Qantas aren’t stupid.
They’re not gonna let their FF program cash cow fall apart.
Correct. There needs to be tangible benefits to earning those points. And if they pull a Delta where the points required not only fluctuate thanks to dynamic pricing but also are insanely high (i.e. 500,000+ for one-way business to the Americas) then people won't be motivated to earn points. Say what you will about the classic award pricing structure, but I think when people see 108,400 points for business to LA they see it as something that is attainable for them (irrespective of whether there is availability when they need to travel).
Their stated goal is to quadruple profits from the program by 2030 by *increasing* member motivation to earn.
They have smart people who believe Classic Plus can help achieve that, and they are probably right.
Classic Plus (or shall we say Points+ Pay 2.0) alleviates one of the criticisms of award chart based programs namely the lack of availability when people want to travel. Now we could argue whether paying 2-3x more for a Classic+ award is worth it, but I suspect there are a decent number of "frequent flyers" who built up quite the point balance but could never find a flight when they want to travel. This will help alleviate that.
I estimate 1% of my points would come from flights. I am rounding up.
Ditto.
If that's what they want, I'm OK with it. I fly about 75% VA domestically, 25% QF (mostly J) and maybe 10% QF internationally (all J). The only destinations I choose QF over other carriers is JNB and SCL and having flown those last year, no need to take QF at all in the future.
Although even then, I'd argue the other carriers offer more availability and arguably a better product. Certainly I've had success helping my relatives book tons of LA flights to SCL using QF points, but struggle to find QF operated flights to SCL (at least in business). As for Joburg, remember there's also Virgin Australia/South African that fly to JNB.
I'm just running the numbers on reaching QR Plat and it looks achievable on my current QR bookings, and a bit of others.
To each their own. What I like about the QR program is it is easier to maintain status (compared to QF). For instance, I believe once you qualify for Platinum it's half the number of status credits to retain. On the other hand, QR isn't as generous at doling out status credits and they don't have a lifetime status program. As an aside, (and maybe you're already aware of this)
Qatar has a fast track program to Platinum whereby you can earn that status by taking just one flight with them provided you are Accor Diamond (they'll fast track you to Gold if you hold Platinum status with Accor). As an aside to that aside, one could earn Diamond status more easily using accelerator memberships like ALL Signature (which earns you 12,000 status points every year towards status).
Maybe Qantas is trying to do so.
This time last year I could easily get a next week ex MEL trans tasman economy seat for 18000 points.
Now most options are CR+ from as low as 32,200.
It remains to be seen whether the introduction of CR+ reduced the number of classic reward seats available. Certainly I haven't had issues finding classic award seats when I want to travel, particularly on partners. Remember too that lack of classic award availability is a major gripe for many on this forum, particularly those interested in heading to Europe.
-RooFlyer88
