Qantas Platinum One experiences?

[Chalkie]

Well, I must have tempted fate. Today I am showing mere WP, and my partner WP has dropped back to LTG. I thought it was too good to be true. P1 was fun while it lasted. I was quite happy with what I received as a P1 - a few show invites, a turn in the simulator, and the release of all but one F award seats when requested (several times).

Barring something very materially changing in my life henceforth, the best I can hope for is WP going forward.

 

[RichardMEL]

Never heard of P1 being comp'd ever. It probably has happened for select few individuals with high management approval I am sure, but as a matter of course QF has ALWAYS taken a very hard line about P1.

And as we all know, QF tends to take a few days into a new membership year to reflect status changes.

 

[kelea]

Well, I must have tempted fate. Today I am showing mere WP, and my partner WP has dropped back to LTG.

Chalkie, mind if I ask when your partner's QF membership year renews? Is it also at the end of October?

I'm surprised to hear they lost WP straight away. The way I read the T&Cs, I would have expected them to stay WP until the end of their membership year, and then drop back if they did not qualify to WP on their own.

QFF site T&C:
"What happens to my nominated person if I change status?
They will receive Platinum status for as long as you remain a Platinum One member. If your status changes, your nominated person's status will be reassessed at the end of their current membership year. A new kit will be sent based on their revised status to their preferred mailing address in their Frequent Flyer account. The current Platinum membership card will become invalid."

 

[Happy Trails]

My year ends in November (which I'll scrape by again with 15 surplus SCs in a couple of weeks) and historically Madame's partner platinum expiry has always matched mine.
This year was different, with her card (and on-line account) showing an October end date.
I did enquire about that a while ago via the Frequent Flyer 'Service' Centre link and got a useless and nonsensical reply (which is another story).
Anyway, long story short and since November 1st, she's now congratulated on retaining platinum which will expire Oct 2020. Also reflected on the app.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Well I’m a happy P1 today, two J returns released for January school hols BNE-LAX and off to a nice do in SYD next week.

Now to wait for the Taittinger Sendle email to arrive

 

[kelea]

My year ends in November (which I'll scrape by again with 15 surplus SCs in a couple of weeks) and historically Madame's partner platinum expiry has always matched mine.
This year was different, with her card (and on-line account) showing an October end date.
I did enquire about that a while ago via the Frequent Flyer 'Service' Centre link and got a useless and nonsensical reply (which is another story).
Anyway, long story short and since November 1st, she's now congratulated on retaining platinum which will expire Oct 2020. Also reflected on the app.

Interesting that your partner 'retained' without you not officially retaining P1 yet, but I guess you are still P1 for another month at least. If you were to drop back to WP at the end of November, it would've been interesting to see if your partner also lost WP or got to keep it until end Oct 2020...

I've tried clarifying this query (when partner loses partner platinum) with Qantas in the past, and get a different answer for each staff! Not surprised though.

 

[Chalkie]

Chalkie, mind if I ask when your partner's QF membership year renews? Is it also at the end of October?

I'm surprised to hear they lost WP straight away. The way I read the T&Cs, I would have expected them to stay WP until the end of their membership year, and then drop back if they did not qualify to WP on their own.

QFF site T&C:
"What happens to my nominated person if I change status?
They will receive Platinum status for as long as you remain a Platinum One member. If your status changes, your nominated person's status will be reassessed at the end of their current membership year. A new kit will be sent based on their revised status to their preferred mailing address in their Frequent Flyer account. The current Platinum membership card will become invalid."

Sorry if I wasn't clear. Our membership years are aligned and end 31 October. I earned enough SCs for WP, but not my partner. We're both LTG, so not the end of the world for oneworld, although we do like an F lounge visit from time to time.

We knew that since retirement maintaining P1 and even WP was going to prove to be a challenge. We decided that the fiscally responsible thing to do was to unburden ourselves from single programme loyalty and choose best (F and J) fare and routing. This has already had some very favourable financial outcomes, while at the same time keeping us in the travel style to which we've grown accustomed!

 

[flyingfan]

Seems FAs still can’t see FFPO properly on their manifests. The WPs nearby on my international Y sector - ironically including my companion to whom I’d given WP - got a greeting and glass beverage service, while I got no love at all.

