Qantas Platinum One experiences?

[Sprucegoose]

To all the newly-minted Platinum One frequent flyers out there... I'm curious to hear... what's been your experience so far?

Anything different?

Free upgrades?

... or all hype?

I am afraid you'll need to brave the new corporate wintery winds!

There are two periods in my life and yours - pre-covid and post covid. The same is true for businesses. You won't get a free UG if all revenue seats are sold or saleable.

Expectation management is the order of the day.

 

[Brettmcg]

Should have just been sent out with the Christmas gift, would have made so much more sense.

I flew in F on QF1 on 15/12 - obviously that wasn't close enough to Christmas because there was neither a voucher, nor the box of Koko Black chocolates that seem to have been handed out in the proceeding days.

#qantasinconsistency

yes they are apparently for P1's flying during the festive period.

Some clearly have lucked out with this promo. Those of us not traveling (and some others who did not receive even when flying over the festive period) it probably seems a bit unfair. You'd think QF could have done this a bit smarter - for example apply electronically.

At any rate it's a nice gesture that is of some value indeed.

 

[chooms]

Nah completely agree with QF strategy here. Admit, everyone P1 basically because employer, giving $200 voucher at the lounge/gate rewards personal spend. Smart.

 

[Brettmcg]

Nah completely agree with QF strategy here. Admit, everyone P1 basically because employer, giving $200 voucher at the lounge/gate rewards personal spend. Smart.

What utter cough to assume that every/most/many P1s have attained that status because of their employment...

 

[chooms]

Well it is for me. Is it for you?

 

[Brettmcg]

Well it is for me. Is it for you?

No, it is definitely not.

 

[sudoer]

What utter cough to assume that every/most/many P1s have attained that status because of their employment...

What % of P1s do you think get there without business travel?

 

[Brettmcg]

What % of P1s do you think get there without business travel?

I could pick a percentage out of my backside, but that would be as inaccurate and useless as the original comment.

 

[sudoer]

I could pick a percentage out of my backside, but that would be as inaccurate and useless as the original comment.

I don't think it would be useless, to suggest another member's opinion is "utter cough" without sharing your reasoning is far more useless... IMO

I suspect that as a leisure-only P1 traveller you'd be very much in the minority.

3600 SC with 2700 on QF is an absurd amount of leisure travel and even if you just flew QF F it would only be practically achievable once retired or seldom working?

 

[Brettmcg]

I don't think it would be useless, to suggest another member's opinion is "utter cough" without sharing your reasoning is far more useless... IMO

I suspect that as a leisure-only P1 traveller you'd be very much in the minority.

3600 SC with 2700 on QF is an absurd amount of leisure travel and even if you just flew QF F it would only be practically achievable once retired or seldom working?

I never said 'leisure only' and your other assumptions are also some way off the mark.

I'm also not entirely sure how this idea that handing out a voucher at the lounge 'rewards personal spend'. There are plenty of your P1 business travellers who will have travelled all the way up to, during and directly after the Christmas period for work purposes.

 

[RichardMEL]

Nah completely agree with QF strategy here. Admit, everyone P1 basically because employer, giving $200 voucher at the lounge/gate rewards personal spend. Smart.

huh? Are you suggesting that P1 travel at Christmas is going to be personal spend? Seems a bit of an assumption to me.

 

[RichardMEL]

I'm also not entirely sure how this idea that handing out a voucher at the lounge 'rewards personal spend'. There are plenty of your P1 business travellers who will have travelled all the way up to, during and directly after the Christmas period for work purposes.

I'm a 100% self funded flyer.. but it's not all about me However I feel entitled (soooo entitled ) to venture an opinion since this came up.

We know MANY P1's do it n the back of employer funded business travel... I don't think that's up for serious debate.. Many but not all. Do I dare venture a percentage? No. Don't know. Commercial in confidence and I don't really care. not my business who pays for others' travel spend - even to attain P1.

Having written that... just because someone is flying at Christmas doesn't mean it's personal spend. That's an assumption because many do go on holiday at this time of year - and a reasonable one to make - but I bet just as many road warriors are zipping around on the employer's dime (and let's face it, possibly prefer to stay home ).

Either way I don't see how the vouchers reward persona; spend in any way... but reward those who happen to be flying through the right place at the right time to get the voucher(s).

I'm not flying. I'm not complaing about those who have gotten 1 or 5 of them. Probably worth it if you're flying away from family for work tbh and actually encourages personal spend rather than rewards it tbh.

just my 38c worth.

 

[sudoer]

I never said 'leisure only'

What utter cough to assume that every/most/many P1s have attained that status because of their employment...

