Qantas FF announcement 20 June - "biggest overhaul" in program history

[samh004]

I have booked flights that will take me over the magical 14000 SC for LTG, but I wont be flying them until March 2020 – so if my lifetime safety net is dashed before I get there by a change in 2 days time I'm not going to be a happy camper.

 

[levelnine]

AA does not have full dynamic redemption. They have revenue based status earning.

Also, note that AA took a ~$20M hit on revenue forecasts in 2016 which was more of a loss than the expected saving on miles creation as a result of the revenue based accrual changes.

Right. I didn't realise that dynamic redemption is only just starting to be introduced by AA now.

I wouldn't be surprised if Qantas gives it a shot. The potential upswing in profit is huge. It would allow them to sell Qantas FF points to literally every business in Australia (earn QFF when you purchase your local hamburger, you visit your dentist, go to your local car mechanic, etc etc), making it the country's default rewards program.

No complex award charts that confuse the Average Joe. Just log on to Qantas FF and purchase the seat at whatever is the going price, just like regular cash fares.

And they could price redemptions at a dynamic level that is no different than a cash fare. So they make profit selling the points and the same amount of money from the sale of the seat as they would selling it for cash.

 

[mviy]

I have booked flights that will take me over the magical 14000 SC for LTG, but I wont be flying them until March 2020 – so if my lifetime safety net is dashed before I get there by a change in 2 days time I'm not going to be a happy camper.

One would hope if they make changes that bookings made before the changes are announced would be grandfathered, but we will see.

 

[muppet]

I have booked flights that will take me over the magical 14000 SC for LTG, but I wont be flying them until March 2020 – so if my lifetime safety net is dashed before I get there by a change in 2 days time I'm not going to be a happy camper.

Similar boat.

I have about 1500 of SCs booked that can easily be cancelled if there are really bad changes. I probably will cancel if LTG is significantly adjusted - there are much more convenient ways to travel rather than use cash - time to put all those Amex miles to use.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Oh. Didn’t you hear? No more F lounge unless flying F.

Hmmmm.......

 

[11sjw]

Anyone think the Oneworld Award might be adversely impacted or is it governed by OW themselves to such an extent that changes are too difficult?

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Anyone think the Oneworld Award might be adversely impacted or is it governed by OW themselves to such an extent that changes are too difficult?

QF can charge whatever the heck they want!

 

[am0985]

I don't think this will be a whole suite of coughty changes (eg like the recent Amex devaluations). They wouldn't call a big press conference and hype it this way.

I think the overall net effect will be negative, but maybe not that negative. And there may be some flyers for whom they end up being a positive.

 

[cvmceg]

Maybe they will start charging QF points to access Neil Perry's decadent menu?

 

[I love to travel]

Buying points outright also an option.

 

[muppet]

I don't think this will be a whole suite of coughty changes (eg like the recent Amex devaluations). They wouldn't call a big press conference and hype it this way.

I think the overall net effect will be negative, but maybe not that negative. And there may be some flyers for whom they end up being a positive.

Was Amex really that bad? TBH i didn't really do the numbers, but they doubled the cost of transfers but doubled my balance so... i kinda feel like they never really awarded those 3x for restaurants and 2x points for whatever anyway so the 2.25 on everything is okay i think.

Because AMEX lacks this concept of "status" and other earning achievements other than simple points, i feel like its harder to have an emotional impact. It just changes the value at a point in time. But Qantas got us hooked on this status drug and tell us we're important to them because of it - if they do something to take that away ... then we're no longer important and we feel worse off from all that investment.

 

[Pushka]

Buying points outright also an option.

You can do that now if you are a few points short of an Award booking but you don’t actually get asked that at the time when you do it online.

 

[muppet]

Maybe they will start charging QF points to access Neil Perry's decadent menu?

Just bring back the NPPPs

 

[I love to travel]

You can do that now if you are a few points short of an Award booking but you don’t actually get asked that at the time when you do it online.

I know I was suggesting an AA/UA/lifemiles option of buying 100k points for$ 3000

 

[Hvr]

Has anybody else noted the timing?

At 1748 hours on 17 June this thread commenced:

Qantas Loyalty - Opting out of emails

Over the past month, I've received a flurry of emails from Qantas promoting: Credit Cards Qantas Cash Points Transfers Flight Specials Qantas Wine Qantas Insurance Discounts on Points Store Redemptions I don't live in Australia. The address in my QF profile is not in Australia. Yet I receive...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

And then today we've heard news of an impending major announcement.

There has to be a correlation between opting out of loyalty emails and then massive changes to the loyalty program!!

 

[am0985]

Was Amex really that bad? TBH i didn't really do the numbers, but they doubled the cost of transfers but doubled my balance so... i kinda feel like they never really awarded those 3x for restaurants and 2x points for whatever anyway so the 2.25 on everything is okay i think.

Because AMEX lacks this concept of "status" and other earning achievements other than simple points, i feel like its harder to have an emotional impact. It just changes the value at a point in time. But Qantas got us hooked on this status drug and tell us we're important to them because of it - if they do something to take that away ... then we're no longer important and we feel worse off from all that investment.

Amex changes were awful.

Having Platinum Edge, Platinum Charge and Explorer meant one could get 3ppd on restaurants and dining, 3ppd at supermarkets with 2ppd on everything else once Explorer was linked. The 3ppd at supermarkets was great for gift card buying - literally dozens of different giftcards from Ticketek to Uber etc to push up spend to 3ppd for these retailers. Average of well over 2.5ppd could easily be achieved.

Now the real points earned (considering the 2:1 redemption rates) are 1.125ppd on everything with Platinum Charge with 1.5ppd on Edge at supermarkets. It's a huge devaulation.

 

[amaroo]

Family pooling based on a certain revenue spend? No different to a P1 gaining a free WP pass...

 

[MiLK_MaN]

It's amusing reading all the conspiracy theories.... I'm a bit of a lurker but after VA's recent "Something big is coming" from May thread and all the suggestions there and the massive letdown, why do people buy in so emotionally before any announcement?

 

[opusman]

It's amusing reading all the conspiracy theories.... I'm a bit of a lurker but after VA's recent "Something big is coming" from May thread and all the suggestions there and the massive letdown, why do people buy in so emotionally before any announcement?

It's just a discussion mate. That's what forums are for.

 

[muppet]

Amex changes were awful.

Having Platinum Edge, Platinum Charge and Explorer meant one could get 3ppd on restaurants and dining, 3ppd at supermarkets with 2ppd on everything else once Explorer was linked. The 3ppd at supermarkets was great for gift card buying - literally dozens of different giftcards from Ticketek to Uber etc to push up spend to 3ppd for these retailers. Average of well over 2.5ppd could easily be achieved.

Now the real points earned (considering the 2:1 redemption rates) are 1.125ppd on everything with Platinum Charge with 1.5ppd on Edge at supermarkets. It's a huge devaulation.

Ahh. That makes sense - I can see how you could lose heaps if you'd structured things properly. I only recently got the Amex Charge so was not quite aware of all the other programs and how they could be structured properly.