 

[defurax]

I had the opposite experience yesterday on a CBR-MEL flight in Y. I was the only PAX greeted after take off and given a P1 collectable card and offered a drink (on a 50 minute flight!). The CSM then managed to do meal service in J and then come to the Y cabin to greet WPs.

 

[RichardMEL]

I wasn't given a card but flew Y BNE-MEL a few weeks ago and was the ONLY one greeted by name when they offered the drink/snack service. It was a bit unnerving tbh but a nice gesture. Did not get any love from the CSM or J in terms of offer of wine or anything, but that was fine. I think the others in row 4 were a bit like "Why does he get a name and nobody else?" but eh.

And PF... don't you dare mention the "S" word !!! I do hope last year's banishment was indication that the P1 team got the message about that...

 

[flyingfan]

I had the opposite experience yesterday on a CBR-MEL flight in Y. I was the only PAX greeted after take off and given a P1 collectable card and offered a drink (on a 50 minute flight!). The CSM then managed to do meal service in J and then come to the Y cabin to greet WPs.

I should add I had a shadow for both international sectors, which I valued far more than anything else they could have done.

Subsequently I flew SYD-MEL and got nothing at all apart from the seat I paid for.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I went to a Dinner in Sydney this week. Hosted by Olivia Wirth and Lisa Hudson. Nice 5 course meal and matching wines. Light on the speeches which was appreciated
Plenty of loyalty staff on hand to chat with.

 

[juddles]

I can't wait to get whatever bottle of bubbly they send this Christmas. Because I am going to really enjoy it, no matter what it is. I will chill it appropriately, find a perfect glass, lovingly open the bottle in an appropriate sunset setting, and toast myself - to my decision to completely ignore Qantas this year, and to have finally managed to escape the addictiveness that P1 has been

2019 was a year of minimal travel, and what I did have to do involved as little Qantas as I could manage. 2020 will have much more travel, but by then will have dropped to mere WP status, so QF will get no priority from me. And when I ponder this, a small but very important reality dawned on me:

Apart from the trinkets like Christmas champers and some staff saying "welcome back" from time to time, the greatest value I ever got from the P1 program was the help of the SST when things went wrong (and I have said many a time that the SST is stellar for this). But now I realise that this service is only worth something if you actually fly QF.

Am actually really looking forward to 2020. From the nerd-FF angle. I now get to look at the entire world's collection of airlines and enjoy the climb with one of them. The impending exit of LATAM from OneWorld just makes the whole thing even more complicated and exciting.

I became so jaded, that maybe after a year being stationery, I can find again the fun of slowly crawling up yet another FF program

 

[funkyr]

Some advice from fellow P1s.

I'm going into my 5th year of P1. For my upcoming membership year my travel plans are going to be lighter. Without a DSC it will be tight to requalify for P1. It seems that no P1s get targeted DSC offers.

This year I easily re-qualified for P1 (>5k SC). SQ reached out to me and gave me an incentive in an attempt to gain my business. Having flown SQ in J a few times this year it's been a great hard product and has been a good experience overall. Looking at my travel plans for the next year I'll easily make SQ PPS (and actually probably reach PPS solitaire) and SQ service the majority of my International flight destinations.

If I try for P1 again without a DSC and dont make it I would be disappointed as any SC benefits above WP (but below P1) isn't that appealing for me.

So should I take a risk to try to requalify for QFF P1 (and hope a DSC comes out) or just very comfortably go for SQ PPS/PPS solitaire?

Has any P1s asked for a DSC offer to retain their business?

 

[RooFlyer]

my decision to completely ignore Qantas this year, and to have finally managed to escape the addictiveness that P1 has been

Excellent, congratulations

I now get to look at the entire world's collection of airlines and enjoy the climb with one of them.

Not just one - enjoy them all! Including Qantas. Across the Pacific I think they are OK, compared to the others that go direct. But make sure Qatar QSuites are among your sampling, preferably somewhere like LAX-DOH (or even ADL-DOH if you need to be closer to home).

I became so jaded, that maybe after a year being stationery,

Oh! juddles!

 

[juddles]

Some advice from fellow P1s.

I'm going into my 5th year of P1. For my upcoming membership year my travel plans are going to be lighter. Without a DSC it will be tight to requalify for P1. It seems that no P1s get targeted DSC offers.

This year I easily re-qualified for P1 (>5k SC). SQ reached out to me and gave me an incentive in an attempt to gain my business. Having flown SQ in J a few times this year it's been a great hard product and has been a good experience overall. Looking at my travel plans for the next year I'll easily make SQ PPS (and actually probably reach PPS solitaire) and SQ service the majority of my International flight destinations.