Travel spend/purpose is usually broken down into business & leisure, so saying it's "cough to assume many P1s have attained status because of their employment" infers they are reaching P1 through leisure..?

your other assumptions are also some way off the mark.

Telling others they are wrong without any sort of reasoning or counter argument isn't very productive.

actually encourages personal spend rather than rewards it tbh.

This has to be QF's aim. They know a sizeable chunk of voucher recipients will put the $200 towards a ticket in a premium cabin which is already not competitively priced, and where a $200 discount would be anywhere from 1% to 10% of the ticket value.

Some may put it towards a cheap golden triangle economy fare, but Qantas knows they can expect $30k+ revenue (probably much more) off a requalifying P1 in the coming year anyway...

(I guess my assumption that the average P1 usually flies in premium cabins is some way off the mark too)

 

[chooms]

Seem to have started a debate here. Not intentional. Im 100 per cent work spend P1 here. Was nice to get the $200 voucher for Xmas given I have personal spend next year. Each to their own. But work does spend $$$$ on my travel so happy for the personal bonus. If it wasn’t I’d do VA/DL as I said (also VA WP) so just saying.

 

[Sprucegoose]

What utter cough to assume that every/most/many P1s have attained that status because of their employment...

It's best in life to assume nothing!

 

[RichardMEL]

I'm sure QF do do metrics to break down spend (ie the PCV value) but I'd personally be fascinated to know how some things are classified. Now certain members will be far easier to peg than others - for example members of QBR - QF can track spend that way and can definitely then divvy up what spend is for business purposes (or at the very least PAID for by a business). By the same measure, bookings made under a corporate contract and/or through a corporate TA can also be pretty easily determined.

Further it would not surprise me if some payment methofs/merchants share information - for example if one pays with a business grade Amex product they'd probably know vs a personal one, or someone who has spend via a QF money/credit card would then have data about this. Fine.

However what about someone like me? yes, I pay with a couple of CC's - I am not a QBR member and not under any corporate account or spend arrangement.. do their metrics assume (correctly in this case) non business travel? Do they also analyse fare breakdown (more sale vs last minute spend, patterns etc?) and deduce from that? I mean this is the whole point of these loyalty programs - to build a data "image" of us - be it our shopping patterns at woolies to our CC spend on discretionary items vs utilities and so on.

What, though, if I am more opaque? What if I buy through a OTA and not direct with QF? What if I only pay via debit or bpay or something? the amount of data they would hold would be, I imagine, somewhat reduced.

I find all this kind of thing quite fascinating personally. At the end of the day to QF it's all revenue of course - but obviously someone spending their personal money vs business spend (and a corporate contract would probably have more overall value because someone spending their own hard earned can change their habits on a whim.. while a business is bound my contract and even if peoplein positions change, the business needs probably change less (baring pandemics and the like of course).. eg: they'll probably continue to need that sales manager or CEO type position to keep doing the kind of travel they do no matter who it is.. while I could move/vary my spend on a whim.

So I am sure ALL of this kind of stuff factors into how QF "value" each of us.

(of course this is all more or less conjecture .. but I suppose if I had real facts I probably couldn't say lol)

 

[Sprucegoose]

I'd personally be fascinated to know how some things are classified

Safe to assume there is a system/algorithm data structure, and I am sure it generates useful complex and soft-targeted data/information.

I find all this kind of thing quite fascinating personally

Indeed RM, I would say targeting a market and enticing them to spend with you is the holy grail?

Same for advertising - imagine a brand living rent-free in your head - bingo! Advertising memories are retrieved through standard recall, and recognition cues are generally episodic. We know certain drinks may be refreshing, but we cannot recall when that 'sense' first came to us or how? Was it an ad we saw years ago, a word from a friend, or a personal experience? That memory is semantic. There are many instances where we have unconscious associations which can extend through life.

I associate the late and great Barry White's Love's Theme with Cathay Pacific - I recall CX used to advertise this theme in the 70's. (I hope I got this right)

Yep, Youtube to the rescue- enjoy!

Disclaimer: As a prepubescent, I didn't fly CX.

they'll probably continue to need that sales manager or CEO type position to keep doing the kind of travel they do no matter who it is..

My experience is sales/business development types travel much more than CEOs

So I am sure ALL of this kind of stuff factors into how QF "value" each of us.

Agree; I think QF know when I fly VA, given they award me QF points on an Uber to and from the airport; however, there will be no linked QF flight.

Everyone has a value - life insurance is one of the most uncomplicated derived values!

I have always found actuaries fascinating people to talk to.

