Qantas Status Credits Boost

[justinbrett]

Not really. In Adelaide there may be one flight a day to various places. And many businesses need Victoria to be working as part of their core clients. Whether Sydney likes to admit it, Melbourne is very much the business hub and many businesses still aren't happy with interstate travel.

I transited through ADL on Monday (DRW through to SYD) and both flights were 100% full. My understanding is forward bookings for ADL-SYD is very positive, not to mention the other routes we are seeing from ADL and CBR to places like MCY, OOL, HOB etc. Once QLD opens to all of NSW it will really start getting back on track. I predict MEL will be open to all by Christmas.

 

[justinbrett]

They have been generous but in reality, the generosity is like a drop of rain in a flood. Of no benefit. Until Melbourne is clear, many businesses have still banned interstate travel.

I requalified WP with three personal trips. It wasn’t hard (with the support credits already received) so I don’t think you can solely use the business argument. It will be another question next year but I guess they are hoping for it all to open up.

 

[Pushka]

I transited through ADL on Monday (DRW through to SYD) and both flights were 100% full. My understanding is forward bookings for ADL-SYD is very positive, not to mention the other routes we are seeing from ADL and CBR to places like MCY, OOL, HOB etc. Once QLD opens to all of NSW it will really start getting back on track. I predict MEL will be open to all by Christmas.

Sure. But there is maybe just one flight a day. MCY, OOL, DRW and HOB aren't on the radar of many businesses based, well, anywhere. Canberra and Sydney are the only possibilities assuming you have a business need there. Many Adelaide based businesses simply need Melbourne to operate in order to have the need to fly again.

Husband will qualify with another flight, a random flight, to "somewhere" as we both flew to Cairns recently. But we are very much in the minority. It was a holiday. You need to want to go on a holiday right now but many businesses don't know what the future is. Status runs seem pointless right now unless there is a holiday "want".

And it isn't like the Qantas Clubs are wonderful right now, flying is more like a real chore with all the security checks both sides, applying for border clearances both ways, wearing a mask, wondering if that cough is from an exempted person from a hot spot, yada yada so any status at all is quite meaningless

 

[justinbrett]

Sure. But there is maybe just one flight a day. MCY, OOL, DRW and HOB aren't on the radar of many businesses based, well, anywhere. Canberra and Sydney are the only possibilities assuming you have a business need there. Many Adelaide based businesses simply need Melbourne to operate in order to have the need to fly again.

Husband will qualify with another flight, a random flight, to "somewhere" as we both flew to Cairns recently. But we are very much in the minority. It was a holiday. You need to want to go on a holiday right now but many businesses don't know what the future is. Status runs seem pointless right now unless there is a holiday "want".

And it isn't like the Qantas Clubs are wonderful right now, flying is more like a real chore with all the security checks both sides, wearing a mask yada yada so any status at all is quite meaningless

I will agree with your last point which could be a new thread. When I booked, QF weren’t flying ADL-SYD so was forced to fly DRW-ADL-SYD all on jetstar, and despite booking the max bundle (for SCs) I couldn’t get the usual food and beverage inclusions so stuck with banana bread and a bottle of water on both flights. DRW QP still closed. To add insult to injury the ADL QP kicked us out after the last QF flight because they didn’t want to stay open the extra hour for the last JQ flight (and we had two senators on our flight).

Having said that it was wonderful returning to NSW, they work on the honour system so you don’t have to prove your identify or get a border pass unless you are flying from Victoria. I had passed through QLD, NT and SA on this one trip and needed three border passes.

 

[theozflyer]

Qantas needs you now, not once things are rosy again. I think they’ve been pretty generous up until now.

Generosity implies someone is providing more than expected. I think their motivation is to ensure that customers remain engaged so that when they do commence flights again, people are still likely to fly (and fly with them). To suggest that the support to date was anything else I think is disingenuous.

The extensions preserve what people had - the reality is that the benefits that have cost associated with them are not on offer and the likelihood of take up is even lower. Benefits such as first lounges and queues not available, requesting classic awards (no overseas flights) and bonus points for flying..you get the point.

Loyalty works both ways. When things have been rosy QF have provided very little understanding when members have asked for dispensation (and they would have easily been able to accommodate).
Now that things are reversed I don’t think people should just provide support as charity to what is a commercial business that has had highly profitable fares at the expense of the flyers for quite some time.

It’s up to people decide what is best for them but really the support to date has been self-interest not due to generosity

 

[justinbrett]

Generosity implies someone is providing more than expected. I think their motivation is to ensure that customers remain engaged so that when they do commence flights again, people are still likely to fly (and fly with them). To suggest that the support to date was anything else I think is disingenuous.

The extensions preserve what people had - the reality is that the benefits that have cost associated with them are not on offer and the likelihood of take up is even lower. Benefits such as first lounges and queues not available, requesting classic awards (no overseas flights) and bonus points for flying..you get the point.

Loyalty works both ways. When things have been rosy QF have provided very little understanding when members have asked for dispensation (and they would have easily been able to accommodate).
Now that things are reversed I don’t think people should just provide support as charity to what is a commercial business that has had highly profitable fares at the expense of the flyers for quite some time.

