Yes, medhead. We all know this, but other people may come to the conclusion that QFF is about paying to join a scheme where points are earned on every Qantas flight which (over time) can amount to a free flight in the future. Pretty standard kickback scheme these days.
I was answering the question about how someone on AFF would be qualified to tell how hard it is to earn a QFF point. It really wasn't a comment about the program. Sure I was being a bit sarcastic with my questions, but those are genuine questions. Is looking for every opportunity to use the QFF program to the maximum not enough to qualify someone as an expert at earning points?
What is not so intuitive is that whilst the customer loyalty is paid up front, the Qantas loyalty has an expiry date. Why is this so?
QFF hasn't been a paid loyalty program since about 2007 or 2008 when EDR was introduced. Sure you and I might have paid up front, but payment is no longer required.
Pick one from the following :-
1. Because it is in the T&C's. {Congratulations! Now run off, consume, be silent, and die ... like a good corporate ...}
This is truly a bizarre position to take. Knowing the T&Cs is what allows people to take advantage of programs. Someone who doesn't read and know the T&Cs of a program is the real corporate retard, the ultimate consumer. They are the people who provide maximum value to the people running the program.
2. Because otherwise Qantas would have a future liability. {Easy to fix - when expiring points send the victim a cheque for .1 cents a point. Problem solved}
3. Because the word "Frequent" appears in the scheme - which allows Qantas (and the mob) to belittle and scorn those that aren't one of us. {Read the thread}.
You've forgotten the point that Qantas want to extract a profit from QFF. Knowing the T&Cs allows the consumer to understand how they extract that profit, and also how to avoid giving them that profit. There is no problem with companies doing things to profit - that is a fundamental tenet of capitalism after all.
4. Because I don't want to compete for award seats with the huddling masses. {Ahh ... now the truth comes out!}
Hell! I don't want to compete against anyone, especially AFFers, for an award.
But that doesn't mean I begrudge them their ability to get an award. Exactly what is wrong with acknowledging this truth? Personally, I take the view of my then 4 year old daughter who said to her aunt, "Don't you worry about me, just you worry about yourself." I worry about myself and what I can get, not what other people get. Of course, that doesn't prevent me from commenting on what they get, just I don't personally begrudge anyone for getting something I wanted.
At least once a year I get this sinking feeling - have I checked the kids' QFF account recently? How long has it been since our last OS trip?? Did I use one of their EDR cards at Woollies this year??? Fortunately I have yet to have a lapse of memory, but it would give me the heaving shots if I absent-mindedly let the kids' points expire between our 2-yearly overseas jaunts. Why do I have to worry so much about not losing Qantas' loyalty????
I have an app that checks all the family accounts. If that doesn't suit you can always have the statements emailed to you every month, or just do a family transfer once a year for Christmas. In the last case, there are no points to expire.
Do you believe that someone can claim to be a loyal Qantas customer if, within the last 18 months they:
a) have not flown with Qantas; and
(b) have not flown on an eligible flight with any of Qantas' partners - or even worse, they have done so, but chose not to credit the travel to QFF; and
(c) have not <redacted> [earned] points via the multitiude of very easy ways that QF allows us to earn points; and
(d) did not take the simple step of just spending a small number of points or transferring at least 5,000 points to someone else.
If someone does none of the above, what is it that <redacted> makes them a loyal Qantas customer? IMHO, someone in that position has shown no loyalty to Qantas, and has made no effort to retain their points. I think <redacted> that the point of any loyalty scheme is to encourage customers to spend money with the participants in that programme. If a customer chooses not to do so, I don't see any moral reason why they can expect to retain their points forever. And as accepted by everyone (I think), there is definitely no legal reason (per T&Cs).
I disagree with your definition of loyalty. My wife has a fear of flying. She avoids flying as much as possible and can go 2 or more years between flights. However, when she does fly it must be with Qantas. That is loyalty to me. She directs 100% of her spend to Qantas, she does not shop on price or mix and match. Your criteria above certainly miss that point. I also used to be exactly the same. Directing all of my flying to Qantas. That changed when they enhanced the program enough that I decided their reduced loyalty would result in reduced loyalty from me.
[-]BTW You really need to change AND to OR in your criteria. At the moment that means someone must do all of those things. This is contradicted by the sentence "If someone does none of the above", which implies they only need to do one of those things.[/-]
yes I was confused, completely misread the criteria and missed the nots.... 
This will be the second time they've donated to the greater good of family travel.
