Qantas Award Charges Outrageous

[Limewood]

Its no joke, maybe Qantas think they are not making enough dosh!!. Compared to many other airlines these fees and charges on award flights should be reduced dramatically, open up more J award seats and for heavens sake fix the clunky web site and while at it show all seat types in one page, clicking to find other than Y is a pain, no need for it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Its no joke, maybe Qantas think they are not making enough dosh!!. Compared to many other airlines these fees and charges on award flights should be reduced dramatically, open up more J award seats and for heavens sake fix the clunky web site and while at it show all seat types in one page, clicking to find other than Y is a pain, no need for it.

I think it might be designed to show the (often very generous) availability for economy class. People log on and think how easy it is to redeem. Also, they probably don't want to give people the idea they could redeem for premium? All my QF newsletters only talk about 'how far I can go' in terms of economy. Never anything higher.

 

[SOPOOR]

I think it might be designed to show the (often very generous) availability for economy class. People log on and think how easy it is to redeem. Also, they probably don't want to give people the idea they could redeem for premium? All my QF newsletters only talk about 'how far I can go' in terms of economy. Never anything higher.

maybe im living in fairy land,

but I feel that as ive earned my points fair and square, that I should be able to be redeem any flight that is also available for purhcase with cash,

and if qantas complain that their entire plane is full of redemptions, thats simply the nature of the beast,
qantas have profited from the selling of these points to each individual bank/merchant, and whether a custoemr redeems for a flight in 2 weeks time or 12 months time, its going to cost qantas the same,

however id be happy wit ha "no redemptions for flights within say 1-2 weeks since flight prices do go up, and thats how arilines make money too

but maybe im in fairy land!

 

[mannej]

maybe im living in fairy land,

but I feel that as ive earned my points fair and square, that I should be able to be redeem any flight that is also available for purhcase with cash,

and if qantas complain that their entire plane is full of redemptions, thats simply the nature of the beast,
qantas have profited from the selling of these points to each individual bank/merchant, and whether a custoemr redeems for a flight in 2 weeks time or 12 months time, its going to cost qantas the same,

however id be happy wit ha "no redemptions for flights within say 1-2 weeks since flight prices do go up, and thats how arilines make money too

but maybe im in fairy land!

But you can redeem points on any flight, it’s called points plus pay.

I don’t see it being viable opening every single seat up for a classic award redemption

 

[MEL_Traveller]

maybe im living in fairy land,

but I feel that as ive earned my points fair and square, that I should be able to be redeem any flight that is also available for purhcase with cash,

and if qantas complain that their entire plane is full of redemptions, thats simply the nature of the beast,
qantas have profited from the selling of these points to each individual bank/merchant, and whether a custoemr redeems for a flight in 2 weeks time or 12 months time, its going to cost qantas the same,

however id be happy wit ha "no redemptions for flights within say 1-2 weeks since flight prices do go up, and thats how arilines make money too

but maybe im in fairy land!

As mannej says you can get any seat you want with points. But it's usually a pretty bad deal in terms of value for money.

As for classic awards, those are purely seats the airline doesn't think they're going to sell. Which is why classic awards aren't available on every flight. And indeed that was reflected n the pricing of FF awards when airlines first introduced their schemes. Now airlines see them as an additional source of significant revenue, so we get all these additional fees and charges tacked on.

 

[SOPOOR]

As mannej says you can get any seat you want with points. But it's usually a pretty bad deal in terms of value for money.

As for classic awards, those are purely seats the airline doesn't think they're going to sell. Which is why classic awards aren't available on every flight. And indeed that was reflected n the pricing of FF awards when airlines first introduced their schemes. Now airlines see them as an additional source of significant revenue, so we get all these additional fees and charges tacked on.

Yeah I totally agree with you

For me, my mentality is that frequent flyer miles is like cash or credit. I should be able to use it without restrictions within reason

Although I have recently made a redemption about 10 months before travel date, I feel a bit jibbed seeing zero Availability for a particular date but when I try and cash for it, virtually every seat is available .

Unfortunately it looks like us redemptors have to accept that we can't use then at our discretion and are at the mercy of the airlines.

 

[JohnK]

But you can redeem points on any flight, it’s called points plus pay.

I don’t see it being viable opening every single seat up for a classic award redemption

Seriously, why not reward your frequent flyers instead of the constant deception? It's not like they are giving anything away for free. I earn ~100,000 QFF points flom flying per year. Others earn more. I should be able to book at least one economy return flight anywhere for free apart from genuine taxes not carrier surcharges.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Seriously, why not reward your frequent flyers instead of the constant deception? It's not like they are giving anything away for free. I earn ~100,000 QFF points flom flying per year. Others earn more. I should be able to book at least one economy return flight anywhere for free apart from genuine taxes not carrier surcharges.