It’s up to people decide what is best for them but really the support to date has been self-interest not due to generosity

Every circumstance is different. If you don’t want to fly with them then I guess they are not interested in you. Right now they need pax to get their planes in the air and start paying their staff again, otherwise we won’t have an airline in 12 months and we’ll not only lose our status but frequent flyer points as well.

I didn’t need the status extension as I’d already requalified, but got 900SC in support which I thought was very generous - making it easy to requalify WP on a few personal trips and now I’m very close to LTG.

 

[theozflyer]

Every circumstance is different. If you don’t want to fly with them then I guess they are not interested in you. Right now they need pax to get their planes in the air and start paying their staff again, otherwise we won’t have an airline in 12 months and we’ll not only lose our status but frequent flyer points as well.

Absolutely. And I do want to fly with them. It’s one of the reasons I do pay a premium to have flown on QF. I certainly hope that things recover and that staff can return and we can continue to enjoy travel again.

 

[Pushka]

Every circumstance is different. If you don’t want to fly with them then I guess they are not interested in you. Right now they need pax to get their planes in the air and start paying their staff again, otherwise we won’t have an airline in 12 months and we’ll not only lose our status but frequent flyer points as well.

This is absolutely true. And the crew are just so happy to have people flying again. But in reality, that is also the way of many businesses etc who now have a broken model. Likely they may have survived round 1 but round 2 just killed off any hope for some that may have been retrieved. It has changed the way businesses operate. Zoom and video conferencing, and not face to face meetings that involved travel, will be the new norm if there is no vaccine. Businesses cannot risk interstate travel because of the way everything has to get shut down for 2 weeks plus for just one infection that may spread.

Many of my well traveled friends won't fly again unless there is a vaccine. I have traveled and sons will travel, one is off overseas tomorrow to the UK to live. But we are the exceptions in my circle of friends and family.

I hate this new Covid world. I want to travel.

 

[justinbrett]

This is absolutely true. And the crew are just so happy to have people flying again. But in reality, that is also the way of many businesses etc who now have a broken model. Likely they may have survived round 1 but round 2 just killed off any hope for some that may have been retrieved. It has changed the way businesses operate. Zoom and video conferencing, and not face to face meetings that involved travel, will be the new norm if there is no vaccine. Businesses cannot risk interstate travel because of the way everything has to get shut down for 2 weeks plus for just one infection that may spread.

Many of my well traveled friends won't fly again unless there is a vaccine. I have traveled and sons will travel, one is off overseas tomorrow to the UK to live. But we are the exceptions in my circle of friends and family.

I hate this new Covid world. I want to travel.

But either we keep the international borders closed, in which case domestic travel becomes extremly safe; or we open them to limited destinations and accept a small degree of risk. I don’t see a situation where neither international or domestic travel is safe.

I think business leaders are turning on the work from home / zoom meeting era. There was lots of talk last night in the budget commentary these are actually proving to be quite negative for productivity and there is a growing call to go back to the office and face to face meetings. I know NSW wants its public service to go back to the office to help revive the Sydney CBD.

 

[Fergo747]

I requalified WP with three personal trips. It wasn’t hard

Maybe in your circumstance it wasn't, but how is one, who is SYD based meant to earn 900 SCs to requalify for P1 based on the flying they can actually do? I'm not an 'essential worker' so currently I am really only able to travel within NSW and to SA. Everything else requires quarantine and obviously international travel is off the cards.

Based on this I have calculated it would cost me anywhere from about $13k to $20k to requalify (based on where I can currently travel to) and require anywhere from 23 to 90 segments. This to me isn't easy, nor is it worth striving for.

 

[justinbrett]

Maybe in your circumstance it wasn't, but how is one, who is SYD based meant to earn 900 SCs to requalify for P1 based on the flying they can actually do? I'm not an 'essential worker' so currently I am really only able to travel within NSW and to SA. Everything else requires quarantine and obviously international travel is off the cards.

Based on this I have calculated it would cost me anywhere from about $13k to $20k to requalify (based on where I can currently travel to) and require anywhere from 23 to 90 segments. This to me isn't easy, nor is it worth striving for.

I am also NSW based - but NTL. I was allowed into NT earlier than you - but that opens up to SYD this Friday.

I earnt 150SC on a single trip to DRW. Maybe P1 should just revert to WP and automatically upgrade to P1 once international travel resumes.

 

[calmelb]

I transited through ADL on Monday (DRW through to SYD) and both flights were 100% full. My understanding is forward bookings for ADL-SYD is very positive, not to mention the other routes we are seeing from ADL and CBR to places like MCY, OOL, HOB etc. Once QLD opens to all of NSW it will really start getting back on track. I predict MEL will be open to all by Christmas.

