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

[VeniVidiVici]

Totally agree with your points. But that doesn’t mean I have to agree with the implementation of that.

I did a check on Award availability ex Adelaide to Europe next year. Only Y availability on Qantas and it isn’t until EK and Qatar release their flights a little later that any J appear at all.

As a fellow Adelaidean we can all agree that availability from here sucks!

 

[DC3]

...Unless you are self employed. It’s the airlines that benefit from our business so the FF program seems appropriate.

The good thing about being self-employed is that you get to make up your own perks.

 

[Pushka]

The good thing about being self-employed is that you get to make up your own perks.

And that depends on how the business is going. Ebb and flow.

 

[ramboflyer]

As a fellow Adelaidean we can all agree that availability from here sucks!

Try availability out of Hobart. Non-existant! We usually need to search from Melbourne or Sydney and hope for a suitable connecting flight from Hobart.

 

[RooFlyer]

I don't necessarily disagree however it's not a zero sum game here, a few high spenders get gifted status does not mean that status is taken from some flyers.

I just don't get the complaints from people that have status whilst barely ever opening their own wallet to do so. Assumptions yes, but based on people I know that are WP having never spent a dollar of their own money.

The source of the funds is irrelevant. For general points earn, there are many on AFF who earn points from corporate spend - ie not their own money. If you don't differentiate between actual flyers and those who just spend, you take away the raison d'etre for the program. It just turns into a general points program who happens to have contracts with certain airlines.

When Air Canada spun off their FF program Aeroplan, new Aeroplan was turned into a general points program, and it sucked big time (for the flyers - I speak from much experience). Air Canada had to retain much of the the 'status' component within the airline and in the end bought the program back because their actual flyers were so alienated.

I hope Qantas doesn't learn that lesson the hard way.

 

[Pushka]

Try availability out of Hobart. Non-existant! We usually need to search from Melbourne or Sydney and hope for a suitable connecting flight from Hobart.

But it wasn’t too bad before the announcement!

 

[VeniVidiVici]

The source of the funds is irrelevant. For general points earn, there are many on AFF who earn points from corporate spend - ie not their own money. If you don't differentiate between actual flyers and those who just spend, you take away the raison d'etre for the program. It just turns into a general points program who happens to have contracts with certain airlines.

I hope that the Points Club offers a "modified" status, perhaps a touch more availability, some QC passes maybe. I agree that it would be unfair to offer status on as little as 150k per year as I understand the hard slog that it is to work your way up the status ladder. I had a big year of travel for work and pleasure a couple of years ago and just managed Silver!

I'm just a bit put off by the derision towards a program aimed at people that are clearly contributing towards Qantas' profit in a meaningful way with primarily their own funds from people that often earn status at the expense of their employers.

I don't see how anyone but the owner or decision maker could earn points off of corporate spend. Wouldn't a business credit card with rewards have those points credit back to the primary card owner, eg the business? My rewards business cards all credit back to me even on the secondary cards which are in different names.

 

[Pushka]

I hope that the Points Club offers a "modified" status, perhaps a touch more availability, some QC passes maybe. I agree that it would be unfair to offer status on as little as 150k per year as I understand the hard slog that it is to work your way up the status ladder. I had a big year of travel for work and pleasure a couple of years ago and just managed Silver!

I'm just a bit put off by the derision towards a program aimed at people that are clearly contributing towards Qantas' profit in a meaningful way with primarily their own funds from people that often earn status at the expense of their employers.

I don't see how anyone but the owner or decision maker could earn points off of corporate spend. Wouldn't a business credit card with rewards have those points credit back to the primary card owner, eg the business? My rewards business cards all credit back to me even on the secondary cards which are in different names.

In terms of purchasing the ticket on a credit card the points go the owner of the card. In terms of flying they go to the flyer. Two different processes.

 

[VeniVidiVici]

In terms of purchasing the ticket on a credit card the points go the owner of the card. In terms of flying they go to the flyer. Two different processes.

That's what I was getting at. I thought RooFlyer was saying that there are people earning points on corporate spend (not flying) that was not their own spend. I don't see how that is possible.

Anyway, it's all moot until more details on the Points Club are released. Hopefully it can benefit the notso frequent flyers without adversely affecting the real frequent flyers.

