Just saw Finnair introduce a minimum rewards seat guarantee. Seems like something Qantas could do super quickly and easily to build up goodwill and soften the cries about lack of redemptions! They could even restrict it to Gold FF or higher or similar to make it more 'exclusive' and give another perk for loyalty. It is just plain discouraging when they don't even try to make one seat available in a premium cabin when the calendar opens. Offering 2 seats in J, 4 in Prem Y and then 8 in Y for example surely won't hit their bottom lines too much when you consider that they will eventually release that many seats over the course of the flight being available for sale anyway! It's just about the predictability of seats that gives the impression that opportunities are there and increase the transparency of the program. For my friends and family, they are always complaining about how their points are 'worthless' because they only search a particular day and give up when they see the gazillion points price tag.
It will probably be some "good" enhancements in 2024. Easy wins like reducing carrier surcharge by 10% or reducing the change/cancellation fees, getting a few more points planes happening etc.
Looking longer term though, a devaluation has got to be in the works. 4 years is too long to keep redemption rates the same. I'm thinking 2025 would be when they start adding "tiers" and revamping the points + pay system. Virgin seems to have handled the soft devaluation well with the three tiered system. It makes sense when you think about closing the points delta between the cabins. Maybe something like a Saver and an Advantage rate like SQ has (and then platinum requests for seat openings can only be redeemed at the more expensive rate a la BAEC Gold).