As another poster pointed out. These are massively reduced routes compared to previous frequencies. Domestic travel is still not that popular via air right now. 100% full on one flight compared to 5 frequencies of 80% full is a huge drop in demand (unsure of specifics but just an example). Many states are still wanting you to holiday inside the state itself, business meetings, etc will start their usual Christmas decline in about a month.
Domestic travel will still be dead till at least Feburary next year, and thats presuming once Melbourne gets it under control that people will actually want to fly and businesses are happy to pay the $$ for flying

 

[justinbrett]

As another poster pointed out. These are massively reduced routes compared to previous frequencies. Domestic travel is still not that popular via air right now. 100% full on one flight compared to 5 frequencies of 80% full is a huge drop in demand (unsure of specifics but just an example). Many states are still wanting you to holiday inside the state itself, business meetings, etc will start their usual Christmas decline in about a month.
Domestic travel will still be dead till at least Feburary next year, and thats presuming once Melbourne gets it under control that people will actually want to fly and businesses are happy to pay the $$ for flying

And all this is why Qantas wants you to fly with them! This is my point! There are flights going and you can fly. Why would they support you to choose not to fly? That’s a ridiculous argument.

 

[calmelb]

And all this is why Qantas wants you to fly with them! This is my point! There are flights going and you can fly. Why would they support you to choose not to fly? That’s a ridiculous argument.

Because some people may not be flying till after their status renews. Being told that "sorry you didn't fly so you don't get status now" will just make people rethink flying with Qantas and go somewhere else.

Status to Qantas costs them nothing if you don't actually fly. Another year of extensions when no one is flying will cost them nothing and could possibly increase the chances of someone wanting to keep their status up in the future (the "they looked after me so I look after them" approach)

 

[justinbrett]

Because some people may not be flying till after their status renews. Being told that "sorry you didn't fly so you don't get status now" will just make people rethink flying with Qantas and go somewhere else.

Status to Qantas costs them nothing if you don't actually fly. Another year of extensions when no one is flying will cost them nothing and could possibly increase the chances of someone wanting to keep their status up in the future (the "they looked after me so I look after them" approach)

I‘m all for Qantas supporting people when they couldn’t/can’t fly, but for the most part those times are behind us unless you live in MEL (and even then will hopefully be open in a month or two).

So I‘m quite happy for Qantas to say “sorry you didn’t fly with us (when we really needed you) so you lose your status”. Who are you going to switch to? Virgin?

 

[Pushka]

I‘m all for Qantas supporting people when they couldn’t/can’t fly, but for the most part those times are behind us unless you live in MEL (and even then will hopefully be open in a month or two).

So I‘m quite happy for Qantas to say “sorry you didn’t fly with us (when we really needed you) so you lose your status”. Who are you going to switch to? Virgin?

Isnt the real question - "sorry you didnt fly with us but you chose another airline (Virgin)". Realistically there are flights but not exactly conducive to business travel, and assuming you have any business in Sydney (the rest are pretty much vaycay places) but while there are still exempted travellers allowed to travel from known hot spots on planes (and that is indeed happening) then for the majority, domestic travel on a plane is not considered safe or even pleasurable. That is why people are driving in cars and intrastate right now.

 

[astrosly]

I‘m all for Qantas supporting people when they couldn’t/can’t fly, but for the most part those times are behind us unless you live in MEL (and even then will hopefully be open in a month or two).
...

I don't live in MEL, yet it is difficult to fly if (or more importantly, when) you want to because the schedules are so sparse I can't get a decent combination of flights to/from my city that doesn't involve having to overnight in SYD for one and sometimes two nights. Because of this, my original plan to fly and spend a few days on the Gold Coast at the end of November was scrapped yesterday.

 

[ChrisMars]

Qantas is offering more and more SC on the ground. Very recently, 10 sc with BP (seems to be a WP only offer), and now (today?) 3 more SC earning credit cards: NAB, Q Amex Ultimate, and Q Amex Premium, in addition to the already available ANZ black and Q premier cards. Prior to that, a few SC to earn at woolies, BP, and qantas luxury hotel.

I can see this trend of offering ground SC, seems like an easy way to monetize SC in the hope that Frequent Flyers close enough to requal (thanks to Status keeper and Status seeker), will jump through the various hoops to collect their missing SC. It certainly worked for me, but I am an easy monkey to train, and my requal target was at arm's reach.

 

[RichardMEL]

As noted in previous posts it's not just Victorians who can't fly anywhere. There are still borders closed (Tas, WA) and partially open (NT, SA, Qld) and those shift almost daily (see today's commentary by QLD they may rethink NSW border open after new unknown community transmissions in NSW). This is a moveable (uh) feast of changes and you really can't rely on with any certainty. Even the NZ "bubble" comes and goes.

With all of this in mind I can't see how QF can't continue *some sort* of support for flyers.

Heck even the Federal Budget worked on International borders not re-opening until 2nd half of 2021...

While obviously yes there are more open routes and opportunities, specially for those in places like QLD, NSW(for now) and the NT, it could all change next week, next month and next year and of course it's still but a tiny fraction of the usual flying and trips as per normal.

Me I know they will do more. I am not worrying too much about it in any case since frankly I ain't going anywhere anytime soon (sniff) so it's somewhat irrelevant at this point (to me, anyway). First things first....

 

[sudoer]

Q Amex Ultimate

Do you have a link for this? Can't find the SC promo anywhere for the Ultimate.