Qantas disguises first class seats as $20 ‘cabin in the clouds’ on Airbnb

[33kft]

This thread is classic. I'm not sure why people are getting this upset about the promo. If after everything above this post does not do it for you, it's unlikely you're going to find one of these anyway so perhaps leave it to those who do to figure out the logistics? You don't have to take it up even if you do book, AirBNB can't just keep your money and if they did you'd just initiate a chargeback.

All they are doing is using the mechanism available through their advertising partner AirBNB (who they already pay out QFF points for) to put on a fancy bit of technical theater to fob off a couple of less popular award seats at a discount rate. People sitting there hitting refresh is the whole point, they're occupying your brand mindshare by making you think about this promo for the next 2 weeks and how you might be missing out if you don't thrash the refresh button, whilst they drip feed these seats. It's not a conspiracy

 

[Guvner]

Who is getting upset?

 

[renatts]

Hi Renatts - at what time of day did you see this one to LAX available for booking?

Around 7:30am

 

[Lynda2475]

I don't see anyone that is upset, more so questions about how this works in practicality, and some musings on impact to classic rewards.

As there was no Qantas post not even in their media) that I've seen explaining the mechanics it is really hard to work out whether this is something I should look further into.

 

[33kft]

This is not a standard Qantas offering. It's a promo, which is documented anywhere you care to look:

$20 trick to get into Qantas first class

It’s the upgrade most passengers would do just about anything for — and now there’s a new way that frequent flyers can score Qantas first class seats at ridiculous rates.

www.news.com.au

Qantas Frequent Flyer hides points seats on Airbnb | escape.com.au

It’s the upgrade most passengers would do just about anything for. Now Qantas is letting savvy flyers score first and business class flights for insane prices.

www.escape.com.au

Qantas and Airbnb hide $20 plus points FIRST CLASS tickets

All you need to pay is $20 and 50,000 points for two first class seats.

au.finance.yahoo.com

Qantas offering deeply discounted First and Business award seats through Airbnb

Qantas if offering deeply discounted First and Business Class seats in a new promotion that hides award seat listings in the platform of its partner Airbnb.

www.pointhacks.com.au

It's a promo. You, I and anyone else is extremely unlikely to get a ticket. There is nowhere to ask about the T&C unless you put down a $20 deposit on AirBNB. If this truly is a scam to get $20 and your QFF number, remember that:

• The person has had to convince the media outlets above
• The person has had to convice AirBNB they are Qantas (their advertising partner)
• The person has had to somehow convince Qantas to confirm it when asked

You can sieze on my use of the word upset but it seems beyond everyone the fact that you actually need to jump on the one or two dates they post online anytime over a period of 2 weeks immediately or you miss out. This is like calling up tattslotto to ask them whether the transfer will take 1 day or 2 days before you have won anything. The difference of course being you can go buy a ticket anytime for lotto but there are no T&Cs here because you have not entered anything at all unless you have found one of these offers and successfully managed to bid $20 for given dates before anyone else. Until then there are no T&C as you have been offered nothing.

 

[33kft]

If you go and have a look at AirBNB now you can see that 3 people have paid $20 and been refunded it by the Qantas account. That means in 1 whole day of this promo, a maximum of 3 people have scored a ticket and had their deposit refunded, however any of those 3 may have had a change of heart. This is not a high volume giveaway...

 

[moa999]

One of the FB forums suggested there were 10 valid links around 8am

 

[Hillbilly64]

Was just on Channel 9.

Worth keeping an eye out if you are planning a award trip...direct in J is a unicorn seat for us on bronze

 

[Lynda2475]

It's a promo. You, I and anyone else is extremely unlikely to get a ticket. There is nowhere to ask about the T&C unless you put down a $20 deposit on AirBNB.

A promotional offer still has T&Cs (just like competitions and sales), that should be available to review before proceeding with a sale. This is something that should be available even if you don't manage to find or snag an offer - if you go to ticketek and a concert is sold out you can still read the T&Cs for tickets to that concert.

I'm pretty sure everyone hear realises the chances of success are very slim.

I did a google but as per your links all are media stories but nothing on Qantas' own media page - Qantas were quick to spruike the Point Only Flight promo, you'd think they would have has somethign about this.

 

[33kft]

A promotional offer still has T&Cs (just like competitions and sales), that should be available to review before proceeding with a sale. This is something that should be available even if you don't manage to find or snag an offer - if you go to ticketek and a concert is sold out you can still read the T&Cs for tickets to that concert.

They have not offered you anything. If they have, where can I sign up too?

While you are waiting for a response from them on how you would optimize the cost of a return flight from a promo offer that is limited to a handful of people, if you are lucky to come across it at any point in the next 2 weeks, it will be gone. You will either need to book it and ask the question/refund the $20 later, or forever live in wonder. You can yell at them about the T&C but at this stage they are somewhere in the vicinity of "if you see a free booking, grab it, or miss out". I don't think finer detail is necessary if you can't reach that milestone.