Yes, but you're trading that off for the benefits of Qantas platinum. If you were redeeming through AA you'd get exactly what you want - an economy seat free of any carrier imporsed charges (except for BA awards).

 

[JohnK]

Yes, but you're trading that off for the benefits of Qantas platinum. If you were redeeming through AA you'd get exactly what you want - an economy seat free of any carrier imporsed charges (except for BA awards).

Yes but crediting to Aadvantage you'd get status and no carrier surcharges.

Points earned via flying should not have any carrier surcharges imposed when redeeming awards. This should apply to all airlines.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes but crediting to Aadvantage you'd get status and no carrier surcharges.

Yes, but for your travel patterns status with AA isn't going to get you Qantas seats released (platinum benefit) when there are none showing.

 

[amaroo]

I dunno, 100k is only one CC bonus - seems dirt cheap to me

 

[juddles]

......Points earned via flying should not have any carrier surcharges imposed when redeeming awards. This should apply to all airlines.

Says who?? Why??

Frequent flyer points are an invention, a concept. And not so many years ago they did not even exist. If you re-write your sentences using such phrases as "it would be really nice in my opinion if...", then your post makes sense. I hate the high surcharges. But I am just wishing they were different - I certainly respect the right of the vendor to put whatever costs or conditions they like.

 

[dajop]

Yeah I totally agree with you

For me, my mentality is that frequent flyer miles is like cash or credit. I should be able to use it without restrictions within reason.

But it can be like cash or credit - using via points plus pay. Often in economy internationally this will provide better value (less points for the same copay or less copay for the same number of points) - and you earn points on this as well. The trouble is even this value has been eroded over time and is not terribly worthwhile, vs holding out for that business class classic award.

 

[travelislife]

Yes, but you're trading that off for the benefits of Qantas platinum. If you were redeeming through AA you'd get exactly what you want - an economy seat free of any carrier imporsed charges (except for BA awards).

And you get the same through Virgin.

 

[SOPOOR]

But it can be like cash or credit - using via points plus pay. Often in economy internationally this will provide better value (less points for the same copay or less copay for the same number of points) - and you earn points on this as well. The trouble is even this value has been eroded over time and is not terribly worthwhile, vs holding out for that business class classic award.

I know the points plus pay option is available., but to. Me it's like, having a myer gift card and being told oh you can't use it here or there or for this product or during sales. Or worse still, you can use it but you have to pay $15 surcharge to use your $50 gift card

 

[dajop]

I know the points plus pay option is available., but to. Me it's like, having a myer gift card and being told oh you can't use it here or there or for this product or during sales. Or worse still, you can use it but you have to pay $15 surcharge to use your $50 gift card

It's more like, say your buying $5 coffees near your office, and it's buy 8 get 1 free. But, that free one you can only use on weekends or weekdays before 7am, or between 4pm and 7pm (when they have 25% off deals for coffee) and have to pay a $1 surcharge to use it. But you can cash in your "get 1 free" voucher for a $2 voucher you can use whenever you want.

 

[JohnK]

Says who?? Why??

Frequent flyer points are an invention, a concept. And not so many years ago they did not even exist. If you re-write your sentences using such phrases as "it would be really nice in my opinion if...", then your post makes sense. I hate the high surcharges. But I am just wishing they were different - I certainly respect the right of the vendor to put whatever costs or conditions they like.

It's a one way street. Make a tidy profit on the sale. Make a tidy profit on the redemption.

It wasn't always like that. Pre-2005 QFF and frequent flyer schemes rewarded flying loyalty. Then it became very muddy when they started throwing points at everything. And points started devaluing very quickly.

 

[Deleted member]

I know the points plus pay option is available., but to. Me it's like, having a myer gift card and being told oh you can't use it here or there or for this product or during sales. Or worse still, you can use it but you have to pay $15 surcharge to use your $50 gift card

Points plus pay is a rip off anyway

 

[Deleted member]

Once I’m LTG , I shall look elsewhere for flights, redemptions and airline FF schemes more worthy of my custom

 

[serfty]

..
It wasn't always like that. Pre-2005 QFF and frequent flyer schemes rewarded flying loyalty. Then it became very muddy when they started throwing points at everything. And points started devaluing very quickly.

You obviously have no conception of what fueled this "rewarded flying loyalty"!

Have you ever come across the term "Two Airline System"?

Until the late 90's airfares were artificially inflated by this cosy duopoly - the cheapest fares being triple in real terms what they are these days.

There was plenty of fat to go around as well as reward all those Golden Wing, Qantas Club Members and Frequent flyer in general.

Something had to give - in November 2004 I flew MEL-SYD-MEL for $115 on Qantas - there simply was not enough fat to go around - Frequent flying schemes were trimmed significantly among other in flight service reductions.