Qantas rolls out Classic Plus Flight Rewards

[downloadingdata]

Isn't this just easing us into a dynamic award pricing regime?

 

[levelnine]

I also came across this deceptive display in the app today. The header is "Classic Plus 94,900", but look further and it's apparently just a regular award.

View attachment 378141
I'm not a particular fan of Steve Hui from iFLYflat but he did have this to say on LinkedIn today that I thought was interesting:



It's the last paragraph that I agree with.

I'd like to think this new iteration is going to result in a temporary reduction in classic availability.

100% agree with Hui's assessment.

Indeed, I'm slightly worried that this announcement is going to prompt some of the business points whales to re-evaluate their points earning strategy. If they do, they'll likely switch to VA & the bank programs, putting significant pressure on the award availability on SQ, QR, EY, UA, etc.

 

[CaptJCool]

100% agree with Hui's assessment.

Indeed, I'm slightly worried that this announcement is going to prompt some of the business points whales to re-evaluate their points earning strategy. If they do, they'll likely switch to VA & the bank programs, putting significant pressure on the award availability on SQ, QR, EY, UA, etc.

yep

often this is a cashflow pressure problem

we don't have the cash to splash, but hey look over there - a mountain of points - so we can whale it up on redemptions that weren't available before

that said, the excessive J/F prices compared to competitors means they will keep struggling to fill international seats = historically only 15/100 customers flew QFi (peaked at 28% ex Sydney) - I wouldn't expect the BITRE figures to be any different in 2024 International airline activity

 

[Doctore1003]

1 billion points were redeemed on classic plus rewards on Monday. Half in premium cabins.

Sounds impressive until you realise that is only a few thousand actual flights booked.

”Qantas frequent flyers have splashed out on the new Classic Plus option, redeeming more than a billion points for international flights on Monday, three times more than typical for that day of the week.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-classic-plus-figures-dont-add-up-for-financial-analyst/news-story/2d4b2fafde01fd2894f0c04e4a25eef5

 

[MooTime]

Well of course on Day 1 there'll be increased trades, hardly surprising QF PR machinist.
Let the dust settle and whales eat what they require.

1 billion points were redeemed on classic plus rewards on Monday. Half in premium cabins.

Sounds impressive until you realise that is only a few thousand actual flights booked.

”Qantas frequent flyers have splashed out on the new Classic Plus option, redeeming more than a billion points for international flights on Monday, three times more than typical for that day of the week.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-classic-plus-figures-dont-add-up-for-financial-analyst/news-story/2d4b2fafde01fd2894f0c04e4a25eef5

 

[exceladdict]

How many points are in circulation now? What % is that?

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm not a particular fan of Steve Hui from iFLYflat but he did have this to say on LinkedIn today that I thought was interesting:



It's the last paragraph that I agree with.

I'd like to think this new iteration is going to result in a temporary reduction in classic availability.

So, just like the other recent QFF big announcements with fanfare and gooing and gurgling with pleasure for the rusted-on fans, with some closer examination and analysis, reality becomes apparent.

Except this time it didn't take as long because we now know that there will always be a downside.

Not only reduction in CRs but also the opportunity to buy the cheaper business class fares, which is my bread and butter.

 

[levelnine]

How many points are in circulation now? What % is that?

200 billion points per year being added at the moment, according to the AFR. And new points is constantly outstripping redemptions. Must be enormous.

 

[RooFlyer]

Let the dust settle and whales eat what they require.

And what comes for those following the whales after they have eaten what they require?



I know, I know, I need to lighten up a bit. But the above was to obvious to ignore

 

[aikman]

I suspect AFF has a larger proportion of whales than the general public does. I say that because of how busy the OWA thread is and how many posts there are of people saying they just casually and impulsively booked 4 x J seats to US/UK after each drop of CR seats.

If AFF is rejecting C+ then the AFF whales must be rejecting it too. Then why keep saying that whales are the ones snapping up all the C+ seats?