 

[RichardMEL]

I'm actually surprised QF has not tended to target more things personally as of yet - since this is all about what a good CRM system should be about imo. I mean, for example, they know the kinds of fares I am willing to buy and those I am not so can get probably a fairly accurate idea of what my price point is.. or what promos work for me (DSC yep... DP nope, etc) so why not try to tempt me more specifically?

of course I reckon many of these are behind in this regard too. For example I use wolies rewards - they can probably make a very reasonable picture of who I am based on my purchases (and no doubt part of the deal with QF is to share some of this data as part of the tie in). They (Woolies) sot of do or have but in the simplest of ways. For example I used to buy cat food and litter products consistently. conclusion? dude has at least one cat. So they would target some offers to me on pet products, insurance etc. Now it took probably over a year till their system figured out I was no longer buying cat products (my cat passed away) before they gave up targeting me with pet products. I do notice that often they will target me with certain bonus points offers on things I've recently or often purchased (of course when they are at full price - to stt if I'll bite - which I usually don't lol). Now that's kind of the thing I expect from such a sytem. Instead QF sends me, for example, promos for say travel to Japan - where I've never flown (and last transited 20+ years ago) when if they took time to analyze my travel patterns there are much smarter ways to target me. Probably their systems aren't yet built for this, or possibly integrated properly - but it's the kind of thing I'd love to see happen. :et's say I purchase mostly ale/discount premium fares so why not tempt me with fares on routes I use that perhaps are not quite sale fares, but not as high as regular ones - will I bite? Or alternatively perhaps offer me a deal to upgrade to F, or 1.5x SC on say SYD-LAX in exchange for a certain J level fare. Maybe I'll bite, maybe not - but it may be a way to extract yield while I feel I get value too as a customer. OTOH the QF customer next door mnay buy cheap Y fares to gold coast and bali, so the targeting/inducement to spend (or bonus promo offers, or whatever) would be very different.

One can only assume this is the kinds of things that we should expect in the future - they collect all this data for reasons and they could do a great job at potentially leveraging them far better imo.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Now it took probably over a year till their system figured out I was no longer buying cat products (my cat passed away) before they gave up targeting me with pet products

AI would have said cat, cat food (normal state), but when vet bills came up - it ought to have said, Vet bills, no cat food - the cat is cactus. (altered state)

they collect all this data for reasons and they could do a great job at potentially leveraging them far better imo.

The thing is, we don't really know how smart the QF machine is, given its constant dominant market position and varying levels of competition over the years.

Are they currently in for the fight of their lives - certainly not.
Do they act as if they are in for the fight of their lives - certainly not
How would we know if they were operating their marketing optimally - we wouldn't.

 

[nutwood]

I'm actually surprised QF has not tended to target more things personally as of yet - since this is all about what a good CRM system should be about imo. I mean, for example, they know the kinds of fares I am willing to buy and those I am not so can get probably a fairly accurate idea of what my price point is.. or what promos work for me (DSC yep... DP nope, etc) so why not try to tempt me more specifically?

of course I reckon many of these are behind in this regard too. For example I use wolies rewards - they can probably make a very reasonable picture of who I am based on my purchases (and no doubt part of the deal with QF is to share some of this data as part of the tie in). They (Woolies) sot of do or have but in the simplest of ways. For example I used to buy cat food and litter products consistently. conclusion? dude has at least one cat. So they would target some offers to me on pet products, insurance etc. Now it took probably over a year till their system figured out I was no longer buying cat products (my cat passed away) before they gave up targeting me with pet products. I do notice that often they will target me with certain bonus points offers on things I've recently or often purchased (of course when they are at full price - to stt if I'll bite - which I usually don't lol). Now that's kind of the thing I expect from such a sytem. Instead QF sends me, for example, promos for say travel to Japan - where I've never flown (and last transited 20+ years ago) when if they took time to analyze my travel patterns there are much smarter ways to target me. Probably their systems aren't yet built for this, or possibly integrated properly - but it's the kind of thing I'd love to see happen. :et's say I purchase mostly ale/discount premium fares so why not tempt me with fares on routes I use that perhaps are not quite sale fares, but not as high as regular ones - will I bite? Or alternatively perhaps offer me a deal to upgrade to F, or 1.5x SC on say SYD-LAX in exchange for a certain J level fare. Maybe I'll bite, maybe not - but it may be a way to extract yield while I feel I get value too as a customer. OTOH the QF customer next door mnay buy cheap Y fares to gold coast and bali, so the targeting/inducement to spend (or bonus promo offers, or whatever) would be very different.

One can only assume this is the kinds of things that we should expect in the future - they collect all this data for reasons and they could do a great job at potentially leveraging them far better imo.

I am constantly fascinated as to how useless this stuff is. Woolies rewards never sends me anything that has the slightest interest to me. Their profiling is apparently totally wrong. Perhaps because BWS gets a good mention, they reckon I'll be be buying all their highly processed rubbish because we're too legless to cook?