puts the lie to this. Rewards programs are setup to benefit the airline rather than the customer. Even though you seem to have recognised this there appears to be an unwillingness to accept this.

To me the true sign of intellectual thought always requires enough thinking to recognise things as they really are, not what we want them to be.

For me what this means is that I try at all times to get the best out of FF programs. But the idea that most companies are loyal to their customers is an unmitigated fantasy with no evidence to support it, so I am happy to find and use my points wherever is best at any one time, not being driven by a misguided (manufactured) sense of loyalty.

of course, but you need to consider the fact that its not a simple as, qantas are giving away a flight worth $1k for 100k points

if they were making a loss, theyd probably close it down or they would put it in their advertising budget, you can specualte all you want and think you know why they have the program, and unless you are in the senior management team of qantas, no one will know whether its aim is to make a profit or increase brand awareness or to push customers to staying loyal,

just like when jetstar used to charge $9 per leg of any booking as a credit card surcharge even if it was a $59 flight , even though they are paying less than 1% for merchant fees, I find it deceptive , just like qantas charging surcharges for rewards bookings,

say what you like and say I can vote with my feet, which I have, its a free country and myself and others will continue to discuss this matter, and if you see it as "whinging" then so be it

 

[MEL_Traveller]

of course, but you need to consider the fact that its not a simple as, qantas are giving away a flight worth $1k for 100k points

if they were making a loss, theyd probably close it down or they would put it in their advertising budget, you can specualte all you want and think you know why they have the program, and unless you are in the senior management team of qantas, no one will know whether its aim is to make a profit or increase brand awareness or to push customers to staying loyal,

Award seats are only seats the airline doesn't think it can sell. They have years of data and sophisticated modeling to know which seats on which flights won't be sold.

Of course it's a win-win for the airline. They have these empty seats and can leverage those by getting passengers to 'apy' for them using miles. Miles you can only accrue by giving the airline revenue (either directly through flying, or indirectly through a third party such as a bank or insurance).

Some airlines honour the 'free seat' in its entirety, like AA and SQ. Others, like Qantas decide that they can make make more money by charging a fuel surcharge. On the face of it, a fuel surcharge isn't entirely unreasonable... the once empty seat is now carrying 100 kilos or so of passenger + bag. That does actually cost money. But the levels QF charges are probably well in excess of the actual cost.

 

[SOPOOR]

Award seats are only seats the airline doesn't think it can sell. They have years of data and sophisticated modeling to know which seats on which flights won't be sold.

Of course it's a win-win for the airline. They have these empty seats and can leverage those by getting passengers to 'apy' for them using miles. Miles you can only accrue by giving the airline revenue (either directly through flying, or indirectly through a third party such as a bank or insurance).

Some airlines honour the 'free seat' in its entirety, like AA and SQ. Others, like Qantas decide that they can make make more money by charging a fuel surcharge. On the face of it, a fuel surcharge isn't entirely unreasonable... the once empty seat is now carrying 100 kilos or so of passenger + bag. That does actually cost money. But the levels QF charges are probably well in excess of the actual cost.

Despite qff being in my opinion one of the worst programs. In the market as of today

There are heaps of members who don't use or redeem flights or who end up redeeming a toaster or a gift card.. Some probably have the account as a default and Probsbly don't even know their points balance or have given up on it

So unless things change it appears that Qantas program will always a huge number of members as the points game is pretty time and energy consuming

So I don't think there will be any drastic changes to the program ever

 

[I love to travel]

If they keep up with their peers it will be revenue based for redemptions within 6 months

 

[CaptJCool]

Despite qff being in my opinion one of the worst programs. In the market as of today

There are heaps of members who don't use or redeem flights or who end up redeeming a toaster or a gift card.. Some probably have the account as a default and Probsbly don't even know their points balance or have given up on it

So unless things change it appears that Qantas program will always a huge number of members as the points game is pretty time and energy consuming

So I don't think there will be any drastic changes to the program ever

10 million members into 8 first class seats per flight.

I'd like to see that!

 

[Mattg]

Has anyone ever noticed Qantas imposing its own QF-imposed charges when redeeming Qantas points on a partner airline (other than perhaps EK)?

I just checked the price of a Qantas award booking flying MEL-NRT in J on Japan Airlines. The "taxes & charges" include the genuine airport and government taxes, a JL-imposed fuel surcharge of $4.20 and a mysterious "Q Surcharge" of $83.00. This doubles the cost of the taxes/charges on this booking. Very cheeky indeed...