Qantas Platinum One experiences?

[GoldCanyon340]

I also feel BA, as Bloody Awful as it is, has far more competition at it's home base (they only really HAVE one ) that handing out more of the candy is probably seen as approprate. QF doesn't need to; VA has nothing remotely close.

And hence the problem we will always have in Australia with virtually no competition. There is no reason to go more than 1% beyond what the other bunch is (note: singular) doing.

 

[dough11]

To compare - Malaysia Airlines Enrich gives free Platinum to your spouse once you attain basic Platinum. No need to achieve 3x Platinum to enjoy that benefits. Also unlimited free meet and greet services for all classes of travel for standard Platinums at KUL.

If you can get to SQ PPS Solitare, you'll be upgraded for free at every possible opportunity on every SQ flight.

CX Diamond Plus is on the table for the big spenders which has soft benefits like customized napkins, private escort services at HKG etc.

EK IO members have their own personal, direct phone# to the Skywards contact centre. A private squad of men-in-black type characters to whisk you around the airport, check in from your house, always unlimited free airport transfers.

Air Asia will assign an anonymous, dedicated staff member to be on your flight (as a passenger) to ensure NOTHING goes wrong. They have authority on flights second only to the Captain.

There are PLENTY more examples of how airlines (especially in Asia) treat their top members.

Qantas has focused way too much on the hard physical status benefits. I'm willing to bet they see significant churn from P1 among members who have a choice of which carrier they fly. Reading through this thread it's clear even basic stuff like priority boarding is still a problem after what.. a decade? Way past due for some airport ops management to lose their jobs IMO.

If you wanted the physical benefits - you'd go for BA or perhaps AA who have significant tangible rewards at the top end.

IMO Platinum One is only worthwhile if you fly Qantas... where there are light loads in premium cabins, or/and... you're unlucky and constantly have disrupted flights to really utilize SST.... or you really want a white card to show off.

I like Qantas and they're a great airline with a special place in my heart and the market performance is excellent - but if you're spending over ~$30K AUD on international flights p.a. - it's time to smell the roses elsewhere. No need for *slight hope* ... just move your business elsewhere and get rewarded in a more meaningful way.

Where would you suggest we go? I fall into that group easily these days but having had a look around, I didn't notice anyone that was really that different.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Where would you suggest we go? I fall into that group easily these days but having had a look around, I didn't notice anyone that was really that different.

BA has significant, as some may perceive YMMV, advantages for its Gold Guest List program (analogous to QF P1).

 

[dough11]

BA has significant, as some may perceive YMMV, advantages for its Gold Guest List program (analogous to QF P1).

But then we'd have to fly BA! haha

 

[GoldCanyon340]

But then we'd have to fly BA! haha

It's a very good airline, if you are sitting in the right cabin.

 

[RooFlyer]

For Air Canada P1 equivalents, they have concierges at the airport (print out boarding passes in case you're late, get bag tags ready, walk you through security if you have a tight cnx). They were helpful for sure, (but no P1 customer care team)

I've never been P1, but have god a decent idea of what it conveys from this thread. I was, however "100K Super Elite" on Air Canada for 2 years (and doesn't that title sound so much better than 'Platinum 1' ). I got so much more out of the 100KSE team and status than it sounds like P1s get here (although it was bout 4 years ago now, so may have been enhanced down).

Real people at the Provincial capital/major airports and major international ports to visit and chat to; proactive flight management when you were in the air and an issue arose with a connection (often, in the Canadian winter); collecting things left behind somewhere for collection when you are next through; 'surprise' upgrades, birthday upgrades; restaurant bookings, things minded, etc. No invites for events that I couldn't attend, though.

If P1 was anything like 100KSE, I would have really striven to get it.

 

[mrsterryn]

I would so enjoy P1 however from all that the current holders are saying it has merit but ....does lack
I would rather structure our flying so we continue both to have Platinium
Pointing out my travel is not work related as I am retired .

 

[GoldCanyon340]

I would so enjoy P1 however from all that the current holders are saying it has merit but ....does lack
I would rather structure our flying so we continue both to have Platinium
Pointing out my travel is not work related as I am retired .

I completely agree. I have P1 from purely vacation travel and it's great to have, especially the lovely people from the SST if they're reading this. But unless I'm >3000 SC there is no way I'd do a run for it.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I've mulled a run for BA GGL+CCR with the eventual target of lifetime OWE. I'd never drop below QF Platinum though to keep arrivals access, award seat release, better(?) handing on IRROPS.

BA F is essentially QF F with better wine, as I've been vocal about.

Go for it. IAG/BA isn't going away anytime soon.

