Qantas Dream Planner now live

[theoracle30]

It's not quite ExpertFlyer, but Qantas has quietly unveiled its Dream Planner tool today. It looks promising but is more form over function right now.



You can set a destination and be notified if reward seats become available. Not sure at this stage whether it's QF metal only or if partners are included, but I'm sure they'll be more apparent later.

It's powered by Volantio, which uses machine learning algorithms. A lot of potential for tapping into other revenue streams down the track as well.

(PH published a guide on this today if you're interested - yes, I'm affiliated).

 

[jakeseven7]

Interesting!!

 

[Gold Member]

Well done QF for introducing a worthwhile and helpful feature aimed at helping the customer. This may actually be a real enhancement to QFF.

Given how quickly International premium cabin rewards get snapped up, the real test will be how often it polls inventory and then sends you the email if seats are available. We know that award seats open up 10am or 11am depending on DST, but if Qf only sends an email overnight, then all the keen daily checkers and EF subscribers would have taken the seats well before.

 

[Traveller_Dude]

interesting thanks

 

[Captain Halliday]

At face value I see benefits for those who redeem reward flights infrequently and for whom Expertflyer is not cost effective.

But let’s face itQF is in the business of making money.

If the data from this tool gives QF yield management a leading indicator of demand then it might mean fewer reward seats as QF try to convert demand into revenue fares.

It could also lead to the later release of reward seats.

No doubt the data from regular flight searches already helps QF in this way.

As ever with loyalty schemes if you’re getting something for free then you are the product.

 

[theoracle30]

But let’s face itQF is in the business of making money

Yes indeed, QF's partnership with Volantio is undoubtedly to increase revenue as efficiently as possible.

 

[Mattg]

At face value I see benefits for those who redeem reward flights infrequently and for whom Expertflyer is not cost effective.

But let’s face itQF is in the business of making money.

If the data from this tool gives QF yield management a leading indicator of demand then it might mean fewer reward seats as QF try to convert demand into revenue fares.

My first thought was that it would help Qantas to understand where demand for Classic Flight Reward seats is. I assume this is also why some airlines offer things like "fare/sale alerts".

Seems like it could be a worthwhile initiative for some QFF members, though.

 

[justinbrett]

Shame they won't let us out of the country...

 

[Mrmaxwell]

Imagine what happens when some award seats become available during school holidays and 1000 QFF’ers get a notification email all at the same time

Could be a reason to stick with EF if their notification is more timely...

 

[P001P001]

Nothing like a good disruptive influence to tip the tables in favour of the consumer and strike some active engagement from our airlines. Shame it had to be a global pandemic, but some interesting outcomes nonetheless.

 

[ozflier]

To be fair this is an improvement.
I wonder if higher level QFFs get a different email offering as they have access to more inventory as I understand it ?

 

[JessicaTam]

Well done QF for introducing a worthwhile and helpful feature aimed at helping the customer. This may actually be a real enhancement to QFF.

Given how quickly International premium cabin rewards get snapped up, the real test will be how often it polls inventory and then sends you the email if seats are available. We know that award seats open up 10am or 11am depending on DST, but if Qf only sends an email overnight, then all the keen daily checkers and EF subscribers would have taken the seats well before.

Now now, don't go enhancing the term 'enhancement'.

 

[vetrade]

I can foresee an increase in spam emails from QF based on which flight sectors I enter in Dream Planner.
Plus, I bet it becomes harder to snare reward seats because now all the people who are too lazy to "do the hard yards" searching for availability will get the info served up to them on a plate. This applies moreso to the occasional flier for whom EF isn't cost effective.
I'm guessing the sectors QF will be especially interested to get data on are the ones where they have a monopoly, such as SYD - JNB - if they see a lot of people registering for that route you can bet they will re-jig availability to try and maximise revenue fare sales.

I subscribe to the belief that QF will have an ulterior motive for whatever "enhancement" they offer us plebs.

 

[Mattg]

I set up a few test alerts last month, and I received two notifications that seats had become available at 8.07am this morning. This is what the notification looks like:



When I click through, there's no F availability on any Qantas flights but Emirates does have something at the price quoted (216,900 points + $432). So, perhaps this tool also works for flights on QF partner airlines?

 

[theoracle30]

I set up a few test alerts last month, and I received two notifications that seats had become available at 8.07am this morning.

Strange, I got this at 8:08am... I wonder if it means the timing of Dream Planner isn't as 'real-time' as we thought

 

[sudoer]

Strange, I got this at 8:08am... I wonder if it means the timing of Dream Planner isn't as 'real-time' as we thought

Or could it be alerting to QF inventory before it would show up elsewhere at midnight GMT? QF would know what they are going to load ahead of time.

Would be good to see a Dream Planner vs ExpertFlyer alert challenge.

 

[Mattg]

Is it just me, or has Qantas quietly killed the real-time reward seat alert feature? I can't for the life of me work out how to set one up.