If I try for P1 again without a DSC and dont make it I would be disappointed as any SC benefits above WP (but below P1) isn't that appealing for me.

So should I take a risk to try to requalify for QFF P1 (and hope a DSC comes out) or just very comfortably go for SQ PPS/PPS solitaire?

Has any P1s asked for a DSC offer to retain their business?

You are exactly right - the large points trip between WP and P1 is definitely a painful waste if you do not get to the P1 threshold - doubly so having already got LTG (which I assume most P1's have)

Asking for a DSC? Never heard of it being attempted, but let me know if you get it!

 

[nutwood]

Some advice from fellow P1s.

I'm going into my 5th year of P1. For my upcoming membership year my travel plans are going to be lighter. Without a DSC it will be tight to requalify for P1. It seems that no P1s get targeted DSC offers.

This year I easily re-qualified for P1 (>5k SC). SQ reached out to me and gave me an incentive in an attempt to gain my business. Having flown SQ in J a few times this year it's been a great hard product and has been a good experience overall. Looking at my travel plans for the next year I'll easily make SQ PPS (and actually probably reach PPS solitaire) and SQ service the majority of my International flight destinations.

If I try for P1 again without a DSC and dont make it I would be disappointed as any SC benefits above WP (but below P1) isn't that appealing for me.

So should I take a risk to try to requalify for QFF P1 (and hope a DSC comes out) or just very comfortably go for SQ PPS/PPS solitaire?

Has any P1s asked for a DSC offer to retain their business?

Interesting. I have recently had to consider this exact question. My "year" reset at the end of September. I did the sums and concluded that without at least one DSC offer, I would have fallen just short of re-qualifying for P1.
My flying is all domestic and historically, I've always chased the high SC earning strategies. I fly flex, because my plans frequently change. Economically, this doesn't always make sense, as the difference in flight costs is generally more than the change fee, however the additional SC's tip the balance. My conclusion was that without a DSC offer, it was simply not worth chasing P1. I might get there, but I might not and what's the use of earning 3000 SC's, just to have them re-set?

I have altered my strategy for this year and am now booking the lowest price. No more booking Flex. Instead of Qantas from Launceston to Sydney (40 SC's, booked flex, via Melbourne), I fly direct with Jetstar. So far, I have 150 SC's, about 100 SC/month. Bit different from last year, but the $ savings have been significant.

 

[defurax]

Just received my first complimentary upgrade as a P1 from Y to J on a domestic flight. Checked in for my flight on the app and it took me a few seconds to realise I'd been upgraded, I could see the letter D but I knew I had selected 4C and then I reliased it was 1D. Dinner time flight, so that's good.

 

[nutwood]

Just received my first complimentary upgrade as a P1 from Y to J on a domestic flight. Checked in for my flight on the app and it took me a few seconds to realise I'd been upgraded, I could see the letter D but I knew I had selected 4C and then I reliased it was 1D. Dinner time flight, so that's good.

The P1 upgrades are nice but I find the unpredictability robs them of much of the benefit. I understand the thinking, that it's meant to be a little surprise, but not sure that it entirely works.
For me, it's usually a short flight where I've got to drive at the other end and I've already dined. The more spacious seat is of course always appreciated.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Some advice from fellow P1s.

I'm going into my 5th year of P1. For my upcoming membership year my travel plans are going to be lighter. Without a DSC it will be tight to requalify for P1. It seems that no P1s get targeted DSC offers.

This year I easily re-qualified for P1 (>5k SC). SQ reached out to me and gave me an incentive in an attempt to gain my business. Having flown SQ in J a few times this year it's been a great hard product and has been a good experience overall. Looking at my travel plans for the next year I'll easily make SQ PPS (and actually probably reach PPS solitaire) and SQ service the majority of my International flight destinations.

If I try for P1 again without a DSC and dont make it I would be disappointed as any SC benefits above WP (but below P1) isn't that appealing for me.

So should I take a risk to try to requalify for QFF P1 (and hope a DSC comes out) or just very comfortably go for SQ PPS/PPS solitaire?

Has any P1s asked for a DSC offer to retain their business?

No I haven’t asked for anything to get P1 and based on my experience over the past 4 years U would be shooting for PPlS