If you want the status so you are better looked after better during disruption... shouldn't you question your choice of an airline that has constant disruptions? ;-) Singapore Airlines, for example, has an excellent SOP for disruptions of all pax.

I'll also leave a note here that MH serves the same champagne in Business class that Qantas serves in First Class.
Go for who is hungry for your business... and that is rarely the dominant players.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

TTR - I agree with your comments for sure.

Then again isn't every airlines uber premium tier going to focus and reward on their own metal? That makes perfect sense.

Not necessarily.

The closer a loyalty program is to their host airline, the more aligned with selling tickets.
For example, Qantas Loyalty, fully owned by Qantas - their real alignment is seeing you fly more.

Velocity, which is partially owned by Virgin Australia, has more vested interest in flogging points off to as many partners as possible. Velocity fundamentally don't care who you fly with so long as it's within their mini-fake alliance.

Then you've got others like Lifemiles/Avianca which will likely never see a cent of your flight spend. They're happy to sell you points all day long. To them, your loyalty is burning your points on partner air tickets.

 

[nutwood]

I've recently flopped over the line to P1 and seem to be encountering an issue that I'm sure others must have dealt with in the past.
Being short of leg and broad of shoulder, I value an empty seat next to me over extra leg room. As WP, this worked very nicely. My faithful shadow plonked down next to me in 5B and I looked forward at Row 4, shoulder to shoulder. Now I'm P1, the system keeps trying to put me in row 4 and the exit rows, whilst my poor shadow is denied boarding. My current strategy is to deal with each flight individually and ensure my shadow is allowed on board. I don't care where I sit, if it has an empty seat next to it. The WP settings seemed to appreciate this, but the P1 settings seemed obsessed with putting me into seats with leg room but no shadow.
Any suggestions?

 

[Hvr]

Any suggestions?

Speak to the SST and tell them your preference for a shadow rather than row 4. They should be able to assist and block the seat next to you where ever possible.

 

[JessicaTam]

The #1, biggest loyalty drive I've seen is CONSISTENT DELIVERY OF THE BASICS

This!

 

[nutwood]

Speak to the SST and tell them your preference for a shadow rather than row 4. They should be able to assist and block the seat next to you where ever possible.

I have done this but it doesn't seem to be so easy. Current situation is that I'm contacting them for each flight as the SST don't monitor domestic flights. I'd like to get it back to how it was when I was WP and my shadow just travelled with me. Early days yet though, just curious if others have encountered this?

 

[kermatu]

I have done this but it doesn't seem to be so easy. Current situation is that I'm contacting them for each flight as the SST don't monitor domestic flights. I'd like to get it back to how it was when I was WP and my shadow just travelled with me. Early days yet though, just curious if others have encountered this?

I’ve had this issue for a long time, but as far as I’m aware the only automatic granting of shadows is for CLs, not P1s or WPs. This is supported by my expert flyer searches where you can see where a seat is actually blocked, versus just one that isn’t filled because it’s not available. I’m sure airport staff try to keep seats next to CLs, P1s and WPs vacant as long as possible, but in the end they almost always go to random pax or staff. I also used to ask the SST for a shadow but succes rate was less than 10 per cent so I gave up.

I personally value row 4 legroom over a shadow. But in instances where I’d be happy with the latter I wait until boarding commences, check the seatmap on expertflyer and then specifically ask for any seats where there’s a vacant adjoining seat. Much more effective than relying on QF.

 

[nutwood]

I’ve had this issue for a long time, but as far as I’m aware the only automatic granting of shadows is for CLs, not P1s or WPs. This is supported by my expert flyer searches where you can see where a seat is actually blocked, versus just one that isn’t filled because it’s not available. I’m sure airport staff try to keep seats next to CLs, P1s and WPs vacant as long as possible, but in the end they almost always go to random pax or staff. I also used to ask the SST for a shadow but succes rate was less than 10 per cent so I gave up.

I personally value row 4 legroom over a shadow. But in instances where I’d be happy with the latter I wait until boarding commences, check the seatmap on expertflyer and then specifically ask for any seats where there’s a vacant adjoining seat. Much more effective than relying on QF.

Thank you for that. I think you are correct about CL's having a solid and reliable shadow, however my WP shadow did pretty well. Probably 90% of flights with an empty seat next to me, although that figure would have been augmented by me occasionally asking.
My feeling is that the Qantas seat allocating mechanism is frantically trying to do the right thing by me as a P1 and if there's an empty row 4, or an exit seat, I get it, even though I'd rather sit with my shadow. Even on a half filled Dash 8, it shoves me in 1A, with some other poor soul in 1B; meanwhile most of the other passengers have an empty seat next to them!
I will continue to pursue the matter with the SST. It seems ironic, that as a P1, my satisfaction with seating is less than when I was a WP but it is early days.