 

[RooFlyer]

That's what I was getting at. I thought RooFlyer was saying that there are people earning points on corporate spend (not flying) that was not their own spend. I don't see how that is possible.

Yes, I guess business owner, but i'm not privee to the details.

 

[jpp42]

I don't see how anyone but the owner or decision maker could earn points off of corporate spend. Wouldn't a business credit card with rewards have those points credit back to the primary card owner, eg the business? My rewards business cards all credit back to me even on the secondary cards which are in different names.

My company allows us to use personal credit cards for certain business spend (normally travel related, but sometimes other incidental purchases). Airfare is paid for differently, but all my hotel stays and food goes through my personal card and could earn points. I don't currently use a points credit card as I find the annual fees make them noncompetitive, but I could see how additional benefits from such a "Points Club" could change the decision there, if it were valuable enough.

 

[VeniVidiVici]

My company allows us to use personal credit cards for certain business spend (normally travel related, but sometimes other incidental purchases). Airfare is paid for differently, but all my hotel stays and food goes through my personal card and could earn points. I don't currently use a points credit card as I find the annual fees make them noncompetitive, but I could see how additional benefits from such a "Points Club" could change the decision there, if it were valuable enough.

I assume a reimbursement then? That's not a bad deal

 

[andye]

My company allows us to use personal credit cards for certain business spend (normally travel related, but sometimes other incidental purchases). Airfare is paid for differently, but all my hotel stays and food goes through my personal card and could earn points. I don't currently use a points credit card as I find the annual fees make them noncompetitive, but I could see how additional benefits from such a "Points Club" could change the decision there, if it were valuable enough.

Unless, you are carrying a balance month to month, there are a bunch of free (for a year at least) cards that would get you some points for nothing

 

[jpp42]

Unless, you are carrying a balance month to month, there are a bunch of free (for a year at least) cards that would get you some points for nothing

I know this isn't really the thread for it, but I found most of the decent offers are expired now, if you have a suggestion please point me in the right direction. It's hard to wade through the chaff of useless (to me) offers with huge annual fees. Note that I did have an ANZ Platinum previously which I cancelled before the annual fee applied, which was less than 18 months ago so I can't use that one again.

 

[jpp42]

I assume a reimbursement then? That's not a bad deal

Yes, if I used my official corporate card the reimbursement process would be slightly streamlined as it would add the line items to my expense report automatically, but it's only a few extra clicks on the expense report software when using my personal card. I'm still responsible for the charges, so the corporate card doesn't have much advantage to me, noting that I never carry a balance on my personal card(s).

 

[ozflier]

I know this isn't really the thread for it, but I found most of the decent offers are expired now, if you have a suggestion please point me in the right direction. It's hard to wade through the chaff of useless (to me) offers with huge annual fees. Note that I did have an ANZ Platinum previously which I cancelled before the annual fee applied, which was less than 18 months ago so I can't use that one again.

I recently joined up to an ANZ frequent flier Black but I guess that will be of no use to you.
Comes with a 100,000 point joining offer and earns one QFF point per dollar spent.

 

[ozflier]

I don't necessarily disagree however it's not a zero sum game here, a few high spenders get gifted status does not mean that status is taken from some flyers.

I just don't get the complaints from people that have status whilst barely ever opening their own wallet to do so. Assumptions yes, but based on people I know that are WP having never spent a dollar of their own money.

I wouldn't feel upset if big non flight points earners were given top up amounts of status credits that are needed to get them to the next tier.
I work with colleagues who earn huge amounts of points ( eg selling a house , buying a car etc) who I wouldn't begrudge getting some of the priorities that come with higher status.

 

[Ansett]

I wonder how may people will be a part of the LTP club and how many would be CLWP1LTP, now that would be a very exclusive club I would imagine.

 

[QF WP]

Okay, let's not get off topic (points earning cards etc), lest we Mods have to hive-off to a new thread over in the CC section.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

By popular demand, here it is: Under the Hood: What the Qantas Frequent Flyer Changes Really Mean For Members

Nice post. As for your final comment (10/10 for hype), I'm not sure I'd agree. For most QFF members the most significant relevant change is reduced costs for economy awards, which I think is a big deal (even if not so much for many AFFers).