Do you realise how many different combinations of case specific questions there would be from people who aren't going to get an offer for these tickets? I am not going to call Qantas now and ask if I can bring an infant along on a booking I don't have and can't get.... I mean it would show supreme confidence in my ability to snag an offer for sure but I can't imagine they would spend a lot of time appeasing me. I am going to keep an eye out though, and book one if I see it, because it's a great deal. And then I'd worry about the specifics later. Each to their own but no way are you going to get the chance to book one of these if you are worried about what the return flight cost is going to be. Book a budget airline back?

When you are given the opportunity to bid for 2 first class tickets SYD-LAX for the equivalent of ~$500 cash all in, that's $250 a ticket, I don't think stressing about the cost of the return flight is all that important? Even on a normal point redemption where we're talking 100K per passenger you'd be paying more than that each in taxes.

 

[Drakecula]

If only I had QFF... Good luck to those hunting!

 

[Lynda2475]

Your are inferring worry - im not worried I'm curious as to how the mechanics would work.

A few basics T&Cs about what happens if you cancel after booking is all that is needed. I dont give a toss about infants or some edge case scenario, just would like to know the refund conditions. Without those you are not just gambling $20 if you buy and then realised you have to forfeit the flight, you are also potentially gambling the number of points you paid if you don't know that the usual cancellation conditions apply. Im ok with gambling $20 and 5k points, but I can actually use 55k points much more effectively towards a classic reward where i know up front if I can get the other leg affordably. None of this information was not in the news.com.au when I read it earlier today.

I have no intention of calling up Qantas and asking questions but if someone here does snag a seat Id like them to share what conditions actually applied. Afterall the point of these forums is for members to share experience/advice/information.

 

[Rusty776]

This is going to be tough... Will narrowing the max price down to $20 catch the right ones. And are people searching specific places or anywhere?

 

[33kft]

This is going to be tough... Will narrowing the max price down to $20 catch the right ones. And are people searching specific places or anywhere?

You would want min and max price to $20 as we know the price is $20, doesn't hurt to tune the search parameters to include flight features to narrow it down. For example tick TV but don't tick something like Garage/Parking. You could also watch the Qantas profile posted at the start of this thread but there's no guarantees it will be the same profile posting the later offers, it hasn't updated since 11am this morning so it may work or may not.

 

[juddles]

This thread is classic. I'm not sure why people are getting this upset about the promo........ It's not a conspiracy

Not only do I agree, but I am really enjoying this promo!! Good on Qantas for doing something totally different!

It is refreshing, actually exciting, to have some fun with this beast. I have no idea how to use airbnb, but this may teach me.

When I phoned Qantas to confirm the veracity of this promo, I phoned the Special Services Team (a P1 thing). The lady (Kylie) was very nice, and apart from confirming it, she explained that Qantas wanted to make it fun and a bit hard - a "treasure hunt" (and no, she did not give me any tips that would give me an edge - neither would I ask for such - I am a sportsman and a gentleman)

I know the odds against finding a ticket are huge, but I still will have a go And I hope those that do see something get a screenshot - even if they don't book it. Just finding one of these roo-nicorns would be an admirable feat!!!

 

[Rusty776]

Not only do I agree, but I am really enjoying this promo!! Good on Qantas for doing something totally different!

It is refreshing, actually exciting, to have some fun with this beast. I have no idea how to use airbnb, but this may teach me.

When I phoned Qantas to confirm the veracity of this promo, I phoned the Special Services Team (a P1 thing). The lady (Kylie) was very nice, and apart from confirming it, she explained that Qantas wanted to make it fun and a bit hard - a "treasure hunt" (and no, she did not give me any tips that would give me an edge - neither would I ask for such - I am a sportsman and a gentleman)

I know the odds against finding a ticket are huge, but I still will have a go And I hope those that do see something get a screenshot - even if they don't book it. Just finding one of these roo-nicorns would be an admirable feat!!!

a treasure hunt you say... maybe you have to click on an actual listing and then your transferred to the page we're all looking for. If this is the case it will be almost impossible!!

 

[juddles]

a treasure hunt you say... maybe you have to click on an actual listing and then your transferred to the page we're all looking for. If this is the case it will be almost impossible!!

Rusty, I suspect that such amazing tickets will be very few - no airline is going to drop hundreds at this sort of deal. So if it was easy then they would be snapped up in seconds. I far prefer a hard treasure hunt - hence the fun. As always, whenever we hear about getting such things as a pair of F tickets for 50k points + no cash, we all get excited and wish we could score one, but to me it is like a raffle where we cannot all expect to be winners, yet it is designed so that those that put more effort in or are smarter can increase their odds

For the record, I am not smart, so "effort" is my only tool.

 

[Haplo]

You still have to pay for the return journey, and unless you are WP the chance of finding a J or F seat on the way back is slim

 

[SallyT]

One of the FB forums suggested there were 10 valid links around 8am

Would love to know what other Facebook groups or forums you use? Thanks in advance

 

[Mrmaxwell]

Not difficult at all...

Get lucky by finding the listing, purchase it and wait for QF to call. You can then negotiate your options, if you’re free during the flight time, if you like the destination and if you can get a nice fare return then great!

If it doesn’t work out no harm...am I missing something?