 

[RichardMEL]

re BA/MH etc

These are all great suggestions for where to go etc in general

but they are VERY dependent on each person's travel demands/patterns and even preferences.

For example, if my travel is mostly domestic and to/from/within North America, then BA is near useless becaue little if few opportunities to fly BA metal to make use of upgrade perks, special service, or even to meet any minimum flight requirements (though I do understand AA offers BA GGL Conceriege Key equivalent treatment which is a nice one) but QF domestic would treat one like a OWE. Nothing wrong with that of course but it may have mixed benefits if one could qualify for P1 with a mostlia QF metal type travel pattern

BA is great if one is doing regular european focused journeys of course (eg: TonyHancock) and makes far more sense. In a similar vein MH would make sense if doing a lot of to/within Asia flying.

It's funny really. Like some here I am all self funded leisure travel so essentially I can pick whoever I want to fly with, and have over the past fe years flown more SQ and some other Star carriers for various reasons (product, service, destinations) and tht's been great. For me personally much of my travel around these parts is QF and my trips to Europe are few and far (my last was in 2016 and that was a redempting in TG F) so while GGL has some alure from a benefit point of view.. pracyicaly for me it doesn't make a lot of sense. That's just me.

I think basically YMMV and each person will have different needs and value of benefits and what works for them (and some are locked in due to work travel policies and the like, which is a whole other issue).

It doesn't negate the relative value of other offerings, but it may not make a lot of sense in some situations.

imho

 

[trippin_the_rift]

re BA/MH etc

These are all great suggestions for where to go etc in general

but they are VERY dependent on each person's travel demands/patterns and even preferences.

For example, if my travel is mostly domestic and to/from/within North America, then BA is near useless becaue little if few opportunities to fly BA metal to make use of upgrade perks, special service, or even to meet any minimum flight requirements (though I do understand AA offers BA GGL Conceriege Key equivalent treatment which is a nice one) but QF domestic would treat one like a OWE. Nothing wrong with that of course but it may have mixed benefits if one could qualify for P1 with a mostlia QF metal type travel pattern

What if I told you that CX Gold (Sapphire) were treated better when flying QF, than QF treats their own Platinum (Emerald)?

What if you knew that exit rows were free for MH Gold when flying QF?

Ever noticed that up until recently, QF Plat and higher received higher than usual upgrades on EK?

There was an article couple weeks back on Ausbt bout QF Plats receiving free upgrades to first class on MH ex-Syd (it's for all Emeralds but the story said it was QF Plat)

None of these are mistakes. It's the airlines playing commercial games by subtly woo-ing passengers to fly them more.

This is why it's possible to be treated worse as a P1 flying QF, than as an elite member of an alliance airline flying QF.

Put down the cheap QF kool-aid and enjoy the champagne on the other side with the rest of us

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

If you can get to SQ PPS Solitare, you'll be upgraded for free at every possible opportunity on every SQ flight.

SQ PPS solitaire does get priority for op-ups (behind PPS lifetime solitaire), but this only happens when needed. SQ is happy to have empty seats in the premium cabins if not oversold in the lower cabins.

That said, I've had a decent op-up rate with SQ over the years.

 

[RichardMEL]

Put down the cheap QF kool-aid and enjoy the champagne on the other side with the rest of us

I will take a small exception to this comment. You seem to think I'm a QF preacher (and someone some months back did accuse me of working for QF PR somewhere, which was hilarious). I understand and agree about many of the inequties of the system and understand sweet spots are to be found in various other (not just the one) place.

I wrote I agreed with you above.

All I was saying is that it may not always make sense to jump ship to program X based on ones own situation (for example, if I never fly MH out of Sydney, then it's kind of irrelevant to me about how they treat OWE-though interesting to know And if I maybe only book premium fares, then exit row allocations are not high on the priority list either).

And finally, if you read earlier I said I'd been flying SQ and others over the last few years in addition to QF. I am also clear to point out the "Consistent Inconsistency" with QF, the terrible IT, the "glitches" and all the rest.

I also hold high elite status with a Star Alliance member

so if that all makes me a QF kool-aid drinker and part of the PR machine... well.. I'm just not sure.

it's fine to point out the various ways membership is rewarded by other airlines, or others' is seen and treated by QF. Absolutely. It's interesting too and provides information. It's also fine to suggest that maybe, for an individual, some options may not be the best *for them* (and btw if you read above again, I never actually stated that just because, for example, BA may not work for someone who flies mostly domestic or to/around North America, neither did I conclude that QF was the obvious choice. I actually left that for each person to decide for themselves )

Sorry I probably seem over sensitive I do feel I need to defend myself a little though

cheers