 

[CaptJCool]

It would surprise me if people here were “points whales”
The point of credit card churning is fast turnaround earn and burn (or so I thought)

So I’m not (burnt in Ansett demise)
Only 80,000 points but at least got the one European Y when married (2 tics) free trip out of it
By being here could make the points spend more effective (Sept 2019 EK F under the old pricing) AND even that was a dog of an uplift 25,000 extra points = $25,000/$50,000 more spent for the same reward
And with EK Carrier charges at $4-5,000 you may as well be done with points and just buy the fares on another airline

 

[Doddler]

1 billion points were redeemed on classic plus rewards on Monday. Half in premium cabins.

Sounds impressive until you realise that is only a few thousand actual flights booked.

”Qantas frequent flyers have splashed out on the new Classic Plus option, redeeming more than a billion points for international flights on Monday, three times more than typical for that day of the week.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-classic-plus-figures-dont-add-up-for-financial-analyst/news-story/2d4b2fafde01fd2894f0c04e4a25eef5

"three times more" points or reward flights? Points it seems, in which case it's quite possibly *fewer* flights than typical for Monday.

Not that QANTAS will care if more points are spent on fewer flights - that's the aim afterall.

 

[muppet]

I suspect AFF has a larger proportion of whales than the general public does. I say that because of how busy the OWA thread is and how many posts there are of people saying they just casually and impulsively booked 4 x J seats to US/UK after each drop of CR seats.

If AFF is rejecting C+ then the AFF whales must be rejecting it too. Then why keep saying that whales are the ones snapping up all the C+ seats?

Yep. I burnt 900,000 points yesterday but all on classic rewards I’d been trying for ages to get released as a WP. No CR+ for me.

EDIT: not a whale, down to 30,000 points

 

[CaptJCool]

Yep. I burnt 900,000 points yesterday but all on classic rewards I’d been trying for ages to get released as a WP. No CR+ for me.

EDIT: not a whale, down to 30,000 points

That’s 2 x QF F to Europe And return or 3 x J

 

[elanshin]

AFF likely have people that have decent points earning capabilities but also don't bank up huge (1m + ) all the time.

Myself in 2023 ive spent about 1m points. As of right now I have somewhere about 300k -400k QFF points (i tried to get an upgrade a month bacjk which had to be reversed after delays and flight changes).

I also have about another 600k sitting in Westpac altitude that I could convert into a while host of programs (Krisflyer, Asiamile velocity, qff etc).

Most of this has been earnings since 2021.

 

[nerdag]

I am one of these WP/LTG whales, and am largely restricted to leisure travel during school holidays, travelling on set days, and being unable to plan much more than a few months in advance.

I have over 2m QFF points unable to be redeemed because of these limitations. I stopped accumulating to QF a year ago and still can't spend all my points.

I generally redeem CR for domestic Y with release requests - not the best value, but not the worst either when domestic fares <3 months can get quite pricey. There is no chance of getting J CR to EU/UK/NA for the whole family in peak times, even when looking at 350 days out.

Will I spend them on CR+? Maybe, but it depends on availability, which I suspect will still be tight around peak times.

The biggest negative in my view is the likely loss of ability to successfully request CR seats as the eligible fare buckets are gobbled up by the CR+ seat redemptions.

If that proves to be the case, there is no advantage to maintaining WP, and I will drop back to a lowly LTG, and pick other airlines for my work travel.

n

 

[muppet]

That’s 2 x QF F to Europe And return or 3 x J

Sadly not 2 x QF F to Europe. It was two U OWA that could finally be made with QF on AUS legs, and one return LAX in QF F.

 

[CaptJCool]

one return LAX in QF F.

Oh my; you found hens teeth !

 

[serfty]

Oh my; you found hens teeth !View attachment 378199

Yes, there been an additional release this afternoon of premium transpac classic seating for later this year (mainly Oct/Nov)- but not economy.

I booked classic U MEL/DFW return early November; while searching I would have been OK with classic economy (X) but such was rare in my searches and I could not get it to work.

Since CR Business was only a few points more than CR+ Economy it was a no brainer.

 

[KSC]

Oh my; you found hens teeth !View attachment 378199

There has been a small dump of J & F to LAX + J DFW Oct-Nov 2024. I had a word with aunty Vanessa.